Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Exhibitions Quilts remember Trayvon
Garbo Hearne has just shared with Eye Candy these images (and others) of some of the fine quilts in the "American Spring: A Cause For Justice" exhibition at her gallery, Hearne Fine Art, 1001 Wright Ave. The quilts in the exhibition, hosted with Fiber Artists for Hope, Sabrina Zarco and Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, deal with racism, civil rights and intolerance and specifically with the Trayvon Martin case, in which an unarmed teen-ager was shot to death by a civilian "neighborhood watch coordinator."
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Art news More Dierks gifts to AAC
I wrote last week about the Thomas Hart Benton painting and Barbara Hepworth sculpture bequeathed to the Arkansas Arts Center by the late Louise and Frederick Dierks and on exhibit in the Jackson T. Stephens Gallery.
The Arts Center announced this week more of the bequeathed work, including a drawing by Georgia O'Keeffe ("From Pink Shell Left"), two bronzes by Rodger Allen Mack, and additional work from Benton (two drawings and a lithograph) and Hepworth (an oil painting).
Here's what the Arts Center says about the new acquisitions:
The bequest includes four works from the late American regional artist, Thomas Hart Benton, including drawings, a lithograph and an oil painting. The two drawings, Jagendorf and Joe Stella and Carrying Cotton, both date back to the 1940s. Jagendorf and Joe Stella is an informal portrait of a dentist at work on a patient, while Carrying Cotton depicts workers in a cotton field. The lithograph, Sorghum Mill, created in 1969, was made to be distributed by the Associated American Arts and the oil painting, Clay County Farm, painted in 1971, is the first oil painting by Benton to enter the collection. Clay County Farm is a scene of a fisherman on Benton’s farm in Frankfurt, Kansas.The drawing, From Pink Shell Left, by the late American modern artist Georgia O’Keeffe, is a major discovery among her work. The 1931 pastel mimics groups of mussel shells turned to stone that O’Keefe discovered on a walk near her home in Taos, N.M. Before its addition to the Arts Center’s collection, this drawing appeared only as a black and white photo in the 1999 complete catalog of O’Keeffe’s as photographed by the artist’s husband and dealer, Alfred Stieglitz. It is related to an oil painting titled, Shell on Red, which is held in a New York private collection. From Pink Shell Left joins the Arts Center’s charcoal drawing by O’Keeffe, Banana Flower (1933).
British modernist sculptor Barbara Hepworth is represented in the bequest with a marble sculpture and an oil painting. The white marble sculpture, Two Heads (Christmas), dates to 1970 and represents two abstracted human heads. The oil painting, Genesis II, features two eye-like motifs, a characteristic unique to Hepworth, who typically explores the relationship between voids by carving holes in her sculptures, evocative of eyes.
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Hot Springs Gallery Walk Good, Noe-Griffith, Justus, Hayes, Llew
The lineup for Hot Springs Gallery Walk from 5-9 p.m. Friday night includes a variety of media: paintings, glass ornaments, tiles and quilts, all along Central Avenue.
At Justus Fine Art (827 A Central Ave.), new paintings by Vivian Noe-Griffith, Dolores Justus and artwork by many other gallery artists will be on exhibit. Randall Good's work remains at Blue Moon Gallery (718 Central Ave.); he'll give a talk at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Personalized blown glass ornaments by James Hayes and "spiritiles" by Houston Llew are the draw at Gallery Central (800 Central). Quilts by Martha Maples, fiber art by Donna Dunnahoe and glass and multi-media work by Patty Collins are featured in "Nature Transformed" at the Hot Springs Fine Arts Center (626 Central Ave.)
Artchurch is having its second reception for its "Dia de Los Muertos" show, which features Day of the Dead themed artwork by regional artists and a 15-by-25-foot, community-created ofrenda or altar. A young dance group, Mindset, will also perform at Artchurch.
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Thursday, October 25, 2012
Exhibitions Eric Freeman catches Huffington Post's notice
Little Rock artist Eric Freeman got a shout out in a recent Huff Post article, "Eric Freeman's Animal Paintings Depict The Unnatural World." "Realism takes a backseat to the color spectrum, and we have to say, we like it!" says the post, a photo feature of Freeman's work in the "Modus Operandi" group exhibition at Boswell Mourot Fine Art In Miami. The show runs through Oct. 31.
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Sculpture Bryan Massey Jr.'s winning concept
City spokesperson Meg Matthews today provided this sketch by Conway sculptor Bryan Massey Sr., who won a $60,000 commission from the Sculpture at the River Market non-profit to create a sculpture for Riverfront Park. The award was announced at the conclusion of last week's Sculpture at the River Market show and sale in the River Market pavilions.
Massey, who teaches at the University of Central Arkansas and whose Fayetteville sculpture honoring Silas Hunt was noted in Eye Candy recently, calls the soapstone, limestone and steel sculpture "Nautilus."
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New acquisitions Thomas Hart Benton at the Arts Center
The Arkansas Arts Center has acquired a late Thomas Hart Benton painting, "Clay County Farm," that shows a man fishing on Benton's property. The 32-by-22 oil was painted in 1971, four years before the artist's death, and was a bequest from the estates of Louise and Fred Dierks. It's on exhibit in the Stephens Gallery, which along with the Bailey Gallery is showing a new exhibit of works from the Arts Center's collection and loans from the Jack Stephens collection in chronological order.
Another gift from the Dierks' estates, a sculpture in marble by Barbara Hepworth, is also on display.
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Exhibitions Friday at Cantrell Gallery: John Deering
Animals take center stage in John Deering's exhibit "The Story Teller" opening tomorrow at Cantrell Gallery. Deering explains in his artist statement:
"The work of my favorite visual artists has always had a strong narrative quality. Although it is a pretty eclectic list of names, these artists all have at least one common thread in their work. That is to say, it has some representational element, and may even be considered by some to be “illustrative.” Artists such as Ivan Albright, Henri Paul Rousseau and Francis Bacon may be worlds apart visually and thematically but one gets a sense of strong emotion from their work which can only be conveyed by a great storyteller. The paintings or ‘stories’ for this show are allegorical in nature, with animals as the protagonists. In some instances, the landscapes they dwell in function more as theatrical stages or back drops rather than natural environments."
Deering is the political cartoonist at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. There will be a reception from 6-8 p.m. at the gallery; the show runs through Dec. 24.
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New acquisitions Ursula Von Rydingsvard at Crystal Bridges
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is installing a monumental cedar wall sculpture by Ursula Von Rydingsvard on the northwest end of the Gallery Bridge.
The 18 pieces that make up the work, "Unraveling," are being assembled by museum preparators in view of guests to the museum. In an article about the work in Artnet (which includes an image of the completed sculpture), Alexandra Anderson-Spivey writes that the artist's "dense, eccentric, craggy sculptures fascinate me, yet I can’t remember any art that has made me so strangely uneasy."
According to Artnet, Von Rydingsvard's work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York; and Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City.
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Friday, October 19, 2012
Argenta ArtWalk Paint Box, Claytime, Greg Thompson, Laman ... all open
It will be a perfect night for art walking. Along with Thea, Argenta's other galleries are staying open from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight for the monthly Argenta ArtWalk. The Paint Box Gallery and Frame Shop (in the shop formerly occupied by Ketz Gallery) is featuring paintings by Robin Miller-Bookhout and will have work by Jan Ironside, Angela Green and Dawn Clark as well. Jeweler Susan Strauss will be at the Argenta Branch of the Laman Library. Starving Artist Studios (not the cafe) on 108 Fourth St., just behind Argenta Drug, will showcase the paintings of the Times' own Mike Spain. Greg Thompson Fine Art has added new work to its "Southern Landscapes" exhibit that opened in September. Amy Bell will be one of the street booth artists tonight, showing her jewelry made from "repurposed" items.
Other participating venues include Claytime Gallery, First Presbyterian Church, Blake's Furniture, Chop Salon, Argenta Healing Arts, Argenta Bead Company and Crush Wine Bar. Argenta Market will have free goodies.
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Argenta ArtWalk ACH art sale at Thea tonight
Artwork made by patients at Arkansas Children's Hospital and the artists-in-residence who worked with them goes on sale tonight at the Thea Center, 401 Main St., NLR, as part of the Argenta ArtWalk.
Children worked with Hamid Ebrahimifar and Elizabeth Weber, whose residencies were paid with a grant from the Arkansas Arts Council. The program was designed to give children a way to express themselves and lessen fears and anxiety.
There will be Halloween-themed refreshments and music at the event, 5-8 p.m.
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Thursday, October 18, 2012
Craft beer, food and art for NMWA
Support the arts and have a brewski tomorrow night at the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts' fundraiser, 6:30-9 p.m. at the Robinwood Bed and Breakfast, 2021 S. Arch St.
Back Forty Breweries is bringing the beer, to be paired with food, and Arkansas artist Cheryl Moore is bringing her painting "Delta Phoenix" to a silent auction. Arkansas Arts Center Director Todd Herman will be the honored guest and speaker.
Tickets are $40 a person or $75 for couples; attire is casual.
NMWA, in Washington, D.C., is the only major museum in the world dedicated to the work of women visual and performing artists. The Arkansas committee was formed by Ed Dell Wortz and Helen Walton.
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Art event Quapaw ceremony at sculpture Friday
Quapaw Tribal Chairman John Berrey said he looks forward to performing the cedar smoke ceremony tomorrow at a sculpture honoring Indian tribes in Riverfront Park and hopes to talk to the Little Rock Parks and Recreation Department "about something the Quapaw tribe could contribute to that location."
The sculpture, "Native Knowledge" by Denny Haskew, was purchased for the park by the non-profit organization Sculpture at the River Market, which opens the annual Sculpture at the River Market show and sale tomorrow at the River Market pavilions. There will be a $100-a-ticket preview from 6:30 to 9 p.m. and a $20 event to follow; the exhibition is free Saturday and Sunday.
The smoke ceremony is set for 5 p.m. at the sculpture, which is on the plaza in front of the Junction Bridge. Berrey declined to be more specific about what the tribe, whose ancestors populated Arkansas and for whom the Quapaw Quarter is named, would like to talk to parks about.
I asked Berry about his feelings about the sculpture, which also stands in front of a California casino and depicts a man in a Plains Indian headdress, and which I've written about previously in Eye Candy (here and here). Berrey said the tribe wasn't interested in "getting involved in any controversy" and would be there "to celebrate our history and for people to be educated about the Quapaw tribe. We think it's a good thing."
Berrey was unconcerned that the Indian carved into the stone sculpture was not representative of Quapaw traditional dress, asking, "Whose to say a Plains Indian couldn't have given a Quapaw" a feather headdress? He called the riverside site "a significant geographical location" in the history of the Quapaw. (Learn more about the Quapaw here.)
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Thursday, October 11, 2012
2nd Friday Art Night Kuhl Brown at Christ Church
Christ Church's new exhibition for the 2nd Friday Art Night gallery stroll is "The Watercolor Series of Kuhl Brown." The show will include the Hillcrest artist's landscapes and other subjects. The show opens Oct. 12 with the 5-8 p.m. Art Night reception and runs through Dec. 14. Don't forget: Rubber-wheeled trolleys will take you to Art Night venues so you don't have to worry about parking.
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Ears and eyes: DePoyster, Boswell, Weber
Coming to Boswell-Mourot Fine Art: “Tympanic Ruminations,” an interactive exhibition exploring the connection between music and art inspiration, with oils, encaustics and sculpture by Virmarie DePoyster, Kyle Boswell and Elizabeth Weber. The show opens with a reception 6-9 p.m. Oct. 13 and runs through Nov. 3.
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Tuesday, October 9, 2012
"Solostalgia": Chambers and Halsey
Susan Chambers and Louise Halsey are two of the most distinctive artists in Arkansas. Their work — Chambers' paintings and mixed media and Halsey's weavings — shows just what pros they are, with their unique approach to subject matter. Now they are teamed up for a show at the Butler Center called "Solostalgia," which means (I looked it up just for their show!) "the pain experienced when there is recognition that the place where one resides and that one loves is under immediate assault." You can thank philosopher Glenn Albrecht for coming up with the term in 2003.
Anyway, the images I've seen from the show are of homes — on fire, under water, etc. You'll have to go to the show to see more. It opens at the Butler Center Oct. 12, 2nd Friday Art Night, with a reception from 5-8 p.m.
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