Art Seen Asheville

Art on a cart has grown up

2012-01-10T12:12:00.007-05:00

I've written about The Easel Rider before, but this UNC-TV video has really affirmed my faith in this program. Funded with city dollars, the Easel Rider requires less resources to operate and can potentially provide greater outreach than traditional "recreation center" programs.

Another innovative aspect is that the Easel Rider can accommodate a variety of artists and media thanks to the help of new media artists Mark Koven and Gene Felice who outfitted the van with some state of the art digital electronic equipment.

I'm not sure how many other cities in the US have implemented programs similar to Easel Rider, but I hope people can look to this production as an example of inspired and resourceful city spending.

If you are an artist/writer/performer who would like an opportunity to utilize the Easel Rider, follow this link for more information

Reflections on Pat Passlof

2012-01-02T19:02:00.031-05:00

photo by Alice Sebrell

When Pat Passlof enrolled in a summer painting class at Black Mountain College in 1948 she wasn’t sure who the instructor would be. She was 20 years old and had recently seen an exhibit by the not-yet–known painter Willem de Kooning that had left a profound impact on her. Somehow she had feeling that de Kooning would be teaching that summer, and she was right. Passlof ended up studying with de Kooning at the avant-garde art school and even rode the train back up to NYC with him once the class commenced. This would be only the beginning of her lifelong journey as an artist.

Thoreau

Passlof passed away November 13, 2011 at the age of 83, and due to her affiliation with Black Mountain College, a selection of her life’s work will be exhibited this year at the Black Mountain College Museum and Western Carolina University Fine Arts Museum simultaneously from January 26 – May 27. A committed artist, Passlof left behind an extensive oeuvre of paintings, and the exhibit will contain work she produced throughout her life -- including one of the paintings made at Black Mountain College. “She really wanted to focus on her latest works, “ says Alice Sebrell, program director at BMCM+AC. “She considered them to be the most mature and successful of everything she’s done.”

For more on Passlof, read Portrait of Passlof which appears in the Jan 2012 issue of Verve Magazine.

Hawthorne

On a personal note: The best part about my work as an arts writer is that I get to meet all kinds of interesting people and have great conversations about the creative process, materials, the art world, etc. I always come away with new tidbits of knowledge and fresh perspectives that I can apply to my own work.

Last month when I set out to write the profile article on Passlof for Verve Magazine I didn’t expect the whole experience to be as moving as it turned out to be. I met with Connie Bostic and Alice Sebrell of the BMCM+AC and they shared their personal insights on Passlof and their impressions upon visiting her in her studio in NYC. (“There was paint everywhere. There were coffee cups everywhere. It was just a mess! It was perfect,” Connie recalled.)

After the meeting, Alice sent me home with an envelope stuffed full of newspaper articles, gallery catalogues and Passlof's own writings. I read everything voraciously -- completely enthralled by Passlof’s straightforward statements on painting and art. For example, Passlof once declared that art should contain “no message, no politics, no political correctness, no ideas, no conformity.” Concerning painting, she wrote: "Find ways to ‘listen’ to your painting, and small visual events will occur…”

I was also impressed by how Passlof's life seemed to be as exotic as it was commonplace. She and her husband, (painter Milton Resnick) each renovated synagogues in the Lower East Side as studio spaces; she taught painting at CUNY Community School of Staten Island for 39 years, retiring in 2011, and continued to produce work until her illness would no longer allow it.

As a painter I am greatly anticipating Passlof:Selections. What a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the work of such an impressive woman who made her art her life.

Visit blackmountaincollege.org for more information about Passlof:Selections 1948-2011.

Exhibit: Severn Eaton at PUSH Gallery

2011-12-28T16:55:00.015-05:00

See What Inspired Me is the title of Severn Eaton's newest exhibit at PUSH Gallery in downtown Asheville. Known for his narrative paintings that reflect on the cultural milieu of neoliberalism, Eaton's new show heralds his familiar anti-consumerist perspective but contains no paintings. Instead, Eaton uses images and slogans cut from billboard advertisements to create an environment that is sensationally grotesque. At this close range the onslaught of bright colors and pixelated food is both horrifying and fascinating.

In the middle of the room two life-sized human forms made out of clear packing tape are connected to a box and breathe in and out when activated -- literally deflating and inflating each other. The kinetic rigging of this sculpture is pretty amazing and lends a compelling interactive element to the show.

Pop into PUSH Gallery and Skateshop at 25 Patton Ave and see for yourself before the show comes down later this month.

Read Kyle Sherard's review for the Montain Xpress: See What Inspired Severn Eaton

Visit www.severneaton.com to see more.

Chaos in Berlin

2011-12-22T14:51:00.006-05:00

In April 2007 I spent two weeks in Berlin with my friend Sebastian Collett. We stayed at a squat called Tuntenhaus, went to a couple of raves, rode the subways, looked at art, etc. I also went to the craziest dance performance somewhere in East Berlin where we were blindfolded and then made to interact with the dancers. I loved all the graffiti, the Turkish food, and the way people are so candid and yet so guarded.

While I was there I filmed some of the sights, and interviewed a few artists, and when I got back to the states I used the facilities at the now defunct public access station, URTV, and put together this video. The sound quality of the interviews is quite atrocious, but the music -- by Sys-hex, Glossolalia and Pomme de Terre -- is pretty keen.

Link to video: Chaos in Berlin

One of the people interviewed is a choreographer, Tomi Paasonen. Check his work here: www.paasonen.com

Happy Holidays

The New Materiality at The Asheville Art Museum

2011-12-16T12:19:00.010-05:00

Tim Tate; Burned but Not Forgotten

Artists respond to technology’s ubiquity by combining traditional crafting methods with electronic media. The New Materiality, a traveling show curated by Fo Wilson of The Fuller Craft Museum, assesses the boundaries between the handmade and the automated, the traditional and the contemporary. Among the work presented: Videos of oak trees embedded into a classically crafted wooden table, jewelry constructed from pixelated low resolution images of gems, woven tapestries depicting the sound waves of hand-operated and mechanized looms, and hand-blown glass vessels ornamented with cast glass encasing mini videos that pay homage to books.

Donald Fortescue and Lawrence LaBianca; Sounding

There are a few glitches in the presentation: some batteries need recharging, and not everything is operating at its fullest capacity, though from a certain perspective this points to a larger issue regarding electronic technology’s fragility and current dependence upon finite resources. Still, considering the multifaceted creative legacy of Western North Carolina, this exhibit is very relevant to the local dialogue of contemporary art and craft, and is worth seeing. Kudos to the museum for exhibiting new media.

Read more: Art Bets Mtn Xpress Dec 14

Through March 18 at the Asheville Art Museum. $8 for nonmembers. Free every first Wednesday from 3 to 5 p.m. www.ashevilleartmuseum.org

Artist Profile: Marcus Thomas

2011-12-12T12:10:00.008-05:00

For twenty-five years Marcus Thomas, 52, has been making paintings one deliberate stroke of paint at a time, using a brush he grasps with his teeth. For Thomas, art is everything. "It is my voice and my method of messaging," he says. "Just the act of painting is critical and important to me. Everything else has become secondary."

The irony is that before the accident that left him nearly completely paralyzed Thomas never thought about art. "I would never have even attempted it," he says. At the time he was freshly out of college and heading towards a career in recreation management. "I think we're pushed away from such things at a very young age and we do things that are more expected of us."

On March 3rd, 1986 at the age of 23, Thomas was skiing with friends in Western North Carolina when he slipped and collided headfirst into a tree, breaking his 3rd and 4th vertebrae. As a result, he lost all ability to move his arms and legs. The accident was devastating and he spent months recovering physically and emotionally. One day his girlfriend, Anne, and his sister, Amanda, bought him a set of watercolors — "a real casual tray of Crayolas" and he made his first painting, which he describes as a "third grade doodle."

Read the full article on Marcus Thomas: The Mind's Eye; BoldLife Magazine December, 2011

MarcusThomasArtist.com

Artist Profile: Libby O'Bryan

2011-12-07T20:18:00.005-05:00

I had the pleasure of meeting Libby O'Bryan when I wrote this article for Verve Magazine. O'Bryan is one of several artists featured in the Out of Fashion exhibit currently on display at SECCA in Winston Salem.

On the opening night of the exhibit, Out of Fashion, O’Bryan performed a piece called “Sewed In,” during which she literally sewed herself up. Sitting inside a bubble of fabric with her sewing machine, she sewed furiously until the bubble collapsed and the material clung to her like a second skin. She ended her performance by breaking out of the wrap, but the performance brought to mind images of suffocation and horrific sweatshops. “I do get a little panicky when I’m in there,“ O’Bryan admits.

“Sewed In” was one of several performance pieces O’Bryan developed as a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago starting in 2008. It’s a way to illustrate, as she puts it, “a physical manifestation of what the sewing machine and I do together.” Like O’Bryan’s other large-scale conceptual performance pieces, “Sewed In” explores the way individuals are implicated in the socio-political and manufactured worlds around them.

Read more: Sew Cool, Verve Magazine December 2011

Shout-out to the Piedmont Triad

2011-11-30T15:40:00.012-05:00

If you find yourself in the mood for a road trip and craving some good contemporary art, it's worth taking a trip to the Piedmont Triad --referring to the cities of Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point.

First off, stop off in Winston Salem and visit the South East Center for Contemporary Arts (SECCA.) This gem of a center always has some captivating exhibits. Out of Fashion, curated by Steven Matijcio, is one of the current shows and features work by local artists, R. Brooke Priddy (pictured above) and Libby O'Bryan. Admission is free! www.secca.org

The soft sculpture works of Margarita Cabrera are also on display at SECCA. From the website: "Turning crafts and their manufacture into the vehicle for socio-political consideration, she questions con-temporary applications of post-NAFTA Latin American labor. Drawing upon local communities, Cabrera orchestrates the manufacture of soft, vinyl sculptures resembling backpacks, bicycles, potted plants, domestic appliances, pianos, and full-sized automobiles."

Next, visit The Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro. The museum was established to aid the MFA program at UNC Greensboro and houses six galleries. Currently showing in the main gallery is Persona: A Body in Parts, curated by Xandra Eden, which presents the opportunity to see some of Nick Cave's soundsuits among other compelling work. Admission is also free! Hurry, the exhibit comes down December 11th. www.weatherspoon.uncg.edu

In another gallery at The Weatherspoon I positively swooned over the paintings and drawings of Tom Burckhardt.

Visit www.tomburckhardt.com to see more.

Here's a link to his show at The Weatherspoon

Asheville's Urban Arts Institute

2011-11-11T12:55:00.024-05:00

Asheville's Urban Arts Institute "empowers and enriches the under-served youth of our community through the art of hip-hop," says Michael Hayes who founded the organization in 2006. Hayes is self-taught in theater and dance. "I've always had a creative vibe going on with me," says Hayes, "I figured I might as well use the talent to help the kids."

Learn more about the Urban Arts Institute: Hip Hop in the Heart by Joshua Cole for Mountain Xpress

Hayes and the students will be presenters at TEDxAsheville this weekend, and will be discussing the power art has to transform lives and communities.

Look for them in the Asheville Holiday Parade,

November 19th.

A special fundraiser for the UAI is planned
Friday December 16th 7pm to midnight
STEP IN THE NAME OF LOVE/ LOVE BALL
THE YMI CULTURAL CENTER on Eagle Street

$25/individual
$40/ couple
"This is a dress-up event" says Hayes. "There will be Chicago two-stepping and foxtrotting -- all the good stuff."

Brain Eno's 77 Million Paintings

2011-10-28T12:17:00.019-04:00

Photo credit: Brian Eno/lumenlondon.com via LA Times blog

Brian Eno's in town!!!!

It's Moogfest, so there's a lot of synthpop, electronic, krautrock bands playing in Asheville this weekend, and this year Moogfest has expanded its reach by adding an audio visual "act" to the lineup. Brain Eno's 77 Million Paintings, a constantly evolving environment of sound and light based on generative software, will be on display at the YMI through the month of November.

If you have a Moog pass you can go check out the installation all weekend. If you don't, the exhibit opens to the public on Wednesday November 2. Tickets will be $10 and can be purchased at the door.

On Saturday October 29, Eno will give an illustrated lecture at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium at 2pm. Moogers get first bids on seats, and then the general public is allowed admittance for $35. (That's about 7 drinks at Broadways, or a pretty fun dining experience for one at Zambras)

Anyway, the point of this post is to urge you all to get to the YMI during the month of November to experience this "visual music" phenomenon. Allow yourself plenty of time to become fully immersed. It's so hypnotic you might have a hard time leaving.

Here's a description of 77 Million Paintings off the Moogfest website:

http://moogfest.com/brian-eno/77-million-paintings/

At a press conference Thursday October 28, Eno had some enlightening things to say about art and his creative approach. Here are some of my favorites:

(These may not be verbatim because I was writing not recording.)

"I wanted to see where the threshold of eventlessness lies."

"I really like art when it's magic. I don't like it when it's just clever."

"With all the images [in the 77 Million Paintings software banks,] there is something like 100 million cubed [possibilities.] "What you see today you won't see tomorrow. The piece you just really loved will never happen again."

"I'm anti occult in a certain way " (when asked about the spiritualist overtones in his work,) "but very pro playing with your own timing devices."

"We've dignified the act of control, but we have to learn how to surrender to things. If you can't shape them you have to learn to be a part of them."

"We consider it a huge achievement to control nature. It's also a huge achievement to surrender to nature."

"Graffiti is very much like calligraphy."

"I see myself as a gardener more than an architect. I plant some seeds, watch them come up [and then decide whether I like what's happened and how I want to alter them.]

"[I commend them because] it's like trying to reproduce a Jackson Pollack painting" (On Bang on a Can's cover of Eno's Music For Airports.)

"I have strong opinions." (when asked what makes him a good record producer.)

On art mentors in art school: "What mattered is that they had strong opinions, because that forced you to take a stance in relation to their opinions -- [whether you agreed with what they said or not.]"

Podcast of the press conference recorded by Alli Marshall for the MountainXpress: part one, part two

www.lumenlondon.com for more Eno stuff.

Artist Profile: Constance Humphries

2011-10-25T12:24:00.006-04:00

One of Constance Humphries paintings is hanging in the Asheville Art Museum's show, Color Study, and she recently had work in the 2nd Annual UNCA Invitational. A formalist at heart, Humphries says “I’m more interested in visual problems than I am visual solutions.”

“I find mess really interesting,” says Humphries. "Whether it’s in nature, or whether it’s crowds, or in the thrift store where everything is just in piles. I’m simultaneously interested and really freaked out by disorganization.”

To make her gestural paintings, Humphries, an Asheville native, begins by creating an “under-painting” using relatively random marks and colors. Then, she paints the dominating marks, which takes hours. “I have to do it slowly and carefully or else I’ll create mud,” she says.

Read more about Humphries: Mess Marks the Spot, Verve Magazine October 2011

www.constancehumphries.com

AVL artist exhibits elsewhere

2011-10-24T14:57:00.007-04:00

Detail of First Cavalry, Machine embroidered fabric and hand stitching

Roomful
Nava Lubelski

October 28-December 11
Opening Friday Oct. 28 6-9
LMAKprojects
139 Eldridge St.
New York, NY

From the press release:

"In the exhibit Lubelski uses vastly different surfaces to hold her organic sewing, from a chair, to an eviscerated electric blanket, to a factory reject of misaligned army badges. The objects have been discarded as useless, yet still have a sense of presence and of history, of quietly embodied dramas. Their mass produced designs may contain little aesthetic intention or craftsmanship, but Lubelski's detailed hand stitching is worked throughout their patterns creating a new identity; a chair becomes a sculpture, and a blanket a drawing. The work draws attention to the beauty of the structure and repetition and points out imperfections, which in turn alert the viewer to the unique qualities of the object."

Upholstered armchair, cut mylar

Deskilled Drawings
Heather Lewis

Oct. 7- Dec. 11
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey
68 Elm St.
Summit, NJ

"Heather Lewis is interested in exploring the idea of deskilling as it applies to fine art production. Building on a conceptual legacy established by artists like Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol, Lewis appropriates readymade objects from everyday life and utilizes mechanized design processes such as stenciling to produce artwork. Her exhibition Deskilled Drawing presents light installations and non-traditional artworks that challenge us to expand our consideration of drawings—how they are made, and even how we define them."
-Mary Birmingham, Curator, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey

Lines and Lives of the Face

2011-10-14T14:05:00.019-04:00

If you haven't yet been to Tryon, NC, there's at least a one good reason for you to visit this month. Tryon is located about an hour south of Asheville, near the border of South Carolina. It's a lovely little mountain town, slightly warmer in climate than Asheville, with a population of approximately 1,700. It happens to be the town where Nina Simone was born and it is also home of the impressive contemporary art center Upstairs Artspace.

Currently Upstairs Artspace is exhibiting Lines and Lives of the Face, a group show curated by Margaret Curtis and Nancy Holmes. Curtis is an amazing painter who recently took over the role of managing exhibitions at the Upstairs ArtSpace. This is exciting because her knowledge of contemporary art insures some quality exhibitions in the future. Holmes is an art enthusiast who recently supported a new exhibition at The Asheville Art Museum, Homage2.

For LALOTF Curtis initiated a collaboration between NYC artist James Esber and 24 regional artists, "non-artists" and children. For it, Esber provided a drawing of Osama bin Laden to be traced by each participant of the project. The different interpretations that occurred in spite of the standardized form, were astounding. Some artists chose to incorporate literal symbols in their work; others went a more formalized or intuitive route. (The video above does not include the drawings from Upstairs ArtSpace.)

"Pube Patch" and "Brillo Head" paintings by Alli Good

In addition to Esber's project, The gallery contains work by 14 artists -- each presenting their unique approach to the "portrait." There are realist paintings, and stylized interpretations in media ranging from sculpture, paintings, drawings and woodcuts.

"Chill" by Taiyo La Paix. I just love that DQ logo and those faux fur cuffs.

Kindergarten series by David Slone

Drawings by Phillip McGuire

My paintings

Exhibiting artists also include: Kevin Clinton, Mathew Curran, Paul Flint, Dawn Hunter, Francesco Lombardo, Brian Mashburn, Tim Speaker and Bob Trotman

Tuesday, November 1st a panel of artists from the show will discuss traditional vs. contemporary portraits and the appeal of the subject. 7pm

Friday, November 11 Regional writers will read their poetry and prose in the gallery. 7pm.

Line and Lives of the Face hangs until November 19th

Upstairs Artspace

49 South Tryon Street

828.859.2828

The gallery is open Tues - Sat. 11am - 5pm.

SHUCKED: an art show at PUSH Gallery

2011-10-04T11:52:00.007-04:00

Paper kudzu by Lisa Nance (photo by Ayana Dusenberry)

Site-specific installation, paintings, drawings and sculpture by six Asheville artists using mixed media and non-traditional approaches to art making.

The artists of SHUCKED utilize methods and materials not only to achieve a final product or object, but as expressive devices that influence the work as it progresses. Here, the artists react to their own procedures of mark-making, cutting, gluing, binding, sewing and sketching.

Also significant are materials like graphite, cardboard, paper, wood and fabric — gleaned from trash piles, free boxes, thrift stores and friends. The result is a collection of work that responds to current social issues, construed of low-cost materials and cast out from the artists' psyches.

Ink drawings by Michael Ohgren

The following is an excerpt from Artists Get Shucked by Kyle Sherard for the Mountain Xpress:

For local artist, writer and now curator Ursula Gullow, oysters, clams and corn are not the only things that can be shucked. Add artists to the list of things that can shed their protective coverings. In Shucked, a group show opening at Push Skate Shop and Gallery this Friday, she brings together six local artists whose paintings, drawings and site-specific installations reveal the process of artistic creation itself.

The array of work in the show includes a painting by Anna Jensen, paintings by Lisa Nance, drawings by Michael Ohgren and pagan ceremonial garb created and worn by textile artist Tara Jensen (no relation to Anna) for a Beltane festival. Installations by Lauren Whitley, Nance and Courtney Chappell are staged in the gallery.

To explore the notions of process and self, Gullow pushed the artists outside of their comfort zones. "The artists are working more intuitively, more directly, rather than only focussing on the final object,” Gullow says, “A precious, commodified object."

SHUCKED will hang until October 22nd at PUSH Skateshop and Gallery on Patton Avenue in Asheville, NC. http://pushtoyproject.com. 225-5509)

Ray Cooper: Looking, Waiting, Doing

2011-09-22T13:59:00.008-04:00

Yes, I'm a paint nerd. I love talking about pigments, brushes, mediums, substrates, studios, studio light, palettes, processes -- all of it. I love looking at the way paint drips, and the way it blends, congeals, or cracks.

So I enjoyed meeting Ray Cooper, an artist I wrote about for the September 2011 issue of BoldLife Magazine, who presented an approach to painting I hadn't heard about -- tachisme, where "one carefully made stroke can say it all." Cooper also paints with rollers instead of brushes. Maybe I'll try that out some day.

Here's an excerpt from Looking and Waiting and Doing, BoldLife Magazine September 2011:

When he's in his studio, Ray Cooper is prone to spending long periods of time looking at his work, contemplating the visual problems at hand and what he needs to do to solve them.

These moments of observation are interspersed with bursts of creative activity — mark making and paint dripping — after which the artist is again "looking and looking and waiting." He's spent a lifetime evolving his process. "You have to paint something for at least 5 years before you really begin to understand it and feel relaxed with it," says Cooper. "Ten years in you might hit another plateau."

While Cooper is reticent to categorize his aesthetic style he eventually settles upon the term "lyrical expressionism," saying, "I don't have the angst required to make abstract expressionist paintings."

Learn more about Cooper and his current exhibits in Hendersonville, NC visit raycoopergallery.com

Gene Felice's Rapid Progression and Prototype Technology

2011-09-20T11:22:00.013-04:00

I wrote about Gene Felice and rapid prototype technology last year when he presented work at FLOOD Gallery. In spite of how common it is, 3D "printing" was something I had never heard about. I was fascinating that objects could be produced, seemingly out of thin air, but of course, it isn't that simple. Read, Mad Science: Artist explores new technologies in art-making to learn more about Felice and rapid prototype technology.

Felice is director of the Creative Technology and Art Center hosted by the Odyssey Community School and has been an adjunct instructor at UNC Asheville and Ohio State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He has also been an active participant in the {RE}Happening events through BMCM+AC.

Here's a description of Felice's current exhibition, A Rapid Progression on display until October 4th at The Highsmith Union Gallery at UNCA until October 4th:

Gene Felice takes in the visual world around him and filters it through his imagination to produce hybrids of art and life, exploring the way biology and technology adapt over time. In A Rapid Progression Felice’s process is just as important as the product. Representations of mutating cancer cells common in Felice’s genetic history have been created using a rapid prototyping system in which Felice is able to design and print 3-dimensional objects. Felice then ads in p2, part bicycle, part power plant. Viewers are invited to hop on p2 and become an alternative energy source to power parts of the exhibit.

Check out www.injectivearts.com
and www.genefelice.com/721 for more images.

The Battle of Make Believe

2011-09-19T13:25:00.013-04:00

painting by Hannah Dansie

Now on display at Satellite Gallery, The Battle of Make Believe includes work by some of Asheville's finest.

Read a full review of the show: In The Battle of Make Believe, adult responsibility overrides juvenile impulse Mountain Xpress

This handsome exhibit will hang until September 29

Satellite Gallery is located at 55 Broadway
Open Tues-Sun. Call 505-2225 for more info.

Galen Frost Bernard Art Reception

2011-09-02T17:14:00.007-04:00

The Lexington Avenue Arts festival is this weekend! Be sure to step into Bobo Gallery and Wine bar to see the newest paintings by Galen Frost Bernard.
Standing on Fish is the title of his show, and to celebrate, Bernard will host an artist reception from noon until 10 pm on Sunday September 4th.

Read more about Bernard and his work: Flooding and rebuilding

www.galenfrostbernard.com

Some thoughts on color

2011-08-04T10:56:00.007-04:00

At the risk of sounding too general, I’m going to assert that color is the most immediate thing that people respond to when looking at paintings– consciously or subconsciously, and it's often the first thing that gets commented on. (Subject matter and technical ability probably tie for second.) Admittedly, I didn’t do any research that can back this statement up, so I’m open to debate on the topic.

The use of color within a painting is akin to the use of melody in a song. Every painting uses pigment in some way. Every song has some sort of melodic structure.

That being said, I think that to base an exhibition strictly around color is a tough thing to do given it's broad range, but the Asheville Art Museum has taken on the challenge with their newest exhibition, Color Study. The exhibit juxtaposes local artists alongside modern art masters and there some brilliant paintings in this show like Nava Lubelski’s stunning Chance of Flurries and Constance Humphries gestural painting, Swing.

I tend to think the exhibit strays a bit from its initial concept, and it could have offered more challenging explorations of color. It’s surprising that not a single piece by Josef Albers is included in the show given the fact that Albers literally wrote the book on color -- Interaction of Color.

Nevertheless, as I wrote in this article for the Mountain Xpress, Color Study is an excellent primer for those who have never contemplated the use of color in art, and there are some wonderful pieces on display that should not go unseen.

Color Study will be on display at The Asheville Art Museum until November 6th.

www.ashevilleart.org

Heather Lewis: Drawing towards the light

2011-08-01T14:35:00.009-04:00

Photograph by Matt Rose, courtesy of Verve Magazine

Since she was a little girl, Heather Lewis has been drawn to the light. Growing up in Trinidad next to an oil refinery, Lewis, now 49, recalls the long shadows cast upon her bedroom walls by the factory. It’s not the sort of thing most kids grow up with, but for Lewis, the glowing orange light and elongated shadows were staples of her childhood.

They’ve become staples in her artwork as well—installations and projections that Lewis categorizes as “nontraditional drawings.” A shadow, she explains, is much like a stencil that uses light as a medium—flat, the way a traditional drawing is, and totally accurate. But shadows can also be toyed with, and she’s made a career out of doing so. “I can take it outside and blow it up big on a building,” she says of a projected shadow. “It can be destroyed and created in an instant.”

Read the full article: Shadow Boxer; Verve Magazine, August 2011

Heather Lewis is part of the Green Shadow exhibit at The McColl Center in Charlotte through August 20. Her work will appear in a group exhibition, Waking up with Van Gogh, at the Hickory Museum of Art next year. For more, check out www.heatherlewis.net.

Stories are alive for you, and you're living them

2011-07-06T13:28:00.011-04:00

Connie Regan-Blake as photographed by Rebecca D'Angelo

As an art form, storytelling has gained recognition over the years, but Connie Regan-Blake [who has been a professional storyteller for 40 years] says she still receives the occasional raised eyebrow when she writes it as her occupation on legal documents. “In the 1970s, the National Storytelling Festival was the only festival. Now, almost every state in the union has a storytelling festival,” she says. In North Carolina, she reckons there are more than half a dozen.

Guilds and societies have sprung up around storytelling. The Asheville Storytelling Circle is a group of committed storytellers (Regan-Blake is a member), and she participates in local story slams at places like The Magnetic Field and Firestorm Café in downtown Asheville.

As a pioneer of the storytelling movement, mentors were hard to come by in the early days when Regan-Blake established a lifelong friendship with Ray Hicks. One of the original storytellers, Hicks passed away in 2003. The two met in 1973 at the first national storytelling festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. “He really lived the stories,” she says. “He taught me that the stories are alive for you and you’re living them.” -Read the full article: Storied Past (and Future) Verve Magazine July 2011

To learn more about Connie Regan-Blake visit www.storywindow.com

Regan-Blake will be performing with Sheila Kay Adams at White Horse Black Mountain on July 29 at 8pm.

A curator's journey through Asheville

2011-06-20T13:53:00.005-04:00

Last week curator, archivist, and events producer, Jason Andrew visited Asheville to install an exhibition of Jack Tworkov paintings at Black Mountain College Museum. An online journal of the curatorial process was recorded, along with all the things he did around town. It's a really enlightening personal account of the sweat and tears that goes into installing a show. He also highlights some fun Asheville activities and people he met along the way.

Read Day 1 of Andrews curator's journal on hyperallergenic.com here: http://hyperallergic.com/27055/curator-diary-jason-andrew/
(Subsequent days are linked on the bottom of the page.)

Andrew will be coming back to Asheville later this summer to co-curate a dance performance at the Masonic Temple Saturday August 6th 8:00pm.

More info on the dance performance and The Accident of Choice: Paintings by Jack Tworkov can be read here.

Mark S. Holland

2011-06-10T10:36:00.006-04:00

Journey to Jerusalem oil on panel 40 in x 50 in.

Andante acrylic on canvas 52 in by 44 in

I recently came across Mark S. Holland's paintings at Atelier 24 in downtown Asheville. His large floral paintings are breathtaking, and his narrative paintings are quite intriguing. I really like the visual density of his work, his limited color palette, and effortless brushwork.

On his website Holland writes: Archetypes, ancestors, recollection of things unseen, remembrance of the unknown and forgotten pervade my work. I find by painting my own history, desires and passions, I begin to understand myself, my hidden life. We all share similar experiences, much more in common with each other than we realize.

Visit marksholland.com to see more.

City-sponsored Yarnstorming June 10th

2011-06-09T14:53:00.009-04:00

Yarnbombed pothole by Juliana Santacruz Herrera

It's like graffiti, but with yarn.

There's something so benign about knitting, eg., tea cozies and winter scarves. But plenty of artists have done some pretty badass things with yarn. (check out this Facebook group for some neat examples.)

Now there's this thing called yarnstorming, (or yarn bombing): the act of wrapping public fixtures with sheathes of knitted or crocheted yarn -- kind of like a decoration that can be removed at any time. According to this wikipage on yarnbombing, "the practice is still technically illegal, though it is not often prosecuted vigorously."

On Friday June 10th the Asheville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Department will be conducting a FREE yarnstorming workshop 4-7pm at Amboy Park.

According to the event's flyer, no knitting experience is necessary. Instructors will be on hand to teach people how to knit, and install their knitted creations. There will be snacks and music too! It's almost too good to be true, (though I admit that I'm a little bummed to read that all installations will be removed by the city within a week.)

For more information, contact Diane Ruggiero, Superintendent of Cultural Arts, at 828-259-5815

Click here for directions to Amboy Road Park.

Strolling

2011-06-08T13:19:00.005-04:00

Photo by Anthony Bellemare, courtesy of Verve Magazine

The River Arts District Studio Stroll weekend is upon us! While there are a host of new artists and studios to check out, be sure to pay a visit to Cleaster Cotton at the Pink Dog Creatives building on Depot Street, where she'll be showing her "contemporary primitive" mixed media work.

Though she relatively new to the area, Cotton's been involved in some mighty community work -- like teaching art to economically-disadvantaged kids. She makes her work using found materials saying, "The materials present themselves. they tell me how they want to be treated."

Read more about Cotton in this article written for Verve Magazine: 100 Percent Cotton

I'm also looking forward to seeing Margaret Couch Cogswell's newest project, Tiny Mailbox, a collection of mail art displayed in a mobile gallery at The Cottonmill Studios on Riverside Drive. Cogswell, a mixed media/book artist, put out a call for mail art several months ago in an effort to revive the waning custom of snail mail. I'm anticipating the results, of which, it appears, there were many. Read more about the project on Cogswell's blog.

See you at the stroll!

Still life with Internet June 2

2011-06-03T14:48:00.007-04:00

Attraction

Michael Traister

traisterphoto.com

Mary's Piano

Courtney Chappell

courtneychappell.com

Jason Holland

barnofhell.com

A picnic table under...

Scott Duncan

Tools Before Use

Tools In Use

Stina Anderson

ARTeriesbystina.com

View All of Still Life with Internet

Still life with Internet May 25

2011-05-26T07:17:00.008-04:00

Elizabeth Tomasetti

elizabethtomasetti.com

Edwards Harper

edwardsharper.com

Nobody

Dangers

Lorruh Vilhite

Rose Candela

rosecandelastudio.com

submit your jpegs; details here

View all entries

Friend Me

2011-05-19T13:13:00.008-04:00

I always love to see an artist respond to current social media trends, which is why I'm really looking forward to seeing Erin Fussell's exhibit, Friend Me at The Asheville Community Theater.

In this fast-paced era of social networking and text messaging, Fussell asks whether real relationships can be nurtured via digital technology. Using the old-school photographic devices of film and darkroom, Fussell's photographs are metaphors for the time spent developing human relationships.

To make the photos, Fussell contacted subjects via text messages and Facebook requests. Then she spent a substantial amount of time with each person documenting conversation and gestures.

Fussell writes: "Friend Me reminds viewers that communication tools of technology do not replace real time spent with people in one’s life."

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, May 20, 5:30-7:30pm

Asheville Community Theatre
35 E Walnut Street (downtown)
Asheville, NC

Friend Me will be on display until June 3.

Check out Fussell's Friend Me book: http://www.blurb.com/books/2174783/pages/0

Still life with Internet May 18

2011-05-18T14:09:00.003-04:00

Nest

Erin Fussell

First stage of a model car project

Tim Stellar

Submit your jpegs; details here

View all entries here.

Still Life with Internet May 14

2011-05-14T13:28:00.009-04:00

Megan McKissack

Desk

Kitchen

Celene DeLoach

Egg Syntax

Found Still Lives, Los Angeles May 2011

Brandon Jardine

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54109760@N03/

Submit your jpegs; details here

View All Entries

Still Life with Internet May 10

2011-05-10T15:32:00.008-04:00

Fit for a Queen

Kiss me in the Morning

Kimberly Miller

www.kmbrly.co

Aran Galligan

AranGalligan.com

AranGalligan.blogspot.com

Still Life Taken with my Internet

Jaye Bartell

Still Life Soup

Scott Duncan

Seattle Deck

Phillip McGuire

understatementman.com

Amanda Wiles

cloudseeds.org

Grooming Habits

Alan Rushing

thinkpaint.blogspot.com

Drank Too Much 2011

Pile of Shoes 2011

Susan Sorrell

creativechick.com

submit your jpegs;details here

See all entries here

Still Life with Internet May 3

2011-05-03T15:28:00.015-04:00

My Life's View

Joanie Morris

R. Brooke Priddy + Ryan Conrad

Sarah West

www.sarahwestdesigns.com

understatementman™

www.understatementman.com

Robin Plemmons

balls to the wall y'all

Audrey McMurry

Infatuation

Big Apple Little Apple

Anna Jensen

www.annajensenart.com

Michael Ohgren

Submit your jpegs; details here

Click here to see all entries

Still Life with Internet April 30

2011-04-30T14:16:00.006-04:00

Jeff Overas

Julie Elizabeth Wade

Submit your jpegs! details here.

Click here to see all entries.

Asheville Rites Project: A public art + performance piece

2011-04-28T11:06:00.009-04:00

Photo of Molly Rose Freeman by Matt Rose, courtesy of Verve Magazine

For the next two weeks Molly Rose Freeman will be painting five 10' x10' panels for the Asheville Rites Project, a collaborative performance piece that comes together on May 21. The panels are installed in amphitheatre format in the RiverLink sculpture and performance plaza, an outdoor venue located at 117 Riverside Drive, across from the Cotton Mill Studios and 12 Bones Restaurant.

A dance choreographed by Garth Gimball is set to take place at dusk on May 21st (raindate is May 28th) at the plaza with Freeman's panels serving as the backdrop. Live music will be performed by Michael Libramento. The event is free and open to the public. In the meantime, you can swing by and check out the mural as it progresses.

This project is made possible with the help of Kickstarter donations, RiverLink, Arts2People, Asheville Mural Project, The River Arts District Artist Community, and Asheville Ballet

Read more about Molly Rose Freeman: Wall Flower: Verve Magazine May 2011

Still Life with Internet April 27

2011-04-27T08:44:00.005-04:00

Nancy Bopp

Kevin Isgett

Submit your jpegs; details here

SETSE at the W.C. Reid Center

2011-04-25T19:24:00.010-04:00

Check out setsearts.blogspot.com for some great pictures of kids at the W.C. Reid Center participating in an after school art program headed up by Cleaster Cotton. SETSE = Self Empowerment Through Self Expression. The program is being funded by 5 Walnut Wine Bar.

I love the paintings they're all making on the blog! Cotton says she's been teaching the kids methods she employs in her own work which you can see at cleastercotton.blogspot.com.

Still Life with Internet April 23

2011-04-23T16:19:00.009-04:00

Ripley Whiteside

ripleywhiteside.com

Melody Jung

meloflower@gmail.com

Karen Elderly

picturesbykaren.com

Deborah Flowers

westcoastexposure.org

submit your jpegs; details here

Still life with Internet: April 22

2011-04-22T11:44:00.005-04:00

Scott Hubener

scotthubener.blogspot.com

Donovan Fuller

donovanspictures.com

Workspace

Charles Fetherolf

charlesfetherolf.com

submit your jpegs; details here

Still Life with Internet: April 21

2011-04-21T12:17:00.010-04:00

Jane Allen Nodine

janenodine.com

Jenny Bowen

Homelife

Jasper Macfarlane Rhoden

Homelife

Jodi Rhoden

shortstreetcakes.com

No art but sculls and degree

Dasha Vladimirova

submit your jpegs, details here

Still life with Internet April 20

2011-04-20T13:35:00.005-04:00

Mark E. Flowers

mountainTEAstudios.com

The Clean Green Bean

Scot Quaranda

Food Artist Needed

Scot Quaranda

Submit your still life jpeg: details here

Still life with Internet April 19

2011-04-19T14:37:00.006-04:00

Downtown Books and News Still life

Lisa Nance and Patrick Kukucka

Mark E. Flowers

mflowers@mountainTEAstudios.com

www.mountainTEAstudios.com

Submit your still life jpeg details here

Call for Art: Still Life with Internet

2011-04-18T12:03:00.008-04:00

CALL TO ALL INTERNET USERS:

Submit your jpegs to my first-ever cyber art show:

STILL LIFE WITH INTERNET

Assemble a still life arrangement, take a picture of it, and send it to artseenasheville@gmail.com

I will post ALL entries, as I receive them, on this blog.

Some guidelines:

•You do not have to be an Asheville resident to participate.

•Do not send more than 2 jpegs.

•Please make them a reasonable size so as not to blow up my email account.

•Please send contact info and/or website so I can include them with your entry. (You may remain anonymous if you wish.)

I will post anything and everything I receive before June 1st, 2011.

Click here to see the show as it progresses

Current shows in Asheville you might want to see

2011-04-07T21:51:00.017-04:00

Travis Medford at PUSH Gallery. Opening Friday April 8th
"The Third Other will be an opportunity for the community to view the first solo exhibition by Medford. Primarily a graphic designer and screen printer, Travis will be showing larger mixed media works on wood, supported by limited edition, silk screened art prints. Taking inspiration from pulp novels, comics, monster magazines, skateboard graphics, and punk flyers, Medford’s work offers the viewer a layered mash-up of image, color and texture."
pushtoyproject.com

Molly Sieburg Courcelle's painterly abstracts at Atelier 24 on Lexington Avenue in downtown Asheville.
Opening Reception Sat. April 9th. 6-9pm
mollycourcelle.com

Molly Rose Freeman's patterned ruminations at Eclipse Salon on Wall Street in downtown Asheville.
Show hangs thru April 18th.
mollyrosefreeman.com

Allen Leper Hampton at FLOOD Gallery in the Phil Mechanic Building in the River Arts District.

Show hangs thru April 28
allenhampton.net

An assortment of photos taken with disposable cameras at the Desoto Lounge in West Asheville.

Scotthubener.com is one of the photographers.

Book trailer by Luca Dipierro

2011-04-04T11:47:00.006-04:00

I'd like to call attention to this recent stop motion book trailer created by Luca Dipierro for the novel Us by Michael Kimball (NY Tyrant Books, 2011.)
Dipierro currently lives in Asheville, NC.
Learn more about his projects, including his new book, by visiting blackbiscotti.blogspot.com

Animating the macabre through paper and paint: Mountain Xpress 5/05/10

Bridget Elmer

2011-04-01T13:05:00.005-04:00

We can go beyond it

Combining her interests in handmade books, libraries, information exchange and social justice, Bridget Elmer produces works of art that go beyond the book — literally.

Her thesis project, Fibre Libre mirrors the way open-source technology is developed. To make paper for the book, Elmer brought together 10 people who each contributed to its production. Similarly, she had participants adjust processing code to produce a variety of digital images for the book, demonstrating the fundamental ideas of collaboration and revision found in open-source technology.

Another project, We Can Go Beyond It, (pictured above) explores theories of neuroplasticity -- the assertion that the human brain is capable of changing itself. Comprised of various maps of brain activity, the book detaches into "links" that can then be manipulated by the handler: a physical manifestation of the way a person might dismantle and resolve destructive ways of thinking.

Read more: Bold Life Magazine 4/11: Books without Borders

Elmer will perform a collaborative piece involving her printing press and artists R. Brooke Priddy, Matt Schnable and Nathanael Roney at the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {Re} HAPPENING event April 9. Visit rehappening.com for details.

See more of Elmer's work at www.flatbedsplendor

Immersion at The Asheville School

2011-03-29T15:00:00.015-04:00

Drawing by Alli Good

It's an unlikely venue for showcasing creative talents, but The Asheville School -- which is tucked away in a scenic West Asheville neighborhood -- has been having some interesting exhibitions this year. Organized by local artist Moni Hill, last month the work of Nava Lubelski, Heather Lewis, and Bridget Conn, was featured.

This month the theme of Immersion is explored by artists Alli Good, Spencer Herr, Angela Eastman, Katie Brooks and myself. Based on what I saw while hanging work this morning, there are wonderful paintings and illustrations by Good that narrate a woman's journey into deep water and large elaborate paper cuts and stencils by Eastman that resemble the scales of a fish.

Immersion will be on display at The Walker Arts Center until May 1st.

An opening reception will be held this Thursday, March 31st 5-7pm

The Walker Arts Center is open to the public Mon-Sat 10am-5pm

Directions: http://www.ashevilleschool.org/about/gettinghere.aspx

More info on the show: http://www.ashevilleschool.org/news/detail.aspx?

Be sure to check out the scenic campus and the Art Deco style Boyd Chapel, which is located right next to the Walker Arts Center.

{Pre}Happening on Walnut Street

2011-03-13T15:55:00.019-04:00

On the evening of March 12th, one block of Walnut Street in downtown Asheville was closed to traffic in order to accommodate {Pre}Happening a multi media event sponsored by the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center and Asheville's Media Arts Project.

Here Mark Koven and Gene Felice project video onto the BB&T building. The bus they are sitting on is called Easel Rider Mobile Arts Lab. Says Koven, "It is a project that was the vision of Diane Ruggerio, city superintendent. I have been helping her and her team put it together and we were really excited about its debut. It will be showcased again on April 9th during the Re Happening and again during the Hatch festival."

Video projections by Scott Furr

Performance by Claire Elizabeth Barratt

LED throwies bulletin created by participating audience members. (Wing structure built by Mark Koven.)

Sound by Elisa Faires and Chandra Shukla

The event was part of a series to promote April 9th's {RE}Happening which is set to take place at the historic grounds of the main campus of Black Mountain College. As stated on the website: "{Re}Happening balances the history, tradition and experience of BMCM+AC with the forward thinking and media-based collective of artists that define the MAP."

www.rehappening.com

themap.org

www.blackmountaincollege.org

ReMade by Nava Lubelski

2011-03-12T18:14:00.008-05:00

Nava Lubelski, an internationally known artist who lives in Asheville, is currently involved with a project I find interesting due to it's alternative economic-based format. Lubelski's ReMade Project is part of The Present Group Art Subscription Service which creates limited editions of original artwork by reputable artists. Subscribers to the service receive artwork while funding contemporary art projects. A yearly subscription of $150, for example, gives a patron three limited edition art pieces.

For the project, Lubelski has used a scan of one of her original stained and stitched "paintings" and converted it into computer code so that it could be reproduced en masse by an industrial sewing machine. As she explains in a video she made, the glitches and odd ways the machine interpreted her code contributes to the interest of the manufactured pieces (pictured above.)

To see Lubelski explain her art and the project visit: http://www.unitedstatesartists.org/project/remade

www.navalubelski.com to see more work.

On Grad School and Art: A discussion with Courtney Chappell

2011-03-10T13:55:00.016-05:00

Courtney Chappell is currently finishing up the MFA program at Western University. As her thesis project she created I can see your house from up here, a mixed media installation based on her personal response to images of war, and the dehumanization of the "other." See more of her work at courtneychappell.com

How has being in a 3 year graduate program affected the way you look at art?

School provided the basis of an understanding of various art epochs. I think of the art world --and the recent history of art as we know it -- as a game that you observe from a distance. It’s like the game of the art establishment. It’s a construct that I didn’t really see myself connected to, but school gave me an understanding of the institution of art. It helps certain old or archaic texts seem relevant.

Example?

When I was an undergrad I remember learning about how this painting by Picasso (Les Demoiselles d'Avignon) was the gateway to Modern Art Modern Art. He flattened the perspective, which in turn became self-referential because it drew attention to the artist’s decision to do that – the simplification of form and so on.

In grad school I learned to think more like an art historian or critic. I also gained a global self-consciousness about my work, I had a strong self-awareness that I was very separated from this world of art making as a trajectory, and I never found a place for it in a historical context.

My knowledge of the history of art making became more fine-tuned. I learned about German Expressionism and the various problems that arose, such as the conflation of the victim and the victimizer during the Holocaust. The critics say Josef Buey’s for example romanticized the sufferings of the holocaust. I formed my own analysis of his work but I never felt like I was saying anything new. There’s a feeling with art history that everything’s been said.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that ultimately the difference between undergrad and grad is that the focus is narrowed. There’s a feeling in grad school that your focus is so narrow and that by the time you get out you’ve only touched the tip of an iceberg.

I have to say that there’s nothing in grad school that you can’t learn outside of it it. You just need to get your friends to tell you what their favorite artists are, look at curriculums on the internet for reading lists if you care. It is nice to have someone to talk about these things with though.

Lets talk about your work.

I felt very self-conscious. It’s the only time where you really have an exclusive relationship with your viewers that that is formalized. I always felt invested in the opinions of the people who inhabited this temporary community that I was a part of.

I was very susceptible to changing my ideas to connect to people. When I was finally in a situation where people were offering their suggestions it felt like such a gift, to have people around me who would tell me what they wanted from a piece that would help give voice to your vision. It felt very collaborative.

But I know that a part of grad school is learning to defend yourself against other people’s critiques. So I would constantly find myself wanting to make alterations according to their suggestions but sometimes they would critique without offering a suggestion of what to do better. It would be a blanket suggestion like, “this isn’t working,” or “you need to dig deeper.” I was always asking for specific instructions, “should I paint portraits, should I do more house.” It would feel good to me to relinquish control.

But this is also my own personal issue with relating to the viewer and some people don’t have that instinct to internalize or conform to what people think they should.

Of course, many times I disagreed with the critique.

How did you get to your final thesis project?

I had always been really controlled in my work and it was somewhat masochistic. I wanted to learn how to paint the right way. In a way I felt unworthy of art and if I could paint well I could do anything. This perfectionist instinct became exasperated during the first part of my schooling. Because of that pressure I sort of cracked and started cutting up pieces of my junk mail in an attempt to do the worst possible thing and reject anything I thought I was supposed to be doing. That lead me to create these small cities and little houses, and it was a different way to connect to the people I had been painting in my paintings.

Who were these people?

Individuals. Strangers, humans that I’ve only seen on the Internet basically, or in the news.

Specific to the Gulf War?

I kept it specific to the Iraq Invasion because that was the first war I was conscious of. I feel like it’s useful when approaching a war or an invasion as a topic to keep my focus narrow.

How did the installation come about?

I think that the imaginary pressure of working in a tight knit community that was also an institution led me to work in a frantic and rushed manner which I had always tried to fight when I was painting and which I allowed to be a part of this work. When I was working on the installation I jumped from one thing to the next – one object to the next. I would draw as quickly as possible. Leave things in an embarrassingly unfinished state. Sometimes over decorate or overwork things and then get lazy with the line work. I allowed myself to be easily distracted. I decided that that way of working would tell some sort of story about my role as an American --my experience as American woman.

In what way?

In that I think America is easily distracted.

So in this way the process of making the work became a part of it?

Yes. Very much so.

How do you think the experience of being in grad school will affect your work from this point on?

The main thing that’s been great are my friends. Maybe I got lucky. Two of the people I ended up being in school with were old friends. Everyone in the program was great and that was really wonderful to go through. Beneath all the trappings of academia, the actual connections you make are very real. We have a joke that we actually came to grad school to meet each other.

Locally made art canvases

2011-03-07T10:20:00.009-05:00

Gary Grubbs has been supplying artists with his handmade canvases for over 25 years. A Black Mountain resident, Grubbs's business is quite modest. I can't give you his email address or a website because he doesn't have one. When I told him I wanted to write about him for my blog I think he was a little confused as to what a blog is.

Gary's been making my canvases since 2004. I seek out his services when I need something really large, or a customized size, or if I just need canvases in general. I haven't been able to find better quality canvases for the price he sells his at. For example, Grubbs charges $15 for a 18" x 14" x 1.5" canvas. You might be able to find that size at a lower price but it won't have the thick edges, or the handmade quality that brings heart and soul to each piece. Gary can also make the depth of each canvas any size an artist needs. He told me some people get canvases made up to 8" deep.

Gary is not an artist himself and he came into the business by accident. "I was building a staircase for a woman who taught art and she asked me how she could make canvases for her students," he told me. He went ahead and prepared the canvases for her, and realized he had discovered his niche, saying "I'm glad I did, because it's been keeping me alive for the last 25 years."

There are several people around town who make custom canvases for artists. One is Mark Schieferstein, an accomplished painter. Another is Douglas Stewart of Asheville Fine Art Services. In the event you need canvases at a really short notice, I recommend you pop into True Blue Art Supply in downtown Asheville. They frequently run sales on their inventory, and you can always find a good bargain there.

ART & WORK

2011-03-05T14:42:00.008-05:00

1961 – Piero Manzoni cans his own shit and sells it for its weight in gold

Since writing Self Portrait with Food Stamps I've been having great discussions with local artists on such issues involving the pricing of art and raising the bar on Asheville's contemporary art scene. The latter seems take precedence to many. While there are a few good contemporary art galleries in Asheville, I would still like to see Asheville evolve into a contemporary arts destination. The time has come for artists to join forces, take over spaces and make it happen!

Art is not just about the objects we make anymore. It is about the way we approach our lives, the connections we make, and the change we manifest through our creative work. It's about incorporating new and old technologies, being innovative and thinking outside the institutional art world box.

Bridget Elmer, a local printmaker, bookmaker and conceptual artist, recently introduced me to a newspaper called ART WORK that deals explicitly with economic issues facing artists. The writings are culled from art critics, artists, curators and the paper advocates a national conversation about art, labor and economics. The website to visit is www.artandwork.us

Hopefully we can get some papers distributed around town to excite people about these topics. (Granted, some of the writing is quite dense, but on a rainy day it makes a good read.)

Here's an article I enjoyed about the history of economic art: Selected Moments in the History of Economic Art

Self Portrait with Food Stamps

2011-02-28T11:31:00.012-05:00

Starving Artist by Luke Ramsey

I wrote Self Portrait with Food Stamps to draw attention to the fact that many people want to market Asheville as as arts destination without knowing all that's involved with surviving economically as an artist (or musician.) It isn't as easy as it looks!
The comments that have appeared thus far on the website are quite interesting.

Reactionary:

"I (taxpayer) should not have to pay for you to fingerpaint and play with clay."

Angry:

"Personally I’m sick of Asheville and as soon as I see a good chance to split..I’m taking it. Asheville has been a curse to me ever since I arrived over 10 years ago. I say cut your losses and run to every artist I see."

Enlightening:

For visual arts especially, we need a good independent upscale auction house that draws agents and collectors (not just tourists) so that Asheville’s artists can more efficiently enhance their reputation and reach a wider audience—an audience with deep pockets.

Personal:

We work odd jobs all year round and eat a lot of rice and beans, rarely go out to hear music or see theater (sadly). 95% of our sales are from out of state. In the summer a lot of money flows in, but then it flows out quickly on materials and travel expenses to sell at shows.

Please feel free to join in the discussion!

Additionally, Asheville will be holding it's first Creative Summit on March 16th and 17th to determine what Asheville needs to grow as a viable city for working artists.
Independent artists, performers, and creatives are invited to share suggestions and insights 5:30-8:30 at the Masonic Temple Wednesday March 16th.
Check www.ashevillearts.com for more information

Local businesses & the art scene

2011-02-18T12:02:00.013-05:00

Encaustics by Georgia Smith are currently on display at the Early Girl Eatery on Wall Street

Paintings by Dustin Spagnola hang at Arcade Asheville

I've said it before and I'll say it again: some of the more interesting art in Asheville can be found in the restaurants, bookstores, record shops, clothing boutiques and hair salons of this town. It makes sense since business owners don't need to rely on art sales to keep their business afloat.

It's true such places can't get too overly extreme with the work they show since they often need to maintain a level of family-friendliness or appetite stimulation. Nevertheless, the contribution these venues make to Asheville's art scene is vital.
Maybe an "alt art venue" map could be drawn up to distribute to tourists this summer!
Here's a list of local businesses, in no particular order, that consistently display interesting art.

Harvest Records http://www.harvest-records.com/

Downtown Books and News http://www.myspace.com/downtownbooksandnews

PUSH Skate Shop http://www.pushtoyproject.com/
Clingman Cafe http://www.clingmancafe.com/

Bobo Bar and Gallery http://www.bobogallery.com/
Short Street Cakes http://www.shortstreetcakes.com/
Early Girl Eatery http://earlygirleatery.com/
The Over Easy http://www.yelp.com/biz/over-easy-cafe-asheville
Eclipse Salon http://eclipseasheville.com/

Wink Salon http://www.ilovewink.com/
Ananda Hair Studio http://www.anandahair.com/

Blitzkrieg Games http://www.blitzkrieggames.com/
Hip Replacements Clothing Boutique http://hipreplacementsclothing.blogspot.com/
Izzy's Coffee Den http://izzyscoffeeden.com/
True Blue Art http://trueblueartsupply.com/

Arcade Asheville http://www.arcadeasheville.com/
Rosetta's Kitchen http://rosettaskitchen.com/

Tod's Tasties http://todstasties.com/

It's hard to remember everyone! Let me know who I'm leaving out.

Ian Brownlee

2011-02-14T11:13:00.010-05:00

Elisha Mitchell's Funeral

I've been admiring Asheville painter Ian Brownlee's work for years. His narrative paintings were featured in New American Painters Magazine in 2006, and the piece above is currently in an exhibition in Chapel Hill called Local Histories. Brownlee was also deemed one of WNC's top emerging artists by WNC Magazine in 2009.
Quieter paintings of landscapes and room interiors can be found at Gallery Minerva in downtown Asheville. Check his website for more amazing work: www.ianbrownlee.us
The Local Histories exhibit hangs until April 29th
Location: 523 East Franklin Street
Chapel Hill, NC, 27514

Call 919-923-4550 for more info

Lauren Gallaspy's delicate wreckages

2011-02-07T15:19:00.008-05:00

I recently wrote an article for the Mountain Xpress about the latest installment of work at Blue Spiral 1 Gallery in downtown Asheville. In researching the gallery and it's artists I became deeply smitten by the work of Lauren Gallaspy.

Gallaspy puts the gore in gorgeous. (It's ridiculous to write that but I can't help myself.)
The intricacy of her illustrations add visual depth to her wonderfully visceral structures.

See more at: www.laurengallaspy.com

Surprise Discoveries: Blue Spiral 1 unearths Southeastern talents

Closing reception at FLOOD this Saturday

2011-01-27T16:04:00.006-05:00

Due to bad weather, Claire Barratt’s multimedia art installation, Dance is the new visual art at The Flood Gallery went a little under the radar when it opened three weeks ago. If you still haven’t seen it, don’t worry: Barratt will be hosting a special closing reception this Saturday, Jan. 29, from noon to 4 p.m.

Barratt shines not only as a performance artist, but also in her ability to push boundaries. Something that is in danger of being overly sentimental — such as her fairytale video “Chloe” — maintains interest with its odd camera angles, rough edits and offbeat costuming. Though it’s not clear how the videos conceptually relate to each other, or to the paper surrounding them, it all works as an exercise in serendipity. In a moment when two videos randomly sync up with a crunching sound and a gestural movement, one gets the feeling that everything is exactly how it ought to be.

More info: Final week of dance is the new visual art; MountainXpress

Asheville Mall Flash Mob

2011-01-23T14:57:00.002-05:00

This kind of stuff is so great.

Fringe Fest!

2011-01-20T12:43:00.024-05:00

It's that time of the year again.

In my experience, Fringe Festivals are always hit-or-miss events.
I've left venues sometimes wondering why they don't just call them Cringe Festivals. But ultimately the cringe factor is what makes this kind of thing so fun. It's like watching the Oscars and secretly hoping for something unexpected to happen -- like a stumble on the red carpet, an awkward acceptance speech, or a win for a movie that actually deserves it.

Buying a ticket to these events is akin to playing Russian Roulette -- especially if you're new to town and have no idea who anyone is. The key here is to maintain an open mind! Even if it's bad, it's worth it.

Just glancing over the scheduled acts I can honestly say that this year's lineup looks more polished than previous years. Here are some of my predictions of what to expect:

•Bebe Theatre events in the past have run the gamut from comedic, to bawdy, to arty to dull to refreshingly cheese-ball. I love going to Bebe fringe events because I can always expect the unexpected.
•Black Mountain College Museum performances look like they will be high quality and appropriately experimental. You'll get your money's worth but maybe not a fun story to tell your friends later.

•Expect more circus and burlesque acts in the River District's Wedge Building--an intriguing lineup of dance, music, theaterical and interactive performances.

• TONIGHT at the Asheville Art Museum is Pecha Kucha, an entertaining slide presentation to provoke dialogue. $5

Check www.ashevillefringe.org for the full schedule and info on artists.

While fringe theatre refers to theater that is not mainstream, Fringe Festivals are notable for the unjuried nature of the performances. In general, production expenses are kept low and casts are kept small. The original Fringe Festival took place in Adelaide Scotland in the early 1970's as a reaction to mainstream theatre events. Since then Fringe Festivals have grown in popularity and are produced in cities all over the globe, from Melbourne to Minnesota.

Julie Armbruster's Sudden Bursts

2011-01-17T10:59:00.004-05:00

Dilwad the Ugly Unicorn

Nuggler the Vampire Owl

One weeks remains to check out the creative hijinks of Asheville artist Julie Armbruster. Her show, "Sudden Bursts" hangs at The Early Girl Eatery until January 23rd. Armbruster's imagined creatures are like manifestations of our our inner dialogue. Maybe that's why we love them so.

www.juliearmbruster.net

The Early Girl Eatery is located at 8 Wall St. in downtown Asheville

Mariana Templin

2011-01-13T11:02:00.006-05:00

Vision in the Desert

Tricky Coyote

The act of play is essential to me.
Sometimes I’m wary when other adults

express such sentiments. But there
are some remnants of childhood that
never leave: a confusion about who
we are, or how to get what we want. I
have a cast of characters in my mind
that I regularly don or consult. Some
are more or less public, more or less
nuanced. But, without them, I would not
create anything of substance.

~ Mariana Acuňa Templin

Paintings by Mariana Templin are currently on display at Tod's Tasties located at 102 Montford Ave.

R.I.P. Vadim Bora

2011-01-10T20:24:00.006-05:00

Canadian Girl

Sleeping Shore

Russian-born artist Vadim Bora passed away January 5th, 2011. Bora was a well-known Asheville sculptor, painter, teacher and advocate for the local arts community.

"Bora came to the United States from Russia for freedom, both personal and artistic. That's why he explored such a range of work, from fantastical paintings to sculpture based on historical photographs.

He was an artist with many identities: a sculptor, painter, drawer, jewelry maker and poet. But as a person, a singular character emerges: a generous friend, with boundless energy and an enthusiasm for art — and the grand world that inspired him."

Read more: Asheville artist Vadim Bora, dead at 56, left his mark on adopted city written by Carol Motsinger for The Asheville Citizen Times 1/7/11

Alli Marshall from the MountainXpress writes:

"Bora himself seemed to glow, greeting visitors to his studio, generously pouring wine, encouraging us all to enjoy. At the final downtown art walk of 2010 (Friday, Dec. 3), I arrived at Bora's gallery to find it sparsely populated. Hearing voices from across the hall, I peeked into Bora's studio (which occupied the other half of the upstairs space at 30 1/2 Battery Park) and found that that's where the party was happening. Local artists and art enthusiasts crowded the space, talking, drinking wine and looking at Bora's works in progress. The artist himself was holding court, offering wine and trying to adjust the heat. There was nothing particularly special about the evening, and yet it felt like a grand celebration — a testament to the artist's all-too-short, but vividly-colorful life."

Dance is the New Visual Art

2011-01-04T10:46:00.008-05:00

DANCE IS THE NEW VISUAL ART
A video installation by Claire Elizabeth Barratt

OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, January 8th

7pm – 10pm
FLOOD GALLERY
Phil Mechanic Building on Roberts Street
RiverArts District – Asheville NC

An installation of multiple videos on the subject of dance and movement.

Videos are all created by Cilla Vee Life Arts director Claire Elizabeth Barratt in collaboration with numerous artists from a variety of disciplines.

Collaborators include:
Kimathi Moore – Asheville NC – composer
Charles Elmer – Asheville NC – videographer
Michael Folliet – Asheville NC – videographer
Dr T – Boston MA – VJ video artist
Walter Wright – Lowell MA – sound artist
Randy F Simon – NYC / Jamaica – videographer
Tatsuya Nakatani – Easton PA / Japan – sound artist
Natasha Royka – Ottawa ON – dance videographer

The installation incorporates sculptural forms created of paper, fabric & wire that serve not only as screens for the videos, but also as devices to shape the space. Sound installation by acousmatic composer Dr. Rick Nance is produced by materials used for the installation.

Claire Elizabeth Barratt is a trained dancer, but she prefers to call herself a “motion sculptor.“ It’s a term she came up with while working as a figure model in New York City art schools for five years starting in 2002. Shifting from one pose to the other, she discovered that the contemplative movement was similar to dance. “Organically, it just started happening in my performances,” she says.
Read more: Motion Pictures; Verve Magazine Jan. 2011.

My wish for a new year

2010-12-30T17:24:00.012-05:00

Mural on The Berlin Wall

International borders are abstract concepts, little more than lines on maps that we imagine upon the earth. Existing outside of the real world of rivers, mountains, or deserts, political boundaries have no bearing on ecosystems. ~Art against the Wall by Scott Nicol.

In the last decade, border controls have tightened so much that frequently artists are denied entry into countries. Take, for example, the denial of 5 Iraqi artists into Britain last April, who were part of a prestigious art show in Manchester, and the two artists that were refused visas into Scotland in 2009.

It’s not just a security issue however. The strict border laws are also motivated by economics. Last summer, Asheville performer Claire Elizabeth Barratt was denied entry into Canada – a country she has visited several times in the past – because of a discrepancy concerning her teaching a workshop. The border patrol didn’t like the idea of Barratt receiving payment in Canada so they denied her entry.

This is a real tragedy because artists and intellects are being denied collaborative opportunities and the exchange of information. While information transmitted via Internet has never been greater, vital face-to-face collaborations are being threatened. And it’s not just amongst visual artists: musicians, writers, Nobel Prize Laureates, dancers, athletes and intellectuals all face a growing epidemic of tightened border controls.

My wish for the new year is that the collective consciousness will actively reject ideas of borders and hierarchies of power. As artists we will take on more collaborative projects that harbor cooperation and creatively challenge cultural notions of "us" versus 'them."

Happy New Year everybody!

For artists, border fence is subject and venue

The Border Crossing Art Project

Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project

No one is Illegal

Art Against War

PUSH: the major motion picture

2010-12-23T15:41:00.011-05:00

Here is a teaser for the locally-produced skate movie, PUSH now available on DVD ($10) at PUSH Gallery in downtown Asheville at 25 Patton Avenue. www.pushtoyproject.com

Read more about PUSH: Locally produced skate film puts Asheville on the map Mountain Xpress Vol. 17 / Iss. 22 on 12/21/2010

I really like this addendum written by Nathanael Roney that appears in the printed version of Mountain Xpress:

"Skateboarding has always been an insider's game, and though exclusive in practise, the very essence of its form has always remained culturally relevant and attractive to the external. Like jazz, skateboarding is an art in response to rule, rather than the commonly mistaken sport, whose laborious mastery of said rule is unable to communicate with and for itself. It's a rabbit-hole language with one point of entry, indifferent to the outsider's endorsement."

Neal Ashby

2010-12-21T17:28:00.004-05:00

A while back I had a fun telephone interview with designer Neal Ashby to discuss his career achievements, the evolution of graphic design, and his creative inspiration behind Thievery Corporation’s Versions CD package.
(Read the full interview here.)

Along the way I asked him if he has pursued any visual arts interests and he admitted that he has recently begun teaching himself how to paint. He said he had found some discarded oil paints while teaching at The Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington DC and began after being inspired by an artist for whom he was designing a book.

I paint. It’s embarrassing because I’m not very good at it, and I paint what you probably would never imagine me painting. I actually like to do landscapes. I like to paint very minimalist landscapes of the Eastern shore…serene waters, lots of land, big skies, dark moody stuff.

Everything was inspired by an artist in Maryland, Kevin Fitzgerald, who does these paintings and is an expert at it. He came to me and asked me to design a book for him, and in doing that I completely fell in love with his paintings.

It’s strictly on the hobby level. That’s what makes it special – it’s not done to impress somebody or make a statement – just for the sheer enjoyment of creating something visual. It’s cool to do something like that where the only person you have to please is yourself. ~Neal Ashby

www.ashbydesign.com

Jessica Stoddart

2010-12-13T13:41:00.007-05:00

Antique tricycle

“A lot of who I am is where I came from,” says Jessica Stoddart, 32, who grew up in rural Tennessee, the daughter of artists. “I was raised in a ‘Little House on the Prairie’ kind of way,” she says, recalling a childhood spent chopping wood and riding horses. “I love tools, but I’m also a girly girl.”

Yellow Dress

Stoddart began incorporating paper dress patterns into her paintings about five years ago as a way to distinguish her work. “I’m constantly drawn to the masculine and the feminine in everything,” she says. “For me, the patterns seem feminine but have a masculine, architectural feel.”

Earlier paintings depict arrangements of old-style dress forms — an artifact Stoddart was compelled to draw because, she muses, “it’s not human and it’s not mechanical.” Two such vintage mannequins from the 1920s hang out in Stoddart’s studio these days; she still uses them in her work.

Excerpted from The Peculiarity of Knowledge, published in Carolina Home and Gardens Winter 2010

www.jessicastoddart.com

Molly Courcelle

2010-12-07T11:21:00.010-05:00

Made Glorious

Molly Courcelle's painterly abstracts really speak to me, and I've been admiring her work for several months now.

Her paintings are on display at Atelier 24 in downtown Asheville and her website indicates a show at Clingman Cafe in the River Arts District in 2011.

Memory Abides

My work is as much about the process of painting as it is about the final image. Each painting is its own unique experience. ~M. Courcelle

Journey

See more at mollycourcelle.com