Some thoughts on color

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!