Fellowship exhibition . . . from page 1
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There is something wonderful about a fine art painting. It exudes a magnetic presence and has a certain quality of exceptional fineness. An exhibit of fine art becomes larger than the individual pieces and takes on a life and aesthetic of its own. This exhibit is one the viewer can become easily immersed in. It is difficult to quickly view the show and leave. One is seemingly compelled by the works to take time and study them individually and come to a personal understanding of their intent and message. Then the exhibit itself impels the viewer to enjoy the ambiance of the collected works and perceive how they are intended to relate to each other and the gallery setting.
Karen Horne’s paintings |0 -2| reflect her attraction to the colors and action of outdoor dining scenes. “These works reflect my ongoing fascination with restaurants, a theme I’ve been painting since 1984,” explains Horne. “As a painter, I found the interplay between diners and setting very intriguing. I still think of restaurants as a theatre set, with constantly shifting visual drama.”
Juror Mario Naves says of Horne’s paintings, “Horne takes inspiration from observed phenomenon, fixing in oil paint the moments of solace that only leisure can afford. She is in the thrall of oil paint, employing it with gusto.”
Indeed, it is very evident that Horne loves paint and the act of painting. There is nothing else quite like a well-controlled, thick impasto of paint. This is juicy paint, saturated with color, rapidly applied with a very practiced surety, and capturing the fleeting actions of the moment.
Somehow Horne manages to take these familiar, everyday settings and impart a greater sense of importance and purpose. The figures animate the scenes even as they are at ease. The texture the paint provides to the surface of the canvases enlivens the paintings and imparts a sense of action. Another important aspect is the accuracy of the draftsmanship and her practiced ability to draw human anatomy. “Many years of sketching – on NYC subways, in café’s and in formal life drawing sessions – have helped me to observe and record gesture. My goal is to distill the moment with a few decisive marks,” says Horne.
Horne’s major achievement with these works is, as she states, “to recapture the vivid parade of life”.
Steven Larson’s paintings |3-4| fit well with Horne’s, as well as the other fellowship recipients. He also has a painterly approach and technique. His subject matter, while metropolitan, does not contain any human figures. Instead, the action is created through the suggestion of the passage of time and ever changing light levels. The city scenes rendered by Larson appear to be in a state of constant flux. There is a strong sense of the emotional attachment the artist has for these urban scenes and man made environments and objects.
“In the event of painting, layers are built up and torn down. Exploring the many ways paint can be applied to a surface sustains my motivation to make art. Often I paint without the use of reference material. Working from imagination allows a certain freedom yet presents a unique challenge,” Larson stated regarding his work.
These paintings also have that certain something that says “fine art,” and exude intrinsic value and desirability. The paintings would be easy to live with, even though there is a hint of melancholy, and an expression of the impermanent aspects of mortality. The colors used are soothing and gentle, which provides a sense of the protection habitable structures provide from the natural elements. The sketchy quality of the paintings is also very attractive and offers a feeling of distant familiarity.
Madison N. Smith is displaying 31 pieces, including an installation alcove complete with three-dimensional models of the objects in the paintings and little containers with ivy. |5| The ivy forms a thread that visually connects the pieces together and also forms a time line representing growth and change. This reinforces the aspect of memory and the past events portrayed in the works.
The paintings render the familiar and often mundane objects and events of normal everyday life. Automobiles, furniture, fabric swatches and people are depicted with a very tight and controlled technique. There is a sense of nostalgia associated with these works. Smith says of the paintings, “Certain objects, colors and patterns trigger feelings and memories that have changed over time and when placed together, become threads in a larger personal tapestry.”
Smith uses thin and very smoothly applied paint, which contributes to the clarity of the photo-journalistic approach. It is the juxtaposition of forms, rearranged in non-ordinary configurations, which gives the paintings their sense of being composed from memories. |6| There is a hint of dream state as well. Dreams often provide images that change and morph over time, much like memory provides selective images. “In a way, I am constructing something new out of old parts,” stated Smith.
Paul Stout is a sculptor, and object maker. Sculpture professor Richard Johnston once said, “Sculptors can make anything.” Stout seems to be a proponent of that belief. He invents new objects from familiar parts, and like Smith, constructs new out of old.
In “The Breath of Life Stripped of its Breadth”, |7| Stout has constructed a machine out of found parts to pump air through a series of tubes to a case with a nature scene and blades of grass which are blown by the puffs of compressed air. The “natural” environment is, in essence, being manipulated by man’s inventions.
“The focus of my work in the past several years has been and remains concerned with this lineage, the interaction of technology, nature and culture, and how we as a society use tangible technological explanations to describe the natural world.”
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Three other “machines” are included in the exhibit. “Second Nature” is a machine that raises and lowers a black metal “mast”. |8| Like “Breath of Life”, this machine sits upon a black lacquer table, providing a juxtaposition of the antique with the modern. The antique represents a time before the advance of technology became so dominant and controlling of culture and the environment.
"Reconceived Nature” is a machine that raises and lowers bird wings, and turns a paper cylinder that has hand drawn nature scenes, seen by looking through little glass view ports. |9| Again, this is a representation of man’s ever widening control over nature. In “Untitled, From the New American Landscape Series”, Stout again uses a machine to manipulate a dead butterfly’s wings. The butterfly is contained, like “Reconceived Nature” in a glass bell jar.
The other two Stout works deviate from the machine-manipulated format, and instead rely on a more cerebral than mechanized approach. “Squirrel Death Masks” consists of three plastic squirrel head castings placed in an antique wood and glass specimen display case. Presumably, this is what people could experience of squirrels in the not too distant future.|10|
Two separate rows of colored plaques comprise “The 20 States of Desire, The Postures of Deer, Antelope and Goat Nostrils from Ennui to Ecstasy.” These are plastic castings of animal snouts mounted like trophies on machine carved wooden plaques. This clever piece seems to deviate from Stout’s usual nature controlled or manipulated by man, theme and instead references perhaps man’s baser animalistic nature. |11|
In all, the Fellowship Recipient Exhibition is engaging, inspiring and entertaining, while providing a strong sense of aesthetic cohesiveness. Kudos to the Utah Arts Council for another very successful exhibit and program. Congratulations to the Fellowship recipients.
The Utah Arts Council Fellowship Recipients Exhibitions continues through the end of October. The Utah Arts Council's Board has approved an increase in the Fellowship award money. Beginning 2006, the UAC Visual Arts Program will award two $10,000 Fellowships annually. Guidelines for the next Fellowsihp award will be available in May 2006.
Alternative Venue: Salt Lake City
Martine Café Tapas
by Lisa B. Huber
Don’t let the red sandstone façade intimidate you. Martine's Café Tapas, located at 22 East and 100 South (in the old Utah Commercial and Savings Bank Building built in 1889), although just as classy on the inside, is warm and inviting even to the most casually-dressed visitor. Upon entering (shortly before 2pm), I notice that the lingering lunch clientele is dressed in business attire although Tom Grant (owner/chef) has reassured me that the lunch crowd is often quite casual. Martine is open every day but Sunday’s for lunch and dinner, and has been in business for six years offering a variety of specialties including Tapas, which are small Spanish appetizers.
I immediately notice high, expansive walls decorated very sparsely with two pieces of framed poster art. All furnishings and trim are in natural dark wood, adding to the rich environment. Shawn Jacobsen, Manager of Martine’s, agrees to an interview. He is warm and welcoming. and takes me to an adjoining dining room lined with private booths. We settle into one of them to talk. The high windows bathe the room in natural north light. Again, I notice a large framed monochromatic mural is the single wall decoration.
Shawn tells me they expanded the café for the Olympics in 2002 and made the decision then to use that additional upstairs space to promote artists. They had hoped it would increase business as well. Is it successful? “It is and it isn’t” is his reply. When asked why they chose not to display the art throughout the restaurant, he says it is a logistics problem and a choice to keep the main café decor more simple.
He tells me artwork is exchanged on a quarterly basis and is celebrated with an opening, always scheduled for a weeknight, so it will not conflict with Friday evening business. Martine contracts with Gary Vlasic who works with Phillips Gallery to screen and handle all arrangements with featured artists. In exchange for providing a viewing space, the artist provides his/her own advertising postcards and any sales go against the opening night’s refreshments ($300). At this time Martine requires no other sales commission from the artist. Martine and Gary Vlasic are currently investigating a general “call for entries” in a Utah Arts Council listing to simplify the artist selection process.
I ask to see the featured artist’s work and we make our way up the wooden staircase in the front hall to the second floor dining loft. Two gentlemen in coats and ties are whispering a business deal in the corner overlooking the main floor. We walk straight back to the rear of the building. The room, small in contrast to the rest of the café, with low ceilings and south-facing windows, is used mostly for private parties and overflow from the main café. It contains one large dining table surrounded by matching wooden chairs. The space displays about 15 medium-sized paintings. The layout is classy and in line with the rest of the café.
Martine will feature local artist, Marty Stenerson from November 18 through January 15. Stenerson was born in Elkhart, Indiana in 1964 and came to Utah in 1986. He studied figure drawing for many years with Earl Jones. He says although Jones is best known for his landscapes, his figure studies are phenomenal and have been a big influence on Stenerson's work. He paints exclusively in oils and defines his style as “figurative expressionism”. His work includes nude studies, musicians, and people in work settings. He has an eye for color and has also designed quilt patterns for his sister, home décor designer/quilt-maker, Kara DiOrio.
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Glass Artist Phil Teefy will lecture on "History of Glass as an Artform" at the downtown Salt Lake public library - 4th floor.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005 from 6:00pm - 9:00pm. The event is free and open to the public. Phil Teefy is a well-known Northern California artist who owns and operates Rainbow Glass Inc. in Sacramento, CA. He has been a student of glass at The Pilchuck School with such luminaries as Dale Chihuly, Fritz Dreisbach, Richard Marquis, and Dan Dailey. Teefy has been a popular instructor at the last six Hot Glass Horizons as well as numerous Art Glass Suppliers Association national trade shows, Glass Extravaganza, Camp Colton, Glass Expo, The World Glass Festival and hundreds of glass shops and teaching centers throughout the United States. In addition to his teaching skills, Phil designs and builds kilns for Glass Glow Kilns, while maintaining a well-deserved reputation as both a creative and talented artist. His commission work can be seen throughout the country in both public and private collections.
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