Thursday, March 29, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Michael Strauss at the Emile A Gruppe Gallery in Jericho


Letting Go, a new exhibition of acrylic paintings by Michael Strauss continues at the Emile A Gruppe Gallery, through April 29. Struass's paintings are reminiscent of the era of the California colorists, bold and vibrant. Also on display are his paintings on glass with similar motifs, which radiate with (when)the sun streaming through them.

Strauss's work illustrates the poetry of Tony Magistrale in the their book "Letting Go." Tony Magistrale is chair of the English department at UVM and Michael Strauss is a professor emeritus of chemistry at UVM and now teaches art at UVM.

Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday from 10 am - 3 pm or by appointment 899 - 3211 www.emilegruppegallery.com.

PRESS RELEASE: Bone Structures at The Chaffee Art Center in Rutland



The Chaffee Art Center opened a new exhibit on Friday March 23 called Bone Structures, an exhibit of work informed by the body, curated by Michael Winslow. The exhibit features sculptures by Mary Alcantara, Glenn Campbell, Barbara Carris, Andrew DeVries, Kevin Donegan, Christopher Gowell, Eric David Laxman, Don Ramey, Stephen Schaum, Nora Valdez, and Michael Winslow, as well as 2D artwork by Emily Carris, Andrew DeVries, Hunter Eddy, Katherine Clarke Langlands, Janet McKenzie, and Mare Vaccaro.

The curator Michael Winslow is a Chaffee Art Center board member and former Executive Director of the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in West Rutland. Bone Structures is sponsored by the Rutland Regional Medical Center.

Image: Soul Dance by Andrew DeVries

PRESS RELEASE: Ella Skye Mac Donald at Townsend Gallery at Black Cap Coffee in Stowe


Townsend Gallery at Black Cap Coffee proudly presents the art work of Ella Skye Mac Donald from April 1st to April 30th. A reception will be held on Friday April 6th from 3-5 pm.

April is "Autism Awareness Month." Autism Spectrum Disorder effects 1 in 110 children worldwide. Autism is a complex disorder of brain development. People with autism can display difficulties in social interaction, verbal and non verbal communication and repetitive behaviors. Most obvious signs tend to emerge between 2-3 years of age.

Ella Skye MacDonald was diagnosed with autism at age 3 while living in England. It was around the time of her diagnosis that Ella's family started to realise that her drawings in pre-school were alot different than her peers. Ella and her family returned to the States in 2009 in search of better treatment. Ella is now a second grader at Stowe Elementary School with the help of an amazing full time behavior interventionist and team of teachers and therapists that help with every aspect of her day.

Ella is learning to communicate better with the help of a voice generating device called a DynaVox. In the meantime, a lot of what we learn about Ella comes through her art. Her teachers also use Ella's ability to draw to show them if she comprehended a story. If she gets frustrated and cannot verbally communicate something her aide will ask her to draw it for her. We also know through her drawings that she loves animals, likes to have fun, is happy and has a good sense of humor.

Ella's art is a valuable tool in gaining understanding and narrowing the large social gap between her and her peers. The kids learn that Ella might be very different from them in a lot of ways but she can also draw some pretty cool things. When a classmate wears a t-shirt with one of Ella's designs she usually runs up to them with a big,approving smile.

Ella has a great love of music. Her music taste ranges from Thomas The Train Sing Along to Moby. She loves to ski with the help of Stowe Adaptive Sports and loves walking in the woods.

Black Cap Coffee is located at 144 Main Street in Stowe, VT. Call 802-279-4239 for more
information. www.blackcapcoffee.com

PRESS RELEASE: Works by Robert Kasper in Regional Artists’ Gallery at Bennington Museum

My approach…I attack art-making with the intensity and improvisational antics of a free form jazz virtuoso. In so doing I struggle, really struggle, to remain mindless, being all at once attached and detached suspending judgment, letting it flow. -- Robert Kasper

On view in the Regional Artists Gallery at the Bennington Museum are works by Robert Kasper, artist, designer, educator, and creative theorist. With over four decades of a storied global career, Kasper currently focuses his considerable attention and energy on personal and visual expression and offers his expertise to businesses and corporations worldwide. Regardless of the time, place, media, or reason, the connective tissue that runs through all of his work is the diversity of visual expression itself. Always the creator and explorer, searching for tension and aliveness, Kasper remains committed to being uncommitted to a style or theme. This exhibition opened on March 24 and is on view through May 6.

Working in varied mediums, in the early 60’s Kasper had the great fortune to have studied painting with Raymond Hendler and color theory with Sewell Sillman at Parsons School of Design. He continued his visual studies at The Sorbonne, in Paris. After graduation, having parallel interest in painting/graphic design and art direction, he accepted an entry level position at DDB where he had the opportunity to work alongside some of the industry’s most luminary art directors, designers, film producers, directors and writers. Years later, Kasper began work with Richard Avedon on a collaborative project for Chesebrough-Ponds. Receiving recognition for outstanding work, he was recognized as a creative leader in the industry, and a person who took his greatest pride in being respected for his successes in nurturing creative individuals and organizations. In 1987, Kasper launched his own design group KasperDesign, selecting international talent to match with the firm’s prestigious client group which spanned a vast variety of media.

Kasper’s activities, past and present, culminate in his studio work as he remains compelled to create his own visual language. A body of personal visual work spanning four decades fills his Berkshire studio today. He has never stopped working on his personal visual expression, continuing to execute works in a broad range of materials, from more traditional ones like graphite and Conte Crayon on paper, to the more experimental including dipped textiles, found objects, fired roofing material, electrical supply remnants, waste paper and packing cartons. On his exhibited work, Kasper states “The materials found in the included works are often scraps, remains or remnants of human behavior and activity gathered together, manipulated, and composed. The three dimensional works in paper were originally inspired by toppled trash bins of discarded newspapers. Crushing paper with little or no forethought, I fold, bend and crease it to choreograph a never-ending dance between form, shape, and plane, light and shadow.”

The Bennington Museum is located at 75 Main Street (Route 9) in Bennington. Regular admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and students over 18. Visit the museum’s website www.benningtonmuseum.org or call 802-447-1571 for more information.

Images:
Lost, 2009. 42” x 51”, Acrylic on corrugated box with tape
Chaos #1, 2006. 44” x 60”, Tempera, colored, pencil, pastel, ink and marker on paper

PRESS RELEASE: Ed Epstein at Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin

Ed Epstien’s exhibit, Stories, is aptly named. His art really does tell stories, stories of people, places and things.

Ed Epstein says, “it's great to see the work on the walls. This is an interesting space. In hanging the show I realize you have lots of people coming through most of the day - people who may not expect to see art as part of their visit. I like having people see the work.”

There are many facets to Ed’s life. “I have played music most of my life – as a young pre-teen until now: country, then folk, then classical (cello), and eventually Calypso steel band.”

After moving to Vermont, he spent 10 years building “Dynamite” wood-burning stoves and furnaces of his own design. Then, Ed started building boats in 1985, learned to sail, and in 1998 launched a 36 foot schooner he’d spent 5 years building in his shop. He cruised her single-handed in the Caribbean until she was lost in a collision with a submerged container off the coast of Grenada in 2006.

“The only positive effect of losing my boat is that I found my way back to painting again after a hiatus of more than 40 years,” said Ed. “People ask me if I enjoy painting again. My answer is ‘no, it’s a hard struggle, I’m agonizing my way through it.’ "

"Most are surprised when I say that almost every painting is a disappointment. Only artists understand what I’m saying: the struggle toward perfection, by definition, is unreachable. Mesmerized by the magnificent and the trivial, painters attempt to capture the essence and spirit of things, an endlessly frustrating chore, though occasionally achieving something remarkable and real. I take the frustrations for granted and push on. I find the painting process exciting, energizing, mysterious, and downright terrifying. It is exhausting, but exhilarating.”

For decades I told myself I’d return to it “when I’m old.” Well, I must be old. Painting seems to fit me like an old glove. Now I can’t stop. These paintings tell some of the stories of my life.”

Ed Epstein grew up in New York City and came to Vermont in 1969. He lived in Middlesex and now lives in Montpelier. He is a self-taught artist. For more information on his art, go to www.edepstein-fineart.com. The exhibit at CVMC is on display through April 30, 2012.

Images: Self Portrait, drawing of Leonard Biesebecke.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

ESSAY: "Anarchist Art"; Susan Calza at Johnson State College


by Leila Bandar


In 1917, almost 100 years ago, a breakthrough in sculpture occurred; The Russian Revolution gave rise to a group of open-minded, passionate, and socially-aware artists known as the "Russian Constructivists". Prior to 1917 Tsars in Russia (and political elite in other countries, too) commissioned sculptors to create pieces representing political ideals and wartime achievements. Sculpture was often limited to men on horseback, depictions of military stories, and war memorials – or -- depictions of mythology and portraits of the wealthy. After the Russian Revolution, Constructivists as they were defined by Pevsner and Gabo would have a large impact on what we view as sculpture today - not just in Russia.


Using everyday materials - like plywood, cardboard, and plastic - Constructivists' artwork often exhibits an elegant, orderly look. One of piece which comes to mind from 20th C. Art History is by Alexander Rodchenko oval hanging construction #12 located in the Museum of Modern Art. Although the plywood is flat, the creativity of the sculptor transforms it to a mobile that seems to reference something grand as the Universe. A building material is transformed to make something sublime – a profound statement. It is also a political statement for social change: non-precious materials can allow proletariat hands to access the beauty, joy, and lifein everyday things.


Calza's work is about materials. It is about finding a material, something lost-then-found, learning about the material, and combining the material with other elements to make the piece reflect a memory and produce a feeling. Her drawings give voice to awkward, vulnerable, and uncomfortable emotions. Rather than feed into sculptural stereotypes of the last 100 years, hers quietly rejects authority, power, and control. In this way, Much acquainted...missing is a non-authoritarian body of work. It is everything opposite of coercive control and authority. It is a show that gives power to the non-dominant in the most literal way: she uses her non-dominant hand for all of her drawings. To me, it could be called "Anarchist Art". Instead of speaking of things that are in control and have the ability to control others, Calza calls on wobbly authenticity. Her left hand is allowed to feel, touch, experience what the right hand is generally in charge of! Her non-dominant hand cannot hide behind confidence, knowing, and exactitude. Instead, it is allowed to reveal its own squirm – lack of strength becomes a strength through repetition.


When Calza gives voice to the "non-dominant" she gives voice to the parts of all of us which are humble enough to acknowledge powerlessness rather than assert control. Rather than authority she presents authenticity. Humility allows her to accept ALL of her emotions - from the golden-bird-truth-seeker to hungry-ghost-mouths. Her work is more in-line with Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse, Louise Nevelson and Kiki Smith - female heroines who share a sense for wholeness, softness, and bold risk-taking. In Calza’s own words: “For my money…the real revolution in sculpture was Eva Hesse....”. Other artists on Calza’s short list of influences are Richard Tuttle and Ree Morton. Nothing in Much acquainted… missing points to the male peers of her generation who produced monumental steel pieces, such as the work of Mark di Suvero or Richard Serra.


"Anarchist Art" is a term I would like to see used when an artist is does not seek control or express authority. I would like to see it used when a person explores a personal truth with genuineness and audaciousness; when an artist seeks to directly communicate raw, gut feelings; rather than "edit-out". Calza seems to "edit-in" which means: owning-up.


Part of “owning up” is acknowledging Calza's one mis-truth. She claims this body of work is about travel, but what we find are hundreds of deeply personal versions of self-portraiture. What about travel? What we find is not ABOUT travel but HOW to travel. Ultimately, it shows that to travel-with-oneself unmasked yet unafraid is what it means to be a good companion! And to be a good companion to others, one must be a good companion to oneself.


The grouchy, quarrelsome, and fussy inner-voices telling us "the weather isn't great", or "breakfast wasn't tasty enough", or "the plane ride is too long and bumpy" - all get a chance to speak - and by acknowledging those voices (calling them out) they become tame. Much Aquainted...missing has much to offer. And the best lessons are how to fully accept oneself, not to control others, to face the squirms of weaker parts of ourselves, and the demons too – they are ALL along for the ride.

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Susan Calza’s Much Aquainted… missing at Johnson State College will be on exhibit through March 30, 2012.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Nancy Taplin at BigTown Gallery in Rochester


BigTown Gallery is pleased to present new paintings and collages by Nancy H. Taplin. Her solo exhibition at BigTown in 2007, marked a beginning of what we see culminating here with this selection of her most recent abstract paintings.

In this fully fledged realization of her move away from the representational reference, to an evolutionary language defined and clarified by the artist's intimate daily routine, we see imbued a celebration of her more than forty years at the easel. These paintings, both large 12' and small, exude a lively and lifelike breadth of emotion; simultaneously at ease and “on stage.”

The brushwork in these new paintings–quick-released or controlled for density–moves with seeming effortlessness toward lucidity–swiping, shaping, erasing–enveloping the gestural activity within a field of tinted white paint–pushing, stretching the movement of color–building to voluminous expressions of form; liberated by an arresting complexity of sensuous color, both moody and bright. Of this new work the artist states: “As in the past, my paintings are gestural in nature, using movement of line, shape, and color to create energy... In my new works I am exploring the communication between these various elements, as though it were one big operatic argument or conversation.”

These are paintings of emotional declaration; reinterpretations of discoveries over time. Throughout, the sonorous rhythms pull the viewer in, push the viewer out beyond the painting's boundaries, and into a suite of symphonic variation; a record of sorts of the gesture given and taken away. This, combined with the now predominantly all-over working of high stamina calligraphic brushwork, forms the new Taplin signature.

This exhibition of oils on canvas and paper will be on view in the main and center galleries through April 29, 2012.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Figurative Paintings Group Show at Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery Shelburne



Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery will be showing "Clothing Optional: Figurative Paintings by John Lawrence Hoag, Cameron Schmitz, David Smith, and Frank Woods", March 30-May 1, 2012. There will be an opening reception with the artists on Friday, April 13th, 6-8 p.m.
The four artists approach the representation of the figure in distinctly individual ways. Hoag's oils are heavy with emotion and psychological ambivalence. Schmitz' clothed figures of women and children have the dreamy atmosphere of the solitary spaces they inhabit. Smith's nudes and head studies have the freshness and immediacy of work done in close observation within a life drawing setting, while Woods' work down in the same setting reflects his interest in abstraction.
Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery is located at 86 Falls Road, in Shelburne Village. Hours are Tue-Fri 9:30-5:30, and Sat 10-5.
For more information call 985-3848, write:
mail@fsgallery.com, or visit
the website at
www.fsgallery.com

image: John Lawrence Hoag. Father and Child - 181/2"x18" - Oil on Linen

PRESS RELEASE: Sara Katz at Vintage Inspired Lifestyle Marketplace, Burlington


Burlington, VT: (March 14, 2012) Vintage Inspired Lifestyle Marketplace on Flynn Avenue in Burlington is pleased to announce an exhibition in April and May of work from Vermont artist Sara Katz, who creates abstract and industrial landscapes in oil. The exhibition opens with a reception on First Friday, April 6th from 5-8pm, and runs through May. Vintage Inspired, A vibrant new marketplace for antique dealers, artists and craftspeople, is located at 180 Flynn Avenue, and is open Tuesday – Saturday from 10am to 5pm, Sunday from 12pm to 4pm and closed Mondays.
Vermont painter Sara Katz’ landscapes are often inspired by a sense of the landscape passing by as the viewer travels, resulting in images of roads, bridges and the streaking scenes on the edges of highways. As she says in her artist statement, “these subjects let me paint in a style that I enjoy the most--loose and active. I try to achieve a paint quality that suggests a fleeting memory, and use bold colors to turn the desolate or banal into a pleasantly nostalgic moment.” The paintings in this exhibition will feature primarily small works of abstract and industrial landscapes.
Sara received a degree in Fine Art from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. She is currently the Assistant Director at Burlington City Arts. Her work has been exhibited all over the Burlington area, including The BCA Center, The Maltex Building, The Burlington International Airport and more. Sara will be a featured artist at the Edgewater Gallery in Middlebury, Vermont in July of 2012. Sara grew up in Cabot, Vermont on a vegetable farm/greenhouse and nursery. “Growing things is closely connected to the simplest skills in making art: it requires observation, a connection to color and texture, and a willingness to experiment with materials until the desired results are achieved,” says Katz. More information about the artist can be found at www.saraskatz.com.
Vintage Inspired Lifestyle Marketplace on Flynn Avenue in Burlington, VT is a funky & accessible source of vintage goods for inspired lifestyles. It is a delight for shoppers wanting to combine a love for antiques, curious goods and art. Owner, Mary Heinrich Aloi has a truly inspired eye and her shop is a destination for in-the-know pickers, collectors, and art lovers. For more information and directions to the Marketplace, please visit www.vintageinspired.net

Friday, March 16, 2012

Press Release: Laura Heijn: Paintings at Martinetti Gallery of Johnson State College


Leonardo da Vinci is credited with “discovering” blue tones give the perception of distance – what Laura Heijn has done in her work is combine this theory with texture. What occurs is something new and unique. Skies are violet-blue and painted as if you could feel them. Painterly brushstrokes make us feel we can touch the sky.

Take, for example, Hill Top in Winter with Soft Trees. Everything about this painting suggests touch (not just the title). The sky is sculpted. The trees are “soft”. The yellow hay is bright and spiky.

Touch is also the quality we feel in Winter Barn #6. Wiry trees feel as if we could bend them like pipe-cleaners. The background is distant. Then she pulls us in with dark-blue-brown and wispy-red-orange to get us up one hill and down another. Behind the trees we find a roof which becomes a structural element over several paintings.

Heijn’s ‘perfection’ is her ‘imperfection’. Human qualities of light touch and subtle wobble make her landscapes feel near, alive, and comforting. Layers of color and hundreds of humble brushstrokes produce paintings that are charming and intimate.

Deep empathy (or acceptance) is also part of this work. Looking at Apple Tree with Dandelions, we see a patchwork of grey behind green fields dotted with yellow dandelion. It is Johnson, Vermont; it is spring; it is May.

There is a children's book called The Tomten in which a creature speaks in a language only animals and children can understand. To the horses he sings: "Winters come and winters go, summers come and summers go, soon you will be in your clover field." In Heijn’s work we see the seasons change, as well, and harmonies of color and texture that add up to something fondly cared-for and reassuring.

With Heijn: you can get there from here; you can touch the sky; there is perfection in imperfection; everything changes; and perhaps we can accept all that.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

CURATOR'S ESSAY: Storytime at Studio Place Arts (SPA) in Barre



by Janet Van Fleet

When I made a commitment to curate Storytime at Studio Place Arts (where I have my studio, and am on the Gallery Committee) I was interested in exploring the human impulse to construct narratives. I have noticed that even when people are looking at abstract work, they often see images and construct stories about what's going on. We need to make things make sense -- and not only descriptively (what it looks like), but also narratively (what's happening).

When I called for and selected work, I expected more pieces with words and text -- lots of comic books, drawings, collages, etc. That just didn't come in, even when I solicited it, but what I got is truly fascinating and of amazingly high quality. I think this is one of the best exhibits I've curated at SPA, where I've put together eight major exhibits over the last eleven years. The Storytime theme is a rich one, and the work in the show includes stories about such diverse topics as violence, family, animals, and the high seas. There's humor, charm, and insight, and the pieces relate to other work in the show in interesting ways.

The thirty-six artists whose work is included in the exhibit hail from Oakland, CA to New Hampshire and they tell stories through video, sculpture, painting, drawing, digitally- manipulated images, watercolor, and collage. The exhibit also features a Publications Area, with original comics, 21 books and booklets by Peter Schumann from the Bread & Puppet Press, as well as unique artist books. Most of these stories feature people in the title roles. Very large paintings of people in interesting contexts by four different artists dominate the Main Gallery. Fly Boy, by Salem, MA painter Jill Pabich, shows a young boy leaping, almost coming out of his jacket, into the sky above a field of wind turbines. There is a piece on paper by Janet Fredericks, from her Minute Particulars series, about which she says "In a recent waking vision, I was visited by a brother who died when he was ten years old. Charlie…appeared with a swarm of bees hovering over him." Fredericks felt the bees could be speaking to Charlie, and maybe it was important to pay attention to what they could be saying. A large double-sided piece by Dana Walwrath explores the dementia of her mother, Alice, in The Aliceheimer's Project. And, in a cultural nod to Scheherazad, a big drawing, August 2010, from Valerie Hird's Maiden Voyages project, depicts Middle Eastern women who kept a journal of their activities on the same date each month for one year. Then Hird, without ever meeting or seeing these women, produced large drawings that are a pastiche of that month's experiences.

A photograph by Kate Bieschke, of Oakland, California, shows two figures wrestling on the grass. Nearby, a sculpture by Phil Whitman, The Historic Berkshires: Prisoner Pile Along the Waloomsac, with historically-accurate costumes (both on -- and removed from -- the prisoners captured in 1777 during the American Revolution), references the events at Abu Grahib, but with Americans and German mercenaries in the place of Iraqis.

Four videographers show work that ranges from the playful, through the ambiguous, to the mock-horror genre of Slasher, by a collective from Brooklyn called Cereal Lab, that presents a young woman in a sexy Heavy Metal outfit wielding a machete and axe to slash, decapitate, impale, and ultimately drink the "blood" at a dolls' teaparty. Nancy Dwyer contributed two short pieces, Brains and Trancecart, presented in self-contained 7 inch players.

Also in the Main Gallery are three ocean-themed pieces - John Douglas's double-exposure of 3 oil platforms and three sailing vessels, another sculpture, Triska Decka, in Evanston, IN artist Rob Millard-Mendez's series of ships and boats (begun in 2008, after The Boat Show that I curated at SPA), and Adelaide Tyrol's huge painting Kraken, showing a mythological sea-monster squid surrounded by lamps from the deep.

The exhibit continues on SPA's second floor, with images that feature animals and animal stories: nine of Burlington artist Jude Bond's prints of original collages that superimpose heads and jewels from Bazaar magazine on drawings from a period children's book of the Cat Family (Lions, Leopards, and Lynxes, Oh My!), two large mixed-media sculptures by Rachi Farrow (Chimeras in Burkas), a photograph by Jack Rowell showing a stuffed moose in Currier's Market in Glover, and a touching mixed media painting by Kristin L. Richland (Creature and Healer).

Our stories carry our explanations, however incomplete or provisional, for why things are here and why things happen. Narrative tries to answer the great WHY, though not always without ambiguity. What is wonderful about the objects in this exhibit is that by embodying the questions, they evoke from us the narratives that struggle toward answers, and the viewer who pays attention – as should be the case in the visual arts – is providing much of the story.

Storytime: The human impulse to construct narratives is explored through painting, video, sculpture, photography, and published materials
Studio Place Arts, 201 North Main Street, Barre, VT
Exhibit Dates: March 6 - April 7, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Carolyn Ann Steward and Pati Braun at Korongo Gallery in Randolph

Spring Exhibition
March 16 – April 22, 2012
Reception/Vernissage: Friday, March 16, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Carolyn Ann Steward
Carolyn Ann Bartolini Steward grew up in Queens, New York. Her career has followed an unconventional route. Born in 1955, she was tutored in art by her father, a sculptor who immigrated from Italy, then joined the military during the Vietnam era and trained as an illustrator. Later she received her Bachelors of Art from an adult study course at Goddard College, taught herself the use of oil and pastels, and studied iconography with Andrew Tregubov. Her portfolio consists of portraits, icons, biblical narrative paintings, and Vermont scenery. She is a listed artist with Emerging Artist Galleries, has been published by Apple Jack Publishing company, and is a published writer and illustrator of the children’s book The Love Inside.

Pati Braun
From a very early age Pati Braun began drawing from natural items that influenced her. A native of Randolph, she graduated from RUHS in 1981, enrolled in Castleton State College’s art program, and transferred to Butera School of Art in Boston. Pati says: “For the past two years I have been really pursuing my art career. Now that my youngest child is a junior at college I have more time to focus on what I really love to do.” This is Pati’s first show, but she’s well known locally and has sold many original art works and has made many of them into cards that have been successfully selling in most of the local stores.

Images:
Carolyn Ann Steward, View of Floating Bridge, oil on canvas, 20 x 24"
Pati Braun, Moonlit Birches, pen and ink – 14 x 20" framed

PRESS RELEASE: Marcia Bushnell at Vermont Law School in South Royalton


Against Forgetting:
the Human Condition


This exhibition of paintings by Marcia Bushnell shows the consequences of war on civilian populations. Using resolute, sympathetic line and simplicity of figuration, the images speak for those manipulated by greed, denied education, led by ideologues, blamed and vilified for their own misery, for they, except for accident of birth, are us.They remind us not to be complacent about the suffering of others and to work ceaselessly for non-violent solutions.

March 23 – April 27
Vermont Law School
Oakes Hall, 2nd Floor.
Hours: 8.00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. All days.

Image: Fleeing Rwanda , oil on canvas, 24" x 28"

Friday, March 9, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Yu-Wen Wu at Helen Day Art Center, Stowe


Join us March 9th at 6:00 pm for the opening reception of Convergence, a solo exhibition by Taipei born and Boston based artist Yu-Wen Wu. At 6:00 pm there will be a public conversation between the artist and curator about the work.

Using imagery and data from the natural world transformed into visual music and patterns, Wu’s metaphorical work represents time, rhythm, and music through the filters of East and West, and science and art. Wu creates her canvases using an algorithmic approach in order to translate the complexity of collected data into aesthetically subtle and powerful work.

Her videos, drawings, and mixed-media canvases are a culmination of seemingly disparate images: mapped and lost, hyper-focused and intentionally blurred, and molecular and expansive. The final products are rich with layers, both aesthetically and conceptually.

Curated by Rachel Moore.

Please visit helenday.com for details.

PRESS RELEASE: Art on Main Invites Community to Celebrate Emerging Artists, Bristol


Bristol—Art on Main presents the Eighth Annual Emerging Artists Exhibit featuring a variety of work in the fine arts created by Mt. Abraham Union High School students. The exhibit will be on display in the Gallery Friday March 2nd through Saturday March 24th.

A collaboration with Mt. Abraham Union High School, this Exhibit offers public recognition for students selected by their teachers for the quality of their work and for their potential as artists. This year’s featured student artists are: Whitney Furnholm, Stephanie Hamblin, Isabelle Moody, Melanie Rotax, Cody Alexander, Addison Campbell, Brittany Atkins, Natalie May, Adrian Ennis, Samantha Reiss, Zoe Bunch, Keith Thompson, Alexis Atkins, and Logan Tow.

The Emerging Artists Exhibit is one element of Art on Main’s commitment to supporting the creative endeavors of individuals throughout our community. The Exhibit is held in March to coincide with Youth Art Month, a national event promoted by the Council for Art Education and the National Art Education Association to celebrate and promote arts in education, to emphasize its value for all children, and to encourage support for quality school art programs. One of its purposes is “to increase community understanding and interest in art and art education through involvement in art exhibits, workshops, and other creative venues.”

Youth Art Month provides a forum for acknowledging skills that are fostered through experience in the visual arts that are not possible in other subjects offered in the curriculum. Art on Main is pleased to be able to provide a venue where these developing artists can show their work to the public and experience firsthand the thrill of a professional exhibit in a gallery. Please join us in celebrating these wonderful young artists!

The exhibit will be on view in the Gallery through Saturday March 24th. Art on Main is open Tuesday thru Saturday 10am-6pm during the winter months.

For more information, visit www.artonmain.net, find us on Facebook at ArtonMainVT, or contact Carolyn Ashby, Gallery Manager at (802) 453-4032 or info@artonmain.net.

PRESS RELEASE: Casey Reas Solo Exhibition Opens March 9 at The BCA Center, Burlington



Renowned Computer-Based Artist Casey Reas Solo Exhibition Opens March 9 at The BCA Center

Burlington, VT: (February 28, 2012) Burlington City Arts is pleased to announce a solo exhibition from world

renowned artist Casey Reas, entitled Process, opening March 9th at The BCA Center on Church Street, running through April 28th on the ground floor. Featuring software installations, unique prints and relief sculpture, Processwill also feature a free reception and artist talk on Friday, March 23rd, from 5-8pm.

In Process, acclaimed software artist Casey Reas uses computer algorithms to create complex, organic abstractions. In his ongoing series Process, Reas explores the relationship between synthetic and naturally-evolved systems through strikingly beautiful prints, animations, architectural wall fabrics, relief sculpture and interactive works all derived from variations on the same fundamental software algorithm. Reas is also internationally recognized as co-creator of Processing, an open source programming language specifically for visual artists, a standard for artists creating images, animation and interactive art. Reas is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and has exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Reas will be in residence in Burlington from March 21st-23rd working with local artists in algorithmic art.

Based in Los Angeles, Casey Reas (b. 1972, Troy, OH) has exhibited and screened his work internationally in galleries and museums including P.S.1, New York; Institute for Contemporary Art, London; New Museum for Contemporary Art, New York; Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston; Laboral, Gijon, Spain; Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York; The Dallas Contemporary; Fabric Workshop and Museum,

Philadelphia; National Museum for Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo; Eyebeam, New York; CCCB, Barcelona; STUK, Leuven; Daelim Museum, Seoul; NTT ICC, Tokyo; ZKM, Karlsruhe; bitforms gallery, New York and Seoul among other venues. Commissioned to create work for the Whitney Museum's ArtPort collection online in 2004, Reas is also the recipient of a Golden Nica from Ars Electronica. Current shows include the Pompidou Center in Paris, the Design Museum in Holon, Israel and Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Reas is an Associate Professor at UCLA, and holds a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Media Arts and Sciences, where he studied in John Maeda’s Aesthetics and Computation group. With Ben Fry, Reas initiated Processing.org in 2001. Processing is an open source programming language and environment for creating images, animation, and interaction. In September 2007, they published Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists, a 736 page comprehensive introduction to programming within the context of visual media (MIT Press).

Casey Reas: Process is sponsored by Champlain College Division of Communication and Creative Media and The Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Vermont, and is an important part of Burlington City Arts, celebrating 30 years of supporting the arts, 1981-2011, which is dedicated to the promotion of excellence, experimentation, and education in all forms of contemporary art. For more information about gallery exhibitions, special events, classes and workshops, please call 802.865.7166 or visit BURLINGTONCITYARTS.ORG.


image: Credit: Casey Reas. Process 14 (Image 3), 2008. Unique c print. 27 x 27 in / 68.6 x 68.6 cm.

Photo courtesy: bitforms gallery nyc. Photo by John Berens.