Airport, please! Artfields, a town in South Carolina, transformed into a cultural destination, reopens after the pandemic

ARTFIELDS
April 23 – May 1, 2021

We believe art is a field that endures—through flourish and fallow. …Artfields

Spring has finally arrived. A time of regeneration. And there is nothing that represents the symbol of regeneration more than the town of Lake City, South Carolina. Today, the LRFA blog travels to a small town in South Carolina, by plane to Florence, SC and then 20 minutes by car, for an overwhelmingly engaging experience: ARTFIELDS: 2021, April 23-May 1st.

Artfields mural

The town itself, every shop, restaurant, The Inn at the Crossroads, the Library, the McNair Space Center, as well as three large gallery exhibition spaces established since Artfields was founded, is transformed into both indoor and outside spaces that display art, installation, video, sculpture, painting, photography, murals, and craft.

https://www.artfieldssc.org/

Darla Moore

Conceived and founded by visionary investor and philanthropist, Darla Moore, Artfields started in 2013 with a simple goal: to honor the artists of the 12 Southeastern states launching a phenomenal  annual art competition and festival to transform her once small, poor rural hometown into a thriving cultural destination. Passionate about the state of South Carolina and its rich legacy, Darla founded the Moore School of Business in its capital, Columbia, to further her commitment to education, in 2019 she endowed the Continuum, a 46,000 square foot center for tech education and workforce development in Lake City.

Moore Farms Botanical Garden

She founded and chairs the Palmetto Institute, a nonprofit think tank aimed at bolstering per capita income in South Carolina. She is the founder and chair of The Charleston Parks Conservancy, a foundation focused on enhancing the parks and public spaces of the City of Charleston, to highlight just a few of the commitments she has made to support and transform her beloved hometown and state.

Jones-Carter Gallery

The competition and exhibition offers over $100,000 in cash prizes. The winners of two People’s Choice Awards are determined by the votes of people visiting ArtFields; a panel of art professionals selects all the other awards, including the $50,000 Grand Prize and $25,000 Second Place award. Winners of the competition have had life-altering opportunities to engage in inspiring foreign travel, to exhibit in other venues and to develop their potential as professional artists.

Jamieson Kerr
Director, Artfields Collective

Up to 400 works of art are on display in locally-owned venues, from renovated 1920s warehouses and professional art spaces such as Jones-Carter Gallery and TRAX Visual Art Center to the library, the history museum, the Ronald E. McNair Life History Center, restaurants, boutiques and other shops. During ArtFields, Lake City, once one of South Carolina’s most prosperous agricultural communities, becomes a living art gallery as they recognize, celebrate and share the artistic talent of the Southeast.

Carla Angus
Education and Program Manager

As a visible way to show the power of art to revitalize and invigorate, the ArtFields Collective commissions artworks each year to enhance overlooked corners of the town. The Collective has commissioned over 9 murals and sculptures and an additional 9 artworks have been commissioned and contributed by other involved donors.

The ArtFields Collective is living, breathing proof of the power of art, a reminder that its beauty and soul and energy live within each of us—even in the harshest of seasons. In these divided and divisive times, Lake City’s Artfields has integrated its black and white, young and old, residents into a united, engaged community, working together to choose artworks, to welcome visitors and school groups to exhibitions and cultural events throughout the year  and to enjoy the rewards of living in the thriving town of Lake City.

Make ARTFIELDS a destination during the festival or at any time of the year. It is truly an enlightening, moving (and fun!) experience.

Lake City, South Carolina

Have a look at a huge selection of talent in this year’s competition!

https://www.artfieldssc.org/galleries/?festival_year=2021

 

Core values stand the test of the pandemic at the Sean Kelly Gallery with Senior Partner, Cecile Panzieri

Cecile Panzieri and Sean Kelly of Sean Kelly Gallery

That the pandemic has shifted how art is bought and sold is evident in the 255% rise in online-only auction sales between January and August, to nearly US$597 million from US$168 million in the same period last year. Of the experts surveyed, 24% expect auction sales overall will rise in the next six months, while 39% expect rising sales to continue for a year.

The ability of the major auction houses to pivot quickly to digital sales, and eventually to hybrid models involving live-streams from their global locations, buffered the initial steep losses the houses experienced in the first part of the year, ArtTactic said. Still, year-end results will likely be significantly down from 2019 levels, the report said.

In 2019, global auction sales from Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips were US$9.74 billion, down 19.8% from a year earlier.

Art Basel Miami OVR
Sean Kelly Gallery
December 2-6, 2020

Galleries and art fairs that mostly sell works in the primary market also quickly, and largely successfully, transitioned to digital programming and sales in 2020, allowing confidence in the primary market to rise from a level of 3 on ArtTactic’s indicator last May to 39 in November. Of experts the firm surveyed, 36% are optimistic about the next six months (compared to only 2% who were in May) and 29% are neutral.

BARRONS.COM/PENTA, Abby Schultz, November 20, 2020, ArtTactic Finds “V-Shaped” Recovery in Market Confidence

https://www.barrons.com/articles/arttactic-finds-v-shaped-recovery-in-market-confidence-01605909874?reflink=article_emailShare

SEAN KELLY GALLERY REMAINS TRUE TO ITSELF, IN WHATEVER FORM THE CURRENT CLIMATE DEMANDS: VIRTUAL, DIGITAL, ONLINE, OR LIVE. THEIR CORE VALUES REMAIN INTACT, THEIR COLLECTORS AND ARTISTS LOYAL AND THE GALLERY PROVIDES A SAFE PORT IN THIS PANDEMIC STORM.

TODAY, THE LRFA BLOG IS HONORED TO CONTINUE ITS CONVERSATION WITH CECILE PANZIERI, SENIOR PARTNER AT SEAN KELLY GALLERY, ON THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC ON THE GALLERY IN PARTICULAR AND ON THE ART MARKET IN GENERAL.

Frieze Viewing Room 2020

Art Basel Miami OVR
Sean Kelly Gallery

IN THIS VERY COMPETITIVE ART WORLD, IN WHICH ARTISTS ARE AS CONSCIOUS OF THEIR PROFESSIONAL STANDING AS THEY OF THEIR ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT, WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS WITH RESPECT TO REPRESENTING THE WORK?

We share and do everything we can to foster our artists’ ambitions and our ambitions for them.  We want their work to be critically recognized, publicly exhibited, and collected. We want to facilitate their creative vision.  Our ability to succeed in these areas comes from decades of experience and nurtured relationships, but this alone is not enough: the artists are integral to making our efforts successful.  Our artists  understand this.  The pandemic with all its challenges has reinforced the core values that bind us: trust, integrity,  hard work and passion for what we do.   Together we are well positioned to navigate the current stormy waters. 

TEFAF New York Fall 2019

HOW DO YOU PLACE WORKS IN BOTH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS? ARE THE PROCESSES SIMILAR OR DIFFERENT OR DO THEY OVERLAP?  

Over the years, we have had the pleasure of getting to know collectors who were at different points in their collecting history.  We have wanted to create a gallery experience where one would feel welcome to explore, discover and talk about art, be it with Sean, me or my other colleagues.  If a museum wants to acquire a work by one of our artists, we will do our best working with the artist to facilitate an acquisition. Our collectors understand that institutions are a priority, they are generous and excited for the artists when this happens.  Over the years we have placed works in the collections of many museums worldwide.  My experience with our collectors over the years is that acquiring a work is a pursuit they love and a question of timing: “the right work at the right time”.   We value our collectors, their passion and support for the gallery’s program.  They know that when solicited they can trust and rely on our opinion.   I derive a lot of satisfaction from being part of the “matching” process and  fulfilling the quest along the way.

Zona Maco 2020

HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK ART FAIRS ARE TO BOTH THE PRESENCE OF THE GALLERY AND TO THE ARTISTS IN THE GLOBAL MARKET?  

Art fairs are important as they provide visibility to the gallery and its program, and the opportunity to meet existing and new collectors, private and institutional from all over the world in an “acquiring” or research mode.  It is instrumental to the expansion of the gallery’s activities and network.  I am a “people” person and very much enjoy attending and working at art fairs.  Operating a gallery of our size without art fairs as we just experienced these past few months has meant less income.  Virtual art fairs are not the same: they require a great deal of planning but our collectors find them both overwhelming and underwhelming, and are learning how to “visit” them, the same way we are learning how to best participate in them, and what technology can or cannot do for the remote art viewing experience.  More and more people from all over the world spend a lot of time looking at art, and more and more, purchasing art on the internet as well.  What we do not know is how profound and lasting  this trend is.  

ADAA Art Show 2020
Solo presentation by Idris Khan

WHICH ART FAIRS DOES THE GALLERY PARTICIPATE IN AND WHY?

Until the pandemic forced the cancellation of all art fairs, we participated in Art Basel, Art Basel Miami, Art Basel Hong Kong, Armory Show, ADAA , Zona Maco, Taipei Dangdai, TEFAF NY  and Frieze NY.   We felt that each fair complemented our activities at the gallery.  We have been deliberate in making sure that we do not become too dependent on them.   The core of our business is gallery driven, it is solid.  The past few months of distant/remote working have validated our prudence.

Frieze Viewing Room 2020

THE LRFA BLOG LOOKS FORWARD TO CECILE’S PERSPECTIVE ON THE CURRENT MARKET AND FUTURE PLANS OF SEAN KELLY GALLERY IN OUR NEXT POST.

PLEASE JOIN US!

Outstanding highlights from Sikkema Jenkins with gallery partner Meg Malloy

Sheila Hicks

LAUNCHING SOLO SHOWS AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS EVERY MONTH THROUGHOUT THE YEAR CREATES A PHENOMENAL WORKLOAD FOR A GALLERY BUT THIS IS JUST THE PROVERBIAL TIP OF THE ICEBERG OF THE EFFORT IT TAKES TO SUPPORT ARTISTS, PLACE THEIR WORK IN COLLECTIONS, BOTH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC, GAIN INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR THEIR WORK AND ORGANIZE EXHIBITIONS IN OTHER GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS. SIKKEMA JENKINS & CO. EXEMPLIFIES A GALLERY DEDICATED TO A LONG-TERM COMMITMENT TO THEIR ARTISTS, CONTINUALLY ADDING NEW TALENT TO A ROSTER OF ESTABLISHED ARTISTS, AND GIVING THEM A PERMANENT COLLABORATION BETWEEN GALLERY AND ARTIST TO PROVIDE BOTH COMMERCIAL AND CRITICAL SUCCESS.

THE LRFA BLOG IS VERY PLEASED TO WELCOME  BACK MEG MALLOY, PARTNER AT SIKKEMA JENKINS & CO., TO SHARE A VERY FEW OF THE MANY HIGHLIGHTS OF GALLERY NEWS AND TO SPEAK ABOUT THE GALLERY’S HOPES AND PLANS FOR THE FUTURE.

https://www.sikkemajenkinsco.com

Arturo Herrera

MEG, WELCOME BACK. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE EXHIBITIONS THAT YOU HAVE HAD IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS AT THE GALLERY THAT ARE PARTICULARLY MEMORABLE?

Kara’s last show was so exciting. We placed all of the works in the main space with major museums, and all of them have been on view at those institutions since those acquisitions.  I was just up at the Harvard Museums where I saw how many classes were held in front of Kara’s piece,  and it was great to see the work MoMA bought front and center in the rehang of the collection!   Mitch Epstein’s show addressing our uses and abuses of the land was very powerful, and will be shown at the Amon Carter next year.  Vik’s current show Museum of Ashes is striking a chord with visitors. It focuses on the tragic fire at  the National Museum in Rio and the loss of its irreplaceable artifacts, by recreating them out of the actual ashes.  

Louis Fratino

Louis Fratino’s show was so fresh and tender, and Jennifer’s work for her most recent show was just so powerful. It’s hard to convey how much pleasure I get  out of each of our artists’ shows.  Walking through the space and looking for four to five weeks, you really connect and see more, or learn to understand something different over time. It  Is such a gift.

MANY OF YOUR ARTISTS ARE HONORED WITH MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS AND SHOWS AT OTHER PRESTIGIOUS GALLERIES HERE AND ABROAD. HOW DO YOU ARRANGE FOR THESE AND HOW DO YOU PUBLICIZE THEM TO THE ARTIST AND GALLERY’S BEST ADVANTAGE?

We send out email blasts and use Instagram to announce exhibitions and awards.  We have also started making e-books for our shows with installation shots  to better share with a non local audience what the gallery and our artists are up to!

Josephine Halvorson

RECENT AWARDS AND MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS: 

Jeff Gibson wins the  MacArthur Foundation Fellowship

Kara Walker’s commission at Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern

Vik Muniz opening the new museum in Sarasota

Josephine Halvorson wins the James and Audrey Foster prize at the ICA, Boston

Jennifer Packer at MoCA this spring and the Serpentine this fall

Erin Shirreff at SF MoMA  now through November

Deana Lawson with survey forthcoming at Ica Boston at PS 1

Arturo Herrara’s  new work at Corbett vs Dempsey forthcoming

Marlene McCarty exhibit at the UB Art Galleries in Buffalo

Sheila  Hicks in MoMA’s Surrounds, the installation section on the 6th floor

Erin Shirreff

HOW HAVE YOU SEEN THE GALLERY SYSTEM CHANGE AND ADAPT TO GLOBALIZATION IN GENERAL AND HOW HAS SIKKEMA JENKINS APPROACHED THESE CHANGES IN PARTICULAR?

There is a wider worldwide audience.  There is also a lack of interaction as people use places like Artsy for inquiries.  I don’t like that!  I think we need a sense of who a buyer is. 

WE ARE IN THE THROES OF THE PRESENCE OF UBER-GALLERIES BOTH IN THE BRICKS AND MORTAR WORLD AND AT THE ART FAIRS. HOW DO SUBSTANTIAL, LONG-TERM BUT MORE MODEST GALLERIES DEAL WITH THIS COMPETITION?

We cannot compete with the uber galleries. But we can keep doing what we do best. Show great artists, work as hard as we can for them, place the work in the best collections we can, and remain approachable!

Mitch Epstein

WHAT EXHIBITIONS ARE YOU PLANNING FOR THE SEASON AHEAD?

We are currently showing Zipora Fried, a wonderful artist who was with the great  Stellar Rays until they closed. It is our first solo show with her and we are thrilled.  In the back galleries we are showing new  Cameron Martin paintings paired with vintage Kepes photographs.   Cameron’s show at James a Fuentes last year was a stunner, and we are delighted to show these new pieces.  In January, we will show new work by William Cordova and Josephine Halvorson’s Foster Prize show.  Then we will show Kara Walker, including some pieces that will go to Kunstmuseum  Basel for her forthcoming show there. In  May we will show  Merlin James, a still undervalued painter who’s got a terrific artists following.

We have to get Arturo Herrera and Kay Rosen on the books, both such strong wonderful artists

Kay Rosen

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PLANS FOR THE GALLERY IN THE FUTURE?

To keep going!  To support our artists as best we can and to keep the non-uber gallery alive!

MEG, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WONDERFUL CONTRIBUTION TO THE LRFA BLOG AND TO SIKKEMA JENKINS & CO.  GALLERY. IT IS NO WONDER THAT THE GALLERY HAS SUCH A LOYAL AND DEDICATED TEAM AND CONTINUES TO GROW AND THRIVE.

TIS THE SEASON, AND IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOGS, WE ARE DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THE LRFA BLOG ANNUAL TRADITION:  POSTS FROM DOUG FLAMM, GAGOSIAN’S RARE BOOK EXPERT, WITH THIS YEAR’S IRRESISTIBLE GIFTS.

 

Ellery Kurtz, dealer and appraiser of American Art, on the collector profile

Edward Hopper
Early Sunday Morning
Whitney Museum of American Art

IN JANUARY 2018, SEPH RODNEY, WRITING FOR HYPERALLERGIC.COM, ASKED AND ANSWERED “IS ART MUSEUM ATTENDANCE DECLINING IN MANY MUSEUMS ACROSS THE US?”  THERE ARE SIGNS THAT ATTENDANCE IN MANY MUSEUMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY IS SLOWLY FALLING BUT THE REASONS WHY ARE STILL TO BE DETERMINED. ART AND CULTURE MUSEUMS MAY BE IN TROUBLE. STATISTICAL EVIDENCE COMING OUT OF THE SCENE IN BALTIMORE, WHICH SEEMS TO BE FINDING CORROBORATION NATIONWIDE, CONVEYS A NARRATIVE OF MUSEUM VISITING BEING ON THE DOWNTREND.

THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT PEOPLE ARE BECOMING LESS INCLINED TO VISIT MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES, AND FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE INVESTED IN THESE INSTITUTIONS AS ONE OF THE KEY BULWARKS AGAINST THE ENCROACHING COLONIZATION OF CIVIC SPACE AND ENGAGEMENT BY THE RELENTLESS COMMODIFICATION OF EXPERIENCE,THIS IS DISPIRITING NEWS.

THE GALLERIES, EXCEPT FOR A HANDFUL OF “UBER-GALLERIES” SUCH AS DAVID ZWIRNER, PACE AND GAGOSIAN ARE EXPERIENCING A SIMILAR DECLINE OF VISITORS, AS REPORTED IN ARTNET IN JULY 2018 BY RACHEL CORBETT.

TODAY, DEALERS SAY THEY NO LONGER VIEW PHYSICAL GALLERIES AS THE PRIMARY SITE OF SALES AND NETWORKING. INSTEAD, THEY NAME ART FAIRS AS THE NUMBER ONE VENUE FOR MEETING NEW CLIENTS, FOLLOWED BY THE INTERNET, ACCORDING TO TEFAF’S 2017 ART MARKET REPORT. NEARLY A THIRD OF DEALERS EXPECT TO DO EVEN FEWER SALES AT GALLERIES IN THE FUTURE, THE REPORT SAYS—AND THEY EXPECT GREATER DROPS IN THIS AREA THAN IN ANY OTHER, INCLUDING PRIVATE SALES, AUCTIONS, ONLINE SALES, AND FAIRS.

https://hyperallergic.com/421968/is-art-museum-attendance-declining-across-the-us/

https://news.artnet.com/market/foot-traffic-galleries-new-york-1318769

IN TODAY’S LRFA BLOG POST, AMERICAN ART GALLERIST AND APPRAISER ELLERY KURTZ WILL ADD HIS INSIGHT TO THE CURRENT TREND AS IT APPLIES TO THE AMERICAN MARKET.

Robert Henri
Mary Fanton Roberts
Metropolitan Museum of Art

ELLERY, WELCOME BACK!

HOW DO YOU ACCOUNT FOR THE DOWNWARD TREND IN THE AMERICAN ART MARKET AND DO YOU SEE IT REBOUNDING AND WHY OR WHY NOT?

Younger generations want more modern material. Today’s younger generations of the Millennials, GenX are a sharing society.  They rent rather than own, whether it is a place to live or a car.  They enjoy without actually possessing.  Galleries and museums put their inventory and exhibitions online which stops people from actually going to see the artwork.  If you are looking for…say a Robert Henri painting, you don’t have to physically go from gallery to gallery anymore.  You only need to look at various websites to see who actually has something available.  This is, in my opinion, one of the things that affects the market most. It stops collectors from experiencing the true thrill of the treasure hunt.  Walking into a gallery and “discovering” a painting on the wall or in a back room stacked among others.  You may find your Henri on a website, but you miss seeing the amazing George Luks that the gallery has not yet put on its site or has held back for one reason or another. You miss seeing the texture, brushstrokes, true colors, and impact of size. It is a total disconnect from the paintings themselves.  The acquisition of a work of art should be purely personal and up close experience.

George Luks
Street Scene (Hester Street)
Brooklyn Museum

WHAT WOULD YOU ADVISE A YOUNG EMERGING COLLECTOR IN TERMS OF COLLECTING AMERICAN ART?

How do we get young collectors interested when it takes enormous amounts of money to buy works of quality?  That is a really tough question.  Let’s say you are old enough and have enough money to start a collection.  Upon leaving your local museum you are inspired to collect Hudson River School paintings.  But where do you find such quality anymore?  The one or two examples of a painting by say Bierstadt, or Gifford, or Heade, that come to market are not usually the quality you just saw at the museum.  Instead they are second or third-rate works. 

Stanford Gifford
Sunset on the Hudson
Wadsworth Atheneum

If you want a first-rate work you have to wait, sometimes years and if you are lucky enough to be notified by a dealer that such a work is for sale ahead of every other collector that the dealer has already established relationships with, then you will need to quickly marshal your finances to make the leap.  Where does the next painting for your collection come from?  You like modern work? You want an oil painting by Edward Hopper? Good luck. With less than a few dozen still in private hands, and some of those already promised to a museum, you may never get a chance.  What is a young or new collector going to do?  Turn their attention to some other field. 

So I do not see the market rebounding regardless of a return to more affluent times. Dealers in American Art will become like dealers in Old Master paintings with fewer and fewer as availability of great works lessens.

Martin Johnson Heade
Sunset, A Scene in Brazil
New Britain Museum of American Art

WHICH AMERICAN ARTISTS DO YOU FEEL ARE MARKET-PROOF AND WILL SURVIVE AND BE VALUABLE DESPITE A DOWNWARD TREND?

I’m not sure if I would say that any artist is market-proof.  I have never thought of value in that manner.  That would be tantamount to saying that I think the price of IBM will always stay the same or go up.  We all know how that goes.  But there are artists whose reputation is untouchable and in general have seen a remarkable rise in price over the almost fifty years I have been in the art world. For instance, large landscapes by Albert Bierstadt would hardly fetch $100,000 fifty years ago.  Today a large luminist painting by the artist would handily bring a million dollars or in some cases multi-millions.  The same could be said of Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent. But I am talking about iconic paintings by the most famous artists America ever produced.

Winslow Homer
The Gale
Worcester Museum

What seems to be moving in a positive way are modernism, illustration and post-war paintings. But if I were to give any advice to any collector young or old, new to the game or an old hand, it would always be, provided you have fallen under the spell of the painting, to spend more than you think you can afford if the artwork is significant for the artist.  Stretch a little because those are the works that bring the greatest pleasure. 

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG POST, ELLERY WILL SHARE HIS EXPERTISE ON THE ART OF THE APPRAISAL, A HIGHLY RESPECTED FIELD THAT, WHEN DONE WELL, RELIES ON A GREAT AMOUNT OF DILIGENCE AND RESEARCH AND AN ASTUTE EYE. ELLERY HAS ALL THREE.

THANKS FOR FOLLOWING THE LRFA BLOG!

SOUND & IMAGE, an exhibition of current members of the Federation at Westbeth Gallery, February 3-24th.

 

The Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors presents Sound and Image,

an exhibition at the Westbeth Gallery on the theme of image and music.

In his On the Spiritual in Art, Kandinsky wrote: “Colour is the keyboard. The eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano with its many strings.”

Ever since Kandinsky likened paint to music, modernists have been thinking hard about the influential ways that visual art and music come together.

This exhibition explores the sounds of paint, ink and other media through the works of a group that has been an ensemble for 78 years and whose artists have been and still are fascinated by the coming together of two art forms. Founding member Mark Rothko’s son Christopher writes about his father: “Music was central to my father’s world—to his own aesthetic sensibilities, certainly, but also to the structure and expressive modes he found as a painter. I think it’s fair to say he was a painter who aspired to be a musician.”

Nicholas Christopher
House of the Rising Sun

This February 3-24, 2018, the Federation will be presenting ‘Sound & Image’ at the Westbeth Gallery, New York City.  29 Members will exhibit their work melding their art with the music that inspired them.  Throughout the gallery there will be interactive displays in which the viewer can immerse oneself in the visual presentation along with music playing on their mobile phone through the use of a QR scanner.

TO CARRY ON HIS FATHER’S TRADITION TO WORK IN A CREATIVE FIELD, ANDREW BOLOTOWSKY, ILYA’S SON, HAS PURSUED A MUSICAL CAREER.

Sunday, Feb. 11^th will bring Sound & Image to life with a flute performance by Andrew Bolotowsky, world renown flutist and son of Ilya, another Federation founder.  Andrew will give a brief talk about his father and then perform to the inspiration of the exhibition.  Other musicians will also perform between 4 pm – 6 pm that evening.

THE LRFA BLOG IS PLEASED TO FEATURE THREE OF THE CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS WHO WILL BE IN THE EXHIBIT BUT TO EXPERIENCE THE FULL IMPACT OF THE FEDERATION’S PRESENT ROSTER OF ARTISTS AND THEIR CREATIVITY, VISIT THE EXHIBITION AT WESTBETH GALLERY ON WEST STREET IN MANHATTAN.

Anneli Arms
Music Muse

ANNELI ARMS

Known internationally for sculpture and etching, it is her sculpture that sets her apart. By working with oversized creatures – human, marine and insect – she remarks distinctly on evolution, forcing the viewer to consider the beginning of future of humanity and his fears of both.  In time, the artist’s early paintings and relief works morphed into sculpture and gave birth to her “Human Creatures” and “Creature Creatures”.  None of the creatures, human or otherwise, are meant to be completely realistic. Instead, these parallel universes are individual and generic, seemingly modern and ancient at the same time.

http://www.anneliarms.com

Anneli Arms
Architect of His Dreams

JON SERVETAS

Jon Servetas
Oil on canvas

Jon Servetas started drawing as a child during WWll using poster paints and grocery bags from the market.
His work has evolved over the last 70+ years with the use of a warm color palette encapsulating everyday scenes.
His images are traditional in nature but are more of an impression of the scene with color taking over than true realism.

Jon Servetas

NICHOLAS CHRISTOPHER

My fascination has always been in taking the tool of the Impressionists and early compositional photographers and moving the photograph into the realm of ‘true art’. Working only outdoors with available light I capture the visual juxtaposition of the shadows that play within a compositional ‘color’ palette. Dimensionality or lack thereof is a product of this interplay. Dimension and shadow increase during the assembly process taking my 2 dimensional compositions and adding depth. Now light & shadow play a new role in creating a 3 dimensional finished work. The assembly rests on a wall, which is now also part of the paradigm.

www.nccworks.com

Nicholas Christopher
Mondrian Memory
mixed media

THE LRFA BLOG IS VERY PLEASED TO WELCOME GERI THOMAS IN OUR NEXT POST, THE FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL OF A FIRM SPECIALIZING IN RECRUITING AND PLACEMENT OF POSITIONS IN THE ARTS. GERI WILL SPEAK OF HER NEW CONSULTING AND TEACHING VENTURES AS WELL AS ISSUES OF DIVERSITY, EQUAL PAY AND DISCRIMINATION IN THE ARTS’ PROFESSIONS.

STAY TUNED!

Revisiting Abstract Expressionism: Edward Dugmore, opening tonight at Loretta Howard Gallery

EDWARD DUGMORE
1961 B-3, 1961
Oil on canvas
95 1/2 x 83 1/4 inches

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM, AN IMPORTANT AND INTRINSICALLY AMERICAN ART MOVEMENT DOMINANT IN THE 50s AND 60s,  ESTABLISHED AMERICA AS THE CREATIVE AND INTELLECTUAL CENTER OF THE POST-WORLD WAR II ART WORLD. ITS SPONTANEITY, EMOTIVE MAGNETISM AND ENERGETIC SPIRIT EXEMPLIFIED AMERICA’S GREAT ECONOMICAL AND CULTURAL POST-WAR BOOM.

WHILE THE CIRCLE OF FIRST GENERATION OF ABEX ARTISTS IS ETCHED IN OUR ART HISTORICAL LEXICON, A SIGNIFICANT GROUP OF SECOND GENERATION ABEX ARTISTS ALSO MERITS RECOGNITION AND CRITICAL ACCLAIM.  EDWARD DUGMORE, AN ABSTRACT PAINTER WITH TIES TO BOTH COASTS, WAS REPRESENTED BY THE DISTINGUISHED STABLE GALLERY IN NEW YORK IN THE 50s, HOWARD WISE IN THE 60s, AND GREEN MOUNTAIN GALLERY IN THE 70s. AS A STUDENT AT CAL ARTS UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST MASTER, CLYFFORD STILL, DUGMORE ALSO ENJOYED A PRESENCE IN THE WEST COAST ART WORLD.

LORETTA HOWARD GALLERY, LOCATED IN A BEAUTIFUL GROUND FLOOR SPACE IN CHELSEA AT 521 WEST 26th STREET, SPECIALIZES IN CLASSIC POST WAR AMERICAN ART WITH AN EMPHASIS ON ARTISTS WHO CAME INTO PROMINENCE IN THE 1950s AND 1960s. http://lorettahoward.com/about

IN THE SPRING OF 2014, THE GALLERY CURATED AN IMPORTANT RETROSPECTIVE OF WORKS BY  DUGMORE, ANCIENT EVENINGS: A RETROSPECTIVE OF EDWARD DUGMORE, FEATURING PAINTINGS FROM EACH DECADE THAT TRACED THE ARTIST’S CREATIVE TRAJECTORY OF MORE THAN 50 YEARS.

http://lorettahoward.com/content/ancient-evenings-retrospective-edward-dugmore

 

GALLERY INTELL/YOU TUBE INTERVIEW WITH LORETTA HOWARD, May 29, 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCMeTl-dWVw

 

THE LRFA BLOG IS DELIGHTED TO FEATURE LORETTA HOWARD’S  FORTHCOMING EXHIBITION, EDWARD DUGMORE: THE SIXTIES, AN EXHIBIT CURATED FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE ARTIST’S RELATIONSHIP TO THE AMERICAN WEST. FOR EVERYONE NOW IN NEW YORK, OR ARRIVING SHORTLY FOR THE FORTHCOMING AUCTIONS AND ART FAIRS: ADAA’s ART SHOW  AT THE PARK AVENUE ARMORY, http://www.artdealers.org/ AND THE ARMORY SHOW AT NAVY PIERS. https://www.thearmoryshow.com/,

THE EDWARD DUGMORE  EXHIBITION AT LORETTA HOWARD GALLERY OPENS TONIGHT, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd AND CONTINUES THROUGH SATURDAY, MARCH 25th, 2017.

http://lorettahoward.com/content/edward-dugmore-7

 

EDWARD DUGMORE
Aspen Quartet, 1961
Oil on canvas
69 1/2 x 85 5/8 inches

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Edward Dugmore: The 1960s

February 23 – March 25, 2017

Opening Reception: February 23, 6 – 8 pm

Loretta Howard Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of major canvases by Edward Dugmore from the 1960s. The works on display trace the artist’s engagement with the American West. This affinity developed at an early age in part from an interest in Native American life that began while looking through his fathers National Geographic magazines.

The 1960s marked a period during which the artist turned his field of vision away from the city and mined visual representation for inspiration. For Dugmore, the Rocky Mountains, which he experienced as a visiting artist to the Aspen school of Art in 1961, became a mystic symbol. Dugmore’s mountainous topographies avoid direct visual reference instead embodying the tectonic drama of the landscape as a catalyst for spiritual reflection. This romantic impulse can be traced to English poet and painter William Blake who’s own ambition was to render the contemplation of nature as a transformative experience.

EDWARD DUGMORE
Maine #35, 1965
Ink on paper
19 x 24 inches

Equally important were Dugmore’s yearly trips to Washington, Maine, where he and his wife purchased land in 1960 along with fellow artists Ernie Briggs and Anne Arnold. A selection of ink drawings from the early 1960s highlights the important influence of this environment on the artist’s paintings of the next ten years. Dugmore sketched, often times interpreting the landscape through its reflection in the Medomak River and nearby saltwater coves.

THE NEXT LRFA POST FEATURES EXCERPTS FROM AN INSIGHTFUL ESSAY ON THE CURRENT EXHIBITION BY HOWARD HURST, DIRECTOR AT LORETTA HOWARD GALLERY AND CONTRIBUTING WRITER AT HYPERALLERGIC.

MANY THANKS TO LORETTA AND HER GALLERY TEAM FOR SHARING THIS EXHIBITION WITH US.