Rutland: Real and Imagined

Ric Kasini Kadour, The Modern Is The Way, photo courtesy of the artist

Photography is inherently effective at telling a story of place. Not only of documenting its history, but also possibly of predicting its future – projecting how a place is or is in the process of becoming. For the group show, “Rutland: Real and Imagined,” which opens in January 31, 2019 at The Alley Gallery in Rutland, Vermont, artist and curator Stephen Schaub brings together eight internationally recognized artists who interpret through their use of photography what constructs a sense of place. Altogether, the resulting photographic imagery in this exhibition creates an engaging story about Rutland – not as a single place but rather many places that come together in the minds and lives of the people who live there.

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Elisabeth Condon – Responding to Contingency

Elisabeth Condon, Plant Life, 2018, ink, acrylic on parchment, 144 x 32, photo Jim Reiman

Elisabeth Condon is a traveler in life and art. Her large scale scrolls, installations, and paintings entice the viewer to join her in adventurous excursions of new and imaginative landscapes. The artist’s innate sensibility for color, pattern, and form, ignited by an insatiable curiosity for cultural intersections, have resulted in an outstanding body of work. For Art Spiel, Elisabeth Condon sheds some light on her dynamic mode of visual quest, and on-going projects.

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Las Gravitas at ODETTA

Photos by Sharilyn Neidhardt, unless otherwise indicated
A show of swirling color and geometry finds ways to discuss complicated issues of violence and social collapse.

What drew me to ODETTA on a very chilly Saturday were the colorful, pagoda-like structures in the main space. Human-scale structures that echo lanterns or birdcages are covered in awkward spiky garlands of colored plastic tubes. The festive air created by the riot of bright color seems fun at first, and it’s only on second inspection that a viewer realizes the color is coming from spent shotgun shells.

Margaret Roleke, ‘pop pop’ (installation view) spent shot gun shells, wire, zipties, steel boxes. 2 boxes each approx. 9’h x 5’w x 5’d

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Paint, Film, Thread: Three Current Shows

By Nina Meledandri

All Photos courtesy of Nina Meledandri

 

Louise Bourgeois, Sutures, 1993, Mixed Media

When an exhibition feeds you, enlightens you, or centers you, it remains with you. Each of the three shows below resonate with me for very different reasons and collectively they create a rich and thought provoking reminder of why we look at art.

Sutures at Mark Straus Gallery presents works which rely in some way on fabric, thread, weaving and/or sewing. The title is shared with one of the show’s focal points: a Louise Bourgeois sculpture, that is itself worth the visit. Continue reading “Paint, Film, Thread: Three Current Shows”

Anne Gilman: Marking Beneath the Surface

Anne Gilman, Up close / in the distance / now, 2018, pencil, graphite, tape, ink, BIC ballpoint pen, matte medium on mulberry paper, 340 x 38 inches, photo courtesy of the artist

The surface of Anne Gilman’s scrolls and drawings is characterized by incisive and often repetitive graphic marks which altogether create portals to the artist’s fluid emotive states.  In her Interview for Art Spiel, Gilman reflects on the roots of her intricate process-oriented approach and also sheds light on some of her current projects. Continue reading “Anne Gilman: Marking Beneath the Surface”

Leslie Kerby: At a Moment of Change

Leslie Kerby,Shots and Ills, 2015, mixed media collage, oil, paper, litho transfer ink, 18-x-20 inches. Photo credit Bill Orcutt

Leslie Kerby creates mixed media collages, installations, and diverse collaborative work with nuanced commentary on current social and cultural climate. In her interview with Art Spiel she sheds some light on her diverse professional background, art-making process, ideas, and plans. Continue reading “Leslie Kerby: At a Moment of Change”

Martynka Wawrzyniak – Ziemia: From Warsaw to Greenpoint

Ziemia unveiled at McGolrick Park, photo credit Wojtek Kubik

Unveiled on June 9, 2018, the core object  in the multidisciplinary public art project Ziemia (“Earth” in Polish), takes the form of a ceramic orb. The orb was created by the Greenpoint based artist Martynka Wawrzyniak in collaboration with The Polish Cultural Institute of New York, NYC Parks, and  most importantly – Greenpoint residents.

Surrounded by the  rolling meadow in McGolrick Park, the orb represents the collective portrait of the diverse Greenpoint community, with an emphasis on participation of the many Poles who have lived in the neighborhood for generations.  Martynka Wawrzyniak shares with Art Spiel the ideas behind her intriguing public art project, as well as some thoughts regarding her overall art practice. Continue reading “Martynka Wawrzyniak – Ziemia: From Warsaw to Greenpoint”

Brent Green – Chickens Can’t Be Trained

Brent Green, A Brief Spark Bookended by Darkness installation, Andrew Edlin Gallery 2018, photo by Olya Vysotskaya

Artist/performer/filmmaker Brent Green is known for the raw beauty and poetic power in his animations, performances, and art installations. For instance, as an artist in residence at the Park Avenue Armory from the fall of 2015 to early 2016, Green performed at the venue’s “Under Construction Series” animated works-in-progress with a live band.  Later on that year, Green provided video projections and music for the first portion of “Empathy School/Love Story,” Aaron Landsman’s theater diptych of monologues at the Abrons Art Center, where the audience were seated on stage. We started our conversation when we first met at his superb recent installation exhibit at Andrew Edlin Gallery. Continue reading “Brent Green – Chickens Can’t Be Trained”