VOL 05 ISSUE
3 
February 16, 2006
BACK ISSUES | ° | ¤ | CURRENT ISSUE
VOL 05 ISSUE
3 BACK ISSUES | ° | ¤ | CURRENT ISSUE |
| CANVAS TO STEEL:ED CRITTENDEN CELEBRATED AT AMHA | ||||
 FROM CANVAS TO
STEEL: ED CRITTENDEN AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF ANCHORAGE, 1949-2005 opened at the
Anchorage Museum of History and Art this month on Superbowl Sunday afternoon with a
gathering in the atrium to led Edwin Crittenden know his efforts have been appreciated.
Current Mayor Mark Begich and former Mayor Jack Roderick contributed remarks, as did
several high powered local architects. Three structural steel easels supported
projection screens high above the didactic materials hung salon style under a newly
introduced set of string lights in the museum's west gallery, seen in the photo at
right. Exhibition designers Mike Mense and Julie Decker can be
congratulated for their successful use of the cubic volume of this awkward space.. |
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EGAN CENTER: WATERCOLOR
VISIONS An architect in Alaska since it was a Territory and not
yet a state, Ed Crittenden has the unique position of living in a community he was
instrumental in designing. The photographs and textual information on the walls and in the
projections amplify this information. The canvas in the exhibition title must refer
to tents, not paintings, and the colorful rendering of a proposed Egan Convention Center
shown at left is one of several architects drawings featured. Crittenden established his
first business in 1950, and has designed everything from private residences through
corporate headquarters to schools and public buildings, including recently the massive
Service High School renovations. Crittenden is retired as a principal in the company he
founded, and remains active including a recent stint as a juror for the State Capitol
Design competition in Juneau. Crittenden has always included as a standard element the effect of the far northern climate on both the buildings and their inhabitants. |
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FIGG MUSEUM:FRITTED GLASS
PALACE Architecture is du jours at the museum.
According to a recent promotional article in the Daily News, citizens were encouraged to
visit City Hall to register their opinions regarding the Chipperfield designed museum
expansion in general and in particular Athena Tacha's Ice Wall in the atrium of
the Museum, although the 'news' did not attribute the work to Tacha nor use the works
title. This is not a matter of public opinion since the city has a contract with Tacha.
There is a matter of public opinion going without directed attention.
Chipperfield intends to sheath the new building with a frame holding 'fritted' glass held
away from the outside walls by a distance of four feet. The photo at left shows the
proposed cladding as designed and installed under Chipperfield's direction on the Figg
Museum in Davenport IA. Gerald Wolf, who provided the photos from which the
composite was developed, mentioned that the Davenport city engineer found condensation
around the attachment bolts to be evident during winter months. In Alaska,
condensation in buildings leads to glaciation. The energy efficiency of painted
glass is negligible, and the glowing renderings and core-ply models presented to the
Museum Building Committee seem far more glamorous than the built example. A large
sign will be needed to let Davenport visitors know that this building is a museum, rather
than a correctional institution. Some historical details about the Anchorage Museum were shared with ArtSceneAK by Kenneth Maynard: "Schultz and Maynard were the architects-of-record for the first museum. Dave McKinley of the Seattle firm Kirk, Wallace and McKinley was the designer. The first addition I did myself in 1973 as Kenneth Maynard, Architect. Maynard and Partch were the architects-of-record for the last addition done in the early 80's. Steve Goldberg was the designer in association with Romaldo Giurgola of the New York office of Mitchell Giurgola. ". An anthology of articles developed from lectures at UAA, Northern Building Design, includes wisdom and attitude about the latitude from several of the named luminaries and others. It may be available at Cook Inlet Book Store downtown. |
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DOORKNOB TEAPOT: PERRY AT ARTIQUE For Girdwood ceramicist Kelly Perry, a teapot is a collectible object maybe even before it is a practical object. Her whimsical approach allows her to play with the features of a pot's function. She fires pots with slab sides, snooty spouts, and bizarre lids, such as the DoorKnob Teapot shown at left and the Teapot with Wire Beads shown in the index image this issue. Artique Ltd presents Perry's work as part of their usual mix of tabletop sculpture with wall art. A particularly cheery teapot has a lid which sprouts asparagus stalks. Perry's quirky humor and inventive glazes are a perfect foil to the work of two of the principals of Artique whose work is also exhibited this month. The painting in the background of the photo is one by Linnea Ratcliff.. | |||
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RIFT: RATCLIFF GATHERS STORM Ratcliff's work is a soft version of the expressionist aesthetic seen in a harder edged form in work by Kim Marccucci, another artist in the Artique stable. Areas of washed blends at the outside of the canvas converge into simple patterns dividing the surface. In Rift, shown at left, Ratcliff's use of flesh tones, and the curly sgrafito with a pencil overlying the dark design is undeniable sensuous and even not understatedly erotic in certain instances. The paintings are priced from around $1800 to $3000 and many are innocuous enough to not look out of place outside the boudoir.. | |||
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LAUGH WITH ME:ACRYLIC BOUQUET Using pencil, oil stick, acrylic washes, and applying thinners to the canvas, Ratcliff develops her vocabulary in the painting Laugh With Me, shown at left. Again, the composition is simple and graphic while developed from busy elements which suggest a profusion of flowers, or even the qualities of nebulae, star clusters in deep space. By providing passages of interest through the painting supported by suffuse backgrounds, Ratcliff adds details that can provide lasting interest in a non-objective painting. Organic and even fecund, the paintings of Linnea Ratcliff are extemely capable at establishing a mood in rooms where they are hung. Unencumbered by meaning or message, these are essentially places to let the eyes rest while the mind wanders, much like a campfire or a forest canopy, or a floral bouquet. | |||
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ALONG THE TRAIL:ELLIS TRIUMVERATE Another principal in the Artique management team shows watercolor landscapes at the third part of this triple threat show. Susan Pennewell Ellis has evolved a freely brushed style that shares some similarities and differences with the non-objective paintings of Ratcliff. In Along the Trail, shown at left, a common quality of areas of broad blends at the outside of the painting drawing into areas of deeper detail and interest can be detected. A freedom from meaning as expressed in content is also evident in these 'soft' regional paintings that could be Alaska or could be anywhere birch ,leaves turn yellow in the autumn. Ratcliff's freely applied colors interact without giving clues to form and Ellis' forms dissolve into freely applied color. Each uses wet on wet painting to achieve atmospheric effects. | |||
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CLEAR CREEK:WATERCOLOR WATERS Each of the artists work in a conventional interpretation of what sells as art in each particular genre. Quirky teapost, sensuous abstracts, and anonymous wild places are staples of what sells in a contemporary art gallery catering to a tourist trade as well as to local art enthusiasts. In Clear Creek, shown at left, Ellis' association with oil painter Steve Gordon influences a quiet scene where reflected sky in a limpid creek reflects a darker blue. In this painting, the details hover around the horizon line with the plants on the bank giving way to a sensitive melange of color suggesting liquid movement at the bottom of the paper. Ellis' paintings are the size of a microwave and sell for between $900 and $1800 and provide excellent window substitutes under glass for rooms where folks generally keep the drapes drawn. Artique's website continues to improve and set the example for how to deal with customers online. A catalog of both Ellis and Ratcliff paintings in the show is included there for those not able to attend the show in Anchorage. |
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- ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES- 2/24/05 deadline WILD SALMON ON PARADE seeks design proposals for modifying salmon casts artistically. Application packets available online 3/1/06 deadline RASMUSON FOUNDATION Arts Initiative PROJECT AWARDS applications accepted .Details online. Contact Victoria Lord 907.297.2827 or 877.366.2700 toll free in Alaska 3/8/06 deadline ALASKA STATE MUSEUM SOLO EXHIBITION review slide submissions for exhibition at 395 Whittier Street, Juneau, Alaska 99801-1718 3/31/06 deadline AKDOT&PF KENAI PENINSULA YOUTH FACILITY request for proposals to fill three separate spaces. Budget $37,000. Contact Andrea Noble ASCA 907-269-6605
ART AND THE POWER OF PLACEMENT by Victoria Newhouse The Winged Nike from Samothrace placed at the head of a magnificent stairway in the Louvre is a prime example of what Newhouse is talking about. The different philosophies of museum exhibition are showcased through ccmparisons made between recent traveling block-buster style presentations. ArtSceneAK recommends a look for decision makers involved in the Anchorage Museum expansion..... NEXT: MARCH UN-WINDS SHORTCUTS: Aggravated again?! Ecstatic?! Let us know you love us or hate us. Help correct attribution errors that you suspect. Tell us about your upcoming event or artist opportunity. Let us know about your website. Form makes it easy to try your hand at pumping or dumping. cf also ART IN ALASKA |
POLAR BEARS LIGHT:SPENARD
STREET ART  The impetus behind the Mountain View Arts and Culture District seems
dormant this winter, with the Community Land Trust (a creature of the Rasmuson Foundation)
occupying offices at the building touted as being for artists use. One sculptor and
a cooper are using a bay in the back occasionally, and nothing has happened in the
Assembly to make individual artists and art businesses find Mt View attractive as a
home base. Spenard continues to rule as Anchorage's authentic art district, with banks,
building supplies, art supplies, exhibition venues and inexpensive studio space with
property continuing to make it attractive to creative types. Those at Ivy and Company
Architects on Spenard Road created this mother bear and her cub out of tinsel and
Christmas tree lights over a wire frame. Across the street, a bear & salmon
chainsaw carving decorates the doorway of a local hotel. Business, buyers, and opportunity for enterprise make an authentic art district. Planners and bureaucrats think that's cool. Cool your white lights with a draft out of the BACK ISSUE Index.
Thanks to several subscribers who contacted us to let us know that their pop-up blockers were preventing them from seeing ArtSceneAK: "damn thing ain't working!" Allowing your blocker to accept material from our server generally only has to be done once. No, Thank You to a reader who wrote:" I so enjoy the Art Scene. Thank you very mush for putting it all together." --- Jlona Richey. She is anxious to promote the fine art photography found on her and her husband's website. Bill Barstow and Tony Crocetto are showing painting from Interior Alaska at the Wells Street Gallery in Fairbanks this month and invite all to visit and browse. Carmen Summerfield presents a Valley opportunity: "The Palmer Arts Council is selecting artwork from Alaskan artists, to be displayed at future PAC events. The first event will be the lobby of the Palmer Depot during the performance of "Proof" on March 24, 25, 26, 31 and April 1,2. Visual Art: Original artwork in oil, watercolor, acrylic, ink, pencil, charcoal, pastel, or encaustic wax." No WAY, Thank You, to the current round of internet scams aimed at artists. "I'm John from the states,I am interested in buying some creative artworks listed below as a decorative.(1) Watercolours on paper (2) Mixed media (3) Sculpture (4) Paintings (5) Landscapes What are the prices of the artworks excluding the shipping cost? I have been intouch with a carrier on the shipping arrangements. Kindly get back to me with photos of each painting in different section,so I can let you know if any one interested me. I am presently in our new apartment supervising a house project. On the payment,I would be glad to pay you either of the listed below payment form." ArtSceneAK cautions readers who receive similar letters not to respond, these are scam artists fishing for gullible people and they are phishing for financial details; it is not recommended to reply to these types of messages. They are generated in Nigeria and made to look acceptable to American audiences with elaborate disclaimers. No thank You to Gregorio Luke who wrote: "Thank you for sharing your art with me." And godbless to those who sigtned the guest book at ArtSceneAK publisher Donald R Ricker's recent exhibition of paintings, especially those who said which one was their favorite, and to the person who wrote: "Awsum like a possum."
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text & photos © 2006 Donald R Ricker; artist's works pictured ©2006 to artists credited.
ArtSceneAK is published by Donald R Ricker and sponsored by
BETTER LETTERS, PO Box 103554, Anchorage AK 99510-3554
, a partial listing of
links to Museums, Galleries, and individual Artists around the state.
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