VOL 04 ISSUE
21 
November 05, 2005
BACK ISSUES | ° | ¤ | CURRENT ISSUE
VOL 04 ISSUE
21 BACK ISSUES | ° | ¤ | CURRENT ISSUE |
| COVE ARTISTS HIT THE ROAD:HALIBUT COVE ART COLONY SHOW | ||||
 COVE ARTISTS HIT THE ROAD demonstrates the
talents of a diverse group of artists involved with the Halibut Cove Experience
Gallery. The group of veterans and emerging artists share a certain irony in the
reference since Halibut Cove, across Kachemak Bay from Homer, is accessible only by boat
or float plane. Their exhibition is hosted by Alaska Pacific University in the
Carr-Gottstein gallery this month. Alex Combs, at 85 the grand old man of
Alaskan modernism, returns to his roots with Scroll, shown at right. Large and
unstretched, the canvas has had oil applied in repeated ovoid gestures inevitably
suggesting eyeballs or barnacles. The bravura brushwork is in a frenetic style
reminiswcent of theoutput of Kandinsky in his later periods. Other artists from Halibut
Cove such as Dianne Tillion are also informed by European excursions and a devotion to
pre-war artistic breakthroughs. |
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WAITING AFTER A PARTY:
CAROVANO As one of the earliest Professors of Art in Alaska,
Combs has had an influence on several generations of students. Kathryn Carovano
shows two paintings priced at $600 and shown at left, with Waiting at the top and
After the Party below. With a more contained interpretation, Carovano distributes
the ovoids evenly around her picture space, High color contrasts add liveliness to
the expression, and the work's names complete the pictorial puzzle. Is it better to clean up directly After the Party or is it wiser Waiting until the following morning for a fresh start? A theme for both of these charming pictures is the notion of disorder in an interior space, which some can tolerate where others can't. The porcelain work of Kirby and Tony Maury added a higher finish to the show, with Tony Maury's pieces like kid's jig-saw puzzles, not shown. Jewelry from natural objects is included in a glass case, and Annette Bellamy presents a piece composed of a grid of stoneware forms presented collectively for $2000 as Horses' Asses, a detail of which is the index image for this month. |
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MARINE PLANKTON:McNEVIN EMBOSSES The copper embossed prints shown by Kay McNevin have a jewel-like quality as evidenced in Marine Plankton, shown at left. Framed and priced at only $100, presumably the 'prints' are paper although they look like embossed copper sheets. Either way, the details of the subjects from nature make these desirable, and there are two others not shown here called Jellyfish and Four Spotted Skimmer for those whose collecting interests run to this sort of thing.. Works by Jan Thurston and Marion T Beck are also included in this opportunity to see what's going on across the K-Bay.. | |||
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ASSIMILATION: RESISTING MARCUCCI FUTILE Alaska Pacific University has hosted art shows since the 1960's at Grant Hall, and curator Jannah Atkins has even gotten them to renew the wall covering in the lobby used as a gallery. This month Kim Marcucci displays a group of her bright abstract expressionist paintings done in acrylic and oil pastel mixed on the canvas with rags, fingers, and brushes.like Assimilation shown at left. Marcucci cites the influence of Richard Diebenkorn and Wayne Thiebaud and this group of paintings does give the impression of low aerial perspectives. Her brushwork condenses into road-like patterns of interest, while generous expanses of canvas are treated more openly. Marcucci was acknowledged with a First Place by Juror Alvaro Castagnet in the 2005 Alaska Watercolor Society show and with an impressive Best of Non-Objective Paintings in the 2004 National Oil and Acrylic Painters of America national competition. Her work is guided by her spirit as she creates it, and her struggle for understanding. She speaks wistfully of the prospects of Assimilation by telling a parable about her relatives' various favorite marinara sauces. .Marcucci is represented online and locally by the Artique Gallery. Paintings are priced below $3,000. | |||
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STACKS:RUSSELL
ENLARGING POWER The Rasmuson Foundation awarded Spenartist Duke
Russell a Artist Project grant which Russell used to switch to a digital photography for
source pictures which are then enlarged from a dvd and a digital enlarger. Working
from a cartoon, he then turned to paint handling, with reference to various simplification
and solarization filters worked on the original files. The Stacks shown at left
are from a shot of the old Ship Creek power plant, and the nearly 4'x5' scale of the
painting is given human reference by the ladder seen at the lower right of the painting.
Stacks was purchased at the opening for $1250, and Club and Ram,
seen below at left, remain available at the same price. The generosity of the
Rasmuson Foundation has been instrumental in his decision to lease a large studio space
near his home. Rasmuson has been doing more good recently. John Haines has been awarded the Rasmuson Foundation Distinguished Artist $25,000 Award for 2005. In addition, the following:: Ayap'run
Jack David Abraham, (Yup'ik), Anchorage; Kathleen Carlo,
(Athabascan), Fairbanks; 2004 Guggenheim Fellow Olena Davis,
(poetry), Anchorage; Seth
Kantner, (creative non-fiction), Kotzebue; $5000 Individual Artist Project grants were awarded to:John Luther Adams, (music composition), Fairbanks; Sarah Beaty, (clay), Fort Yukon; Michael Conti, (photographer), Anchorage; Mark Daughhetee, (photographer), Juneau; Ernestine Hayes, Literary Arts, Juneau; Judith Lindenfelser, Literary Arts, Chugiak, Charles Mason, (photographer), Fairbanks; Mavis Muller, (basket maker), Homer; Alexandra Phillips, (mixed-media), Anchorage; Jake Pogrebinsky, (blacksmith), Fairbanks; Patrick Race, (filmmaker), Juneau. Congratulations to all of these worthies and condolences to the also-worthy among the 170 applicants. To date, the Foundation has awarded over $380,000 to more than 50 lucky recipients.According to Victoria Lord, program associate. "We continue to rely on expert panelists from outside Alaska to evaluate all of the applications, resulting in, what we believe, is a thorough, thoughtful, and unbiased review process." That many comma's in a single sentence makes ArtSceneAK wonder.... |
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RECTO VERSO:GALLUP IN GIRDWOOD According to her statement accompanying her fabric installation at the Girdwood Center for the Visual Arts this month, Z. Denise Gallup has a "fascination with body genius". She explains that "Recto Verso" is Latin for the two sides of a page in a book. The vertical 'scroll' hangings which form the installation, shown at left, are printed, dyed, layered, and stitched with detail on each side requiring them to be free-hanging from the ceiling to be best appreciated. Prepared in a rainbow of colors and accompanied by a recorded descriptive guide on headphones, the scrolls incorporate tissue clothing patterns with printed instructions subtley adapted from more prosaic commercial patterns. An example (not shown): "BOUND SENSE OF LIFE PURPOSE TO PREVENT FRAYING'. | |||
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FLEXIBILITY :
SEWING ADVICE In the detail of Flexibility shown at
left, the dressmaker is advised to "PRESS IN FLEXIBILITY / LENGTHEN OR SHORTEN"
and to "SLIPSTITCH UNRECEPTIVITY AS MARKED" Each of the scrolls carry
similarly couched phrases of admonishment, detailed with freehand machine stitchery.
One unique piece incorporates the human form in outline, stuffed with sewing based
homilies. It is difficult to see if this figure is coming or going on either side. An
interesting shawl and a number of very reasonably priced works on paper are also
presentted. Gallup has made sure she is working with the good of the world in mind.
ArtSceneAK was glad we had a chance to review her advisory artworks and recommends
visiting Girdwood this month to lift your own spirits. The Bake Shop, next door, is hosting an exhibit as well, with original acrylics by Girdwood local Jules Wolfe, not shown. |
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- ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES- NO/FI/RM deadline ALASKA STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS administrating ART IN PUBLIC PLACES 1% FOR ART state ordinance for the following major projects included in the capitol projects budget by the 2005 state legislature. .
Since the beginning of 2005, the AKSCA Visual Arts director has sent ArtSceneAK notification by email of CFA's from Phoenix, AZ, Indianapolis IL, Tooele UT, Aurora CO, Huntington NY, Warwick RI, Palm Beach FL, San Diego CA, Waterloo, ME, and passed on word about one purchase award from a state funded high school renovation project in Soldotna. Is ArtSceneAK missing something, or are we on the do-not-call list for Alaska? AKSA administrators advised us that they had not seen the above list, first published by ArtSceneAK in issue #411, which represents $5 million dollars in potential opportunities for artists. 11/30/2005 deadline MOA ARTS ADVISORY COMMISSION 2006 GRANTS administered by the ARTS AND CULTURE FOUNDATION an eligible organization is one whose primary purpose is to produce arts events, projects and services within the Municipality of Anchorage. 2. The organization must be nonprofit. Guidelines and applications online. 11/15/05-1/30/06 applications accepted DENALI NATIONAL PARK ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE program offers use of cabin in park, wants a work of art and a lecture, and pays no stipend.details online. 1/9/06 deadline AMHA CHILDREN'S ART GALLERY seeks submissions for year long show on subject of "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Transportation and Travel in Art". contact Julie Decker P.O. Box 100239, Anchorage, AK 99510.
NEXT: NIGHT WATCH 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. |
WOLF BOY AND FLOWER GIRL:VARNELL The Ptarmigan Elementary School student body assembled to
note the installation of two cedar story poles by Ketchikan carver Donald Varnell as part
of the Municipality of Anchorage 1% for Art program on a brisk fall evening at 5 pm
late last month. The poles are named Tasia Flower Power Girl and Taku Wolf
Boy in the photo at right. Varnell hopes "the children see the
poles on their way to school and remember a world of imagination, learning and friendship."
Too 'shy' to do a carver's dance to dedicate the poles, Varnell had to ask his
female relatives who took up the slack and danced and sang a cautionary tale about a
woman who waits at the edge of the woods and watches for wayward children.
Yikes!. Varnell thinks of these as exterior house posts. They reinforce the conundrum of a
school named after Ptarmigan having as a mascot the Timberwolf, and the wolf character on Taku,
seems to have selected one of the goggle-eyed, sperm-shaped spruce grouses to be kept
handy under his arm. Tasia, on the other pole, is crouched between the legs of
the wolf, and has a disturbing curling form growing from between her legs.
Incomplete at the time of installation, this carving was partially decorated with
stenciled shapes reminiscent of floral non-slip bathtub stickers. Facing the school
entrance at the top of the stairs, visitors approaching the school see the unfinished,
hollowed out back side of the log, on which this cryptic message may be read: "GOYATRI
Om bhur burva shun tat sabitur barin-yum bargo de vas ya de ma hi pro yo pracho diat om"Bargo yo pracho diatoms in the BACK ISSUE Index.
No, Thank You and Welcome to a new subscriber in Anchorage who wished us 'Kind thanks and happy reviewing!" A reader in Kodiak writes: "WOO-HOO Photography" although privately wondering if ArtSceneAK was avoiding photography "like the plague". More like an ex-lover, neh?. An invitation to an Italian super-patronista's garden park was welcome: "Thank you for your note -- it is good news that you will be coming back to Italy in December. As you know, at that time of year the Collection is closed but it may be possible to arrange a visit for you on the morning of either Monday 5th or Tuesday 6th. We get back in touch" --- Giuliano Gori Rob Roys of Juneau sends word: "Howdy! I would like to announce the opening of my new gallery called Two Crow Studio & Gallery.I intend to display mostly the works of other artists. Months are filling up fast with several exciting shows so keep your eyes peeled. If you or someone you know is interested in a small show with little overhead and a small commission e-mail or call me". No, Thank You for an enthusiast who let us know: "I don't know if you've seen George Gee's drawings (owner, Side Street Espresso, on G between 4th and 5th). He has them at Side Street (in notebooks in the back) and they're wonderful. It's worth a stop, if you haven't seen them already.All for now. Thanks for doing the ArtSceneAK" --- Nelda Out North presents: K N Goodrich - "Fences Enclosing Nothing" For residents of Britain and Scotland: "Loans for purchasing new art by living artists from £100 up to £2000 with a ten month term at 0.00% APR interest from the British Arts Council." --- Queen Mum From Florence with love: "You and James Langston are cited as Consultants on the Biennale credit page in the catalogue. You're official. Can't wait to see you here! best" --- John "Your hotel is not far from our apartment on Via Delle Terme. We will have meetings there once again, it was great last time we were there. It will be great to see you once again. In 2003, we had an extra room for you to crash at but this new place is a little smaller. We tried to get the old place but our landlord did not want us back!!!! Loud artists!!!! Haha It was Oransanz fault." --- James
cf also ART IN ALASKA
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text & photos © 2005 Donald R Ricker; artist's works pictured ©2005 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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