ART WOR K PRO G R AM C ATALO G
A N N C O N N E L LY F I N E A R T
As art consultants, Ann Connelly Fine Art cultivated an art program focused on building a unique collection for the firm; paying homage to the legacy of the company and its principals while fostering a progressive asethetic that complimented the modern interior architecture.
The Artists Simon Kef, Berlin, Germany Marna Shopoff, Indianapolis, Indiana Michael Buscemi, San Jose, California Brent Houzenga, New Orleans, Louisiana Skylar Fein, New Orleans Louisiana Winifred Ross Reilly, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Johnny Taylor, Los Angeles, California Ken Tate, Mandeville, Louisiana Katherine Lane, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Simon Kef KEF! is originally from a small town of Übach-Palenberg in Germany but came to London in 2013 after seeing the vibrant street art scene and feeling that there was a gap for his style. KEF!’s name means ‘scar’ and is how he sees paint on walls, a lasting mark left by an artist which is difficult to remove.The intricate style of KEF!’s work can be described as abstract graffiti, with KEF! often talking about the flow and harmony within the lines he creates. “People should always try to feel and not think about my stuff” says KEF!. As an artist he works instinctively taking inspiration from within himself and nature.KEF!’s work can now be seen all across the globe and has been working closely with Urban Outfitters, redesigning the interiors of the London, Berlin, Stuttgart and Hong Kong stores.
Marna Shopoff Architecture is a visual bridge between inside and out, a passageway of self-reflection. It represents time, and the temporality of our experiences. I am interested in spatial relationships that capture an essence of a place, how we move through a space in the world and within a painting. My work is about exploring compositional, personal and experiential connections while creating an invitation to interweave my own with others. My paintings are an extension of my identity, using color as an idea, a mood, an interpretation that questions the permanence of the built world surrounding us.
Michael Buscemi Michael Buscemi creates baroque imagery with minimal means in his complex monochromatic reliefs. “The white collages came to me in a quest to eliminate all existing media, leaving only light, shape, and shadow,” he says. “I love to make them undulate and allow the forms to remain organic yet suggestive.” Buscemi cuts layers of thick white paper, collaging and layering them into richly patterned, glowing compositions that straddle the division between sculpture and drawing. Similar to 18th-century decorative marble bas-reliefs, Buscemi’s works are full of depth and space, form and light, composed of abstract, gestural elements. Though his flourishes and lyrical titles are suggestive, he leaves interpretation open to the viewer.
Brent Houzenga Eight years ago, Houzenga discovered a pair of albums of antique photographs in someone’s trash. The anonymous 19th-century portraits have been the subjects of his work ever since. He does not view his work as grafitti, although his matierials are similar and resemble pop art from the 1960s. He sees a clear distinction between his work with hand-stenciled portraits and classic pop art. Pop art, he said, “usually depicted celebrities or iconic images”. Houzenga’s work surrounds the faces of subjects who aren’t famous. In fact, they’re completely obscure. “My work focuses on the unknown personages, symbolizing the importance of all people, not just the rich and famous.”
Skylar Fein Fein’s series entitled “Giant Metal Matchbooks”, has been exhibited nationally at art fairs such as, Miami Project during Art Basel Miami Beach, Texas Contemporary, and artMRKT San Francisco. Fein’s 2015 solo exhibition “Strike Anywhere” includes the ongoing “Giant Metal Matchbook” series that focuses on the found matchbooks from New Orleans streets around the time of Hurricane Katrina. Skylar Fein was the recipient of a 2009 Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for this series. Fein’s work is in several prominent collections including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Brooklyn Museum, The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, The Louisiana State Museum, The Birmingham Museum of Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art, curators Dan Cameron and Bill Arning have featured Fein’s work in several recent traveling exhibitions.
Winifred Ross Reilly Reilly, a graduate from Pratt Institute, has been a working artist in Baton Rouge for the last 30 years. Her work has a facination with nostalgia. She focuses on reinventing and reusing materials, most notably disgarded signage from Lamar Advertising. All of Reilly’s imagery is handrawn and then transverred through screen print to mulitple substrates like metal or acrylic. Her bright colors and loose lines depict a playful yet sophisticated hand.
Johnny Taylor My paintings explore the things we look at each day without seeing. Though everything is game imagery-wise, I am drawn to advertising images and glyphs, the visual shorthand of contemporary culture. Bright colored blocks compose my acrylic and mixed media paintings. I enjoy the look and feel of loose, graffiti-like marks, text, and “noise� against these vividly hued planes. Usually I paint with layers, with each new layer showing a bit of the one beneath. Often this process yields unexpected colors and forms. I draw inspiration from graffiti art, specifically the stylized, single gesture marks of graffiti tagging.
Ken Tate The Intervention Series features magazine covers that I am interested in because of the artists, musicians or celebrities that grace them. Their graphic compositions seduce me, invite me to intervene on them... and in my case, this means painting on them. The painting adds another layer of “meaning� to the composition and, for me, also adds a certain excitement to the magazine cover. I have the magazine covers photographed and enlarged and the new scale and texture inspire me to go even further with the painting – a new intervention to my own intervention.
Katherine Lane Katherine is a digital artist focusing on commercial graphic design. Originally from North Carolina, much of Katherine’s work is inspired by her experiences within the vibrant and unique communities of South Louisiana. The custom designed mural was inspired by the theme of unity through diversity; with a focus on the appreciation of culture, heritage and ethnicity and the positive impact these factors have on community. The mural is a direct inspiration from the progressive mission statement divised by the art consultants and Fishman Haygood.