Art and The City by Jim Magner

ARTandtheCITY

by Jim Magner

ARTIST PROFILE: NANCY FRANKEL

Organic Sculpture. Organic Geometry. Organic Thoughts. Organic ideas that “get past the surface aspects of reality to find deeper meaning.”

With Nancy Frankel, nature and structure come together in space. She wanted all of her works, in-

door and outdoor to be “precarious, yet balanced.” It was always a search for joy and wonder in so many forms and materials.

Her work gave substance to space, but it wasn’t just a space filler. Each sculpture is a visual life form that casts a shadow and grows in size as you watch it. It will also grow in dignity and intellectual stature.

Her own shadow fills the spaces among those who she has touched and welcomed into her vision of nature…and the meaning of it all.

Nancy was born in DC and was based here as an artist. She majored in art and began sculpting at Temple University. She received her MFA at Columbia University. While living in New York she studied with Hans Hoffman and was introduced to abstract expressionism. She also studied at the Art Academy in Munich, Germany.

Her first major recognition came in 1972 with the Conference of Women in Visional Arts held at the Corcoran

Gallery of Art in DC. She was an adjunct professor of sculpture at Montgomery College in Rockville, MD, and a member of the Studio Gallery Artist Cooperative. In 2019, the Katzen Arts

Center at the American University presented: “Nancy at 90. A Retrospective of Form and Color.” Nancy Frankel recently died in her home in Kensington, MD. She was 92. Her life’s work is shown at the Zenith Art Gallery (See below.)

Yellow and White. Wood, plexiglass, acrylic. 60"x48"x30” Jim Magner’s Thoughts on Art

Nature never rests—it is moving in millions of places all at once and it doesn’t give a damn what you see or think. If you see opulent color, fine. If you see lavish beauty, fine. If you are horrified by death and destruction, too bad. Don’t blame or credit nature for what you see or think…it doesn’t care. You have to care. You have to decide what you want to look for and accept from the extravagant paradox of apparent tranquility and biological savagery and then draw your own visions and interpretations. Nancy Frankel looked past the “surface aspects of reality to find a deeper meaning.” The intellectual meaning is human—us. To find a higher interpretation you have to look beyond the ordinary, beyond the self. The highest significance is goodness: art at its purest intent. That was the art of Nancy Frankel. Like the best in art, music or literature, she aimed to transcend nature, not just copy it or reflect it. Art at its most noble should rise above base human instincts and lift us into the realm of wonder. You have to search with both your head and your heart— mine aren’t always on speaking terms—but you have to employ one or both to take off…fly with the spirits. To do that you may have to follow your other brain—the one that disobeys—not the mind you keep under control by the need to be safe. Release your heart—let it sit on the mountaintop. See beauty despite uncaring nature. See beautifully. Accept the realities of death and destruction and dance

with the supernatural in the wild dance of art.

At the Galleries

“Let’s Dance” Zenith Gallery Presents 1111 Pennsylvania Ave, NW –November 21, 2021

Jackie Braitman captures the tension of motion: fluidity in a static sculpture. Her latest series is titled “Momentum.” She captures the grace and athleticism of the female dancer to combine abstract and realistic elements, and finds that magical moment when the dancer feels suspended in mid-air.

Joanathan Ribaillier’s people also dance and gyrate. He uses figures cut from antique maps because they “symbolize the roads people travel and their journeys and struggles for a better life.” He knows of that first hand as an immigrant from France. He spent his childhood around Lyon’s largest flea market where his family dealt with maps and similar artifacts.

Zenith Gallery also manages the sales of works by Nancy Frankel. (See: Artist Profile) zenithgallery.com

All Member Show Foundry Gallery 2008 8th St., N.W. Sept. 3-26

The September show is with all gallery members. There will be the usual variety of styles and topics— with both smaller and larger pieces. It will be the first show of two new members, expressionist painters, Brian Truesdale and Zhaojuan Sun. foundrygallery.org

Totem. Painted steel. 84"x 40"x21”

“Our Washington, D.C.” American Painting Fine Art 5125 MacArthur Blvd., NW, Suite 17 –Sept 30

“Our Washington, D.C.” is exactly that: ten very popular Washington area landscape artists give you the expected monuments and a lot more. The gallery is open from Wed through Sat., Nancy at the Katsen Center 11 AM – 7 PM. (And by appointment.) And, of course all of the paintings can be found on the website. classicamericanpainting.com

On a personal note: You can watch the very short video (85 sec.) for my historical fiction novel, The Dead Man on the Corner. https:// youtu.be/bQad2_Ck78Q

You can buy the book on both Amazon and Barnes and Nobel, along with my other new historical fiction novel, John Dillinger and Geronimo. See: www.JamesJohnMagner.com

A Capitol Hill artist and writer, Jim can be reached at Artandthecity05@aol.com u