This exhibition, held at the Holman and Ethel Johnson Center for the Arts from August 14 through November 8, 2009, is the result of a collaborative effort between the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Troy-Pike Cultural Art Center, Inc. and Troy University. This catalogue includes images of selected works from 41 artists of Alabama who are currently active artists and who are recipients, over the past 22 years between 1987 and 2009, of Fellowship Grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. This exhibition marks the first time so many fellowship recipients have shown their work alongside each other. It is our sincere hope that anyone interested in contemporary art in Alabama will recognize the importance of an exhibition of this scope and magnitude.
Richard Metzger Executive Director Troy-Pike Cultural Arts Complex richard@tpcac.org www.tpcac.org
As Executive Director of the Johnson Center for the Arts, I would like to express our excitement and pride in hosting Celebrating Contemporary Art in Alabama: The Nature of Being Southern. The Board of Directors and staff are all very pleased to present more than 40 Alabama artists, all Visual Art Fellowship Award winners, to our visitors, our community and our state. When the idea for the Celebrating Contemporary Art in Alabama exhibition was first discussed, I had no idea what the future held for us. The preparations for and the anticipation of this exhibition have been both exhilarating and exhausting. The project would not have been possible without the tremendous hard work of four individuals. Wiley White, Project Coordinator for this exhibition, also served as Interim Director for the Center before I was hired. As a newcomer, I was fortunate to have Wiley’s help in familiarizing me with these 41 Alabama artists and the vast amount of talent they possess. Wiley has spent many hours contacting artists, looking over submissions and planning the catalogue with me. Throughout the development of the exhibition I relied on Wiley, as she is an Alabama native, an artist herself, and is familiar
with many of the included artists and their work. With her friendly and positive professionalism she continues to be an invaluable asset to the Johnson Center for the Arts. We asked Georgine Clarke to write the foreword to this catalogue. As Visual Arts Program Manager with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, Georgine’s help with this project has been incredible. She was instrumental in the planning and conceptual stages of this exhibition. I believe it is possible that Georgine personally knows every artist in the state; while this is our first collaboration, I am looking forward to many more to come. Tara Cady Sartorius, Art Educator and Artist, was a guest instructor for our first “Art in the Curriculum” teacher workshop
in 2008. Her 21 years as Curator of Education at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts proved invaluable to our young organization. Her focused manner and vast knowledge of her subject matter was evident when she met with our newly formed docent group to lead discussions on goals, duties and structure. She has been gracious and giving with her teaching, time and advice. Through her involvement with the Center I also appreciate the depth of her abilities as an artist and as a writer. Jerry Johnson, Chair of the Department of Art and Design for Troy University, was one of the first people I met when I arrived in Troy. His creative energy, combined with his wonderful design talent, is contagious. He is committed to providing the best educational environment for his instructors
and students at Troy University, and he manifests a strong commitment to and involvement with our community. Jerry’s ongoing work with the Johnson Center for the Arts is invaluable to us, especially his design and maintenance of our website and his help with design and printing of posters and invitations. Above all, the most rewarding aspect of this exhibition is the artwork itself: thoughtful, emotional, intellectual and high in production values. I applaud the dedication of these 41 Alabama contemporary artists and enthusiastically anticipate their new work. It is my sincere hope that you, our visitors, enjoy this exhibition as much as the Johnson Center for the Arts appreciates and celebrates the uniquely Southern nature of Alabama art.
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Georgine Clarke Visual Arts Program Manager Alabama State Council on the Arts georgine.clarke@arts.alabama.gov www.arts.alabama.gov
Celebrating Contemporary Art in Alabama is a significant exhibition, organized at The Johnson Center for the Arts in Troy and establishing for the first time a survey of works by a uniquely identified group of Alabama artists. These are artists who have received Individual Artist Fellowships from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. The Alabama State Council on the Arts is the official state agency for the support and development of the arts in Alabama. It was established in 1966 by an act of the Alabama Legislature and is governed by 15 members appointed by the Governor. Grant funds come from legislative appropriation and from the National Endowment for the Arts. Although most grants are given to organizations, municipalities and schools, the Council maintains a strong commitment to encourage and support individual artists. Because of this commitment, since 1980 the Council has honored the excellence of work by Alabama artists through a Fellowship Program. Awards have been given to 114 individuals in the categories of visual art, craft and media/photography. This recognition provides grant funds currently in the
amount of $5000, but initially ranging from $1000–$2500. Artists use the funds to set aside time to create art, improve their skills, or to do what is most advantageous to enhance their artistic careers. Selection for these fellowships requires an application, followed by a panel review by experts in the field, and finally approval by the full Council. Guidelines for the program state that the awards are made “based on merit of work, career achievement, career potential and service to the state.” Specifically, considerations focus on the excellence of the work and the professional commitment of the artist. The staff at the Johnson Center issued invitations to participate in the exhibition, resulting in positive responses
from 41 artists who had been honored by the Council from 1987-2009. Works include the full range of visual art: sculpture, drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, craft and experimental approaches. Bringing together these artists and this range of art marks a significant point in contemporary Alabama art history. These individuals include University professors, business owners with full-time art-making careers, high school teachers and art center administrators. They are commissioned to create art for individuals and corporations. They live throughout Alabama, often portraying a sense of the land, culture and history that surrounds them. They are featured in museum exhibitions, gallery shows and collections throughout the country. They participate in all the aspects
of today’s art world. But ... they have never before come together in an exhibition created so carefully for and about them. This is a celebration of excellence like no other. This is an opportunity to view the best of creativity—art made with passion, purpose, knowledge and understanding of process and materials. This is a chance to look at recent art developments, to view contemporary expression, to study growth and change in an artist’s work, to enter the dialogue. This is an opportunity to understand the best of Alabama. Selected pieces from the exhibition will travel to the Alabama Artists Gallery in Montgomery from November 20, 2009 through January 15, 2010.
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Tara Cady Sartorius Artist and Art Educator Art Time Studios, Montgomery, Alabama tara@art-time-studios.com www.art-time-studios.com
Dear Artists, I have spent a lot of time with your art. The average viewer in a museum spends 10 seconds or less looking at one work of art. A “long� visit with a single piece of art may last 30 seconds. I have spent hours looking at your art, and the following is what I found and how I went about writing about your work. I found a group of artists committed to their art and craft. I found people who care deeply about their content and materials, skillfully using those materials to express any number of ideas. The work is of high quality, and the thought processes behind it are done justice in your hands. In short, I am impressed.
While writing the entries for this catalog, I tried to distill its meaning (by observing both intentional and, perhaps, unintentional imagery and content) into poetic “stepping stones.” By looking with an open heart and inquiring mind, I decided to offer questions rather than answers, pointers to multiple paths rather than destinations.
ity of the time, it felt good to hear your own voice echo harmonious tones. I excerpted your statement accordingly.
What was especially fun for me was carefully studying your art and then writing with little or no knowledge of you or your personality. I wrote strictly about the images, not about the artist, or at least as much as possible, knowing the two (art and artist) are inseparable.
I tried to engage your spirit of artistic creativity and then respond in an artistic manner. In that sense, this exhibition catalogue is also “our” creation, hopefully a collaborative experience greater than the sum of its parts.
After sensing I had “landed” on something clear yet open ended, I then read your artist statement. For the vast major-
The writing in this catalogue is anything but typical, so I hope you will appreciate the reflection it may inspire. It is not necessarily meant to be comforting, but it is definitely intended to be supportive.
Thank you for all “y’all” have done to make it possible! Tara Cady Sartorius August 2009
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ADAMS
katherine
“My work explores the relationship between nature’s elements, embodiment of spirit, and blood memory.”
DANCE
WOOSH SWISH INVISIBLE
Nature is the clothing of the world. When the wind blows, our dresses dance on the line. Soon the importance is about the dance, and not the dress. Energies from within balance forces from the outside, offering visual evidence of power and grace.
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Birmingham Building • emulsion transfer • 22” x 26”
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Leaf and Sky • emulsion transfer • 22” x 26”
BASS
pinky/mm
“Often surreal, the images that I prefer seem to exist on the edge of the dream world.”
JUXTAPOSE
DREAMS CHOICE LAYER
Sometimes we see the unseen. If not, we have artists to help us. Layer by layer, meaning can emerge by juxtaposing even the most innocuous-seeming images. The choice of one combination over another is a decision only possible in the mind of the intuitive. In the mind of another artist, it would be a different vision … or would it?
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Hristina’s Nefrititi • gelatin silver print • 40” x 32” gelatin silver print • 32” x 40”
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Serbian Madonna • gelatin silver print • 60” x 40”
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Lujpjo’s Egyptian Eye •
BL ACK
“The viewer who is willing to explore the various associations is led into the labyrinth of the unconscious mind, which is a source of dreams, myths, and fairytales.�
barbara lee
PSYCHOLOGICAL
COURAGE
INTENTIONAL MACABRE
Our dreams can go in many unforeseen directions. When they are nightmares they shake us to the core. It takes courage to uncover the strange workings of our brains, even when free-associating, even with no intentions of harm. Art as personal therapy: healing, revealing.
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Hark, The Herald Angel’s Winged • archival chromogenic photography • 32” x 37”
B O N DY barb
“My creative research utilizes primarily drawing and photography to explore questions about the functions of the mind and brain, the relationship between the two, and how, through various modes of perception and states of consciousness, the mind and brain operate to form an individual’s experience of the world.”
OBLIQUE
MYOPIA
SCALE CEREBRAL
Some people believe there is a parallel universe. In that simultaneous world, events and conversations occur at the same time and in the very space we’re now occupying. Perhaps some artists are more attuned to such happenings, and can only speak of them in a language unclear to those who cling too tightly to what is perceived as reality.
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Time Line 2009 (with detail) • graphite pencil refills • 16” x 12”
BREED cal
“Recently, I have found myself drawn to observe water and its ability to flow. Water flows though the most obtrusive situations with ease. It is as if it is obediently following its path guided by an unseen yet recognizable force.”
ECHOES
FORMATIVE FLOWING FUTURISTIC
Glass has a double and contradictory nature: it’s a solid and a liquid all at the same time. To layer upon that the striations of geologic nature using colors we never expected to see, that is the work of an artist. Some might wish all core samples could be so sweet.
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Birmingham Building • emulsion transfer • 22” x 26”
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Leaf and Sky • emulsion transfer • 22” x 26”
BUTRUS annie k.
“My work focuses on our perception of the places we live. These projects involve documenting the changes in the landscape and the emotions evoked in response to that change.”
BLEACHED
GENTLE FADING SHORELINE
Narcissus was crazy, but how could he have really known the similarities and differences while gazing in wonderment at his own reflection? Often in a fog, we may forget the inner depth that is a far greater measure of character and beauty in people and in the world around us.
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Peach Tree Trail: Culp Series • acrylic on panel • 28” x 50”
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Peach Tree Trail: Culp Series • acrylic on panel • 28” x 50”
CHALLIS merrilee
“The world is ephemeral, often brutally so. I find that I tether myself to the world through the process of making art. My work arises from a miasma of disparate sources: fairy tales, flora, fauna, and medical anomalies.�
FOLK FANTASY DREAM-LIKE ANTHROPOMORPHIC
The stories behind the art push it forward and draw us in. The myths and legends have gone awry, or perhaps they have simply not concluded. The fantasy world hangs suspended between various cultures and systems of belief. When we hold our expectations at bay, whole new truths evolve.
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Khazak Lion • ink on paper • 36” x 49”
“They are on the quest of ‘finding themselves,’ looking externally and through the eyes and experiences of others. The children in these paintings are still pure in this search, determined and armed with a clear vision; naïve.”
C H A P MAN gary
SURVIVORS
OFFSPRING SOCIETY ADVANCING
Soldiers of culture are survivors within the natural process of elimination. Our hope rests with the youth who carry forward the messages of our society. Who and how is almost of no matter; the messages themselves are serious business, and labors of lifetimes.
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Re–Creation • mixed media, canvas, wood • 80” x 60”
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Life During Wartime • mixed media, canvas, wood • 80” x 60”
“Trips ... whitewater rafting ... and frequent walks have contributed to a reawakening of my appreciation of the natural world [and] ... underscored the importance of close observation of the visual riches of nature.�
C O M STOCK allyson
EROSION
PLANETARY GEODE BEJEWELED
The preciousness of nature is all the more a wonderment when interpreted and re-invented by the human heart and hand. How close can we ever come, though, to a new natural form? Even more agonizing is the desire and the ensuing attempt to re-create something already made by a force greater than ourselves.
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Scrutiny #2 • ceramic, oil paints, brass rods • 38” x 32”
DASHER glenn
FORMAL
“In some cases, the meaning carried by the resulting assemblages are clear, at least to me; but in others, even I’m not always sure what I have said. It isn’t always necessary to know the answers; but just to consider the questions.”
ASSEMBLAGE
CONTRAPTION SOURCES
Monumental maquettes honor artistic sources of inspiration: Da Vinci, Magritte, de Staebler, Rodin. Regardless of such references, sculptures that counterbalance timeless and personally precious elements can never have one specific meaning for all viewers.
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Strata II • bronze, marble, found object • 48” x 12” x 12”
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Duh Vinci • bronze, steel, wood, canvas • 80” x 48” x 48”
DAVIS
“I shoot ... a unique encounter with the baptism candidate at the moment of submersion. Ripples, reflections, light and dark intertwine to heighten the impact of the image and enthrall the viewer. Immersion provides the ultimate act of a believer’s faith...”
caroline
BELONGING
REBIRTH
REVERENCE PASSION
What would a theatrical performance look like if there were no audience? How would it be if the audience jumped up on the stage with the performers? There’s a strange truth to being physically close to the action, all the while capturing the certain murky and brilliant light of rebirth during uncertain times.
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Arise, And Be Baptized, And Wash Away Thy Sins, Calling On The Name Of The Lord • silver gelatin print • 18” x 24”
DeCAMILLIS
“I am fascinated with the resemblances in design and format used by societies that never came in contact with each other. ... My central subject is most often a flower, a universal symbol representing our highest aspirations and abundance.�
dori DECORATIVE PUNNY RICH
DECEPTIVE
Social commentary is best tolerated when the references are oblique and when the truth is sugar-coated. Patterns are suggested where none exist; each statement remains faithful to its words. Eloquence trumps the cold hard facts.
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Safe Harbor • oils, wood, copper, ceramic • 48” x 44”
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Southern Belle • oils, wood, copper, ceramic • 47.5” x 43.5”
“He repaired ... anything made of wood ...and he collected all the tools ... cleaned and sharpened them, and placed them ... in a large wood barrel. I think this might have been my first experience with sculpture and a simple sort of visual symbolism.”
E V E RETT russell
STRENGTH
ANGER LOSS HOLDING
Our pain cuts us off from others. We bear our crosses as well as the crosses of strangers, all in the process of brushing past each others’ lives. Purpose and power go together in both creative beauty and furious destruction. Tool as spiritual builder, tool as weapon; both part of the whole.
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Grandfather’s Barrel • soapstone, empress wood • 8’ x 4’
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Alabama Militiaman • graphite pencil • 26” x 20”
GACHET randy
DESTRUCTION
“My work involves reclamation and transformation. All suggest the returning of the industrial materials to nature and imply a larger question; can art provide an impetus for creative action and collective responsibility to buffer the impact of environmental storms brewing?”
REFORMATION HOPE CREATOR
What destroys nature also creates it. The destroyer is just part of the cycle: not good, not bad, just present. The artist’s job is to find a use and purpose for just about everything. The reformation of objects in the context of destruction is a supremely hopeful act.
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Glut • reclaimed rubber, tire, wood • 64” x 70” x 144”
GOODMAN nancy
CELLULAR
“The three works offered here refer to the myriad emotions I felt upon the death of my parents.�
CONNECTION FAMILY BONDING
At a cellular or molecular level everything and everyone is connected. Atomic bonds are as strong as the familial ties that bind us together. Soft or hard, liquid or gas, the stuff we are made of is almost irrelevant; what matters more is the connection.
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Bones: Mourning Trilogy Series • quilt • 36” x 72”
GR AFFEO karen
“Objects and images seem to carry spiritual import long after humans depart. So for me, making images is a way to stir the language of the angels and to try to manifest both mystery and truth.”
LIGHT LIMITATION LIVING INFINITY
We are, for a short time, trapped in our bodies and so distracted that we might believe we’ll never leave the places and vessels into which we are born. Yet our light and energies contribute to a larger whole. Individually we affect individuals; collectively, through time, life, and death, the power is unfathomable.
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The Story • etched glass photographs • (multiples) 1” x 1” x 3”
HAGLER sheila
“If I had a vacation, I would not take it...”
GENTLE NOSTALGIA ATMOSPHERE MEMORY
Nostalgia is hypnotic. It attaches itself to people, places and things we may never see again. It even invents memories we never had. When works of art show us those memories, we are simply reminded of what we thought we knew all along.
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Blind Woodworker • photograph • 16” x 20”
“I have wondered if our conversations float up into the trees as we pass and get caught there only to drift back down upon us like autumn leaves as we pass later. If we are quiet and listen closely enough we can hear snatches of them as we walk and remember.�
JOHNSTON murray
LAYERS LUMINOUS SPACE
TAPESTRY
Impressionism is quite impressive when each complementary stroke is made with scissors, fabric, needle and thread. Soft light, tone and ambiance take on new meanings. Space, depth and luminosity are fixed forever, broken into solid elements and united with the whirring of an unlikely source.
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Windswept II • quilt • 14.5” x 15.75”
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View from the Road • quilt • 36.5” x 38”
KEYS
marilee
“Systems, repetition, space and volume; cycles of life are all part of my work.”
GROWTH PROCESS TRANSFORMATION DEATH
What we do with what is left behind will shape our future. The rubble can be unruly or made to order. What and how the artist chooses to share such observations leaves us at the mercy, and also with the grace, of someone else’s vision and creativity.
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Burning Piles Nash Creek Estates • digital print • 24” x 36”
KRTIC
zdenko
“In this series I am exploring analogies between Roman buildings (dressed in scaffoldings and undergoing restoration), and the human body in time of distress and recovery.�
STRIATIONS
SCARS ARMATURE SKIN
The pain and damage we cause each other through personal and political warfare is nearly irreparable. We break bones and buildings and then try to put them together again. Healing and rebuilding, while possibly making us stronger, will inevitably leave scars beneath the surface. Embedded in the layers are ghostly memories that emerge when we least expect them.
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Recovery • encaustic, laser engraving on panel • 17” x 17”
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Recovery IV • encaustic, laser engraving on panel • 17” x 17”
LEWIS dale
“I seek to create an image that is elegant, but whimsical. Each piece becomes a vehicle for a metaphorical or comedic statement.”
FOCUS
WHIMSEY MASTERY CONTAGIOUS
Joi de Vivre is having a happy heart. When such humor is shared through art it becomes contagious. An artist who masters his or her craft is allowed to diverge from the traditional and delve into play. It takes a character with character to create objects that say “fun” and “fine” simultaneously.
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Mickee Mouth • dyed Maple, brass • 19.5” x 16.5”
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Rockin’ Around the Clock • dyed Maple, Peruvian Alder, Lacewood • 30” x 45” x 70”
LOUCKS steve
“Divided between utilitarian pottery and glorified, functional vessels, both intentions share similar sensibilities and handling of the clay. Information and ideas from one intention feeds the other.�
FUNCTION
WOBBLE PLASTIC
STRETCHED
The use of art is never more debated than when it jumps across the line of craft. Finely crafted craft then jumps right back over the same line into art again. Certain vessels can hold so much more than we ever thought possible or probable.
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Teaboat With Dots and Ash Run • stoneware • 19.5” x 11” x 8”
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Lady-Like Vessel • stoneware • 19.5” x 20” x 11”
McNULT Y
christopher
“Using the probable number of days that I have left to live as my starting point, I have been making works composed of over 20,000 repetitive marks in an attempt to represent the remainder of my life and comprehend my mortality.”
COUNTING QUIET STATISTICS
REVERBERATIONS
Marks on a wall, pebbles in a pond, statistical data, changes within a control group...all these things might associated with prison, idle loneliness, or scientific inquiry. When such pursuits become the subject of art, they can be serene, profound, and obsessive. The abstraction of our lives roars through the silence, screaming “patience, patience, patience.”
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20,193 Days • burnt paper • 26” x 26”
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20,193 Days (detail view)
METZ ted
“...my hand is engaged with the tools and processes necessary for the production of sculpture and posed in the gentle gesture of an offer. While finely crafted, these pieces lack the finished surfaces of completion suggesting the continuous working process of sculpture production, teaching and learning.�
WORK CONTRAPTION TOOLED MONUMENTAL
Work about work honors the very processes used to create. Tools and techniques shape and inform the resulting products and people. Sometimes the tools themselves lend inspiration to the artist, whose challenge is to then build self-reflexive meaning while keeping true to fine craftsmanship and detail.
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Kobe • steel asphalt, cast iron, cast aluminum, concrete • 14” x 14” x 50”
MEYER scott
RITUAL
“Locus shapes dwelling. Dwelling shapes locus. I feel that it is in this living dialogue that the spiritual is touched.�
TANGLE TEXTURE FLOW
Vessel as cauldron; vessel as vase; vessel as juicy surface with an entire world to explore. Exterior spaces are defined by their interiors. The flow of entering and leaving, holding and keeping, structure connecting with form: they all add up to a spiritual content. They mirror our relationships with one another as well as our own relationships with the earth on which we stand.
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Crucible Assemblage • anagama-fired stoneware, charred pine • 17” x 24” x 29”
MICHELSON robert
“My The furniture I create is constructed from the finest hardwoods using traditional joinery. The pieces are designed with function in mind. These designs utilize forms with gentle curves and often showcase the hand cut joints.”
JOINERY STRUCTURE SURFACE CONFLUENCE
Furniture sometimes works hard to disguise its structure. When the structure and materials are as valuable as the function, on all levels, of the final piece, we know we’re looking at a work of art. With a confluence of values, the inner workings of the art reveal the inner workings of the artist.
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Bowtie II • Honduras Mahogany • 54” x 25” x 28” | Belle’s Bureau • Spalted Hackberry,Curly Cherry, East Indian Rosewood, Maple and Cedar • 19” x 17” x 67”
PA X S O N duane
SHARP
“The use of materials applied in a direct and unforced manner reveals the vitality and struggle of natural forms in isolated space.�
SEAMLESS MYSTICAL FORKS
The impetus of nature is so powerful that there is practically no form made by humans that could be called unnatural. A good communicator facilitates connections between two or more entities, even if they begin worlds apart. When successful, a whole new presence is made from disparate parts. That new being emerges sharp and clear, and we believe it existed all along.
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Jelly Bean Angels • wood, Fiberglas, resin • (varying sizes)
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Epicenter • wood, Fiberglas, resin, forged steel • 13’ x 14’
PERCY larry
“Clay is earth and it is about journey and transformation... dealing with analogies between the elements of geological formations of earth, clay and stone and conditions of the human spirit.�
LAYERED OFFERING CRUSTY GEOLOGICAL
The science of ceramics merges with geological aesthetics, reflecting both time and spirit. We create offerings to the supreme power of nature, reveling in the beauty of the rough. We know the hand of the artist is somewhere, but such artifacts are born of a desire to remove oneself as the obvious human influence.
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Kerygma Series: Horizons I/Hanging Peak • saggar fire earthenware • 32” x 28” x 40”
PHILLIPS john
USEFUL
“I hope that my work will convey to the viewer a glimpse of the magic that the forge contains and a glimmer of the possibilities that lie in transforming cold, rigid bars of steel into warm, flowing treasures.�
POWER TWIST TRADITION
The clang of steel and the twist of heated forms: a practical art from days gone by. The sculptural technique, neither additive nor subtractive, is one that stretches what is already there into useful power and grace. Contemporary wizards are few and far between.
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Graceful Gesture table lamp • steel • 34” x 9” x 5.5”
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African Andirons • steel • 24” x 27” x 20”
“The decisions we make every day whether seemingly insignificant or extremely important affect our lives and therefore the lives of those around us. …my interest is in recording … moments when we collide with one another and tell the story of human experience.”
PLEASANT amy
SPATIAL TOUCHING
CHANCE
CONNECTIONS
If we only viewed the world through honeycomb or Swiss cheese, we’d get only part of the picture, even on the clearest day. Our perceptions are colored by our own experiences and by filters handed us by others. What we think we know is often created by connecting incomplete dots in an apparently random order. Could be bleak or could be lovely.
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Planet (with detail) • ink on paper • 27” x 25”
PUR ATH nathan
FANTASY
“Rooted in a search to discover how my familial past shapes my own identity, the work is an illustration of how family stories can become personal legends.�
FAMILY LOST INNER-SPACE
Where we come from and where we are going are the two big unknowns. In the meantime we are trapped in the physical. Youth is heartbreaking; the path to decay is both seductive and unavoidable. Pretense is sometimes our only option.
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Nesting • digital pigment print • 36” x 48”
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Ignoring the Joke • digital pigment print • 36” x 60”
RIEGER
“ ...a project called Thicker Than Water... is a series of photographs about people who have been separated from family members at a young age and their anecdotal stories about their experience.”
sonja DISTANCE CONTROL COMMODITY
STORY
Babies might be thought of as commodities before they come into our lives. We want one; we must have one. Then they become people, as complex and unfathomable as a labyrinth, as difficult as we could possibly imagine, with stories and fantasies that transcend mere facts. That’s where the art begins.
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It was so snowy that they couldn’t see the road • archival pigment print • 20” x 30”
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Nancy • archival pigment print • 30” x 20”
RO B I NSON guadalupe
“I was born and grew up in Mexico City, a place with strong cultural ties and great traditions. Full of sights, sounds, flavor.�
ROBE
TACTILE
RAW
CULTURE
The circle and the square were meant to go together. Where there is texture and form, they are especially cozy. Look at the Anasazi, look at architectural changes and similarities throughout the ages. Pigment and pueblo are interlocked, bringing the ancient world forward to tomorrow.
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Tonatico • stoneware • 18” height
S AVA G E
“An artist is the chronicler of his culture. His or her imagination might offer the best or worst side of life: beauty or its opposite. I choose to photograph ... with the filter of innocence.�
stephen SPY CONTRAST EVIDENCE
PATTERN
Things are not always as they appear. Our many facades distract from real meaning by drawing us toward small and attractive details apart from the whole. The fascination with frozen light and time accentuates the drama of this mutable life.
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Tire Tracks, Ft. Morgan • photograph • 24” x 24”
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Ft. Morgan Beach House • photograph • 23” x 23”
S H E R ER carolyn
“The photographs in this new series, Living Color, represent a search for beauty in a world of contradictions; individual stories that resonate our common humanity; and contemporary images that acknowledge the impact of painting.�
COLOR BITTERSWEET VANITAS
AFFIRMATION
The contemporary still life might attempt to hold images of things and people that are almost always in motion. Portraits in the context of unsuspecting subjects become new commentary on the preciousness of life itself. Like a reverse vanitas, our affirmation of life connects us with love and hope, both present and future
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Cousins • digitized custom wet-method scans, archival ink on hahnejuehle paper • 27” x 38”
SIMPSON michael
“In each painting personal events in my life are associated with the geologic and hydrologic drama within these river segments. In more mature work, I discovered the sublime as a personal experience and as an artistic aesthetic.�
EXPECTATIONS
SERIES OVERVIEW
CONSUMABLE
Slow-moving glaciers and roiled rivers have the power of water behind them. They have the ability to re-shape the earth and alter the landscapes we sometimes view as immutable. So with our lives, our sources of nourishment (physical, intellectual, spiritual) are in constant motion. We look up and what we thought was always going to be there has transformed. We wonder where it went and what comes next.
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Water Treatment • 3 digital frames, video installation • 9” x 40”
SMITH
charles
“ ...until Mother Nature finds it necessary to rediscover herself, I’ll remain content following her lead.”
ROYALTY
CEREMONIAL ASHES
The present moment still sees reverence for the ancient past and the connections we all have to our history and heritage. It may or may not be shared, and it may or may not be spoken in a familiar language. The vessel may hold the ashes that represent the spirit, possibly drawing kindred souls together. Living or dead, in one’s memory or imagination, the bigger thing of which we are part, is one and the same.
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Designed Tripod Vase • raku clay • 9.5” x 7”
STAGG
anne h.
“This series of paintings and drawings deals with attachment and loss through place. This work talks about how we are in some ways tied, or anchored to a particular place and simultaneously, how we bring bits of our past surroundings with us into the next.�
CELLULAR CONNECTIONS
SCIENTIFIC COVALENCE
We trace what our eyes cannot see, compelled to share the symbols that represent our various connections. Our made up stories become the truth when told in universal, abstract and even mathematical code. Deciphering and translation then becomes an act of humanity and faith between the artist and viewer.
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Symbiosis • acrylic on panel • 22” x 22”
S T E P HENS scott
“The cyanotype process causes a reversal of values from the drawing, creating, in essences, a negative print from a film positive. The photographic sources for these images are selected to take advantage of this value reversal.�
ELEMENTAL
COMPLEXITY TANGLE
MYSTERY
Is a rose really just a rose? Tangles of primordial growth usher life forward to what it is today. No matter how tame and civilized we want to become, we are the product of very complex processes and thus bring those elements forward. Our lives, our society, our very nature is informed at a level we may never understand completely. There can be joy in this mysterious process.
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Untitled • plexicut • 42” x 72”
VENZ
pamela
FAMILIAR
“I want to linger in the arena of haunting scenarios. Within these darkened landscapes of the mind I hope to pose the question; ‘What do you actually see, and what do you perceive in the darkness?’ ”
HOME SAFE INTIMACY
It’s amazing how intimacy can be achieved in widely disparate places. A single, isolated floating dock can have as much personal meaning as the crowded corner of a living room. The views we know are ours and no one else’s. The artist who shares such views can possibly sketch the outline of a memory, but the original experience is still no one else’s but the artist’s.
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Window • digital image, archival print • 31” x 31”
WRIGHT rachel
FASHION
“For centuries, physicians and artists have attempted to make sense of the complexities hidden inside. Early anatomical illustrations are often a mixture of correct and incorrect assumptions. Some artists rely on metaphor rather than verisimilitude.�
FIGURE SCIENCE STATEMENT
Matisse never thought it would come to this. Although form and fashion go hand in hand, sometimes one will dominate the other. When a third concern, such as science or ecology, enters the equation, strange things may result in the hands of an artist. Whether inside or outside, is it fashion or is it statement?
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Diafragma • vintage slip, appliquéd fabric and leather • 22” x 26”
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Haeckel Dress • Recycled polyethylene foam, vintage nightgown • 59” x 40” x 40”
celebrating contemporary art in ALABAMA
THE NATURE OF BEING SOUTHERN August 14 through November 8, 2009
Johnson Center for the Arts • Troy, Alabama
biographies of contributors Georgine Clarke Tara Cady Sartorius Jerry Johnson
Georgine Clarke has served as Visual Arts Program Manager for the Alabama State Council on the Arts since 1994. She works with individual visual artists and organizations, Council grant programs, exhibition spaces and festivals as well as directing the Council’s Alabama Artists Gallery. She has served as Director of the Alabama Craft Council and has been a professional studio craft artist working in metals and jewelry design. From 1979-1993 she served as founding Director of the Kentuck Festival, Art Center and Museum in Northport, Alabama. A native of New Mexico, Georgine holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Arts degree from The Ohio State University. She was recipient of the Alabama Governor’s Art Award in 1984; received the Alabama Image Award from the Society for Fine Arts, University of Alabama Tuscaloosa in 2003; and was inducted into the West Alabama Tourism Hall of Fame in 2005. Tara Cady Sartorius is an artist, writer and teacher. Her BA in Ceramics is from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she also earned her art teaching credential. Sartorius
taught art and designed art programs for elementary schools for eight years in Santa Barbara. Her MFA is from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, where she majored in Sculpture and Art Criticism. Sartorius moved to Alabama in 1986, serving as Curator of Education at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts for 21 years. Since 2003 she has been writing bi-monthly articles for a segment titled Art Across the Curriculum in Arts & Activities Magazine. Sartorius “retired” from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in 2007 in order to spend time with her teenage daughters and to focus on her own art, teaching and consulting. Jerry Johnson is chairman of the Department of Art and Design at Troy University.
He has taught design at Oklahoma State University and Southern Arkansas University. His MFA in Graphic Design is from Louisiana Tech University. He received BA and MS degrees from Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Although his educational background is in graphic design and illustration, he has exhibited his analog and digital works of fine art in national and international juried exhibitions. Outside of managing an exponentially growing academic department, Johnson consults with clients in industry and speaks at national and international conferences on design education, industry and intercultural communication issues. His design work is noted in Robert Carter’s publication—American
Corporate Identity. He has also won numerous ADDY© Awards from the American Advertising Federation. In 2004, Johnson received a grant to develop an International Center for Collaboration and Creativity at Troy University. The Center known as iC3 incubates and nurtures international and interdisciplinary collaborations with art and design as core catalysts. To date, Johnson has actuated initiatives in Sweden, Denmark, China, Taiwan and Vietnam.
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additional thanks to:
Moseley Studios for additional photography for artists: Bondy, Everett, Graffeo, Paxson and Pleasant. Murray Johnston whose work was tapped for its rich, piney foliage texture to be used as a design element throughout this catalogue. This project has been made possible in part by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.