ArtOFocus k l a h o m a
Okl a ho m a V i s u al A r ts C o al i t i on
Vo l u m e 2 2 N o . 6
Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship 2007 page 18
November/December 2007
5
ArtOFocus kl a h o m a
Brunel Faris
7
3
Lucy Gunning
10
Alexandra Alaupovic
profiles Tunde Darvay
4 Jean Richardson
reviews/previews
5 Brunel Faris 7 Focus 4 at Philbrook 8 Art Furniture 10
Oklahoma State Art Collection
12
Zane Yost
features On the Cover: Brandon Reese, Stillwater, Vail White Stoneware 72”x47”x12”
14 ART 365: Betsy Barnum 16 On the Map 18 OVAC Fellowship
business of art 19 Mentors in Art 19 Time Management 20 Ask A Creativity Coach
member agency
OVAC news
20 Round UP 21 At a Glance: Symbiosis New & Renewing Members
This program is supported in part by the Oklahoma Arts Council
2
22
gallery guide
Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition P.O. Box 1946 • Oklahoma City, OK 73101 ph: 405.232.6991 • e: director@ovac-ok.org visit our website at: www.ovac-ok.org Executive Director: Julia Kirt director@ovac-ok.org Editor: Kelsey Karper publications@ovac-ok.org Art Director: Anne Richardson anne@speccreative.com Art Focus Oklahoma is a bimonthly publication of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition dedicated to stimulating insight into and providing current information about the visual arts in Oklahoma. Mission: The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition supports visual artists living and working in Oklahoma and promotes public interest and understanding of the arts. OVAC welcomes article submissions related to artists and art in Oklahoma. Call or email the editor for guidelines. OVAC welcomes your comments. Letters addressed to Art Focus Oklahoma are considered for publication unless otherwise specified. Mail or email comments to the editor at the address above. Letters may be edited for clarity or space reasons. Anonymous letters will not be published. Please include a phone number. Art Focus Committee: Janice McCormick, Bixby; Sue Clancy, Norman; Michael Hoffner, Stephen Kovash, Cindy Miller, Debbie Nauser, Roger Runge and Sue Moss Sullivan, Oklahoma City. OVAC Board of Directors 2007-2008: Kathleen Rivers, Ada; Richard Pearson, Rick Vermillion, Edmond; Jonathan Hils, Norman; Skip Hill, Stephen Kovash (Vice President), Suzanne Mitchell, Ira Schlezinger, John Seward, Carl Shortt, Suzanne Thomas, Lila Todd, Sydney Bright Warren, Elia Woods (Secretary), Oklahoma City; Joellen Frisillo, Pam Hodges, PhD (President), Sand Springs; Cathy Deuschle, Elizabeth Downing, Jean Ann Fausser (Treasurer), RC Morrison, Tulsa; Eunkyung Jeong, Weatherford The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition is solely responsible for the contents of Art Focus Oklahoma. However, the views expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Board or OVAC staff. Member Agency of Allied Arts and member of the National Association of Artists’ Organizations. © 2007, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved.
profile
Tunde Darvay, Norman Over the Ocean Mixed Media
Tunde Darvay, Norman Grandma’s Chair Mixed Media
Tunde Darvay: Artist of Another Land by Nathan Lee I met Tunde Darvay more than a year ago. She is a very sweet, quiet spoken young woman. She and her writer husband Daniel came from Eastern Europe a few years back and now call Oklahoma their home. She once lived in Transylvania and until I met her, I was not sure whether it existed. Most of my knowledge of Transylvania came from old Dracula films. In those movies the land was painted as ominous and dark. Tunde Darvay is anything but that. My significant other, Rita, introduced me to Tunde nearly a year ago and I had the opportunity to see her work at her home studio. Despite Darvay’s quiet demeanor, her art is bold and colorful, but never loud and obnoxious. Each of her paintings feels purposeful and meditative. Her artwork captures the viewer immediately and I think that is one of the qualities that struck me about her paintings. There is a joy to them but there is also a somber tone. Her work recalls some unsaid nostalgia of times gone by. She weaves intricate imagery together for a multilayered story. Darvay uses color perfectly to convey different emotions and subtleties. Images of birds and rocking chairs
become part of a surreal landscape. Klee-like fish swim in the waters of some of her paintings. She also incorporates the frame as part of the work. There is little separation between frame and the canvas, so there is no ending to the stories she tells through her art. Some of the frames take on intricate shapes and all of her pieces are well thought out and executed wonderfully with great craftsmanship. As of this moment, Tunde is preparing for her first United States gallery exhibition in January, 2008 at Individual Artists of Oklahoma. Judging from the quality of her work, she will most likely have many more showings in the future. Tunde Darvay is a brilliant artist that should be watched for in the years to come. Oklahoma is lucky to have another young talented voice in our visual arts community. ■ About the Author: Nathan Lee is the founder of Inclusion in Art, and a regular contributor to Art Focus. He is also a mixed media artist known for his sculptural work.
33
prof ile
Jean Richardson:
Oklahoma Art in Motion This article is a transcript from a series of oral history interviews conducted by University of Central Oklahoma Museum Studies students in collaboration with the Oklahoma Arts Council. by Felicia Harrison Jean Richardson’s art depicts the power and imagery of horses in motion. Growing up in a ranching family in central Texas during the 1940s, Richardson began painting tempera on newsprint by age seven. She received a four-year scholarship to Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. By the early 1970s, Richardson moved to Norman, Oklahoma, and began the Oklahoma Album Series, including Harper’s Loan. For over fifty years, Richardson has created paintings and largescale murals expressing the spirit and energy – or “imagery in motion” as she calls it – of the American West.
JR: I choose canvases from very tiny to very large and mix them up. So when I come to a new canvas, it is a fresh statement each time and I don’t have anything in mind. One of my greatest tricks is to be able to turn off my mind. I start by putting a mark on the canvas and I go from there.
JR: Harper’s Loan, that was an interesting thing because during the time when I was trying to capture my return to Oklahoma I was driving around painting things that I found in rural Oklahoma. I had three kids in the back seat of the station wagon, I would always take them with me, and so I parked on a street in Wewoka, Oklahoma, and I did a painting. There’s a loan pawn shop and there’s a sign in the window that says: Harper’s Loan. There’s an old man that I sketched in it and it’s a small study and I painted it in my car with three kids in the backseat--- and it turned out to be a very nice little painting. At that time, Jerome Westheimer was on the State Arts Council and they were working on assembling Oklahoma art for that collection. I showed this painting and they purchased it for the collection. It was a thrill. For one thing, the collection had some very high powered and advent artists and this little painting was very different from what they had acquired before.
FH: Tell me about the Oklahoma Album pictures of rural Oklahoma and Texas and what they mean to you.
FH: What would you say to someone who was interested in becoming an artist and what advice would you give them?
JR: My grandparents were ranchers and rural people. When I moved back to Oklahoma, I decided to get in touch with my roots so I looked at the actual photographs from our family. They were old pictures of horses and buggies and people standing staring into the camera on the front porch. You know the pictures from a certain era had a different look; so I began to work on a series of studies of that reminded me of pictures from an album. I did a lot of traveling around Oklahoma looking at rural scenes and people. I used to paint the old men sitting in front of the courthouse or at the pool hall.
JR: Don’t do it unless you have to. As wonderful as it’s been for me, it is not something that you can set out to do to earn a living. I was not the very best artist in my high school and I am the only one still doing it. I was not the very best artist in my college, but I may be the only one still doing it. So it’s not just the matter of the gift, it’s the matter of do you have to do it. If you have to ask, you probably shouldn’t do it. Because people who are really going to be an artist, I mean, nothing can keep them from doing it. ■
FH: Could you describe how you start a painting and how you choose your canvas size?
4
FH: And what is Harper’s Loan? Where did the name come from?
Jean Richardson, Norman Harpers Loan Acrylic on Canvas 16”x16”
Jean Richardson, Norman Untitled Acrylic on Canvas Image courtesy of JRB Art at The Elms Gallery
prev iew
Brunel Faris by Margaret Flansburg Collages and drawings in a number of variations by Oklahoma artist Brunel Debost Faris will be exhibited in the Governor’s Gallery at the State Capital in January 2008. Brunel was born in 1937 and lived in Oklahoma City until his death in 2005. Many local artists will remember him from his teaching career at Oklahoma City University. His father was a doctor who was an artist, his mother loved fashion, and the family enjoyed movies. At Classen High School, he developed a whimsical and satirical drawing style using these medical and fashion influences. They appear later in collages with fragments of printed medical texts and glimpses of movie stars. He worked with abstract and nonobjective styles at the University of Oklahoma and developed further interest in collage while also refining his drawing skills. His 1961 MFA thesis states that his collage materials were selected only for their unusual and interesting qualities. The Large Red Collage (1965) serves as an example: painted in acrylic on masonite, it combines corrugated cardboard, metal strips, burlap, and wood scraps. Four projecting hoops are repeated as painted circles. The red, brown, black and white paint is applied in thick impasto and scrubbed across textured underpainting. Figural collages exist as well. Painted on 1958 newspaper stock quotes, The Face has an arresting presence. The Body (1964) is a densely composed work that reveals his knowledge of art history. A Hellenistic statue stares with blank white eyes from behind a colorfully printed cloth tie. A paper reproduction of Michelangelo’s David balances that image on the lower right. Fragments from medical texts and illustrations show repeated images of dental and
anatomical diagrams, x-rays of hands, and a drawing of a fetus. In his experimentally successful series called Variables, Brunel used magnetized aluminum square on steel panels. The highly patterned squares allowed playful rearrangements. Brunel joined the art department at Oklahoma City University in 1967 and became director of the Hulsey Gallery there in 1985. He commemorated the construction of the Norick Art Center in 1986 and the renewal of downtown with a series of monumental architectonic colleges using materials from the building sites. Norick Art Center #1 and #2 are made of torn pieces of tar paper and other building materials. The simplified components suggest the sights and sounds on the construction building sites. Browns, black, white (now faded to sepia), and slashes of cadmium red are drawn from printing on cardboard packaging.
Brunel Faris, Oklahoma City, 1937-2005, The Body, Mixed Media 49”x35”
Very committed to teaching, a great part of Brunel’s work revolved around programs supporting students. The small collages Berlin Window #2 and Direkt am Ku’Damm resulted from a student trip to Berlin in the last year of the divided city. They show beer coasters, fragments of programs, tickets, colors of the German flag, numerals, candy wrappers, and scraps of other papers. The works do not speak directly of the time of political and emotional stress but in Berlin Window the presence of the city’s symbol the Bear, between blood red and black bars, suggests the divided city. An anguished girl cries out from a tiny window. While Brunel consistently avoided personal emotions in his work, he accepted a commission to illustrate the book Braced Against the Wind about the 1995 Murrah Building bombing. continued to page 5
5
prev iew
continued from page 5
The ink sketch, A Moment to Consider, is one of a series of powerfully felt images from the bombing site. A man wearing dark glasses and a work shirt with a star emblem kneels outside a pile of debris and reads from a piece of paper gripped in both hands. Brunel was always involved in the community art scene. He served on committees including the state and city Arts Councils, and the selection committee for the Oklahoma Art Collection in which he is represented. He was Art Director at the Science and Arts Foundation, and served on the first Oklahoma Arts Festival committee. His involvement was so extensive that it is difficult to believe that his own creative output was so enormous - and innovative! ■ About the Author: Margaret Flansburg has a Masters from the University of Iowa and a PH.D. from the University of Oklahoma. She is an Art Historian and has worked as a Professor of Humanities and Art History. She can be reached at margaretflansburg@cox.net.
(top) Brunel Faris, Oklahoma City, 1937-2005, A Moment to Consider, Ink, 11”x7.5” (middle) Brunel Faris, Oklahoma City, 1937-2005, Berlin Window, Mixed Media, 7”x10.5” (bottom) Brunel Faris, Oklahoma City, 1937-2005, Variables Plexiglass and Mylar on Steel 18”x18”
6
prev iew (left) Lucy Gunning, Esc installation view, Matt’s Gallery, 2004 Courtesy of the artist and Matt’s Gallery, London (right) Lucy Gunning Mirror Walk
Philbrook Museum of Art
Preview of Focus 4: Lucy Gunning by Gretchen Collins Feeling inside out, upside down or momentarily disoriented? You may be experiencing a Lucy Gunning installation. Don’t worry. It’s perfectly natural. The Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa continues its Focus series featuring emerging artists. The new work, Focus 4: Lucy Gunning’s RePhil, is scheduled through December 30, 2007 in the Upper Level Villa. Although Gunning has exhibited internationally, she is billed as somewhat of a “well-kept secret” according to a review in Artforum.com. Gunning was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and studied at Falmouth School of Art, Cornwall and Goldsmiths College, London. Her many exhibitions include the Tate Gallery, London and the Greene Naftali Gallery in New York. Gunning is finishing a six-month residency at The Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere, Cumbria. This spring, Matt’s Gallery in London published a monograph, Lucy Gunning. Originally trained as a sculptor, Gunning began film and video installations fifteen years ago. These works explore the idiosyncrasies of human behavior in sympathetic wonder. In her Climbing Around My Room (1993), Gunning depicted a young woman in a short party dress doing just that. From windowsill to bookshelves, she never touched the floor. Her Tate exhibition, Intermediate II comprises a screen, mounted on the gallery wall, and what appears to be a large crate in the same room. The video portion of this work is a ballet school’s exterior on a busy street in King’s Cross. The viewer sees only the heads and backs of the ballerinas through school windows. At times their movements are obscured by traffic and the piano music is overwhelmed by the racket of passing vehicles. Inside the crate is a miniature ballet studio complete with barre and mirrors. It is large enough to dance in, but being confronted with multiple reflections is unnerving. No longer looking on, visitors become performers, like it or not. Gunning’s Esc (2004), an installation employing abstract art as backdrop, was complemented by videos. One clip featured tree houses in protest
against the endangered land beneath them. Ropes were strung aerially between trees allowing characters to navigate while avoiding capture. Another video from Esc showcases Gunning’s propensity to defamiliarize the familiar by portraying businessmen after they drank to excess. “These ‘powerful’ businessmen look silly and out of control,” explains Catherine Morris, curator for the exhibition, “their trappings are still there–-suits, ties, but somehow they have lost the defense (these) trappings normally imply.” At Philbrook, Gunning’s RePhil is likely to be found not only in the Upper Level Villa, but in other galleries as well. The elegant Waite and Genevieve Phillips former home and its vast Italianate gardens provide opportunity for the artist’s vision. Penelope Curtis said of her in Lucy Gunning published by Matt’s Gallery, “. . . for an artist like Gunning the opportunity to spread out into a given space is something she depends upon in order to make her work.” The artist visited Philbrook for two weeks to learn about the museum, the collections and staff. “My intention,” Gunning said in a prepared statement, “was to set up a point of triangulation between the archive, a live event and its architecture or site.” The Philbrook staff has opened most of the museum to Gunning, thus making it a real component of her work. This included the possibility of “recontextualizing works of art in the museum’s collection by moving, rehanging or juxtaposing them in any number of ways,” says Morris. “Gunning’s work is subtle enough that the viewer may also find themselves not being sure if something they happen upon was done by Lucy or not.” Seeing known surroundings in a new way is inherent in Gunning’s work. “My hope is,” Morris adds, “that Focus 4 will offer a further example of the complex and varied means the best contemporary artists use to address the world we live in.” For more information about Focus 4, visit www.philbrook.org. ■ About the Author: Gretchen Collins has covered the arts in Tulsa for the past 13 years. She is an award-winning writer, including the Society of Professional Journalists award, and was an art major in college.
7
prev iew
Art Furniture: The Left Hand of Function by Grant Lacquement Lately furniture has gotten hot. Selling for record prices and seriously collected by serious collectors. Across categories prices are taking off: Mid Century designer pieces, studio furniture from people like Sam Maloff, designer one-offs from people like Ron Arad, and good old shaker antiques. Newly made industrially produced designer furniture, which could be considered the analog of art prints, are being sold to a broader segment of the public. This activity is comparable to the photography market in the 1980’s; what was previously considered prosaic is being deservedly appreciated for finer quality’s. Studio furniture and designer furniture both have their roots in the cultural changes occurring after the Second World War. Studio furniture is what furniture making has been in the past: the small quantity, often single person, craft based production of furniture. Now, though, it is often allied with a college education and the conceptualization that goes with that. In general, studio furniture makers begin with the
8
process. They are often woodworkers and do the work themselves. They represent a split or separation from industrial furniture, and are often deeply concerned with craft. Designers are technical people, architects, industrial designers, or engineers, and they mostly employ artisans or industrial means for fabrication. Though a part of industry, designers are producing more one-offs and limited production pieces. A question that often comes up is the artistic value of this work: is it art? The dialog takes on a predictable “either/or” polarity. I don’t find this debate very useful. I have come to feel that objects simply do not contain artistic value at the exclusion of functional value. Art has a very necessary, everyday function in my life. It is difficult for me to imagine living without paintings and drawings around, anymore than tables and chairs. At the same time, I recognize that the other objects I surround myself with, for there more material functions, have a presence that can also affect my daily life for better or worse, just as a piece of music or sculpture.
prev iew
There is this quote from Robert Motherwell that I love about artists and the way they work: “An artist is someone who has an abnormal sensitivity to a medium. The main thing is not to be dead. And nearly everyone is dead, painter or not. Only an alive person can make an alive expression. The problem of inspiration is simply to be fully alive at a given moment when working.” I think this statement is true for whatever we find ourselves doing, that the sensitivity, enthusiasm, and inspiration we are feeling imbues whatever work we are doing. In other words we are all artists regardless of what we do, some good, some who need to keep at it. What elevates an object in artistic content is this sensitivity of the creator. A chair made by someone “dead’ to the medium is just a chair, or you could say it has this deadness, but hopefully you can still sit on it. The same thing can happen in painting, this deadness, and that may explain why abstract expressionism is so difficult. If it is anything less than alive, there is nothing, not even an image to hang on too. But if alive, how beautiful.
(far left) Roy Orr, Oklahoma City Tiger Maple and Walnut Chair Walnut and Tiger Maple 19”x19”x55” Photo by Debra Van Swearingen. (center) Kyle Golding, Oklahoma City Paper Shade Lamp Table Paper and wood (above) Tomoaki Orikasa, Norman Bamboo Lamp Bronze 20”x10”x10”
But art and function are not all. Every object also has a craft quality. A chest of drawers can be predominately about the craft of cutting dovetail joints. Besides that it can be not very functional or interesting in other ways. A painting is the same way. It can be all about technique, laying on paint exceptionally well, in a hyper-realistic way, but perhaps devoid of any artistic expressive value. That is how I am seeing objects now; a combination of artistic content, and function with craft of the work holding them together. When all are present, and fully developed, fully expressed, fully alive, how wonderful. The City Arts Center of Oklahoma City will be hosting a show of studio and designer furniture entitled Illumination: The Art of Lighting and Furniture. An opening reception will be held November 15th from 5:30 until 8:30 and the show runs through December 22. The exhibit will feature the work of several local artists including Steven C. Schmidt, Klint Schor, Kenny McCage, Marcus Eakers, Tomoaki Orikasa, Roy Orr, Hugh Meade, Kyle Golding, Gus Tietsort, Chuck Clowers and Cameron Eagle. For more information contact City Arts Center at (405) 951-0000. ■ About the Author: Grant is a painter, photographer, and designs/builds furniture. He can be reached at lintegritas@gmail.com.
9
prev iew
Oklahoma State Art Collection Finds a New Home
Alexandre Hogue, Tulsa Red Earth Canyon, 1932 Egg Tempera, 19”x33”
by Susan Grossman For the 36 years of its existence, the Oklahoma State Art Collection has been, well, homeless. Featuring more than 175 works of art by Oklahoma artists and crafts people, pieces of the collection have traveled around the state and been shown here and there. Yet, it has never had a permanent place to live. Until now. The west wing of the Oklahoma State Capitol currently is being remodeled to house it. “That space has been used by the state attorney general’s office for some time,” said Amber Sharples, Visual Arts Director for the Oklahoma Arts Council. “The area became available when the attorney general’s office built a new building. The state legislature created space and now we are going to have a museum quality gallery for the collection.” Sharples joined the Arts Council in December 2006 specifically to guide the opening of the collection, slated for November 17. Originally established in 1971 by the Oklahoma Arts and Humanities Council, now the Oklahoma Arts Council, the collection has as its mission to collect and preserve the work of Oklahoma artists. The National Endowment for the Arts awarded the council a one-time grant to purchase works to establish the collection. Acquisitions continue to this day. For its first 10 years, the collection served as an educational tool and was made available to communities throughout the state as a traveling
10
exhibit. Later, it traveled with the Mid-America Arts Alliance. In 1976, as part of a national Bicentennial exhibit at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., several works were selected for display to showcase the diversity of Oklahoma’s artistic talent. Throughout the years, portions have been displayed at the Omniplex Science Museum in Oklahoma City, as well as in Kirkpatrick Center. Several pieces are currently exhibited in the Oklahoma History Center. For the opening of the west wing gallery, approximately 100 pieces will be shown by category – Highlights of the Collection, Recent Acquisitions, Photography, Modern and Contemporary Art, and Sculpture. The collection represents an array of media including sculpture, watercolor, basketry, ceramics and metal relief. “This is truly an exciting thing for Oklahoma,” Sharples said. “The collection has never been seen in its entirety. This permanent space affords us the opportunity to rotate exhibits and rest pieces.” Highlights of the Collection, for example, will feature more than 20 works by such artists as Ed Ruscha, Alexandra Alaupovic, Oscar Jacobson, Doel Reed and Nan Sheets. Additional artists include Archie Blackowl, T.C. Cannon, Mavis Doering, Alexandre Hogue, Stephen Mopope and Bert Seabourn.
prev iew
Samuel Hagen, Erick, First Light, 2005 Color Photograph, 16”x24”
Nan Sheets, Oklahoma City Taos Pueblo, 30”x50”
Through a partnership with the University of Central Oklahoma, an archive of interviews with Oklahoma artists and art historians has been created. These interviews will be featured at special kiosks as part of the gallery experience. Victor Koshkin-Youritzin, professor of art history at the University of Oklahoma, contributed to the commentary that visitors will hear. As a longtime supporter of state art and artists, he is enthusiastic about the new State Art Collection Gallery. “This will provide an excellent showcase for Oklahoma artists,” he said. “The design of the space is quite beautiful and having a permanent gallery gives the collection a higher level of recognition. It is quite a tribute to the work of Betty Price.” Price, who served 24 years as executive director of the Oklahoma Arts Council before retiring Oct. 1, culminates her career at the helm of the state agency with the opening of the gallery. “The State Art Collection provides an opportunity for Oklahoma artists and craftsmen to be showcased in a quality collection,” she said in a recent council newsletter. “This new state-of-theart gallery will give the collection a permanent home and allow the thousands of visitors to the State Capitol every year the opportunity to appreciate the talent of our finest artists.” The Oklahoma State Art Collection Gallery is an official Centennial Project.
Ronald Radcliff, Blackwell, Everybody Loves a Clown 1971, Acrylic on Canvas, 60”x48”
In addition to this newest gallery, the arts council also maintains three other galleries inside the Capitol to showcase the talent of Oklahoma artists; the East Gallery, the North Gallery and the Governor’s Gallery. ■ About the Author: Susan Grossman is assistant director of marketing for University of Oklahoma Outreach and a freelance writer based in Norman. She can be reached at susangrossman@cox.net.
11
rev iew
Zane Yost, Tulsa With the Green Ball Photograph
Zane Yost’s
The Silent Angel by Edward Main and Janice McCormick
A subtle undercurrent of wistfulness pervades the color photographs of children in Zane Yost’s exhibit The Silent Angel at the Apertures Gallery in August. He explores his own perspectives on the experiences of children at play through his very up-close and personal informal portraits and action shots. His use of a shallow depth of field in these photographs results in the subject being in clear focus, while everything around it gets progressively blurred until the background becomes indistinct or even blank. This central focal point highlights the intense concentration children have in what they are doing, seeing, touching; while the blurring creates the sense of time passing, as if we can only just catch a glimpse of this world of the child. Moreover, Yost’s focus of attention is on the child, rather than on the focus of the child’s attention. Thus, the true subject is the artist’s attempt to grasp the perspective of the child. These photographs are taken at very close range and on the same level as the child so that the child crowds the foreground. Thus, by putting his subjects on an equal footing with himself, Yost forestalls a condescending, “Oh, isn’t that cute!” reaction. He takes their world of play as seriously as they do, and it is their seriousness that he seeks to explore in his photographs. That the children accept him into their world is reflected in either one of two ways: when they look through the camera to connect directly with the photographer or when they are so engrossed in what they are doing that they remain oblivious to the camera.
12
direction of the object’s flight, his fingers are splayed out, one arm thrusts up and out in the follow-through, the other arm awkwardly twists in order to help keep his balance - all reveal the strained effort involved. The highly saturated green of the grass behind him provides a vibrant but unnatural backdrop. Playing isn’t as easy as you think. As in With the Green Ball, this image’s sharp focus centers on the child’s facial expression, which serves a dual function: it captures the fleeting moment but freezes it as well. You are fully aware of the photograph as photograph, looking at the action from the outside. You recognize that it is no longer possible to be so fully engrossed in the simple act of throwing.
In With the Green Ball, a toddler, Grant, smiles with delight, holding his green ball straight out towards us. The ball itself is out of focus; the focal point rests on Grant’s bright face, direct gaze and big smile. Clearly, the boy eagerly wishes to share his prize possession with the photographer. But the photographer, intent on capturing the boy’s wholehearted eagerness, reduces the ball to a mere blur - a blur that creates an emotional distance between us and the child. His smile brings a smile to our lips, not because we share the child’s delight in the ball, but rather because we wish we could once again be delighted by such a simple thing as a ball.
Another work, Caterpillar, takes a slightly different approach to its subject. Instead of centering on the child’s expression as in With the Green Ball and Throw, Yost focuses on just a pair of hands holding a caterpillar. We all are inspecting the fuzzy creature as it attempts to crawl across the open palm, its progress impeded by the index finger of the other hand. Yet, paradoxically, the closer we are to this child’s perspective, the more fragmented, abstract and symbolic the experience becomes, an experience that is at once tactile and immediate as well as reflective and separated. It is only with the help of the two, slightly blurry, white lace butterflies that we are able to decipher the inky blue background as pants covering crossed legs. Unlike the vibrant green of Throw, this saturated dark blue conveys a brooding mood. The finger may forestall the caterpillar’s progress, but you know it eventually will transform into a butterfly - as symbolized by those lace butterflies. Similarly, the photograph can only forestall, but not prevent the inevitable transformation of the child into an adult.
Throw is an excellent example where the child is engrossed in an activity, oblivious to the camera. Here, young Thomas is caught in the midst of throwing something - whatever it is is just a blur. His entire body is caught up in the effort. His lips are parted, his eyes stare off in the
The most abstract work of all the photographs gave the title to this exhibit. In The Silent Angel the lack of a sharply focused subject coupled with strong backlighting create an ethereal image. You can barely make out a girl in a pink top sitting on a swing, her bent arms suggestive
rev iew
Zane Yost, Tulsa Catepillar Photograph
of wings. Streaks of bright white sunlight cast a halo around her, preventing you from discerning her facial expression. Even the links of the swing’s chain lose their substance, becoming transmuted into bright circles of light. There is indeed an angel present, with her message to savor the sweetness of the moment - a winsome messenger of the happy moment. Her silence is relative; she no longer speaks in the literal sense of the spoken word, but she does speak, metaphorically, through the language of the collected image and recollected memory of a moment passed. It is not easy to find the right words to describe our reaction to Zane Yost’s photographs. “Wistful” is, perhaps, a reasonably apt choice, because the principal emotion evoked is definitely positive - a moment to be enjoyed as it is experienced,
and enjoyed again on recollection. However, the very act of capturing that moment serves as a reminder that the moment has passed which tinges the enjoyment, much as a butterfly that has been pinned and framed for display can still be appreciated for its beauty. The sweetness of the original moment was part of its immediacy, but the pleasure of the captured memory includes a bittersweet sense of separation. ■ About the Authors: Janice McCormick is an art reviewer who has been writing about art in Tulsa
and Oklahoma since 1990. Currently she teaches philosophy part-time at Tulsa Community College. She can be reached at artreview@olp.net. Edward Main holds down a day-job as an attorney in Tulsa; is active in the Tulsa Philosophical Society and the Tulsa Artists’ Coalition; and has exhibited photographs at the TAC Gallery, the Tulsa Photography Collective and Apertures.
13
featuure re feat
SPECIAL SERIES:
ART 365
Article 3 of a six part series highlighting one of the six artists selected for Art 365
Betsy Barnum, Edmond Rains down to carry you away Acrylic, Pencil and Collage on Paper 28”x34”
ART 365: NEW ART EXHIBITION by Stephen Kovash Art 365 is a new exhibition created by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition to give Oklahoma artists an opportunity to create innovative artwork in collaboration with a national curator. The selected six artists will each receive a $10,000 honorarium. The guest curator chosen for the exhibition is Diane Barber. Barber serves as Co-Executive Director and Visual Arts Director of DiverseWorks in Houston. She is responsible for developing and implementing the organization’s visual arts, curating exhibitions and organizing educational projects. DiverseWorks houses two on-site galleries which feature a combined fourteen to sixteen exhibitions a year. Reviewing the proposals, Barber found many artists defining and exploring American identity, whether they named it literally or not. According to Barber, the selected proposals consider aspects of the American identity through icons, introspective explorations, symbolic natural worlds, consumerism and surveillance. Barber has already made studio visits with all the participating artists and will be conducting more over the project year. The six selected proposals are from artists Sarah Atlee, Norman; Betsy Barnum, Edmond; Joseph Daun, Oklahoma City; Ashley Griffith, Oklahoma City; Darshan Phillips & Aaron Whisner (collaborative project), Tulsa; and Liz Roth, Stillwater. Their work represents painting, printmaking, mixed media, sculpture and modified technologies. Liz Roth and Sarah Atlee have been profiled in previous editions of Art Focus Oklahoma. Edmond artist Betsy Barnum will
14 14
be profiled for this article. The remaining artists will be profiled in subsequent issues over the course of the next year. Barnum’s life and work are mixed (gently?) in layers of paint, ink, charcoal, feelings, memories and emotion...written, drawn, erased and rewritten. In addition to exhibiting a high level of technical skill, the artist’s work is gorgeous, using subdued color, motion and composition to release every drop of feeling into each piece. The use of layers is an apt description for her Art 365 project. The focus of her project combines etching, linocut and chine collé to produce several 18-x-12 inch prints. She is also maintaining a sketchbook journal which will serve as the inspiration for a number of larger prints and paintings. According to the artist, the acrylic on paper paintings will allow a degree of freedom to experiment with layering and composition that she does not have with etching and other printmaking. The life experiences that figure largely in Barnum’s work are recorded in a journal, allowing the ideas to have “free reign” according to the artist. “With my husband, my sister, my friends and myself, I am adapting day to day, unearthing things about myself and growing from them” states Barnum. The artist prefers to use the human figure and symbolic imagery, such as birds, fish, plants and typewriters as metaphors to illustrate growth, change and adaptation. Combining hand drawn images, deeply reworked and layered etchings, along with the other elements allows Barnum to “…build up on the picture plane leading the viewer through my history.”
featuure re feat
Artist B etsy B arnum (top) Betsy Barnum, Edmond It Breathes Image 2 Etching, 6”x6” (middle) Betsy Barnum, Edmond Face what takes you and turns Acrylic, Pencil and Collage on Paper 31”x45” (bottom) Betsy Barnum, Edmond Scratching Away I Fall Under Page 32 Mixed Media Book 6”x9”
Working with the curator provided the artist with insight into the work and the process. “She encouraged me to discuss my art more with the people around me and to stretch myself in thinking about not just the formal aspects of the work but the conceptual nature as well” states Barnum. The personal nature of the work also made it difficult for the artist to put the creative process into words. To that end, Barber encouraged Barnum to start a blog, which would allow her to document her work while having more of a separation from the viewer. As an extension of the critique process, the artist also called a “get-together” among some of her friends for an evening of critiquing. “It was good to get people’s first impressions of the paintings as a whole, especially when I could explain the concept behind the project and the stories of each painting,” states Barnum. Barnum’s MySpace page places her hometown as El Granada (presumably California) and she now resides in Edmond. She is the master printer of Untitled [Press], which is the printmaking facility at the Untitled [ArtSpace]. In this capacity, she organizes and monitors printmaking workshops, maintains the printmaking studio and presses, and helps artists develop limited edition prints and books through Untitled [Press]. Barnum is also the full-time Artistic Administrator at Untitled, administering the Exhibitions, Visiting Artists, Art Forums, graphic design and fundraising. Barnum earned an MFA in printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute and a BA in Graphic Design from Anderson University. The artist’s recent success is not limited to the Art 365 project. The interview for this article was carved out during a whirlwind trip to New York City where Barnum was featured at the Art Gotham Gallery in Chelsea. The work by Barnum and the other selected artists will be shown at the Untitled [ArtSpace] at 1 NE 3 in Oklahoma City, March 14-April 26, 2008. Plans are also in the works to tour the show regionally and in other locations in Oklahoma. The Art 365 project is funded in part by the Oklahoma Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Oklahoma Arts Council, Allied Arts, Kirkpatrick Foundation, and Jean Ann Fausser. ■ About the Author: Stephen Kovash owns the Gallery at Urban Art, is an OVAC Board Member and has a day job with the Environmental Protection Agency. He can be reached at istvanko@cox.net.
15 15
on t he map
ON THE
Laurie Thompson’s “Rockin’ T Studio”
Mangum by Shane Brown Once Maxine had brought me sufficiently up to date on the grassroots movement to revitalize the downtown area and the progress that had brought me to Mangum (and upon finishing our onion burgers), we set out for “Artists Alley.”Inspired by a Main Street meeting in Shattuck, Oklahoma, Maxine and members of “Art on the Square” set out to create a network of local and regional artists. Their endeavor was a success. I want to start this with the factoid that Mangum, Oklahoma is home to the fourth longest-lasting light bulb in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. But that is not what this about. Rather, this is about the other reasons Mangum, Oklahoma shines. Already experiencing the typical wonder at encountering the Wichita Mountains, and once again being surprised by their existence in southwestern Oklahoma, I arrived to Mangum. As I maneuvered through the town’s streets, I admired the fine architecture and WPA era fountains that adorn each corner of the town square. The history to which Mangum can lay claim is evident throughout the town, while proof of a community who is playing an active role in their future exists around every corner. A mere twenty-some miles from The Oklahoma Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain, Mangum is a place with many reasons to visit. Among the many examples of stately buildings, The Old Greer County Museum and Hall of Fame, once a hospital, is where I met Mayor Maxine Thomason. A kind and vibrant woman, Maxine insisted that we eat at the Hamburger Inn. A sucker for small town faire, I easily acquiesced. As we made our way toward the diner, Maxine addressed nearly everyone we encountered by name. Once a tiny, stool and countertop diner, owner Bonnie Parker (no relation to her infamous namesake) has expanded the operation into the old Dr. Pepper Bottling Plant next door. The onion burgers were great. This kind of “real” food is an integral part of a complete experience when a town like Mangum is the destination.
16
Mangum’s Artists Alley, a city block-long building filled with studios and galleries, just west of the square, began filling up in the summer of 2006. “Pleasant Nest Pottery,” a studio, instructional space, and gallery, features Norma Williams’ raku and high-fire stoneware. Norma also works with naked raku, coloring her pottery through exposure to smoke. Denise Alexander’s “Darka Designs” is an art gallery exhibiting her own mosaic work, as well as the work of local artists and artists from Boise City and Altus, Oklahoma.Laurie Thompson focuses on animals in various media at “Rockin’ T Studio.” Thompson’s work consists of photographs of wildlife, works on traditional media, and painting on bone. Also in the building housing “Artists Alley” is Kate Johnson’s studio, “OK Cowboy Art,” and “The Coffee Gallery,” where one can view local artwork and get a good cup of coffee. Artists Alley is open on the first Friday of each month from 6-8 p.m. for the “Friday Night Art & Antique Stroll.” Not far from Artists Alley, at 121 N. Oklahoma, is “Cactus Jack’s.” A mixture of artwork from artists around the country, in addition to antiques, homegrown bath and body oils, copper crafts, brooms for ridding your home of cobwebs or evil spirits, and owner John Halberg’s “cowboy furniture,” Cactus Jack’s has a lot to take in. Just as plain as the pioneering spirit celebrated in the monument at the Old Greer County Museum and Hall of Fame is the pioneering spirit of proactive people who have made Mangum the destination it is. With all there is to do and see within and around Mangum, putting it on your list of destinations is to your favor. ■ About the Author: Shane Brown is a photographer and Oklahoman. His work can be viewed at www.shanebrownok.com.
bus i ness of ar t
(left) Norma Williams’ “Pleasant Nest Pottery” (right) Artists Alley in Mangum, OK
Expose yourself to..
Apertures Photo Oklahoma’s finest photographic services Apertures Photo Lab Professional in-house lab and store with digital and film services. We produce up to 40”x60” prints. Come shop here for cameras, equipment, accessories and more.
Apertures Gallery Highlighting photography in Oklahoma. New exhibits each month.
Apertures School of Photography Evening classes in a variety of photography topics.
Apertures Framing Custom frame shop for all your framing needs.
Check our web site for monthly specials!
www.aperturesphoto.com
1936 S. Harvard Tulsa, OK 74112 | 918-742-0500 17
feat u res
(from left to right) Marwin Begaye, Norman, Man Comes Around, Linoleum Block Print, 22”x30”; Marwin Begaye, Norman, End of the Trail, Linoleum Block Print, 22”x30”; Marwin Begaye, Norman, Riders of the Storm, Linoleum Block Print, 15”x22”
Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship 2007 by Kelsey Karper Each year, the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition presents the Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship, providing two awards of $5,000 each to Oklahoma artists. OVAC is dedicated to supporting visual artists living and working in Oklahoma and to promoting public interest and understanding of the arts and these awards are a part of that mission. The Fellowship awards are given to recognize past achievement and future promise and can be used as the artist’s needs require. The curator for the 2007 Fellowship awards was Jed Dodds, Artistic Director of the Creative Alliance at The Patterson in Baltimore, MD. Dodds has been at the Creative Alliance since 1999 and has helped to oversee the organizations transformation from a volunteer-driven artists’ collective to a community based artists’ organization with over 400 programs each year. Of 74 entries, Dodds chose two Oklahoma artists to receive awards: Marwin Begaye and Brandon Reese. In his statement, curator Jed Dodds wrote, “I did my best to consider each artist according to the terms they set for themselves, and felt genuinely rewarded for my time with them... In the end, though, two very different artists stood out for me. Marwin Begaye’s linoleum and digital prints confronting the epidemic of diabetes in his community are dripping with dark humor, pack visual punch to match the urgency of their message, and show a consistent personal vision. Sculptor Brandon Reese was simply my favorite among a wealth of strong ceramic artists in the group. Referencing suits of armor and Romanesque architecture, each of his massive stoneware constructions resonates with its own history and personality.” Brandon Reese, Stillwater, Alfred, Stoneware, 80”x45”x25”
Marwin Begaye is a printmaker and painter living in Norman. Begaye holds an MFA in Printmaking and a BFA in Painting, both from the University of Oklahoma (OU). He is also currently an Adjunct Professor of art at OU. His current body of work explores the epidemic of Diabetes in his Native American community. By taking iconic advertising images and turning them on themselves, he hopes his prints will empower the viewer to become more aware of the messages they are sending. Brandon Reese is a ceramicist and sculptor living in Stillwater. Reese holds an MFA in Ceramics from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH and a BFA in Sculpture from Kansas City Art Institute. Reese is currently an Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Oklahoma State University. He sees his ceramic works as structural investigations, defining space and pushing the boundaries of ceramics. As a part of their Fellowship year, these artists will perform a public service activity with a communitybased, non-profit organization in Oklahoma. For information about their upcoming events, watch www. ovac-ok.org. ■ About the Author: Kelsey Karper is the Editor of Art Focus Oklahoma and a photographer working in historic and alternative processes. She can be reached at publications@ovac-ok.org.
18
business of ar t
Time Management or Dealing With Interrupby Sue Clancy The other day a fellow artist friend of mine was visiting me at my studio. We were discussing our various projects and my friend sighed and said “When I’m able to quit my day job I’ll have more time to do my art.”
tools or project planning*. It takes effort but essentially artists have to create their own system to keep track of all that has to be done for their particular career.
This is a familiar refrain that most artists, including me, have said at one time or another.
Personally, my biggest trick for making new artwork on an ongoing basis, doing some of the other art career related opportunities and getting the day-to-day stuff done has been to mark off a regular schedule of Art Making Time on the calendar and fit everything else around that.
Then I did quit my day job and soon I was busier than I had ever been when I had a day job. Unlimited amounts of unbroken time in which to make art never appeared. People wanted me to create an illustration, or give a workshop, participate in an exhibit or write an article, etc. Always there was some demand for my time regarding things that were related to my art career (and something I wanted to do) but these often were something other than making a new work of art. I had to learn to prioritize and select which illustration contracts to take, which workshops to give and which exhibits to participate in that contributed to my bigpicture goals for my art career. I learned how to keep a schedule so that those other things, workshops and exhibits etc., fit into my art-making life and not vice versa. Then there is the day-to-day stuff that needs to be done: laundry, time spent with friends or family, making dinner, getting the oil changed on the truck, etc. Life is made up of time. I have formed the opinion that there is no ‘wasting’ of time or even ‘wise’ use of time. I either like how I am using my time or I don’t and I work to change it so that I like it again. Of course it helps to identify areas in life where we would like to change our time use habits and to form a strategy to enact that change. In both the business section and the art section of bookstores are many books about time management that have detailed strategies that are applicable to creative lives. Such books contain how-to strategies for keeping a calendar, goal setting, creating a good work space, organizing
The Value of Mentors in Art by Nathan Lee I graduated from the label of emerging artist a few years back and I am now a working artist. I have learned my way around the gallery scene here and I have a pretty good understanding of artist etiquette. Some of what I know came from trial and error but most of my knowledge came from having a mentor. Many young emerging artists have the notion that their vision is going to set the world on fire if they get discovered. They have exhibitions in coffee houses and venues that are friendly and not as perceivably pretentious as some galleries. I don’t think there is anything wrong with a cafe show, but those exhibitions really didn’t help me personally get into the venues that I really wanted. I was fortunate enough to have a mentor to guide me past most of the pitfalls that many young artists go through. I recall meeting the Paul Medina’s and the Sue Sullivan’s and how they would happily talk shop with me. They had a genuine concern for my growth as an artist and as a person. I am sure there are people that feel the same way I do about having those supportive people around that are experienced and successful, but at the same time are down to earth, willing to lend support and give advice. Having a mentor that has been there and understands the in’s and out’s of how to conduct yourself as an artist really helps an emerging artist grow more efficiently. Without a mentor, I would not have been able to accomplish some of the things that I have achieved artistically. I learned about
The second big trick is to decide in advance what interruptions to my Art Making Time will be accepted and which won’t. For example, I decided that a friend in the hospital is an acceptable interruption but a friend wanting to go grab a beer will be scheduled for a Non Art Making Time. Interruptions are inevitable, so I have a system that enables me to pick up where I left off when interruptions do occur: I keep a sketchbook of ongoing/developing ideas and have a regular place set up in which to work where I can leave my “in progress” projects. A day job, such as my friend’s, can be considered a necessary interruption. In such a case the artist would form a system that puts creating art as job number one, allows for the interruption of a day job, and then would enable them to get back to their real job of being an artist in a seamless manner. I’ll follow my own advice and get back to my primary job of making artwork now that I’ve finished this article about interruptions. ■ * The best book I’ve found on the topic of strategic time management is “Getting Things Done” by David Allen About the Author: Sue Clancy is a full-time professional artist whose artwork can be seen internationally - and locally at Joseph Gierek Fine Art gallery in Tulsa OK (www.gierek.com) or at Downtown Art & Frame in Norman OK. She checks her email artist@telepath.com occasionally, too.
making bodies of work that were congruent. I learned about what it means to have a consistent vision. In short, I learned what it means to be a professional artist and how to present myself as such. The work that you make is important but so is experience and wisdom. I realized how important a mentor was when I thought about where I was as an artist eight years ago. I did graffiti art and I even told a fellow, more accomplished, artist that I wasn’t interested in anything that wasn’t graffiti work. He responded to me by saying that I needed to grow and branch out. He stressed that I should never forget the vision that I have and the bodies of work that I created because I would almost certainly use them again. He also said not to stifle my growth and remain one dimensional. I grew and the visibility of my work grew. I was never told what my vision should evolve into, only that it should be allowed to. I think that’s what makes a good mentor. It is essential that the artist grows and the vision belongs to them, but I think as a mentor it is important that they inspire the emerging artist to push forward. I can’t stress how important I think it is for those of us that have experience to give that expertise to the new generation of artists that are beginning to surge forth. OVAC offers workshops and has artists and art professionals who give their time to teach and educate those that want information. Mentorship insures that we have a second and third wave of accomplished knowledgeable artists to pass the torch, or in this case, paint brush to. ■ About the Author: Nathan Lee is the founder of Inclusion in Art, and a regular contributor to Art Focus. He is also a mixed media artist known for his sculptural work.
19
OVAC news
Round Up
November/December 2007
Momentum OKC will be January 11 & 12, 2008. The call for artists and more information will be available on the OVAC website, www.ovac-ok.org. Several OVAC Grants were awarded this summer for exciting projects. Lori Oden, Oklahoma City, received a Creative Projects Grant of $900 to prepare for her exhibition at the Oklahoma State Capital in June 2008. Don Thompson, Tulsa, received a Professional Basics Grant of $250 to frame artwork for his exhibition at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center in February 2008. Nathan Opp, Tulsa, received a Professional Basics Grant of $250 to ship artwork to an exhibition at Biola University in La Mirada, CA. Gloria Galasso, Ponca City, received an Educational Assistance Grant to attend a weaving workshop at Chimayo in Los Ojos, NM. NEW grant guidelines and helpful resources are available on OVAC’s website www.ovac-ok.org/artinfogrants.html. 12x12 was a booming success, funding OVAC’s many programs. Thanks to Carl Shortt and Suzanne Mitchell for co-chairing the event and to their excellent committee. We also thank the 155 artists, great sponsors, and restaurants. Watch for 12x12 2008 next September! The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Biennial catalog recently received an award for “Outstanding Publication” from the Oklahoma Museums Association. To receive a copy of the award-winning catalog, please contact OVAC at 405-232-6991. The Artist Survival Kit Workshop series has begun. To register for any workshop, please call 405-232-6991 or email assistant@ovac-ok.org. For a complete listing of upcoming workshops, visit www.ovac-ok.org. ■ The 3 C’s of the Artist’s Life: Critique, Creativity & Confidence November 17, Philbrook Museum in Tulsa Writing for Artists February 9, The Goddard Center in Ardmore Marketing & PR for Artists March 22, Multi-Arts Center in Stillwater Curating & Galleries April 19, Price Tower Arts Center in Bartlesville
Ask a Creativity Coach by Romney Nesbitt Dear Romney, I keep getting requests to donate artwork to various auctions or fundraisers. Should I participate or not? - Tapped out Dear Tapped, An invitation to participate in an auction or fundraiser is an invitation. You can say “No.” This is a request for your time and talent. You decide whether this opportunity fits your career goals, interests and time. Auction promoters may promise “exposure” for artists, but what you receive in publicity may be negligible in comparison to the time and effort these events sometimes require. (A notable exception is OVAC’s 12 x 12 Art Show and Sale which raises funds for OVAC programs and promotes artists and their work.) These three questions may help you make a decision: 1. Will this particular “opportunity” move me closer to my career goals? 2. Do I have enough of a special interest in helping this group that I’m willing to donate a piece? 3. Do I have the time available to prepare, deliver and retrieve my art work on that date? If the answer is “yes” to all three questions you may want to participate. To keep from tapping out your energies and supply of marketable artwork, limit the number of freebies you participate in per year. As a coach, I want to put this question in perspective. Any “opportunity” that comes along (auction, class, road trip, movie etc.) will take your time and creative energies. Be strategic! Ask yourself “Does this opportunity move me toward or away from my career goals?” This basic self-coaching question presupposes you have defined career goals and a plan to reach them—without that, you’ll be tempted to do whatever comes along hoping it will help your career. As the Cheshire Cat said in Alice in Wonderland, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” ■ About the Author: Romney Nesbitt is a creativity coach, artist, teacher and writer living in Tulsa. She welcomes your coaching questions for future columns. Contact her at RomneyN@cox.net.
20
OVAC news
(top) Stephen Atwood, Wichita, KS, Passenger Seat, Steel, Copper, Bronze, Mixed Media, 53”x72”x60” (bottom) Robert Bubp, Wichita, KS, An Incomplete Project, Mixed Media Wall Installation, 96”x540”
At a Glance by Sue Moss Sullivan
Symbiosis: Contemporary Concepts in Art & Science Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery August 3-24, 2007 Jeff Stokes, director of the IAO Gallery in Oklahoma City, curated a very strong exhibit by artists currently working on themes dealing with science. The works speak to illness and death, social issues, “psychic” powers, and the natural sciences. Stephen Atwood, from, Wichita, KS, created large scale, powerful sculptures in response to his wife Gretchen’s life and death with muscular dystrophy. Robert Bubp, also from Wichita, made a strong social comment with his maps of OKC’s environs that mark what has “been curiously left off.” Craig Dongoski contributed sequential drawings “made from others’ minds.” Contributing artists: Stephen Atwood, Robert Bubp, Lars Cuzner, Craig Dongoski, Brent Goddard, Jesse Harlin, Riley Harmon, and Molly O’Connor. ■ About the Author: Sue Moss Sullivan is an Oklahoma City artist and former OVAC Board President.
Thank you to our New and Renewing Members from July and August 2007 Mazen H. Abufadil Robert Adams Judith Bright Barnett Mary Barton Doug Bauer Kristin Benedetti Heidi BigKnife Steven L. Brown Tammy Brummell Roy Butler Robin Chase Suzie Hardin Chelsea Jim Coles Janey Carns Crain Vandrea Davis Dorothy Dinsmoor Sarah Dunbar Clara Edmon Elizabeth K. Eickman Marvin Embree
Dixie Erickson Christiane E. Faris Tom and Jean Ann Fausser Linda Finley Chris Gonzalez Ashley Griffith Stuart Harrison Yun Hendricks Roberta Henley Teresa Herndon Helen F. Howerton Jody Karr David and Julia Koelsch John Mark Lackey Fernando Laurens Mark and Laura Ann Lewis Marsha Mahan Sarah McElroy J. D. McPherson Lin and Leah Meiring
Gregory Motto Jane Newman Mary Nickell Kim Norton Christopher M. Owens Larry Pickering Laura Pickering Harold Porterfield Sharon Redding Jean Richardson Deborah Roberson David M. and Sharon Roberts Linda Rous Mary Ruggles Timothy Ryan Sheridan Scott Tamara Sigler A. C. Sinesio Joe Slack Gail Sloop
Al Smith Diana J. Smith Rob Smith Shelly Lewis Stanfield Barbie Stover William R. Struby Sue Moss Sullivan Steve Tomlin Toothbrusher’s Dental Alex True Angela True Joyce Ulstrup Jason Wallace Shirley D. Ward Jennifer Woods James and Denise Wedel May Yang Rachel Zarrow
21
galler y gu ide
&
Gallery Listings
Exhibition Schedule
Ada
Edmond
Jerry Smith: Paintings, Drawings & Prints Through November 30 Senior Exhibits December 3 - 14 University Gallery East Central University 1100 E. 14th (580) 559-5353 ecok.edu
Rodkey’s Flour Mill: An Edmond Icon Exhibit Through November 30 Edmond Historical Society 431 S. Boulevard (405) 340-0078 edmondhistory.org
Out of Oklahoma: Contemporary Artists from Ruscha to Andoe Through January 6, 2008 Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art 555 Elm Ave. (405) 325-4938 ou.edu/fjjma
Martha Green: Mixed Media Opening Reception, December 7, 6-10 pm JRB Art at the Elms 2810 North Walker (405) 528-6336 jrbartgallery.com
Dan Robinson Opening Reception, November 9 Christmas Open House December 7 Shadid Fine Art 19 N. Broadway (405) 341-9023 shadidfineart.com
Dorothy Moses & Ruth Ann Borum Through November 30 Emergent Show Opening Reception, December 7 Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery 122 East Main (405) 292-8095 mainsite-art.com
Small Works, Great Wonders November 29 A Night Before Christmas Open House December 11 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 cowboyhalloffame.org
El Reno
Oklahoma City
Kristen Vails November 9 – December 14 Redlands Community College 1300 S. Country Club Rd. (405) 262-2552 redlandscc.edu
Illumination November 15 – December 22 Opening Reception, November 15, 5:30 pm City Arts Center 3000 General Pershing Blvd. (800) 951-0000 cityartscenter.org
Ardmore
Jack Dowd Through November Festival of Trees November 30, 6:30 pm Southern Oklahoma Quilters Guild December 3, 20007 – January 21, 2008 The Goddard Center 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 goddardcenter.org
Bartlesville
Lawton
Oklahoma Moderne: The Art and Design of Olinka Hrdy Through January 13, 2008 Price Tower Arts Center 6th and Dewey (918) 336-4949 pricetower.org
Day of the Dead: Dan Enger & Amy Cordvoa Opening Reception, November 3, 7-9 pm The Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery 620 D Avenue (580) 357-9526 lpgallery.org
Broken Bow
Harvest Downtown Arts Market November 17, 10 am – 5 pm Holiday Downtown Arts Market December 8, 10 am – 5 pm Dreamer Concepts Studio & Foundation 324 East Main (405) 701-0048 dreamerconcepts.org
Folk Festival & Craft Show November 9 - 11 Forest Heritage Center Beaver’s Bend Resort (580) 494-6497 beaversbend.com
Chickasha Seven-State Biennial Exhibition November 3 – December 7 University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma Gallery-Davis Hall 1806 17th Street (405) 574-1344 usao.edu/gallery/
Durham Oklahoma On My Mind: Photography by Patty Plummer Romance of the West: Cowboys and Indians Through November 30 Metcalfe Museum Rt. 1 Box 25 (580) 655-4467 metcalfemuseum.org
22
Norman
Holiday Gallery November 16 – December 23 Opening Reception, December 7 with Winter ArtWalk Firehouse Art Center 444 South Flood (405) 329-4523 normanfirehouse.com The Inner Culture of Mirac Creepingbear Through November 25 Scandinavian Cultural Christmas Exhibition: Iceland December 2 - 22 Jacobson House 609 Chautauqua (405) 366-1667 jacobsonhouse.com
Josh Reynolds Opening Reception, November 11, 7 pm Conrad Hale Opening Reception, December 7, 7 pm Friskee Gallery 2412 1/2 N. Shartel myspace.com/friskeeproductions Red Dot November 2, 7-midnight Current Realities: A Dialogue with THE PEOPLE November 9 – December 21 Opening Reception, November 9, 6-10 pm Individual Artists of Oklahoma 811 N. Broadway (405) 232-6060 iaogallery.org Celebrating Oklahoma! Centennial Exhibit Through December 2 Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs December 15, 2007 – March 30, 2008 International Photography Hall of Fame 2100 NE 52nd Street (405) 424-4055 iphf.org Annual Sale of Small Works by Noted Artists Tom Stotts: Paintings Opening Reception, November 2, 6-10 pm Christmas at The Elms
David Crismon Through November 2 Oklahoma State Capital Galleries 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 state.ok.us/~arts The Baroque World of Fernando Botero Through December 2 Paris 1900 December 20, 2007 – March 2, 2008 Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Drive (405) 236-3100 okcmoa.com Box Show Opening Reception, November 2, 6-10 pm Faces, Places and Spaces of Oklahoma Opening Reception, December 7, 6-10 pm Paseo Art Space 3022 Paseo (405) 525-2688 thepaseo.com Roots & Ties: Oklahoma Expatriate Artists November 9 – December 29 Opening Reception, November 9, 5-8 pm Untitled [ArtSpace] 1 NE 3rd St. (405) 815-9995 1ne3.org
Park Hill Oklahoma State Centennial, a Cherokee Perspective Through December 31 Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc. 21192 S. Keeler Drive (918) 456-6007 cherokeeheritage.org
galler y gu ide
Ponca City Matt Jarvis: China Re-collections November 2 – December 7 Contemporary Farm Women from the Mid-America Arts Alliance December 15, 2007 – January 2008 Artsplace Ponca City 319 East Grand Ave (580) 762-1930 artsplaceponcacity.net Photography Competition November 1 – 25 Annual Christmas Tree Collage/ Gingerbread Houses December 2 - 23 Ponca City Art Center 819 East Central 580-765-9746 poncacity.com
Shawnee Here and There: The Worlds of RoseLynn Fisher Through November 25 Pentimento December 21, 2007 – February 3, 2008 Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art 1900 West Macarthur (405) 878-5300 mgmoa.org
tillwater Centennial Annual Faculty Exhibition October 17 – November 9 Artist Reception, November 14, 5-6 pm Studio Capstone Exhibition November 14 – November 20 Artist Reception, November 14, 5-6 pm Graphic Design Portfolio Exhibition November 28 – December 7
Artist Reception, December 7, 5-6 pm Gardiner Art Gallery Oklahoma State University 108 Bartlett University (405) 744-6016 okstate.edu
Tulsa Gay Larson: Liths Through November 15 Kaycee Dean: It’s A Wonderful Life November 29 – December 28 Apertures Gallery 1936 South Harvard (918) 742-0500 aperturesphoto.com American Art in Miniature November 1 Charles Banks Wilson: An Oklahoma Life in Art Through March 9, 2008 Gilcrease Museum 1400 Gilcrease Road (918) 596-2700 gilcrease.org ARTWorks 2007: Featuring W. Bennett Berry Through November 9 Holliman Gallery Holland Hall 5666 East 81st Street (918) 481-1111 hollandhall.org Holiday Artworks: Group Show & Sale November 16 Liggett Studio 314 S. Kenosha (918) 694-5719 liggettstudio.com
Altared Spaces – Day of the Dead 07 November 1 – 9 Street Fiesta November 2 Living Arts Gala November 16 Pedestal: New Works by Ruth Ann Borum & Jelena Stojanovic December 6 - 27 Living Arts 308 S. Kenosha (918) 585-1234 livingarts.org Focus 4: Lucy Gunning Through December 30 Frank Lloyd Wright and The House Beautiful November 11, 2007 – January 20, 2008 The Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 South Rockford Road (918) 749-7941 Philbrook.org Acquisitions: Figure Paintings by Shane Hemberger November 1 – 24 Yellow Snow: An Alternative Holiday Show December 7 - 22 Tulsa Artists Coalition Gallery 9 East Brady (918) 592-0041 tacgallery.org
John Brooks Walton November 1 – 30 Dean Wyatt December 6 - 30 Tulsa Performing Arts Center Gallery Third and Cincinnati (918) 596-7122 tulsapac.com Martha Armstrong, Mayo Visiting Artist November 1 – 30 Opening Reception, November 1, 5-7 pm The Art of the Trade: A Collection of Prints December 6, 2007 – January 18, 2008 Opening Reception, December 6, 5-7 pm Alexandre Hogue Gallery Phillips Hall, The University of Tulsa 2930 E. 5th St. (918) 631-2739 cas.utulsa.edu/art
Woodward Randy Meyers & Mary Spurgeon November 3 – November 24 Elmer Maddux December 8 – December 29 Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum 2009 Williams Ave (580) 256-6136 pipm1.com
Matt Jarvis, Pawhuska, DaCien Si: Temple of Great Goodwill in Xi’an Photography and Mixed Media at Artsplace Ponca City, November 2 – December 7.
Kristen Vails, Norman I Still Walk, Mixed Media at RCC Fine Art Gallery in El Reno November 9 – December 14.
23
ArtOFocus k l a h o m a Annual Subscriptions to Art Focus Oklahoma are free with membership to the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. Membership forms and benefits can be found at www.ovac-ok.org or by phone (405) 232-6991. Student Membership: $15 Individual Membership: $30 Family/Household Membership: $50 Patron Membership: $100 Sustaining Membership: $250
PO Box 1946 Oklahoma City, OK 73101
Non Profit Org. US POSTAGE PAID Oklahoma City, OK Permit No. 113