ArtOFocus k l a h o m a
O k l a ho ma V i s ual A r ts C oal i t i on
Vo l u m e 2 9 N o . 5
September/October 2014
Art OFocus k l a h o m a from the editor
Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition 730 W. Wilshire Blvd., Suite 104 Oklahoma City, OK 73116 ph: 405.879.2400 • e: director@ovac-ok.org visit our website at: www.ovac-ok.org Editor: Kelsey Karper publications@ovac-ok.org
There is power and possibility contained in art. It has the ability to enrich an individual life or build up an entire community. In this issue of Art Focus Oklahoma, we highlight several upcoming events and projects that demonstrate this potential. Three young artists, selected for OVAC’s Momentum Spotlight award, are developing new work that engages with their community, to debut at Momentum Tulsa on October 3 (p. 20). This annual event has a new focus this year, emphasizing social practice and art’s ability to engage audiences around a particular issue. Momentum Tulsa will be free to attend this year, inviting everyone to participate in interactive projects and skill-share demonstrations during the opening, which coincides with the popular and growing First Friday Art Walk in Tulsa’s Brady Arts District. You can learn more about the event at www.MomentumOklahoma.org. In this issue’s On the Map feature, we visit the city of Norman (p 22). Proving that it is more than just a college town, Norman civic and business leaders have embraced the idea of building a community around art. They’ve made significant and ongoing investments in their local arts council and are beginning ambitious placemaking initiatives with art at the core. To learn more about this transformative power of art and experience it firsthand, consider attending the annual Oklahoma Arts Conference presented by the Oklahoma Arts Council. This year’s conference is held October 21-23 in Norman. The theme, “Our Town, Repurposed. Our State, Reimagined.” examines the national trends of placemaking and community building centered on the arts. This annual convening is also a great place to meet colleagues and fellow art supporters. Find more details and registration at arts.ok.gov. How has your life, your community, your state and beyond been enriched by art? Once you start looking, you might realize there is more there than you once thought.
Art Director: Anne Richardson speccreative@gmail.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: Supporting Oklahoma’s visual arts and artists and their power to enrich communities. 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. OVAC Board of Directors July 2014-June 2015: Margo Shultes von Schlageter, MD, Christian Trimble, Edmond; Eric Wright, El Reno; Jon Fisher, Moore; Bob Curtis, Gina Ellis (Treasurer), Hillary Farrell, TiTi Fitzsimmons, Michael Hoffner (Secretary), Stephen Kovash, Travis Mason, Suzanne Mitchell, Renée Porter (President), Oklahoma City; Dean Wyatt, Owasso; Joey Frisillo, Sand Springs; Shelley Cadamy, Jean Ann Fausser, Susan Green (Vice President), Janet Shipley Hawks, Ariana Jakub, Tulsa. 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 Americans for the Arts. © 2014, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved.
Kelsey Karper publications@ovac-ok.org
View the online archive at www.ArtFocusOklahoma.org.
Support from:
On the cover Zachary Presley, Durant, The Condition (From the Atomic Indian Corporation: Educational Tools & Mishistories), Archival digital print, 30” x 30”. See page 4.
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OVAC Fellowships and Student Awards of Excellence 2014
Each year, OVAC gives awards to four individual artists with outstanding vision. Meet this year’s award-winning artists.
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Chris Ramsay: Meditations in Stillwater
In an exhibition at the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art, Ramsay illustrates the spirit, soul and connectedness of objects.
8 Manus: Photography by Amy Rockett-Todd
By combining historic and modern technologies, Tulsa artist Amy Rockett-Todd aims to reintroduce the artist’s hand in the art of photography.
10 fettered – unfettered: Heather Clark Hilliard at Oklahoma City University
With a delicate and thoughtful approach, Norman artist Hilliard provokes moments of imaginative freedom and contemplative attention.
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12 Collecting & Connecting: Totemic Taxonomies at Science Museum Oklahoma
A collaborative exhibition from Norman artists Pete Froslie and Cathleen Faubert explores issues of attachment, spirituality, ecology, collective experience and material culture.
14 My Generation: Young Chinese Artists
A new exhibition at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art brings a modern experience of emerging Chinese art.
16 A Resurrected Science: Mark Zimmerman’s Collodion Prints
A retrospective of Zimmerman’s work at the Oklahoma State Capitol fuses past and present with contemporary portraits made in historic photographic processes.
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18 The Space Beyond Them
A new exhibition at the Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art in Norman highlights Abstract Expressionism from the American Southwest.
f e a t u re s 20 Art and Social Practice: Momentum Tulsa 2014
Three Spotlight artists are creating new bodies of work to debut at the annual Momentum Tulsa exhibition, which highlights Oklahoma artists ages 30 and younger.
22 On the Map: Norman
This growing city is more than just a college town. Local businesses and city leaders recognize and support the arts as a vital part of the city’s development.
25 Ekphrasis: Art & Poetry
Artist Marc Barker inspires questions of identity, uncertainty and the self’s state of flux in a new poem by Kerri Shadid.
business of art 26 Ask a Creativity Coach: The Genius of Groups
The Creativity Coach explains how joining a club or organization can provide many benefits for your artistic career.
OVAC news 27 OVAC News 27 New and Renewing Members 29 g a l l e r y
(p. 10) Heather Clark Hilliard, Norman, ashes to ashes, River rocks, wood fire ash, kozo paper (referencing prime number 81), 33” x 33” x 4” (p. 14) Xu Zhen (Produced by MadeIn), Beijing, China, Fearless, 2012, Mixed media on canvas, 124 7/16” x 253 15⁄16”. Courtesy of Long March Space, Beijing. (p.22) On the Map: Norman, A community mural created as part of the START Norman placemaking initiative.
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OVAC Fellowships and Student Awards of Excellence 2014 by Romy Owens
Randall Barnes, Midwest City, Egos are something the Wu-Tang Crush, 2014, Oil on fabric, 17” x 38”
“Art is a notoriously nebulous activity,” James McAnnally writes in his curator’s statement regarding this year’s winners of the largest annual visual arts fellowship award in Oklahoma. “Success is a continuum that ebbs and flows and has few distinct points that one can point to that yes, this is working and worth it.” McAnnally is the Director of The Luminary in St. Louis and the Editor of Temporary Art Review. All four awardees connected with McAnnally through their art, and he stated that they are all “making exceptional work and experimenting for themselves first and the rest of us next.” Winners for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s Fellowship Awards are announced each May. This year’s recipients are Zachary Presley (cover) of Durant and Denny Schmickle of Tulsa. Additionally, two college students were awarded the Student Awards of Excellence: Randall Barnes of Midwest City and Megan Hughes of Stillwater. This was the first time that each of the award recipients had applied for the award. “I looked at this as the opportunity to get honest feedback about my work,” Presley said. And feedback he received. McAnnally’s response to Presley’s series The Atomic Indian Corporation:
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Educational Tools and Mishistories was one of high praise. “Presley’s work stood out immediately as thoughtful, fully formed, insightful and incisive. . . . Our America often reads like a series of Chinese trinkets, and Presley is expressing it as interestingly as any artist at the moment.” The effectively simple design of Presley’s twodimensional work feels familiar and funny, very smart and not at all vague. Presley, an adjunct professor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, is inspired by the advancing dialogue of Native identity, and he identifies with both political and pop artists. “I have been inspired by many of the contemporary Native American artists working in similar subject matter, like James Luna and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. I certainly look up to them.” Presley’s Atomic Indian Corporation series also garnered him a Momentum Spotlight award in 2013’s Momentum OKC exhibition. Denny Schmickle is a professor at Rogers State University in Claremore who also creates work in the broad arena of political pop art. “I believe all art is political,” he asserts. Schmickle creates screenprinted installation art that incorporates an assortment of imagery into patterns and lines. The result is simultaneously chaotic and comfortable.
One of the pieces Schmickle submitted is Blood Borne, which uses mosquito imagery to playfully reference the societal concern of the West Nile virus. Anyone following him on Instagram or Facebook knows that he is currently toying with the idea of “bed sheets literally covered with bedbugs.” Schmickle’s favorite pattern at present is That Dream Where All Your Teeth Fall Out. This work “looks innocuous from a distance, but is made up of jumbled loose teeth and bedbugs. This springs from a recurring dream that I’ve had for years where my teeth start to loosen and fall out.” McAnnally ‘s response to Schmickle’s work is that it is “decorative and conceptual . . . visually seductive—easy to digest, yet complex in its mutable media and symbolic world.” Schmickle expresses, “I am an artist and a designer, and the estuary where these practices mix is fertile territory. Design culture is very present in contemporary art, and I am happy to participate in my own way.” Both of the students receiving Student Awards of Excellence studied at Oklahoma State University. McAnnally acknowledged that both stood out due to their openness to risk and experimentation. “Each of these artists embrace
their own voice, carving out a distinctive aesthetic developed out of focus interests.” Megan Hughes creates sculptures out of delicate materials such as chocolate and wax, then melts them, photographing the process. The work is ephemeral and the documentation is provocative. As McAnnally professed in his curatorial statement, “Money is nice, although most of it will go back to . . . any number of other practical needs of studio and extra-studio work.” Hughes has been open on Facebook about how she is using her award money, posting a photo of a new easel and a status update that reads, “Off to go buy a digital scale so I can finish my mother mold on my new cow head sculpture.” Hughes is certainly committed to her career. Randall Barnes embraces the ephemeral in a very different way. His series involving a graffiti removal service, Red Shirt Collective, evolved from a part-time job Barnes had as an employee of the Oklahoma City Police Department, in which he was charged with painting over graffiti. “As an artist, I began to appreciate the aesthetic of graffiti removal, or ‘buffs.’ In my growing appreciation, I began to view the painted buffs as works of art in and of themselves.” Upon receiving the Student Award, Barnes said, “it’s nice to feel validated in your efforts and work. Winning the Student Award gives me the confidence to pursue other projects based around graffiti removal.” Schmickle’s series will be exhibited in Four By Four at the Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Missouri in November 2014. Presley’s work will be featured in a two-person exhibition at East Central University in Ada beginning January 2015. The deadline for the next Fellowship and Student Awards of Excellence is April 1, 2015. A curator for the next cycle has not yet been selected, but OVAC consistently selects curators from art communities outside of Oklahoma. For more information, visit www.ovac-ok.org. n
(top) Denny Schmickle, Tulsa, Universal Remote (wallpaper detail), 2006, Acrylic on paper. (bottom) Megan Hughes, Stillwater, Underneath 02, Photo of melting beeswax, 20” x 30”.
romy owens is an Oklahoma City based artist and curator. She can be reached using mental telepathy or at romyowens.com.
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Collective Soul, Sculpture, carved wooden bird, found objects, 8” dia. x 7”
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Chris Ramsay: Meditations in Stillwater by Karen Paul
Where others see differences, Stillwater artist Chris Ramsay sees unity. His complex mixedmedia sculptures examine the universal relationships between time, life cycles and a basic spirituality inherent in all objects. “I’ve always felt like there was a spirit or a soul within things,” Ramsay said. “Everything in our world has a physical connection to the earth and is made of the same basic elements.” It is this belief in a universal connection that shapes and unifies the diverse elements of Ramsay’s work, which includes natural elements from around the world like stones and soil; ephemera, such as stamps and coins; and personal artifacts, such as photographs and family relics. Elements with a temporal quality, those that have eroded or changed in some way, capture his attention the most. “A bright, shiny new quarter is interesting. However, it isn’t as interesting to me as a quarter that has been through the laundry or a vending machine and has scrapes and scratches on it. These things have an evidence of action and change; they become a metaphor for the changes in life that we all experience.” Ramsay’s work is a fusion of temporal, man-made objects and natural elements. All of his carved rock sculptures, threedimensional metal globes, and even jewelry pieces, integrate multiple media. “I don’t limit myself to one medium. When I’m interested in it, I learn how to do it.” As a result, Ramsay’s sculptures include his own photographs, silkscreened patterns created from images modified in Photoshop, bronze castings of fossils and animals, intricate metal work, and a wide variety of ephemera that he has curated since childhood. “I collect stuff. I’ve done it my whole life. When I’m walking or going places, I’m constantly looking and collecting things. I will pick something up like a stone or a glass piece, hold it in my hand for awhile and put it in my pocket. Later, when I get home, I organize and arrange it. “When I’m arranging things, it’s exciting to me to watch and listen to the dialogue
happening between objects. There’s often no rational reason for some objects to work well together, but they seem to share a kind of energy and spirit that connects them.” Ramsay reflects on the spirit of these temporal objects through the use of a circle and oval motif that, in some form, is always present in his sculpture and jewelry. While this circular motif reflects the cycles of life and the seasonal quality of the natural world, it is also deeply personal to Ramsay, who lost a friend early in life. The experience deeply influenced Ramsay’s life and the direction of his creative work. The circular imagery found throughout his work represents a shared secret about the forces that shape life. “The circle within a circle is a gift that my friend shared with me following his death,” Ramsay revealed. Ramsay pays homage to this secret in another way. Many of his works contain a hidden secret: a poem etched in a metal framework, objects embedded inside a work, a secondary image on the back of a brooch. “I like the idea that years from now, someone might discover something inside a piece that they didn’t know existed previously.” Like small time capsules, Ramsay’s sculptures remind viewers of forgotten memories and share a greater knowledge of the life forces that unite us all. Ramsay’s exhibition Meditations in Stillwater will run from September 15, 2014 - January 17, 2015 at the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art Postal Plaza Gallery in Stillwater. Exhibition Curator Dr. Glen Brown will provide a gallery talk during the opening reception on October 2, 2014. See more of Ramsay’s work at www.ramsayart.com. n Karen Paul is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and the University of Oklahoma and a freelance writer who specializes in arts-based subjects. She can be contacted at karenpaulok@gmail.com.
(top) A World View: Birds, Steel wire, fabricated bronze armature, wood and brass fabricated stereoscope, battery-operated light, found ceramic birds, cast bronze, early 1900s bird stereocards, 27” x 17” (bottom) Chris Ramsay, Stillwater, Endangered, Sculpture, steel, brass, bronze, resin, 1950s paper globe, stamps and images of endangered plants, animals, insects and other living things, found objects, 15” x 13” x 12”.
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Manus: Photography by Amy Rockett-Todd by Krystle Brewer
Amy Rockett-Todd, Tulsa, Diptych 1, Ferrotype (wet plate collodion on tin), 3.5” x 9”
With the advent of the smartphone, nearly everyone carries around a digital camera. While artist Amy Rockett-Todd uses her smartphone camera for her work from time to time, her focus is on bringing the human hand back into photography. Rockett-Todd’s abstracted images blend two aesthetics, merging the technology of digital cameras and imagemanipulating software with nineteenth-century printing processes. Rockett-Todd’s current body of work, which will be shown at the Tulsa Artists’ Coalition in October, takes three interrelated forms: hands, flora and Tulsa architecture. Rockett-Todd’s background in architecture and interior design compels her to zoom in on preserved historical architectural elements found in Tulsa, which simultaneously contrast with and complement the organic floral images hung beside them. Both of these uses of found imagery are tied together through her incorporation of hand imagery, which visually and conceptually speaks to her interest in reinserting the human hand into the process of image making. This is reflected in the exhibition’s title: Manus, which is the Latin word for “hand.” Through her process and her choice of images, Rockett-Todd weaves the past together with the present. Her intricate process begins with taking digital images of her subject matter. Using Photoshop and similar software, she manipulates them to a point of considerable abstraction, then prints the image on a sheet of OHP transparency film, which is similar to a 35mm negative. From here, she uses a darkroom enlarger to print ambrotypes or tintypes. An ambrotype is a form of photography in which the image is exposed on a glass plate coated with a thin layer of iodized collodion that is dipped in a silver nitrate solution. This process is also referred to as “wet plate,” because the glass plate is actually wet when exposed. This process was introduced in the 1850s and was quickly followed by the tintype. Tintypes, also called ferrotypes, are created from a similar process, but instead of glass, a thin sheet of tin serves as the support for the image. Both of these
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processes require a substantial amount of chemicals. “My workspace looks like a scene out of Breaking Bad,” Rockett-Todd jokes as she points out the different salts and liquid chemicals she uses for the process. This complicated process lends her images a texture and finish that cannot be achieved with modern methods. The final images have the quality of an old photographic process, but the imagery is clearly contemporary. In most of the works, the images are akin to inkblot tests from the ‘20s, in which the two sides are mirror images of themselves. “All the images I am drawn to have that mirrored image, or where you can see what the image is, but you aren’t quite sure. It’s really about the viewer’s interpretation. It’s more about someone else taking something home with them, either visually or internally. That’s why I use the term ‘Rorschach’: because we all have these internal visual preconceptions that you [use to] place labels inherently anyway.” As with the Rorschach test, the images invite viewers to come up with their own interpretations. This technique of beginning with contemporary methods and regressing to older processes not only creates a dialogue with the past, but also introduces an unfamiliar medium to the viewer. Rockett-Todd’s work is unique, as few other artists are engaging with older types of photography in the same way. At the same time, her work fits with the current trend of incorporating technology into the art-making process. The exhibition opens at Tulsa Artists’ Coalition (TAC) Gallery on October 3, in conjunction with the Brady Arts District Art Crawl, and will remain on view until October 25. To view more of Rockett-Todd’s work, visit her website at www.rocketttodd.com. n Krystle Brewer is an artist, writer and curator. Her website is www.krystlebrewer.com.
Digital image of Amy Rockett-Todd’s flora piece before being printed on OHP transparency film.
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fettered – unfettered: Heather Clark Hilliard at Oklahoma City University by Louise Siddons
Stacked ceramic roof tiles (left) and an installation mock-up detail of spun yarn (right) for Hilliard’s planned site-specific installation Feet on the Ground Mouth in the Air.
“I’ve been moving these tiles around for twenty years,” says Heather Clark Hilliard as we look out her studio window at stacks of roofing tiles. At first glance, it is evident that Hilliard’s work is about place: the sense of home evoked by the roof tiles, for example. More subtly, it is also about how time can be described on several scales: the geological time of rocks and clay, the repetitive time of spinning and dyeing, the length of a work of projected video, and the years she has waited for these roof tiles to find their place.
“Heather’s painstaking attention to traditional processes voiced in contemporary language makes her a perfect fit for the gallery,” says Donald Longcrier, director of the newly renovated Nona Jean Hulsey Gallery at Oklahoma City University’s School of Visual Arts. “We are very excited to open the 2014-15 season with her work. Exhibitions like fettered – unfettered provide our students, the university community, and visitors to the Oklahoma City University campus the chance to experience, and be challenged by, some of the best contemporary
art from Oklahoma and around the country.” In fettered – unfettered, the dialogue between tradition and innovation in Hilliard’s processes materially foregrounds larger questions that visitors are invited to answer for themselves through their interactions with each work of art. Somewhat unexpectedly, fettered – unfettered introduces the global time of revolutionary and post-colonial Africa. Hilliard’s show title is inspired by Alexandra Fuller’s memoir of Zimbabwe.1 After decades of slaughter, leader Robert Mugabe declared the country would
1. Alexandra Fuller, Scribbling the Cat: Travels With An African Soldier. Penguin, 2005.
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go back to its “roots and rural strengths.”2 In response, Fuller wrote, “There is no lid to this earth and there is nothing much fettering us to the ground.” Fuller’s resistance to Mugabe’s call for rootedness suggests the danger involved in being too intensely fettered to a particular sense of place. When our history becomes overwhelming, she implies, we finally understand how free we might become if we let it go. Which brings us back to those roof tiles. By moving them into the gallery, Hilliard negates and, more importantly, reverses the tiles’ functional—and fettering—role as shelter. On the floor, they offer a path rather than a roof, becoming a plane from which blue wool lines lead the eyes upward. Oklahoma is not Zimbabwe, but we have our own complicated histories of place, and in Feet on the Ground, Mouth in the Air, Hilliard encourages us to move around, consider and perhaps rise above them. Trail of Stones is a relief sculpture made up of dozens of river stones that Hilliard cleaved in half and covered with wool. Like the roof tiles, the rocks traveled with the artist for a long time and we get the impression that they have once again found their river. And yet it isn’t water that creates the sense of flow. “I want to bring the animal back,” Hilliard observes when I ask her about the wool covering each stone. She says this so straightforwardly that I don’t immediately realize how uncanny this substitution of wool for water really is. But the more I consider these seductively fuzzy rocks, the more untethered to their own reality they become. I can’t stop myself from thinking in metaphors: the stones are animals or people or stars, and the swirl of it all is a cosmic pattern as well as an earthly one. If Trail of Stones sends our imagination into space, Bell Project calls us back into the moment. Cast iron window sash weights hang from a scaffold, wrapped in cotton bouclé yarn with various shades of yellow that Hilliard has culled from Osage orange bark and marigold and coreopsis flowers. Yellow traditionally symbolizes wisdom and concentration. Wrapped around the weights the colored yarn softens our grasp as well as the visual weight of the iron. As
we pull the weights down, tiny bells ring above a space that Hilliard explicitly conceives of as a window. Even as the bells call us to attention, that window offers another metaphorical view across time and place. Originally intended for practical uses, including goat herding and meditation, these bells first arrived in the US from India in the early twentieth century. Entrepreneur Sajjat Singh Sarna began importing them after an epiphany in the form of a dream about a window. “One night in 1938 I dreamt I heard a bell ringing,” he recalled. “Then I saw it floating in the air about to fly out the window. However, I awoke in bed to find my bell as usual on my dresser.” 3 This awakening—a return from the unfettered fantasy of sleep to the grounded reality of the everyday—is echoed in the viewer’s experience of the Bell Project. With Reflecting Pool, Hilliard finds a balance between fantasy, history, reality and presence. A series of panels is painted with Maya blue, a specific pigment that Hilliard creates through a chemical process in which indigo replaces the water in clay. Fusing mineral and organic materials, the bright blue clay has an unearthly quality, simultaneously evocative of sky and water. Hilliard’s title for the piece is apt, as the panels reflect each other as well as other colors throughout the gallery. To reflect is both to contemplate and to mirror, and there are connections between meditation and geometry throughout Hilliard’s work. For example, the panels in Reflecting Pool are squares and rectangles that derive from the Golden Section; their sense of balance is a mathematical fact. The color, too, is a mathematical (and chemical) inevitability: the clay holds indigo pigment in a ratio of ten to one, and so the hue is the same every time. Like many of the other apparent contrasts explored by Hilliard in fettered – unfettered, beauty and science are continuous rather than contradictory. Throughout the show, Hilliard explores the connections to be found in the apparent contradictions of her place in time, using materials that had been literally rooted in the earth around her to provoke moments of imaginative freedom and contemplative attention: moments of unfettering. In less
2. Peter Longworth, “Dark Hearts,” The Guardian, September 10, 2004. 3. Marcia Corbino, “Sarna: For Whom Bells Tolled Success,” Sarasota Journal, June 29, 1976: 3A.
Maya blue pigment and golden section drawing for Reflecting Pool panels, 38 multi size panel wall installation, 8’ x 20’
thoughtful hands, these contrasts might feel like uneasy contradictions. Here, they seep out of apparently seamless sculptural forms, giving us time to luxuriate in the haptic pleasures of wool on iron, stone and clay. Perhaps what really matters, fettered – unfettered ultimately suggests, is what we continue to carry with us. fettered – unfettered will be exhibited at Oklahoma City University’s Nona Jean Hulsey Art Gallery through October 17, 2014. The gallery is located in the Norick Art Center on the OCU campus, 2501 N. Blackwelder in Oklahoma City. See more of the artist’s work at www.heatherclarkhilliard.com. n Louise Siddons is an art historian specializing in American art and the visual culture of modernity. She received her Ph.D. in art history from Stanford University and currently teaches art history at Oklahoma State University.
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Collecting & Connecting: Totemic Taxonomies at Science Museum Oklahoma by Kerry M. Azzarello
backdrop, line the wall in Collected Objects. The photographs are taken from slightly obscured angles, making the identities of the items quasi-mysterious. The eclectic assemblage of found and collected objects, both organic and inorganic, captures the viewer’s attention. A display case enclosing the photographed objects stands a few feet removed from the images. Here one begins making connections, identifying objects, questioning their origins and attempting to group the seemingly disparate pieces.
Pete Froslie and Cathleen Faubert, Norman, Collected Objects, 2014. Photograph by Angela Renee Comer.
A mound of lint, a whale skull and melting cowboys. These items are among those featured in Totemic Taxonomies, an objectdriven art exhibition on display at the Satellite Galleries at Science Museum Oklahoma through September 15, 2014. The work is a collaboration between Pete Froslie and Cathleen Faubert, who are assistant professors of art, technology and culture for the Media department at the University of Oklahoma School of Art & Art History. Totems are beings, objects or symbols that represent a larger group or class. Taxonomy is a system of classification that seeks to make order by placing different things into groups according to perceived relationships. Ontology, the metaphysical study of the nature and relations of being, is at the core of Totemic Taxonomies. The exhibition presents eleven works of art, a mixture of sight and sound, within the darkened gallery. The physical objects utilized in the artwork include toys, lint and stuffed animals. These familiar and relatable items ease the viewer’s transition into a larger introspective journey. Those familiar with Froslie’s and Faubert’s work will notice recurring themes stemming from their personal research interests. This collaboration also contains artistic synergies that are most strongly felt in the presentation, specifically in the combination of static objects, video and large-format photography.
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While the choice of specific items exhibited remains the prerogative of the artists, the shared experience of our interactions with the objects and the roles they play in our lives, separately and together, gives the pieces universality. Visitors of all ages take in the sights and sounds of the exhibition and relate the experience to their existing world schemas. Dust Ball is a quiet, curious welcome into the exhibition. This constructed mass of grays, blues and purples consists of dust and lint collected from a dryer filter between 2011 and 2012. Dust Ball’s unassuming power lies in its duality. By illustrating the substantiality of waste material when viewed as whole rather than in isolated fragments, it evokes the fragility of life and humankind within the vast cosmos. In Star Wars Toys Collected in the 1980s, clustered action figures haphazardly lie inside an acrylic box. They receive no individual identity amid the pile, but they are briefly seen in isolation in photographs of the toys from the front, back and both profiles, set against a clean white background. These photographs are strung together in a fastpaced video loop above the display case. The clean white background reoccurs in the photographs accompanying Collected Objects and in Cowboy Indian Video. Eighteen photographs, each featuring a single larger-than-life object set against a sterile
One of the most visually transfixing pieces is Cowboy Indian Video. Viewers watch time-lapsed footage of plastic toy cowboy and Indian figures melting. Set against an immaculate white backdrop, the brightly colored toys slowly transform into unrecognizable blobs. When played in reverse, the joined masses are resurrected into separate identifiable entities. This constant transitioning between physical states evokes questions concerning assumptions about identity and the concept of plasticity, and the effect is utterly fixating. While man-made play objects have a strong presence in the exhibition, they are accompanied by references to the natural world. Orca presents a video snippet featuring a perpetually spinning whale, out of water and on a platform for the presumed entertainment of visitors, coupled with a large whale skull. The scientific museum qualities of the latter provoke questions regarding the light, entertaining atmosphere conveyed by the video. Satellite Galleries Director Scott Henderson notes a common reaction from visitors in comparing Orca with the 2013 documentary Blackfish, a film directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, which centers on the controversy of keeping killer whales in captivity. The themes of societal and ecological awareness continue in Kermit, an intersection of nature, technology and play objects. A stuffed Kermit the Frog lies on his back, altered through the addition of an extra appendage attached to its left side. A nearby Atari 2600 video game controller moves the leg, adding an interactive component to the piece and reiterating the role humans play in environmental mutations.
Totemic Taxonomies strives to explore issues of attachment, spirituality, ecology, collective experience and material culture. While the ideas are present, they are not fully self-evident in the works themselves, and didactic text panels offer more esoteric explanations of each piece. However, the exhibition’s greatest strength is its exploratory nature. Viewers wander from piece to piece, catching glimpses of other work in the periphery. The viewers are free to make their own connections in their own time, and the connections that people work out for themselves are the ones that are truly powerful. To see additional work by the artists, visit www.froslie.net and www.cathleenfaubert.com. To learn more about upcoming exhibitions at Satellite Galleries inside Science Museum Oklahoma, call 405-602-3760 or visit www.sciencemuseumok.org. n
Rediscover the Historic Paseo! Shopping, Dining & Learning! 20 Galleries, 75 Artists, Restaurants, Boutiques, Art and Education For more information about Educational Programs contact:
405.525.2688 www.thepaseo.com #FirstFridayPaseo
Kerry M. Azzarello is an artist and writer living and working in Oklahoma City. She collects objects of many kinds. She can be reached at kerryazzarello@gmail.com.
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First Friday Gallery Walks every month FRI 6-10 PM & SAT 12-5 PM
Supplying regional artists and collectors with all their creative and exhibition needs for over 40 years. Oils, Acrylics, Watercolor Pastel, Graphic Media, Brushes, Drawing Materials, Paper, Pads, Canvas, Easels, and Studio Equipment Custom & Readymade Frames, Mounting, Creative Matting and Full Framing Services.
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My Generation: Young Chinese Artists by Erin Schalk
Jin Shan, No Man City, 2014, Dubond paper, slide projector, aluminum, and plastic, 96” x 240” x 72”. Courtesy of the Tampa Museum of Art.
“Century of the Pacific” is a phrase increasingly utilized by foreign policy experts to describe the shifting economic and cultural tides of the twenty-first century. As global attention is directed toward Asia, China remains distinct. Not only has this nation recently emerged as one of the world’s leading superpowers, it has achieved this feat while undergoing thirty years of tremendous social and cultural transformations. China is now garnering international acclaim in many fields, including the visual arts. Barbara Pollack, a curator and expert in Chinese art, has spent the past three years compiling meticulous research on China’s contemporary art scene. The resulting exhibition, My Generation: Young Chinese Artists, features the work of twenty-seven men and women born after the end of China’s Cultural Revolution in 1976. These artists come from diverse regions of mainland China and have established significant reputations in their home country. Their identities have been shaped by a multitude of factors, including China’s one-child policy, an increased sense of individualism and an ever-growing chasm between rural and urban centers. My Generation brings these selected artists’ work to American viewers for the first time. One of My Generation’s groundbreaking facets is its modernity. In the United States, much
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of Asian art in books and museum collections remains stagnant, often emphasizing an exotic past. Regarding Chinese art, it is commonplace to see exhibitions of carved jade dragons, porcelain and celadon vessels from the Song and Ming dynasties or propaganda posters revering Mao Zedong. Pollack encourages audiences to distance themselves from such stereotypes when viewing My Generation. This exhibition will feature Chinese art unlike what most Americans have seen before: video, photography, painting, installation and work that transcends classification. Conceptually, the art delves into major aspects of the current Chinese experience: politics and religion, family, the urban environment and personal relationships. My Generation’s Xu Zhen has received significant international acclaim and was the Armory Show’s commissioned artist in 2014. In 2009, Zhen founded the corporation MadeIn, where much of his artwork is now produced with the help of assistants. Zhen exhibits work under both his given name and the brand MadeIn. By alternating between his individual identity and that of an organization, Zhen addresses the commercialization of contemporary Chinese art and artists while simultaneously acknowledging the ever-present phrase “Made in China.” In addition to economic commentary, Zhen’s
work seeks to overturn oft-held Western stereotypes of Chinese art. Zhen’s Fearless, a large-scale mixed-media tapestry, carefully avoids references to overtly Chinese imagery or themes. Instead, the work synthesizes a vast array of international subjects that possess a degree of myth or mystique in their cultures of origin. The massive reptiles that frame the tapestry’s center bring to mind Indonesia’s komodo dragons. Further investigation reveals a minute naval ensign flag from Japan, a kaleidoscopic phoenix and a decapitated Medusa with snakes that radiate from her scalp and slither throughout the composition. In the multimedia installation No Man City, artist Jin Shan illuminates the deeply felt cultural gap between China’s post-Cultural Revolution youth and its forerunning generations that experienced tremendous censorship and oppression. Shan’s father was once an artist, and Shan contrasts the sharply different circumstances that impacted his and his father’s experiences within the same occupation. In No Man City, Shan juxtaposes a futuristic building with projected images of subjects from his father’s artworks, including a crane, a chrysanthemum and a sun. These traditional motifs cast lengthy shadows against the high-tech structure and underscore the diametrically different socio-political conditions of present-day and Maoist-era China. Aspects of both generations
intermingle in this installation, and for the viewer, the awe of China’s technological progress is tempered with the awareness of a weighty history. My Generation: Young Chinese Artists will be exhibited at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art from October 25, 2014 to January 18, 2015. For more information, please visit okcmoa.com. In depth commentary on the artists and their artworks may be found in the exhibition catalog My Generation: Young Chinese Artists, available through amazon.com. n Art Focus Oklahoma expresses its gratitude to curator Barbara Pollack for her interview and for sharing an early draft of the exhibition catalog, which provided extensive information for this article. Erin Schalk is an artist and writer based in Dallas, Texas. She may be reached at elschalk@gmail.com.
Xu Zhen (Produced by MadeIn), Beijing, China, Fearless, 2012, Mixed media on canvas, 124 7/16” x 253 15⁄16”. Courtesy of Long March Space, Beijing.
D I A L O G O S E INTERPRETACIONES II: T H E A M E R I C A S
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW HOLLY WILSON
A SOUTH AMERICA/UNITED STATES PRINT EXCHANGE
O C TO B E R 1 0 T H R O U G H N OV E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 4 OPENING RECEPTION:
6-10 P.M. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10
CLOSING RECEPTION:
6-10 P.M. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14 OPEN 11 A.M. - 4 P.M. TUES-SAT
122 E. MAIN, NORMAN, OK 4 0 5 . 3 6 0 . 1 1 6 2 NORMANARTS.ORG M A I N S I T E - A R T. C O M
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A Resurrected Science: Mark Zimmerman’s Collodion Prints by Lindsey Allgood
(left) Mark Zimmerman, Edmond, Stephen, Tintype, Whole Plate (6.5” x 8.5”). (right) Tammy, Tintype, Whole Plate (6.5” x 8.5”).
If you have never watched a person’s face magically appear from a smear of black liquid on a piece of aluminum, artist Mark Zimmerman will be happy to show you how it works. A retrospective of Zimmerman’s last ten years of work is currently on display at the Oklahoma State Capitol’s East Gallery through September 21, 2014. Zimmerman works in the wet plate collodion process, a photographic craft that dates back to the Civil War era, roughly 20 years after the daguerreotype. His portraits, composed of thin, ghostly layers of silver and sepia on plates, are nostalgic and hauntingly beautiful. The tintypes could be from an old trunk in a dusty attic, the viewer sifting through someone’s family history. Zimmerman’s handmade tintypes have a poetic quality. They emit his model’s natural glow, as if the subject is frozen but alive. The images are created with a delicate combination of chemicals and light, making
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each one unique. Some have curved blurry edges that give them a water-damaged effect. Some appear yellowed, while others seem to capture the model under bright moonlight. The plates themselves vary, but Zimmerman’s focus is always on his models’ eyes. Every pair of eyes immediately locks onto the viewer’s, sharp and startling. The rest of the body is ethereal, blurring and fading into the dark background. Zimmerman’s love for photography began when his father gave him an old manual Nikon camera. Later he discovered National Geographic photographer Robb Kendrick, who used the wet plate collodion process in his tintypes and portraits of Texas cowboys. Zimmerman was fascinated, and he now produces images exactly how photographers did 150 years ago. “There is not a day that goes by where I am not thinking about making images,” Zimmerman says. After several years as a
photojournalist, Zimmerman wanted to try something new. Ironically, his “new” art form comes from the past. “I feel like they are very timeless. You could look at one of these images of someone I shot today, and unless you notice things like jewelry, you don’t know when it was shot. I want to play with that.” For Zimmerman, creating wet plate portraits is a mixture of documentary and fiction, an interest that stems from his inner journalist. But unlike a quick digital upload to Photoshop, the labor-intensive process of wet plate printing demands hand precision and patience. One scratch of the nose or blink of the eye by the model, and the image is blurred. “It is a tedious process, but I love making images this way.” The process allows him to appreciate the history behind image-making, which is what he hopes to share with his viewers. Up close,
the tintypes seem extremely breakable, like wet ink on a sheet of thin ice. Zimmerman relishes this fragility and timelessness.
used as anesthesia in the nineteenth century. Concerning the toxicity, Zimmerman says, “you just gotta respect it.”
“This makes me escape the computer and the mouse,” says Zimmerman, who emphasizes the relationship between digital and vintage forms of photography. “Collodion changes the perception of time. People will see things they wouldn’t otherwise.” Accustomed as we are to the ever-present digital image, we constantly expect immediate perfection. Zimmerman’s images draw us in, begging us to slow down and stay a while.
With a steady hand in rubber gloves, he gently wipes and dips an aluminum plate in a variety of chemicals. Zimmerman’s material box resembles a Civil War doctor’s medicine bag, with its small glass and plastic containers full of colored liquids. He regularly uses materials like gun cotton, silver nitrate and iron sulfate.
The wet plate collodion process is experimental, and no two images come out the same. An image titled Tammy was shot in Zimmerman’s old studio, which had lighting coming from an old window that didn’t block UV light. When the image appeared on the tintype, Zimmerman was shocked to see that the model’s nose and cheeks were dotted with freckles. The camera secretly collaborates with assorted kinds of light, capturing features and layers invisible to the naked eye. Collodion is also magical in its ability to fuse the past and present. In Stephen, a haggard, scruffy young man in a wrinkled button-down shirt and untied work boots has a cigarette loosely hanging from his mouth. He could have just come in from a hard day at the farm. But something strikes the viewer as odd: a contemporary sparrow tattoo on his chest peeks out from his shirt, creating an illusive juxtaposition. The fact that Zimmerman’s titles include only the subject’s first name increases the mystique. In Michael, a Native American man in traditional braids holds a feather ceremoniously. The man is wearing a striped shirt that could have been purchased yesterday at the mall. Zimmerman is happy to explain each step of the collodion process. Curious odors such as vinegar waft around the darkroom. “Everclear is in everything,” Zimmerman says. “I go to the liquor store a lot.” Collodion itself is a toxic liquid made with ether. It has a very medicinal smell and resembles maple syrup. He also uses ether, which was
“All of the chemicals are mixed following nineteenth-century recipes,” explains Zimmerman. Adding to the antiquated aesthetic, he uses a tiny wooden hourglass instead of a clock to time the plates’ exposures to light and chemicals. In the studio, bright spotlights surround a single stool. It is like any other photography set, except there is a large, elegant wooden box on a tripod in the middle of the room, looking oddly out of place. The body resembles an antique accordion, and a large golden cylinder juts out of one side: the camera lens. “I use a brass lens manufactured in 1858,” says Zimmerman. It is mesmerizing: when you’re sitting on the stool, the giant glass eye stares at you. You can see your own inverted image peering back, as if you are trapped inside the wooden box, hanging upside down. Then Zimmerman gently places a vintage metal brace at the base of your skull to mark your chosen position. This helps hold your head in place during the exposure, when you must stay perfectly still. Sitting in the brace, you feel vulnerable but privileged to experience this delicate process. In the darkroom, Zimmerman tinkers with the plate, dipping and wiping. As it rests in bubbling clear liquid, the black coloring lifts and fades from it, and you wait in suspense for the image to reveal itself. Your image emerges from the plate, but it’s from a different era. A ghost of yourself, or perhaps a premonition of a future you. With a few liquids and a bit of light, Zimmerman has captured a moment of your existence and suspended it in a timeless place.
(top) A bottle containing varnish, which is used to finish images made with the wet plate collodion process. (bottom) Mark Zimmerman as viewed through the camera he uses for producing wet plate photographs.
Zimmerman is an assistant professor of photography at the University of Central Oklahoma. He received an MFA from the University of Oklahoma in 2011. He has worked as a freelance photojournalist for the Associated Press, The Tulsa World, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today and Getty Images. His work can be viewed at www.markwzimmerman.com. n Lindsey Allgood is a performance artist who received her MFA from the University of Oklahoma. Her work can be found at www.lindseyallgood.com.
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The Space Beyond Them by Liz Blood
in Oklahoma that contributed significantly to the spread of mid-century Modernism in this part of the country,” said White. “They had many close personal connections to artists working in far-flung Southwest cities. What unified them was not only the interest in using Abstract Expressionism to express themselves and their concerns, but also using the style to capture the essential qualities of the Southwest and issues of space, solitude and isolation.” Painters of this movement and of the Southwest itself seemed to subscribe to Goethe’s idea that “nothing happens in living nature that is not related to the whole,” an idea that relates to the inspiration for the exhibit’s title. White explains, “Many of these artists were influenced by Zen Buddhism and had an interest in meditation and contemplation. By focusing on the particular, many believed one could arrive at an understanding of the greater.”
Dorothy Hood (U.S. 1918-2000), The Blessings of Gravity, 1970s, Oil on canvas, 120” x 96”. Loan courtesy of Art Museum of South Texas Corpus Christi, 2014
“Abstract Expressionism of the American Southwest” is a mouthful to say, and its influences and variations live up to the length of its name. This is a unique movement deserving of exhibit and study, and one that many Oklahomans will be lucky to view in detail this fall. Starting October 3 and running through January 4, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman will highlight Abstract Expressionism in the exhibit Macrocosm/ Microcosm: Abstract Expressionism in the American Southwest. While the major schools of Abstract Expressionist style were centered in New York City and San Francisco, this exhibition focuses on the Southwest as a confluence of the two. According to Mark White, the museum’s senior curator and curator of collections, the Southwest, including Oklahoma, became a midcentury hotbed for sophisticated artists working within the movement and shaping it, teaching in universities and maintaining a web of connections to artists all over the United States. “We had several faculty members working here
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Abstract Expressionist artists found inspiration in many other places as well: Mexican muralism, European expressionism and the ideas of Carl Jung, to name a few. But they also used painting as an exploration of the self and, particularly in the Southwest, as a response to the vast spaces of the surrounding landscapes. Many of the pieces in the show are by Oklahomans. Spring by Dale McKinney is a frenetic, complicated image of spring activity: flowering plant life, the effects of high winds, the greening of the land. The result is a general buzz of activity that one can associate with a blustery Oklahoma spring. In his painting Red Earth, Eugene Bavinger references our state’s soil, heaping various tonalities of red onto the canvas and then wearing it away with a solvent to mimic the natural process of erosion. These metaphorical landscapes, White tells us, are “not intended to be landscapes in the traditional sense. They are drawn directly from the artist’s experience of the Southwest.” They mark this significant time period in art history by showing painting as an act of self-discovery and validation, as well as a response to space and the artist’s place within it. The paintings in Macrocosm/ Microcosm are vehicles for the contemplation of the universe beyond them.
Houston artist Dorothy Hood’s painting Blessings of Gravity, featured in the exhibit, is an imagined spiritual and emotional exploration of the cosmos, heavily influenced by the time period in which it was painted. Lunar missions and the photography of outer space were becoming part of the American experience, as were films like 2001: A Space Odyssey. Like many of her other works, Blessings is in dialogue with space exploration and the popular idea of the expansiveness of the universe. On Thursday, October 2, from 7–9 p.m., White will be lecturing on Abstract Expressionism, its development in the Southwest and its connection to the ideas of the macrocosm (the whole) and the microcosm (a small part that is representative of the whole). The lecture will be open to the public. The exhibit, which has been in the planning stages since 2010, will be accompanied by a catalog. “Having been the curator here for five and a half years, I think this is one of the best exhibits we’ve put together,” said White. For more information, visit www.ou.edu/fjjma. n Liz Blood lives in Oklahoma City, works for the Arts Council of Oklahoma City, and is a freelance writer. She is a graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she earned her master of fine arts in creative writing.
Dale McKinney (U.S. 1911-1994), Spring, Oil on paper mounted on plywood, 36” x 48”. Loan courtesy of Oklahoma Arts Council, 2014
TWISTS AND TURNS: I S R A E L I A R T I S T S A L E K S A N D R A S T O YA N O V & ZEMER PELED SEPTEMBER 5 - OCTOBER 26, 2014
Made possible by The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, AIDA, The Newman Family, Ambassador Meir Shlomo Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, September 5 | 6 – 9 PM ARTIST TALK: Saturday, September 6 | 11 AM Image: Zemer Peled — porcelain, 2014 10 8 |Contempor ar y | 10 8 E . M. B. Br ady Street Tulsa , OK 74103 | 918.895.63 02 10 8contempor ar y.or g | A 501(c)(3) Or ganization
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Art and Social Practice: Momentum Tulsa 2014 by Mary Kathryn Moeller
The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s Momentum Tulsa 2014 opens on October 3. Its focus is on social practice and communityengaged artwork. Lead Curator Sean Starowitz states that the sociological lens of many of the artists allows for a critical examination of our culture. Overall, the work of these artists examines “the role of art in the community and the role of the artist as a facilitator, organizer and collaborator.” Emerging Curator Libby Williams shares that as part of the planning process, “the [Momentum] Committee kept in mind ways to celebrate social practice as an exciting, relevant and sustainable art movement for Oklahoma artists.” Thus, the work of the three Momentum Spotlight artists, each of whom receive a $2,000 award and guidance from the curators to develop new work, will focus on social engagement. The opening night activities will include interactive elements to engage visitors. Spotlight artist Kerri Shadid began writing poetry a little under a year ago. She reflects, “I think I have always been a poet. I just wasn’t writing poetry.” As a participant in Momentum OKC 2014, Shadid performed Poetry Stand, in which she invited individuals to submit words or phrases and then built a unique poem for each person. She has continued to perform and develop Poetry Stand, as her audience makes an emotional connection with her work. She hopes that characteristic is carried through into her Spotlight project for Momentum Tulsa.
(top) Kerri Shadid, Oklahoma City, Marbled Paper, Acrylic marbling paint on paper, 9.5” x 12.5” (bottom) Kerri Shadid, Oklahoma City, The Tao of Lost Syntax (study), Ink, acrylic marbling paint on paper, 9.5” x 12.5”
Shadid explores the aesthetics of the written word in her work The Tao of Lost Syntax. Shadid breaks apart sections of text from the Tao Te Ching, a document fundamental to Taoist philosophy and religion, rearranging the words and adding new punctuation to create poetry. The words are painted onto paper that has been marbled using a Japanese technique known as suminagashi, or “floating ink.” This method, which involves dropping paint onto still water and blowing it across the surface, creates concentric circles of color that Shadid describes as akin to rainbow tree rings. Soaking the paper in the mixture results in vibrant webs of interconnectivity and a sense of order within chaos. In Shadid’s poems, the words of the Tao Te Ching are let loose from their expected context. By eliminating the original syntax, Shadid seeks to
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stimulate a viewer’s brain outside the bounds of logic. She characterizes these poems as “extra-sensical” rather than nonsensical, because the viewer interacts with the written word as an aesthetic element, examining it outside of intellectual analysis. Shadid’s combination of the suminagashi patterns and the repurposed Taoist text is a feast of abstraction. Viewers are invited to engage in their own poetic creations from the Tao Te Ching. Shadid provides bags containing words and phrases from which individuals may experiment with the endless possibilities of broken syntax. According to Shadid, this interactive component creates opportunities for viewers to push past the laws of logic to enjoy a moment of extrasensory exploration. Dillon Votaw characterizes himself as a postconceptual New Media artist, finding his greatest level of comfort in video art. Votaw’s previous work has often explored “how to make something analog with something digital.” For example, he has typed poems on typewriters in response to the text, images and sounds of ads running on video streaming services. Votaw ultimately produced six pages of original documentation on his viewing experience. An archival tendency runs throughout much of Votaw’s work, as well as a left-leaning political critique. Recently, however, Votaw has begun eschewing the overt politicization of topics for a more anthropological approach. Such is the case in his multimedia series for Momentum, which focuses on the phenomenon of game day activities and rituals surrounding University of Oklahoma (OU) football. Votaw notes that, as in many college towns, much of the local economy in Norman hinges on game days and on the practice of tailgating. In some sense, game days provide a community a carnival atmosphere. Votaw observes that game days serve as “a pressure-release valve in which social codes are lifted.” There are types of behavior that are accepted on game days that would not be under normal social standards. Votaw’s series is critical of game days only in the sense that he attempts to “reveal the forces that underlie” them. He is interested in exploring the mechanisms behind game days and the cultural structures that allow for benchmarks of behavior to be altered. To that end, Votaw obtains and occupies tailgating space at several OU football games and stages happenings.
His plans include a politically oriented event such as a teach-in or discussion forum, as well as more congenial gatherings and interactions. His efforts are documented in a variety of media for his Spotlight project, including video, photographs and a communal artwork created by game day participants. This multimedia documentation invites viewers to critically explore social rituals and the viewers’ own relationships with them. Billijo Zorn Sneed has been exploring what she terms as “hybrid art” since completing her MFA at the University of Tulsa in 2013. Sneed has fused a variety of media to create soft sculptures that reflect her experience of being a single woman living in an urban environment. Meditating on the theme of predator versus prey, Sneed printed her own textiles and formed them into the shapes of graceful deer and aggressive wolves. Continuing the relational causality of humans and animals, Sneed states that for Momentum she aims to “provide a discussion platform” for examining the human experience on a global scale. Entitled The Anthropocene: A Global Sacrifice, Sneed’s work for Momentum addresses the fragility of the planetary ecosystem and our increasing distance from and ambivalence toward the wild. A widely debated and controversial term, Anthropocene denotes the specific geological era in which humanity has had the most dramatic impact on the planet’s ecosystem. To depict and comment on the transformation of the Earth by humans, Sneed combines a variety of media to create amorphic soft sculptures. Unlike her previous work in which the animal form was easily identifiable and thus carried specific connotations, Sneed says she “abstracts the form in order to highlight global rather than local issues.” Sneed combines printmaking, painting, textiles and needlework with recycled goods to create soft sculptures representative of animals flayed open. The exposed innards of the animals are collages of discarded and recycled materials. Sneed collects her own trash and debris donated by friends and repurposes the items into the viscera. The animals themselves are formed from printed textiles and shaped with painted and sewn elements. This collection of materials and forms becomes a hybrid creature embodying the excesses of both civilization and wilderness.
Dillon Votaw, Norman, if you’d like, i could paint your nails, Performance at Momentum Tulsa 2012, conceived of as an attempt at the troubling of gendered notions of service industries and cosmetics.
Starowitz is particularly attentive to the communal experience of the exhibition, aiming to create opportunities for viewers to engage in a variety of ways. “We are going to focus on creating a pause for visitors to meditate on the work.” By doing so, Momentum will bring awareness to methods of artistic practice that incorporate, enhance and challenge our global community. These Spotlight projects are featured alongside individual works from emerging artists across the state. Music, performances and interactive elements planned by the Momentum Tulsa committee, headed by co-chairs Julianne Clark and Barrett Hird, will round out the exhibition. The opening event for Momentum Tulsa will be held during the Brady Arts District’s First Friday Art Crawl on October 3 from 6–10 p.m. at Living Arts, 307 E. Brady St. in Tulsa. New this year, admission to the event is free. The exhibition will be on display October 3–18 with free gallery hours Tuesday to Saturday 1–5 p.m. and Thursday 1–9 p.m. For more information, visit www.momentumoklahoma.org. n Mary Kathryn Moeller is an independent curator, writer and educator. She holds a MA in art history and teaches at Oklahoma State University. She is available at mkmoeller77@gmail.com.
Billijo Zorn Sneed, Norman, Flayed, Silkscreen, fabric, soft sculpture, 24” x 30”
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On the Map: Norman
ON THE
by Laura Reese
Norman has a vibrant culture, and it’s not short on creativity. It boasts a variety of artistic outlets and venues, ranging from established galleries to retail stores to studio spaces, and even restaurants featuring local artists and acts. Crowds of visitors flood Main Street in Norman during the monthly 2nd Friday Circuit of Art.
Don’t let the prominence of college football mislead you—artistic culture is integral to Norman. The University of Oklahoma (OU) continues to be a source of inspiration and energy that fuels artistic creativity in the community. The esteemed Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is now free to the public thanks to a donation from the Athletics Department. The Jacobson House Native Arts Center on campus features art exhibits, cultural activities, and educational events that teach and celebrate the important histories and cultures of Native artists in Oklahoma. The students themselves make a notable contribution to Norman’s artistic environment. Recently, students from OU’s School of Art and Art History created public sculptures that were installed at a park in downtown Norman. And the Annual Student Exhibition at “the Fred” features the best of student work and draws in an enthusiastic crowd. Close to campus, educational spaces like the Firehouse Art Center provide artistic resources and opportunities for kids and adults alike. Featuring a variety of creative classes, as well as a gallery with monthly exhibitions, the Firehouse Art Center has enriched the community with visual arts since 1971.
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The OU campus is not Norman’s only art scene. Walk in any direction in downtown Norman and you will find a variety of businesses showing art and making creative decisions. Much of the credit for this artistic incorporation and participation is due to the very popular 2nd Friday Circuit of Art. Organized by the Norman Arts Council, 2nd Friday is a “citywide celebration of art made possible by a remarkable collaboration between artists, art organizations and businesses.” It attracts an average of 1,500 people each month. The anchor for the 2nd Friday art walk is MAINSITE, home of the Norman Arts Council, which features international exhibitions in addition to work by emerging local artists.
art education, theater performance and so on, but devote a good portion of each day to make sure that everyone in town has a chance to experience those things themselves.” Local businesses participate in the 2nd Friday Circuit of Art not just for the increase in business and traffic, but to support an important effort to bring people together through art and expand the social capital of our community. “Businesses are not having to be asked to hop on board. They are internally asking themselves what they can do to become a part of the art walk.”
“Programs like 2nd Friday help prop up art organizations and art-friendly businesses and studios,” says Joshua Boydston, communications director and gallery manager at the Norman Arts Council. “As the third biggest city in Oklahoma . . . we produce a comparable amount of highquality art programs and festivals, and even just as a resident of Norman I take that as a huge point of pride.”
Local t-shirt printing company Bigfoot Creative has been involved for the past three years. In addition to custom printing t-shirts for businesses and local community groups, their staff creates one-of-a-kind designs for the art walk, and local artists grace the walls of their business. “I take pride in being a part of these happenings. I truly believe people crave culture . . . and it feels really good to be able to show people things when they visit Oklahoma and Norman,” says owner Brad Webb.
The Norman Arts Council is not alone in its quest to reach the public with the arts: the efforts are community-wide, as Boydston notes. “There are these amazing individuals who not only love music,
A very recent addition to 2nd Friday is new venue Dope Chapel, which opens its doors to a variety of artists and performers to create a safe space for creativity for everyone.
(left) Performer at the 2013 Norman Music Festival. (right) Opening reception at MAINSITE Contemporary Art, Home of the Norman Arts Council.
“We’re the sanctuary for the avant-garde,” declares Eric Piper, Dope Chapel’s creative director. Featuring workshops on topics ranging from wheat pasting to zine-making to circuit bending, Dope Chapel focuses on DIY skills that can be quite easy to get started in and exciting and challenging to master. “The goal is to create an environment where people know there is support for them to experiment and create new sounds, new bands, new experiences, good and bad. We want to celebrate and showcase success and failure of those brave enough to throw themselves into action.” Dope Chapel promises to make genuine contributions, physical and social, to Norman’s environment, and in doing so it also fulfills a tangible need. Piper explains, “When I opened the doors, I found so many amazing individuals who had no other outlet. . . . Ideally, I would like to have a budget to scholarship kids into workshops and classes that we’re offering.”
Street. This is a good indication of the growing demand for space for artists. Community is at the heart of Norman’s art culture. Recently the Norman Arts Council and the city of Norman have focused on placemaking and community building by sponsoring site-specific projects that restore abandoned sites with art. This year’s Oklahoma Arts Conference, presented by the Oklahoma Arts Council, will be held October 21–23 in Norman. Its theme is “Our Town, Repurposed. Our State, Reimagined.” Placemaking and community building are national trends in sustaining livable towns, and community engagement is becoming a growing trend in art.
Dope Chapel’s direction is a reflection of community member’s interests. “Most the ideas are done hand in hand with community members.”
Norman was “a natural choice” for hosting the conference, says Molly O’Connor, director of cultural development for the Oklahoma Arts Council. “The city of Norman has a progressive system for public funding for the arts, which directly enhances the quality of life and benefits the local economy. The thriving downtown cultural district, the local community arts organizations . . . are wonderful amenities that our conference attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy this year.”
One veteran 2nd Friday participant is an established gallery and space for emerging artists, Dreamer Concepts, which has expanded to a new, larger location on Main
Artists can help us to reimagine community as something better, and in Norman, artists are welcome as key partners in ongoing efforts to create a more livable community. “Norman
is an excellent example of a place that has embraced the arts in its efforts to move forward,” O’Connor proclaims. Affordable and open to anyone who wishes to attend, the conference is “an important and empowering opportunity. There is something absolutely inspiring about having the number of arts leaders and supporters together in one place and at one time. You see firsthand how fortunate Oklahoma is to have such strong support for the arts throughout our state.” Clearly Norman has a thirst for innovation, and the Oklahoma Arts Conference’s presence in Norman is establishing the town as a hub for cultural placemaking. As Boydston concludes, “We want all the attendees to see what is happening here. . . .We want them to leave with an understanding of how they could implement similar programs in their city.” For more information about the Oklahoma Arts Conference, visit www.arts.ok.gov. For more about the arts in Norman, visit www.normanarts.org. n Laura Reese is Event Coordinator for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. She is an artist curator and writer based in Norman. She can be reached at events@ovac-ok.org.
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Ekphrasis: Art & Poetry edited by Liz Blood
Ekphrasis is a place for poets to express their imaginative understanding of a piece of visual art. In this poem by Kerri Shadid, artist Marc Barker inspires questions of identity, uncertainty and the self’s state of flux.
I Dreamed My Hand Was There by Kerri Shadid This world is populated by the shadows of people— Shadows we call they, shadows we call me. Shadows we count on until they disappear in the noon sun, For we are never solid, never more than a Breath in the process of exhaling. God swallowed me, My edges blurred in his stomach, I seeped through the spaces he had created for dividing, Distances intended to keep us firm, keep us safe. Nothing is what its name implies. Longing for linearity, I fight becoming – a never static being. Nausea takes residence in my mind. I am made in the image of—no, I am being made in my image— Marc Barker, Oklahoma City, Homo cum Deo (Man together with God), Oil on masonite 14” x 11” (Included in the Oklahoma State Art Collection)
Marc Barker is the owner of an Oklahoma City interactive design company that produces websites, identity, and collateral for local, regional and national companies. Barker creates art as a meditation and reprieve from the world of computers, often using themes of metaphysics, solitude, and the Mystery. His artwork is included in the State of Oklahoma Art Collection, the Oklahoma State University Art Museum Collection, and others.
Kerri Shadid writes spontaneous, absurd poems for people throughout Oklahoma City at her Poetry Stand. She combines poetry and visual art by hand-making books, such as her work An Eclection: A Handmade Book of Poems. She earned her master’s in the humanities and social thought from New York University and studied as a Fulbright student at McGill University in Montreal.
I make myself in my shadow’s image. Shadow, stand still so I can capture your likeness. Shadow, hold my hand, I am afraid of the light. I do not wish to vanish.
f e a t u re
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Ask a Creativity Coach: Got Talent? Motivation Matters More by Romney Nesbitt
Ask a Creativity Coach:
The Genius of Groups
by Romney Nesbitt
Editor’s Note: Creativity Coach Romney Nesbitt will offer two workshops during the 2014 Oklahoma Arts Conference, held October 21-23 in Norman. See page 22 for more information.
Dear Romney, I sometimes feel isolated as an artist. I’ve investigated arts groups in my community but I hesitate to give up my painting time to go to a meeting. Are there any advantages of joining a group? —Lone (Art) Ranger Dear Lone, The creative process can feel isolating, but it does not have to be a solo experience, in fact there are real advantages for those who participate in collaborative communities. According to an article in Scientific American Mind (July/August 2014, “Creativity is Collective”), individual creativity is enhanced by making regular connections with others who have similar interests and a shared social identity.
A Non-Profit Organization
CHILDREN AND ADULT ART CLASSES FEATURED ARTIST EXHIBITIONS THEATRE PERFORMANCES COMMUNITY PROGRAMS FACILITY RENTALS SPECIAL EVENTS
Here are some of the benefits you could enjoy as a member of an arts group: • Friendship • Professional colleagues and career connections • Professional membership credentials • Ideas and inspiration from members • Encouragement to pursue your career goals • Increased personal commitment to your creative practice • Positive expectations for success • Social identification in your community as an artist • Social identification with other like-minded artists • Group exhibits and activities • Leadership opportunities • Technical education (meetings may have artist demonstrations) • Insider tips (meetings may have speakers on the business of art) • Accountability (some groups invite members to bring new works to meetings) • Social acceptance of the arts and/or artistic trends through group activities • Career success (networked artists are more likely to meet career goals) Investigate the types of artists groups in your city, state and neighboring states. Groups may meet monthly, quarterly or annually. Group membership can keep you informed about conferences, workshops, art contests and exhibitions. Many groups schedule speakers and demonstrations for continuous learning opportunities. Artists’ groups may cater to specific interests such as quilting, fiber art or landscape painting. Out of state groups often welcome members-at-large, which are dues paying members that can enter contests and participate in group shows. Check the group’s website for meeting times and locations. If you find a group you’re interested in, contact one of the officers to find out how many of the members attend meetings. Another option is to connect with a painting critique partner. You could also meet with a creativity coach to periodically review your progress toward your career goals. Whether you choose to connect with one other artist, a group, an artists’ coalition, or creativity coach, you will experience a variety of social, educational, financial and accountability benefits. Find a group and get connected. It is worth your time. You have much to gain and your skills and ideas will help other artists. n
www.edmondfinearts.com 405.340.4481 27 E Edwards | Edmond, OK North of the Downtown Post Office
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business of art
Romney Nesbitt is a creativity coach and the author of Secrets from a Creativity Coach. She welcomes your comments and questions at romneynesbitt@gmail.com. Book her to speak to your group through OVAC’s ARTiculate Speakers Bureau.
OVAC NEWS
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2014
The second iteration of Artist INC Live OKC begins on September 30, offering an intensive eight week business of art course for 25 Oklahoma artists. Artist INC was established in 2009 in Kansas City, MO and is presented in Oklahoma as a partnership with OVAC, the Norman Arts Council, Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, Oklahoma Film & Music Office, and the City of Oklahoma City Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, with support from the Mid-America Arts Alliance and the National Endowment for the Arts. Visit www.ArtistSurvivalKit.org for more information and a list of selected participants. A big thank you to OVAC’s summer interns Randall Barnes, Lexi Dickens and Emily Steele. Each has played a vital role in keeping the OVAC office running smoothly as we prepared for many upcoming programs and events. Best of luck to each of them as they move forward in their careers! At OVAC’s Annual Meeting in June, we honored past volunteer leaders and
welcomed new ones. New board officers are: Renée Porter, President; Susan Green, Vice President; Gina Ellis, Treasurer; and Michael Hoffner, Secretary. Thank you to outgoing board members Jennifer Barron, Susan Beaty, Kristin Greenhaw and Carl Shortt. OVAC also welcomed four new board members: Shelley Cadamy is the Executive Director of Workforce Tulsa, and previously the Senior VP of Economic Development for the Broken Arrow Economic Development Corporation. She also spent eight years as the Business & Entrepreneurial Services Coordinator for Francis Tuttle Technology Center in Oklahoma City. Jon Fisher is a designer with over ten years of experience. He has served as design lead for Fortune 500 companies and is the owner of Middle Fish Creative based in Oklahoma City. Ariana Jakub is an Arts Instructor at Monroe Demonstration School and an independent art consultant and educator.
Previously living in New York, she worked in various arts organizations including Christie’s, Everard Findlay Consulting and The Lotos Club. Travis Mason is a licensed real estate broker with Cushman & Wakefield in Oklahoma City. He is actively involved in the community, serving as board member for the Arts Council of Oklahoma City and as chair of Allied Arts’ Catalyst, among others. Art People Best wishes to Jill Simpson, who recently stepped down as Director of the Oklahoma Film & Music Office, accepting a new position in academics. Jill accomplished many things in her ten years there, including furthering incentives programs and growing Oklahoma’s film and music industries. Welcome also to new Director Tava Sofsky, an Oklahoma native who returns after many years in Los Angeles working on film and commercial productions.
Thank you to our new and renewing members from July and August 2014 Crystal Acuff-Walters a.k.a. Gallery Bert Allen Nancy P. Anderson Narciso Argüelles Sarah Atlee Mike and Jillian Milam Barden Rex Barrett Jennifer Barron Fran Barton Linda Bayard Eric Bloemers Bill Boettcher Erica Bonavida Marjorie Bontemps Bryan Boone John Brandenburg and Janet Massad Irma Braun-Hampton Diana and Jim Bray Patti R. Bray & Bill Birchall Benita Brewer Louisa Brewer Tammy Brummell
Martha Burger Brandon Burke Zach Burns Amena Butler Pattie Calfy Tristan Campbell Claudia Carroll Sharon Caudle Harrison Cornell Linda, Ian and Rachel Coward Sheryl Cozad Timilyn Crank Ryan Cunningham Western Daughty Adrienne Day Linda Delaney Josh DeLozier Jan Eckardt Butler Elizabeth K. Eickman and Marvin Quinn Douglas Shaw Elder Gina Ellis Don Emrick Daniel Farnum Lauren K. Florence
B. Alan Frakes Amy Jo Garner Joeallen Gibson Dusty and Kristen Gilpin Jordan Godlewski Ashley Griffith and Andrea Martin Stephanie Grubbs Patricia Harriman Alexis Hazel Carla Hefley Tiffany Henley Tony Hennigh Amanda Henslee Claudia Hunter Cecelia Hussein Sarah Iselin and Frank Parman Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop Todd Jenkins Kelsey Karper Claire Kennedy Joseph K. Kirk Julia J. Kirt Janie Kirt Morris Andrea Kissinger
David Knox Adam Lanman and Kerry Azzarello Amber Lewallen Rod Limke Ruby Loftin Phyllis Mantik deQuevedo Bobby C. Martin Cindy Mason Nicole McMahan Paul Medina Michelle Metcalfe Stacey D. Miller Madison Miller Dedra Morgan Caryl Morgan Maggie Munkholm and Barrett Hird Deborah Myers James Myers Judy Neale Thomas Nesthus Kim Pagonis Randa Parrish Jacklyn Patterson
Jennifer Perry Nancy Peterson Lexi Piper Julie Plant Zachary Presley Rush Prigmore Kate Pritchett Suzanne King Randall Laura Reese and Jonathan Curtin Morgan Robinson Amy Rockett-Todd Lauren Rosenfelt Theresa Sacket Nancy and Phil Sears Mark Sharfman Carl and Beth Shortt Gloria Shows Tamara Sigler Silver Mark Sisson Gail Sloop Geoffrey L. Smith Karin Stafford and Rhonda Bell Julie Strauss
James and Linda Taylor Chuck and Ann Tomlins Ginger Tomshany Alex True Tracie Tuck-Davis Upside Down Artist Gallery Colleen Van Wyngarden Dillon Votaw Brianna Walker Tyler Wallace Jean Weber Christopher Westfall Andrea Wijkowski Brendon Williams Dawn Williams Cherra June Wilson Jason Wilson John Wolfe Elia Woods Eric Wright Mark Yearwood Jave Yoshimoto
ovac news
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The University of Tulsa School of Art proudly presents The Crucible Project. Both as a tool and as an image, the crucible has become an evocative unifying element in the art of a small, but significant group of sculptors working in crafts media. Known simply as The Crucible Project, the artists in this exhibition work collaboratively in clay, metal and glass without concerns of ownership, literally fusing both design and technical expertise in the production of a collective body of work. The Crucible Exhibition will run from October 2–31, 2014. Lecture in the Jerri Jones Lecture Hall at the School of Art, Room 211 at 5:00 P.M. reception at the Alexandre Hogue Gallery on October 2 from 5:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 A.M.–4:30 P.M. There will be a workshop on Thursday, October 2 from 9:00 A.M.–4:00 P.M. For more information please contact Whitney Forsyth at 918.631.3700. Rick Hirsch, Crucible #24, soda fired glaze, 2011 For more information, visit www.cas.utulsa.edu/art/ or call 918.631.2739 • TU is an EEO/AA institution
BENEFITING THE OKL AHOMA VISUAL ARTS COALITION
F E AT U R I N G A R T W O R K F R O M 1 5 0 O K L A H O M A A R T I S T S L I V E M U S I C A N D A TA S T E O F T H E C I T Y F R I D AY, S E P T E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 4 , 7 P M S C I E N C E M U S E U M O K L A H O M A , 2 1 0 0 N E 5 2 N D S T, O K C
ANNIVERSARY 1989–2014
12x12 ART FUNDRAISER 28
T I C K E T S $ 3 0 I N A D VA N C E , $ 3 5 AT T H E D O O R w w w.1 2 x1 2 o k c . o r g HEADLINE SPONSOR:
PREMIERE SPONSORS:
O U T- O F-T H E- B O X S P O N S O R S : G o v e r n o r B i l l A n o a t u b b y Ray and Elizabeth Anthony • Bob Curtis • Dunlap Codding N a t h a n G u i l f o r d D D S , To o t h b r u s h e r ’s D e n t a l Michael Hoffner • The Anne and Henr y Zarrow Foundation
Gallery Listings & Exhibition Schedule Ada Marc Etier Through September 10 60th Annual Faculty Art Exhibit September 15-October 14 Vance Wingate October 20-November 25 The Pogue Gallery Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center 900 Centennial Plaza (580) 559-5353 ecok.edu
Alva Cruising on Main Street September Fall is in the Air October Graceful Arts Gallery and Studios 523 Barnes St. (580) 327-ARTS gracefulartscenter.org
Ardmore
Glenda Green September 13-October 24 Halloween Exhibit October 31-November 23 The Goddard Center 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 goddardcenter.org
Bartlesville Step Right Up! Behind the Scenes of the Circus Big Top, 1890-1965 Through October 20 Price Tower Arts Center 510 Dewey Ave. (918) 336-4949 pricetower.org
Broken Bow Masters at Work September 7-October 14 Forest Heritage Center Beaver’s Bend Resort (580) 494-6497 beaversbend.com
Chickasha
Gods and Heroes: Masterpieces from the École des Beaux-Arts, 24 Works on Paper Paris Through October 3 Through September 14 David Holland: Thunderheads My Generation: Young October 11-31 Chinese Artists University of Sciences and October 25-January 18 Arts of Oklahoma GalleryOklahoma City Museum Davis Hall th of Art 1806 17 Street 415 Couch Drive A Softer Storm: Elise Deringer (405) 574-1344 Line of Flight: Mohammad Shifting Frontiers: Jason Cytacki (405) 236-3100 okcmoa.com usao.edu/gallery/schedule Javaheri Through September 6 fettered – unfettered: Heather Through September 13 Connection: Inclusion in Art Edmond Clark Hilliard Can You Hear Me Now: Holly September 18-January 3 Gayle Curry Wilson Opening September 18, 5:30- Through October 17 September Nona Hulsey Gallery, Norick Dialogos E Interpretaciones II: 7:30 pm OKC Modern Quilt Guild Art Center The Americas Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma October Oklahoma City University October 10-November 15 Heritage Museum Fine Arts Institute of Edmond 1600 NW 26th MAINSITE Contemporary 1400 Classen Dr. 27 E Edwards St (405) 208-5226 okcu.edu Art Gallery (405) 235-4458 (405) 340-4481 122 East Main oklahomaheritage.com edmondfinearts.com Orly Genger on Automobile Alley (405) 360-1162 normanarts.org Judith Turner & Ellen Moershel Opens October 20 Lawton K. Yoland September 5-27 Michael Jones Carol Beesley, Bob Nunn, Mark October 7-December 19 Oklahoma City Opening September 13 Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Edward Harris Steffanie Halley The Leslie Powell Foundation Center October 3-25 Opening September 5, and Gallery 3000 General Pershing Blvd. JRB Art at the Elms 6-10 pm 620 D Avenue (405) 951-0000 2810 North Walker Marilyn Artus (580) 357-9526 lpgallery.org oklahomacontemporary.org (405) 528-6336 Opening October 3, jrbartgallery.com 6-10 pm Norman Governor’s Gallery: aka gallery Nowhere Medium Jim Dodson, Jr Grand Re-Opening 3001 Paseo September 5-October 18 October 13-December 14 September 9-October 5 (405) 606-2522 Firehouse Art Center Opening September 12, 6:30- East Gallery: aka-gallery.com 444 S Flood Virgil Lampton 9:30 pm (405) 329-4523 Kasum Contemporary Fine Art Through September 28 Dana Lambardo & Candice normanfirehouse.com Dana Tiger 1706 NW 16th St Anderson October 6-December 7 (405) 604-6602 September 5-28 Oil and Wood: Oklahoma North Gallery: kasumcontemporary.com Opening September 5, Moderns George Bogart and Mark Zimmerman 6-10 pm James Henkle Through September 21 Cowboys of Influence Verna Fuller & Carol Shanahan Through September 14 Eyakem Gulilat Through September 28 October 3-November 2 Macrocosm/Microcosm: Abstract Opening October 3, September 29-November 30 Cowboy Artists of America Expressionism in the American Oklahoma State Capitol Traditional Cowboy Arts 6-10 pm Southwest Galleries Association Contemporary Art Gallery October 3-January 4 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd October 10-January 4 2928 Paseo Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art (405) 601-7474 National Cowboy & Western (405) 521-2931 arts.ok.gov 555 Elm Ave. Heritage Museum contemporaryartgalleryokc.com (405) 325-4938 ou.edu/fjjma 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org New Media Collective September 10-October 1 MFA Show October 8-31 Lightwell Gallery, University of Oklahoma 520 Parrington Oval (405) 325-2691 art.ou.edu
Trent Lawson & Nathan Guidry Opening September 12 The Dirty Fabulous & Jeff Sparks Opening October 10 DNA Galleries 1705 B NW 16th (405) 371-2460 dnagalleries.com
gallery guide
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Christie Owens September Beatriz Mayorca October Project Box 3003 Paseo theprojectboxokc.com
Postal Plaza Gallery Oklahoma State University Museum of Art 720 S Husband St (405) 744-2780 museum.okstate.edu
Altared Spaces October 26-November 1 Living Arts 307 E. Brady (918) 585-1234 livingarts.org
TAC @ AHHA Through September 28 Hardesty Arts Center 101 E Archer St (918) 584-3333 ahhatulsa.org
Tulsa
Spirit of Gilcrease Park Hill Zemer Peled & Sasha Stoyanov Through September 14 The Hidden Room in the House: Cherokee Homecoming Art Show September 5-October 26 Printmakers and the Art of & Sale 108 Contemporary Sublimation Through September 21 108 E Brady September 19-November 2 Cherokee National Historical (918) 895-6302 Henry Zarrow Center for Art Society, Inc. 108contemporary.org and Education 21192 S. Keeler Drive (918) 456-6007 Art with Purpose: The Work of 124 E Brady St (918) 631-4400 cherokeeheritage.org E.W. Deming gilcrease.utulsa.edu/Explore/ Through October 12 Zarrow Alexandre Hogue: An American Stillwater Visionary Framing History: Highlights Chandelier & Other Luminous from the Oklahoma State Capitol Through November 30 Objects Gilcrease Museum Senate Collection Through September 25 1400 Gilcrease Road Through October 18 John Bryant: Welcome to Chris Ramsay: Meditations in (918) 596-2700 gilcrease.org Mad Dog, TX! Stillwater September 5-25 September 15-January 17 Momentum Tulsa Opening October 2 October 3-18
Become a member of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. Join today to begin enjoying the benefits of membership, including a subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma. PATRON - $250
-Listing of self or business on signage at events -Invitation for two people to private reception with visiting curators -$210 of this membership is tax deductible. -All of below
FELLOW - $125
-Acknowledgement in the Resource Guide and Art Focus Oklahoma -Copy of each OVAC exhibition catalog -$85 of this membership is tax deductible. -All of below
FAMILY - $60
Siddarth Parasnis & Sangita Phadke September Jonathan Sobol Ocotober M.A. Doran Gallery 3509 S. Peoria (918) 748-8700 madorangallery.com
Beauty Within Through September 7 Allan Houser Through November 2 Philbrook Downtown 116 E Brady St (918) 749-7941 philbrook.org
Virtuosity September 13-October 13 Lovetts Gallery 6528 E 51st St (918) 664-4732 lovettsgallery.com
Hillary Le September 5-27 Amy Rockett-Todd October 3-25 Tulsa Artists Coalition Gallery 9 East Brady (918) 592-0041 tacgallery.org
Monet and the Seine Through September 21 Hard Times, Oklahoma, 1939-40 Through October 26
MEMBER FORM ¨ Patron
¨ Fellow
¨ Family
¨ Individual
Name Street Address City, State, Zip Email
INDIVIDUAL - $40
Website
Phone
Credit card #
Exp. Date
STUDENT - $20
-Valid student ID required. Same benefits as Individual level.
¨ Student
-Same benefits as Individual level for two people in household -Subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma -Monthly e-newsletter of Oklahoma art events and opportunities -Receive all OVAC mailings -Listing in and copy of Annual Resource Guide & Member Directory -Access to “Members Only” area on OVAC website -Invitation to Annual Meeting Plus, artists receive: -Inclusion in online Artist Gallery -Artist entry fees waived for OVAC sponsored exhibitions -Up to 50% discount on Artist Survival Kit workshops -Discounted registration for Artist INC Online Course -Affiliate benefits with National Alliance of Media Arts and Culture, Fractured Atlas, and Artwork Archive
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Impact October 19-January 11 The Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 S Rockford Rd (918) 749-7941 philbrook.org
Are you an artist? Y N Medium?_____________________________________ Would you like to be included in the Membership Directory? Y N Would you like us to share your information for other arts-related events?
Y
N
Comments:
Detach and mail form along with payment to: OVAC, 730 W. Wilshire Blvd, Suite 104, Oklahoma City, OK 73116 Or join online at www.ovac-ok.org
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ArtOFocus k l a h o m a Annual Subscriptions to Art Focus Oklahoma are free with OVAC membership. Thru Oct 3: 24 Works on Paper, Chickasha Sept 2:
Momentum Tulsa Artist Deadline
Sept 13:
Artist Survival Kit Workshop: Art Speak, Norman
Sept 19:
12x12 Art Fundraiser, OKC
Oct 3:
Momentum Tulsa Opens. Exhibit continues through Oct 18.
Oct 11:
Artist Survival Kit Workshop: Gallery Relationships, Tulsa
Oct 15:
OVAC Grants for Artists Deadline
730 W. Wilshire Blvd, Suite 104 Oklahoma City, OK 73116 The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition supports Oklahoma’s visual arts and artists and their power to enrich communities.
Non Profit Org. US POSTAGE PAID Oklahoma City, OK Permit No. 113
Visit www.ovac-ok.org to learn more.
Oct 18: Momentum Spotlight Artist Talks, Tulsa View the full Oklahoma visual arts calendar at ovac-ok.org/calendar.
SEPTEMBER Judith Turner Ellen Moershel Opening Reception: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 6 - 10 P.M.
OCTOBER Carol Beesley Bob Nunn Mark Harris Opening Reception: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3 6 - 10 P.M. Gallery Hours: Mon - Sat 10 am - 6 pm Sun 1 pm - 5 pm
2810 North Walker Phone: 405.528.6336 www.jrbartgallery.com
JRB
ART
AT THE ELMS