THE ARTFUL MIND
CHRISTIAN ECKART
www.christianeckart.com
THE ARTFUL MIND
DECEMBER 2022
WAYS OF SEEING ALL THINGS GREAT AND SMALL
MAC STEEL RESIDENCY
Anthony Cafritz | Richard Criddle
INTERVIEW BY H CANDEE 10
CHRISTIAN ECKART
Critical Constructions
INTERVIEW BY H CANDEE 20
JIM SCHANTZ
Land, Water and Sky
INTERVIEW BY H CANDEE...32
ASTROLOGY FOR CREATIVES
With Deanna Musgrave / December 2022 ...47
RICHARD BRITELL | FICTION
SOMETHING FOR OVER THE COUCH— Voltaire CHAPTER 17 ...48
Publisher Harryet Candee
Copy Editor Marguerite Bride
Third Eye Jeff Bynack
Advertising and Graphic Design Harryet Candee
Contributing Writers
Richard Britell
Deanna Musgrave
Contirbuting Photographers
Edward Acker
Tasja Keetman
Bobby Miller
Sean Hutcheon
Elevated digital photography and media services for the visual arts
Specializing in meeting the imaging needs of visual artists, artisans, and galleries in a variety of mediums, including sculpture, jewelry and furnishings.
Contact: sean.hutcheon@gmail.com • 215-534-6814 www.seanhutcheon.com
MATT CHINIAN PROSAIC REALISM
I am a prosaic realist. That means I paint what I see and depict places and objects without sentiment or romance. My subjects are taken from daily life, things I see in passing, things I’m drawn to; they are mundane and often overlooked. I unlock patterns and relationships and do not judge. I practice ruthless honesty, and let the paint be paint.
Matt Chinianmattchinian.com / https://www.instagram.com/mattchinian/
SHARON GUY LAND, SEA, AND SKY
While I quietly observe and paint the land, water, and skies, the ordinary world around me is transformed by light and shadow into the sublime. My goal is to share my deep connection with nature with those who take the time to stop and look.
I enjoy painting birds, animals, and scenes from the Gulf Coast to New England. My work is in private collections in the United States and Canada.
Sharon Guy - sharonguyart@gmail.com, 941-321-1218, https://www.sharonguyart.com
ILENE RICHARD ILLUSTRATOR / PAINTER
Ilene is an established fine art figurative painter. She is known for her expressive and colorful paintings, as well as her use of line which has become a signature style of her work. Ilene’s work is highly consistent and recognizable. Having worked as a published children’s book illustrator for many years has helped Ilene create a narrative with her work, which often features people in whimsical and fantastical situations.
Ilene is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Women Artists and artist member of Rockport Artist Association and Museum.
Ilene Richard – 978-621-4986, www.ilenerichard.com, ilene.richard@gmail.com, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ilene-Richard-IllustratorPainter/109216825770985
THE WATCHER
TIGER CAT
LIMBUS DETAIL PAINTING #1, 2018. 28” X 27.5” X 2.5”.
CHRISTIAN ECKART
TEXAS 2022
For almost 40 years I’ve been producing hybrid painting/sculpture objects either mechanically or, more recently, digitally. My goal has been to articulate a hyper-object relative to the arthistorical notion of The Sublime. Through the deployment of multiple series, I’ve attempted to approach and illuminate the contours of the ineffable while re-framing Western artistic praxis in general as proceeding from a Judeo-Christian heritage predicated upon the manufacture of sacred and ritual artifacts.
As much as possible I’ve attempted to prioritize the “presentational” over the “representational” to objectify and enhance the present and presence. It’s my belief that “art” is the product of an interaction between a viewer and some kind of construct, most often in a specified and/or rarefied context, that demands deeper than normal engagement and attention.
My practice is conceptual insofar as it is located at a point where “painting” intersects with the concept “art” although it’s based, ultimately, upon generating objects/experiences that project properties such as beauty, pleasure, grace, reverie, rigor, and solemnity.
Christian Eckart, www.christianeckart.com 713-373-1240, eckart.christian@gmail.com Instagram:@christian_eckart
SEAN HUTCHEON PHOTOGRAPHY
I’m a fine-art and product photographer based in the Hudson Valley and New York City, NY. My imagery stems from a background in filmmaking, writing and music. I got my start in the early 2000’s and have numerous awards for my short films and my photography has been showcased in numerous group and solo shows throughout the years.
In 2005, I relocated from Bucks County, PA to NYC where I have thrived in the photo industry as a product and on-figure photographer for numerous clients such as: Amazon Fashion, Tumi Luggage, New York and Company, Bloomingdales, Macy’s, Target, Ralph Lauren, Fairway Markets and Labucq.
At the end of 2021, I started a new venture as a fine-art and furniture photographer who has shot a variety of mediums for Christie’s in NYC, Stair Galleries and Naga Antiques in Hudson, NY. In my spare time I enjoy working on my personal photography, playing guitar, spending time at my house with my partner, and going on hikes with my Border Collie.
Please contact me directly for projects or to inquire about purchasing my work.
Sean Hutcheon - sean.hutcheon@gmail.com
“Simplicity involves unburdening your life, and living more lightly with fewer distractions that interfere with a high quality life, as defined uniquely by each individual.”
— Linda Breen Pierce
ELLEN KAIDEN
Congratulations to Ellen Kaiden for winning the ACD Award, Watercolorist of the Year for her painting, “Opulence”.
I often hear “Oh Flowers”….sometimes in a naive and condescending way. I choose to paint flowers because they are a perfect vehicle for me to convey my emotions and tell a story. I was trained in all mediums of painting I chose watercolor because of its uncontrollable vitreous nature. I love being able to capture movement in water and am able to get extraordinary depth and color saturation. I work in a technique called “wet on wet” in a style that I call “Idealized Realism”. Katharine Bernhardt, from CAS in Chicago said, “Ellen Kaiden is to watercolor what Chihuly is to blown glass.”
My favorite subjects are flowers, sunflowers and roses especially, oh well maybe poppies and peonies too. I love the architecture, geometry, and innate sensuality of my chosen subjects. To me, watercolor is vastly underestimated as a medium because of its unforgiving nature.
Flowers like sunflowers and roses, I believe, can show every emotion possible. When Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, the painting “Feminine Fury” came pouring out of me. Each petal represents 100,000 underserved women.
I don’t just paint pretty flowers. My paintings are metaphors. I hope they touch you the way they were intended to. For the last two pandemic years, and the death of a husband, painting is truly my meditation. If you want to learn more about me as an artist, please go to my website visit my studio in Lee, Massachusetts.
In her work the “final flower”, Patti Smith the Rocker, wrote about Robert Mapplethorpe’s photos…. “He came in time, to embrace the flower as the embodiment of all the contradictions reveling within. Their sleekness. Humble Narcissus. Passionate Zen”.
Ellen Kaiden - www.Ellenkaiden.com Please check out The Wit Gallery / https:/www.thewitgallery.com
PEARLESCENT ACRYLIC URETHANE WITH MATTE CLEAR COAT ON ALUMINUM PANEL AND UNIQUE ALUMINUM EXTRUSION
OPULENCE, WATERCOLOR, 40 X 50”
ghetta-hirsch.squarespace.com
“If the Women of Corsica/Would Bite Off Their Lovers’ Toes/ Ill Bet They Wouldn’t Kill/ Songbirds To Eat Anymore”, 2022. Front and back of a wood carving, maple wood, with oil paint
www.morganbulkeley.com
December 10 - Jan 15, 2022: Bernay Fine Art, 296 Main Street, Great Barrington, Massachusetts / bernayfineart.com Morgan Bulkeley will be gracing the pages of the December 2022 edition of Orion Magazine
Photography Credit: Lisa Vollmer
433 Warren Street Hudson, NY
New York City
46 West 90th Street, Floor 2 New York, NY
“Phase2” 48x60x1.5” diptych
"As an abstract artist, I search for ways to represent the invisible, subtle, and unexpressed. I am driven to lay out fleeting and intangible experiences on physical surfaces".
Erika Larskaya Studio at 79 Main St. Torrington, CT www.erikalarskaya.art Hudson
cnewberger@me.com
MAC STEEL ARTIST RESIDENCY
ANTHONY CAFRITZ U RICHARD CRIDDLE
Interview by Harryet Candee
Photography by Michael Hatzel
Artists Anthony Cafritz and Richard Criddle were selected for the inaugural Mac Steel Artist Residency in Rutland VT. Mac Steel is a scrap metal yard, where the artists stayed three weeks in order to create sculptural objects from discarded scrap metal. Anthony Cafritz works in mixed media and is the Founder of Salem Art Works in Salem, New York. Richard Criddle also works in mixed media and is the former Chief Preparator at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts.
Harryet Candee: This is an exciting venture! Tell us how this residency with Mac Steel unfolded?
Anthony Cafritz: Josh Mac had a vision to create a residency at Mac Steel. Richard Criddle and I are the first resident artists to become part of this annual residency. Next year it will be comprised of four participants from all over the nation.
As an inaugural residency lasting three weeks, September 30 through October 21, what are your expectations for this residency down the line for other participants?
AC: The Mac Steel Residency or MSR is for independent artists who can work in an active scrap yard. It is a spartan existence with no creature comforts. They must be self-reliant and able to
create sculpture from what is found, allowing ideas to be fluid and inspired by their ever-changing surroundings. Because of the three-week window, the artists have to be efficient with their time.
In what ways have you and Richard collaborated together to make this residency a success?
AC: We helped each other out in all phases of the construction and creation of work. It was imperative that we were both there at the same time to help actualize each other’s thinking.
What sculptures have you created during your time in this residency program?
AC: I have created nine sculptures and four paintings during this residency. Both the sculptures and
paintings vary in size and meaning, all inspired by the surroundings. This body of work employ not just steel but varied material and a spectrum of color.
Did you generate ideas for building sculptures after seeing all of the mountains of scrap metal, or did you come with ideas already in hand?
AC: I only arrived with a hand full of tools and a small cardboard box of paint and brushes. I had zero expectations or concepts when I entered through the gate, knowing only that I was going to work as fast and much as I can.
Can you describe in what ways you found yourself pushing your boundaries?
AC: I truly trusted my initial impulse in the creation of work. I did not allow myself time to really formulate aspects or full concepts. I worked from my intuition and fully trusted what felt was right. Finished paintings or sculptures were made with a full belief of what feels complete.
Where did you stay while you were in the residency and what did you come to realize while there?
AC: Through the generosity of Mac steel, we were able to stay in campers in the yard. We found an old wood stove in one of the piles scrap steel that we used to cook on and keep us warm at night.
Mac Steel is a place where shards of culture and the immediate surroundings are brought together that create a sieve of that history. The piles of scrap steel and material are broken words and phrases of current and past lives. They echo our current society and our past existence. The yard resonates with the cacophony of thousands of lives and their histories.
You also paint. In what ways do you see these mediums overlap? Is it a challenge at times to maintain painting and sculpture within their own boundaries?
AC: The paintings seem to be coming from another place than the sculpture. They are painted on garage doors or wooden display screens. This grouping of work seems to be conversations from the past between two people. They depict small, ephemeral aspects of a longer moment. They relate to the sculptures because they are painted on mostly found material from the yard. I chose a very different color sense in these works and a new approach to mixing color.
I think there are many artists who would naturally gravitate with enthusiasm to photograph, paint, even perform at Mac Steel. Is the residency open to artists other than sculptors?
AC: The Mac Steel Residency should be open to all artists, but they all must directly respond to their surroundings.
Most scrap metal yards are not open to the public. Mac Steel has in it’s plan to stay open and available for people in the residency program. How is Mac Steel preparing for this?
AC: They make sure everyone who goes in must abide by the rules of the yard. These rules are unwavering and must be adhered to.
Tell me about the large-scale operating equipment
used to move and cut the steel pieces for your sculpture projects?
AC: The shear helped us cut steel like a big pair of scissors. The shear, with the help of the staff at Mac Steel, helped created pieces of steel that we could see in a larger object with a particular part cut out. The excavator would flatten out objects or squeeze them. The magnet can crush objects as well, but also pick objects way out of reach for us. Again, the staff at the yard were instrumental in the success of this residency.
As an ever-growing thinker and creator of art, what can you possibly imagine doing that could be considered of an impossible nature, but you may consider giving it a go?
AC: During the end of the residency, I started thinking creating large-scale installations again. One idea was to use fuel oil tanks in a field where the guts are randomly cut out for their removal from basements. They elicit biomorphic responses and associations.
Continued on next page...
MAC Steel, Rutland Vermont
Anthony Cafritz, The Weight of Water
Anthony Cafritz, Fossil Mouth
Anthony Cafritz / MAC Steel Residency
Anthony Cafritz working on The Weight of Water
RICHARD CRIDDLE MAC STEEL ARTIST RESIDENCY
Harryet Candee: You have created a Trojan Horse from welded steel while on this residency. Can you tell us what were the challenges involved in creating this enormous beauty of a beast?
Richard Criddle: I have always been inspired by the story of the Siege of Troy and have produced several drawings of my version of the horse. I imagined it like a kid’s pull-along toy but with the head resembling a snap-top coin purse with menacing human teeth. At Mac Steel I wanted to seize the chance to work on a larger scale and, like Dr. Frankenstein, create my monster. Strange, half humorous, half frightening. I soon tracked down some huge iron wheels in the bushes at the yard and adapted my concept of the horse structure to resemble an Erector Set for the legs and neck. Rusting steel truss structures that had been laying out for more than twenty years were plucked out of the trees with a back-hoe for my use. At Mac Steel it seems like almost anything is possible. Not a problem, just a challenge. Equally, the cutting the hemispherical ends off a huge old Propane tank that was done by Josh Mac. Then I began welding it all together. Hopefully the horse is now greater than the sum of it’s parts.
How did this all materialize for you? How were you approached to work alongside of Anthony?
RC: This past summer I was invited to participate in a three-week international artist exchange program and residency at Salem Art Works, Salem NY. Anthony, as Founder of Salem Art Works and
longtime friend knew that I had previously applied for an artist residency at a municipal recycling center in Philadelphia. Right there at Salem, whilst leaning on Anthony’s pickup truck, we had a conference call with Josh Mac and the ball was set rolling.
Take us through some of the challenges you faced while creating Toxic Propagandist which is created out of plastic, steel, aluminum and resin?
RC: For me, the conceptual side of making sculpture is inextricably linked to the practical problem-solving needed to make assemblages out of
seemingly incompatible materials. The mechanical fixing of the parts, the drilling and bolting, is only one part of the puzzle. I also wanted to create a being that would exude a toxic atmosphere, a hovering sense of menace. To build a dishonorable totem, something not to be trusted.
Tell us about some of the metal scraps you found. In your mind, were some of those finds similar to diamonds in the rough?
RC: When I’m foraging around the yard, often with my dog, Anubis, I’m looking at things at all different scales. It’s like beachcombing after the tide goes out, because scrap is delivered on a daily basis to Mac Steel. Sometimes I feel like Sherlock Holmes with his magnifying glass and this is what happened with the sculpture I call The General.
My ‘diamonds in the rough’ were two small mudcovered metal plaques. First, I found the word GENERAL on a small rectangular piece of metal that turned out to be bronze. This inspired the character, personality and rank of the figurative assemblage I was working on. Soon after this I found a five-pointed metal star commemorating a veteran from the American Civil War. My General now proudly wears this medal.
What do you think you will remember the most about this residency?
RC: Being completely immersed in the richness of the yard, and the sparks of creative ignition that Continued on next page...
Photo: Richard Criddle
Toxic Propagandist
occurred so frequently from working alongside Anthony.
Have you enjoying the time spent camping out, roughing it, and being a treasure finder on the Mac Steel property?
RC: Absolutely! It brings out the Boy Scout in me. I often think that making sculpture is like cooking, using ingredients, heat and tools to make something. At our campsite at Mac Steel we actually cooked on an old woodstove we plucked from the scrap pile!
I often let ideas simmer in my studio and sometimes put them on the back burner. I consider myself a hunter-gatherer, a seeker of materials and objects that resonate together with memories, images and ideas.
How many sculptures were completed by you during your three-week residency?
RC: Seven. The Trojan Horse and six other sculptures which collectively represent a group I call Proclaimers.
What ideas have resurfaced since this residency started for you?
RC: I like to work on multiple assemblages at once. The freedom to do that, and the space avail-
able at Mac Steel was intoxicating. Found and scavenged objects are often triggers or guides for me. Chance encounters with unfamiliar yet recognizable objects, and collecting and assembling disparate parts, allow me to make sculptures that amplify my memories and recollections.
While at Mass MoCA, were there any opportunities similar in nature to this project that you were aware of? What did your job entail at Mass MoCA?
RC: Practical problem solving, often on a massive scale, was the essence of my work at Mass MoCA. My daily role was to manage the practical, human and financial resources for every exhibition and installation over a 23-year period. Creative thinking and resourcefulness were central to coming in on time and within budget. Many of the large-scale projects at Mass MoCA that were fabricated in-house by my small crew were also collaborative, residency-style experiences for the exhibiting artists. We made artists’ dreams come true.
Have you felt a sense of freedom from this residency opportunity?
RC: Yes! I am excited about seeing the work Anthony and I have made at Mac Steel in a clean, un-
cluttered gallery setting, looking forward to showing our work to the public and charged with enthusiasm for all that lies ahead.
Would you have had this kind of opportunity elsewhere?
RC: No. This has been a truly unique experience. I am unaware of any other residency that could provide such a totally immersive experience. With Josh’s generosity and blessing we have together forged a new opportunity for artists here in Rutland.
Down the line, who do you think would benefit from this kind of residency opportunity?
RC: Hard-working self-reliant artists will benefit most from this opportunity where you are surrounded by literally heaps of inspiration. Your muse may be rusting in the sunshine. It’s up to each artist to find the value in this, the true treasure. Those diamonds in the rough are out there.
salemartworks.com
Richard Criddle / MAC Steel Residency
Richard’s Trojan Horse sketch
Lefting metal with magnet in yard
Trojan Horse in progress
Richard Criddle with Trojan Horse
REEDS IN BEAVER POND, WATERCOLOR, 22 X 15”
CAROLYN NEWBERGER
Watercolor painting, mixed media, and a practice of drawing from life form the body of Carolyn Newberger’s work, with an emphasis on human connections and experience.
Whether working in the performance hall, the studio, or a café table, Carolyn captures personal character and the spark, rhythm and flow of our human endeavors.
An avid and award-winning artist in her youth, Carolyn returned to art after an academic career in psychology at Harvard Medical School. Her work has received many awards, including from the Danforth Museum of Art, the Cambridge Art Association, Watercolor Magazine, and the New England Watercolor Society, of which she is a signature member.
Many of Carolyn’s performance drawings and plein air paintings accompany reviews and essays she writes, often in collaboration with her husband, Eli, for “The Berkshire Edge,” a publication of news, arts and ideas in Western Massachusetts. Carolyn Newberger617-877-5672, www.carolynnewberger.com cnewberger@me.com
LONNY JARRETT
My initial memory of awakening to the creative impulse was hearing the first chord of the Beatle’s, Hard Day’s Night when I was six years old. At that moment I knew something big was happening and I had to get on board! I began studying at the Guitar Workshop, the first guitar school in America. I’ve performed music most of my life and currently play jazz fusion with my band Redshift.
My interest in photography blossomed as an electron-microscopist publishing neuro- and molecular- biological research out of UMASS/Amherst and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx in my early 20s.
As a life-long meditator, martial artist, musician, and photographer everything I engage with comes from the same unified intention toward engendering the true, the good, and the beautiful. In my landscape and nature photography I endeavor to capture the light that seeps through everything.
Lonny Jarrett -
Community: Nourishingdestiny.com
Books: Spiritpathpress.com
Art: Berkshirescenicphotography.com
Teaching: Lonnyjarrett.com
MARY ANN YARMOSKY
From the moment we are born we long for a way to be heard. For some words suffice, for others there needs to be a deeper form of expression.
That is how artists are born. Where one might send their message through an instrument in the form of music, another might write poetry or prose. Still others speak in something more tangible through painting, photography, pottery, or sculpting. Words only bring us so far…art is the language of longing…a longing that is never fulfilled.
I have always found expression through art. At the age of five I began speaking through the piano that sat waiting expectantly in our den, an instrument that brought me peace throughout the years. Later I took to creating through fashion design, dreaming up and constructing costumes for the Boston Opera Company and outfits for the fashionable elite of Newport, Rhode Island. From there my path took many twists and turns as I lived a life as a wife, mother, caretaker and pursuant of a professional career.
It was when my youngest son passed away unexpectedly several years ago that my longing to be heard returned with a vengeance. Words did not suffice. There are no words to express that kind of grief and longing for what is lost. On that journey of anguish, I met other women who had or were experiencing their own kind of pain. I marveled at their resilience and ability to go on despite different kinds of loss or simply dealing with the uphill complexities of life’s challenges. Through paint and a bit of canvas I began to recover my voice, but it’s not just my voice. The women I create in paint are a composite of the many amazing women I have met and continue to meet. I paint their humor, their joy and their hidden heartbreak and longing. These women do not exist except on canvas and their stories are yours to imagine. Hear them.
Mary Ann Yarmoskymaryannyarmoskyart.com
the Artists know you have read about them in The Artful Mind
Andrea Joyce Feldman
PASTEL, ACRYLIC ON PAPER, 18 X 24”
ANDREA FELDMAN
I sat on the stoop with Florence. She lived two doors down. We had tossed a ball around a few times, and now we were reading a book. Well, I was reading the book to Florence.
My mother poked her head out of the door to tell me that supper was ready. She looked at Florence, then at me, then back to Florence, who waved happily at Mom who asked what we were doing. I showed her the book and told her that I was reading to Florence. She had a funny look on her face, then repeated that I should come inside. I said goodbye to Florence, went inside, and my mother was smiling. I was about five years old and we had just moved to this neighborhood. I couldn’t read yet and my new friend Florence was a deaf-mute. We got along fine. I liked my new quiet friend.
Andrea Joyce Feldman - 413-655-7766 Andreajoycefeldmanart.com
MARK MELLINGER
Practicing art for 60 years and psychoanalysis for 40, Dr. Mellinger’s careers concern language, spoken and unspoken and what transcends language. In painting, collage and constructions of wood and iron he is drawn to the physicality of materials.
Eschewing predictability, Mellinger explores the possibilities of materials and media. Our lives and our world are dissolving. We must cherish our experiences for all they're worth.
I’ve moved my studio into an exciting new artist’s collective in the Berkshire Eagle Building, 75 South Church St, 3rd floor, Pittsfield. Mark Mellinger914-260-7413
markmellinger680@gmail.com
FRONT ST. GALLERY
KATE KNAPP , STILL LIFE
Painting classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings 10-1pm at the studio in Housatonic and Thursday mornings 10am - 1pm out in the field. Also available for private critiques. Open to all. Please come paint with us!
Gallery hours: Open by chance and by appointment anytime 413. 274. 6607 (gallery) 413. 429. 7141 (cell) 413. 528. 9546 (home) www.kateknappartist.com Front Street, Housatonic, MA
BRUCE PANOCK
The core of my work is landscape. But it is only the beginning. I use the landscape to help me share how I see what is around me. My work incorporates my dreams, how I see the social conflict that is part of our lives today, how I see what we are doing to our earth.
Though due to my health I am relegated to the digital darkroom, I refer to the photographers and methods used in the past, whether film photography, wet plate methods, or such other methods as were used. Among the photographers who have inspired me are Anne Brigman, John Gossage, Jerry Uelsmann, Dorothea Lange, and Sally Mann. I also refer heavily to Japanese Brush Painting, and the Abstract Expressionists. Bruce Panock917-287-8589 www.panockphotography.com bruce@panockphotography.com
ELEANOR LORD
STORM’S COMING, 11 X 14”
Round Barn, Photograph
CHRISTIAN ECKART CRITICAL CONSTRUCTIONS
Interview by Harryet Candee Photographs Courtesy of Artist
Over the past few months I have had the privilege of getting acquainted with the artist Christian Eckart through multiple phone conversations from his home/studio in Houston, Texas, and my studio, in Monterey, Massachusetts. Our interview in this issue is the culmination of a joint effort in order to shed some light on Christian’s practice regarding his exploration of art and its utility in relation to history, culture, society, spiritualism, philosophy and aesthetics.
Harryet Candee: Going back to this past July, you had a site-specific installation on the 2nd floor at The Re Institute located in Millerton NY, called, Closer/Still II. What did this opportunity offer you the chance to do? Did you enjoy the whole experience at Re?
Christian Eckart: I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to produce a site-specific installation artwork, Closer/Still II, for the Re Institute in Millerton, NY and especially during a period that included Upstate Art Weekend. My very good friend and a very good artist, Brenda Zlamany, introduced me and my work to Henry Klimowicz, the owner/operator/gallerist of the venue. When I saw pictures of the exhibition space, I immediately began thinking about what kind of installation could and would make the best use of the space. I had recently generated a number of interesting post-abstract images based upon the crea-
tion of a virtual (3D digital model) stained glass sculpture. It occurred to me that I could create a site-specific installation that referred back to an artwork I'd made in art school in 1982/3, Closer/Still, in homage to Ian Curtis, the lead singer of the band Joy Division, as well as recalling the profound impact of my experience of the stained glass of Sainte-Chappelle in Paris. It also provided me with an opportunity to test a hypothesis regarding what I would refer to as the psychoactive and psychotropic potential of color. The shape of Henry's barn is suggestive of Gothic arches and so I decided to try to convert the barn into a church-like sanctuary. Much of my work has attempted to indicate and disclose that "serious" contemporary artistic production relies, implicitly or explicitly, upon a tradition of the manufacturing of religious artifacts with the intention of enunciating an overarching narrative for
the purpose of managing and unifying Western society. For me it's possible, then, to think that perhaps a space such as a barn, where sustenance has been stored and processed for millennia, may have been the model for and had evolved into the spaces we identify as houses of worship. Keep in mind that Christ is said to have been born in a manger. The show at the Re Institute provided the circumstances to try to connect all of these disparate dots and to see what would happen. I had a wonderful time preparing and installing the exhibition, connecting with old friends and making new ones and I thank Henry for giving me the chance to present the works and for his extraordinary hospitality and efforts on behalf of me and my work.
You were an emerging artist in the 80s in NYC. It was considered to be an important groundbreak-
ing time for advanced ideas in geometric, conceptual painting and sculpture. How did you process this kind of art emerging around you? What did you see at this exciting time?
CE: I have so much to say on this topic I'm considering writing a book one day. For me the 80's in the NY artworld was an unbelievably extraordinary time. Allow me to go backwards and set the scene a bit. I was doing my undergraduate work at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary in Western Canada and had arrived at a point where it was apparent to me that there would most likely be a fairly limited reception for the ideas that I was dealing with. However, because I was obsessed with learning all that I could about art and art history, I found myself spending an inordinate amount of time in the school's quite comprehensive library. I was also an avid reader of art periodicals such as Art In America, Artforum, FlashArt and Arts Magazine, etc. While perusing those magazines it became apparent to me that there seemed to be a discourse emerging in the New York art scene that might support and corroborate the ideas I was pursuing with my work, especially as per a couple of articles written by Peter Halley for Arts Magazine and possibly others during the early 80's. Those articles made it clear that there could be some kind of context for what I thought I was trying to do and so I decided that I should try to do my post-graduate studies in NY so as to enhance the chances that my work could participate in what I'd identified
as an emergent dialog. I applied to, and was accepted into, the MFA program at Hunter College and had the great fortune of having Robert Morris, the main reason I chose Hunter along with Carter Ratcliff, Marcia Hafif and Alice Aycock, as my thesis advisor. Apparently I was correct in believing that the New York artworld of the mid-80's could be hospitable to my work, concerns and motivations and I emerged with back to back solo exhibitions at Massimo Audiello Gallery in the East Village in the spring and then the fall of 1986, the first of which occurred prior to my thesis show at Hunter.
Can you give us a picture of what your life was life back then? What was your day and night life like while learning to be an artist in the city? CE: This is a fun and funny question to consider. When I moved to New York for school I was prepared to do anything to make it work. I assumed that I might end up living and working somewhere without heat and/or running water and was prepared to collect rainwater if necessary. My first home and studio was a ground floor loft on the south side of Williamsburg, Bedford Avenue and South 9th Street, a former A & P grocery store where apparently a cashier had once been shot and killed. Today Williamsburg is one of the trendiest and most exciting neighborhoods in the city but back then it was scary as hell, especially the south side. I believe that it's where the movie "Serpico" was filmed because the area was the most visually
frightening location in the city. And, although I was able to work off the books for my landlord, I had virtually no money. My girlfriend and I collected soda bottles for refunds and lived on popcorn we purchased with the proceeds. We became very good at preparing popcorn with various things such as soy sauce, nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, parmesan cheese and so on. Our landlord had installed a window high up on the back wall through which the aroma of burning cars and the sounds of gunshots invaded every night. It's the only place I've ever seen a police car up on blocks, stripped and burned and that happened a couple of times. Back then in that part of Williamsburg most of the buildings were vacant, if not completely demolished, and there were packs of wild scavenging dogs, ten to twenty at a time. However, as with all things in New York, change came rapidly and before I knew it Williamsburg started to become the hippest neighborhood in NY and maybe the entire country.
The East Village artworld of the period was amazing and felt like the center of the universe until some of the more important galleries and artists were co-opted by the major galleries in Soho. I leaned that in New York talent wasn't an exception but rather the rule. There were so many enormously talented people everywhere, all the time; filmmakers, dancers, musicians, bands, artists, actors, stage and theater people, creatives of literally Continued on next page...
Christian Eckart, Installation view of Closer/Still II, 2022. The Re Institute, Millerton New York. Dye-sublimated digital prints on fabric. Eight elements each 175" x 45". Overall dimensions approximately 180" x 192" x 288".
every variety. It was an amazing time and place to be and I have deep and abiding nostalgia for it all.
When was it that you were first formulating specific opinions and theories of your own and applying them to your art making? Did they only get stronger when you found other artists working with similar viewpoints?
CE: I truly believe that although artists have ideas about why they do what they do it's impossible, and probably better, to not have absolute clarity about it. My understanding is that the processing power of the subconscious is approximately a million times greater than that of consciousness. Because art-making/working is so dependent upon intuition, exposure to and knowledge of specific tools, processes and native skills, prejudices and biases and so on that there are simply far too many variables to take into account for a complete and total understanding of what one might be doing and why. What I can say is that an artist can claim to understand his or her motivations and imperatives, if not their actual goals. However, an artist can rarely claim that those motivations, imperatives and goals actually inhere in the resultant works. Having said all that, I think the most honest response is that such knowledge is an everevolving work in progress. There are some fundamental concerns that have driven my production since I was a child. And then there are slowly emerging epiphanies that come with time and labor.
To be honest I feel very lucky insofar as I believe I was chosen by a subject relatively early on. A few very basic questions such as "what is art" and
Christian Eckart, Andachtsbild #720, 1990. 23 carat gold-leaf on acrylic gel medium on birch plywood panel and pine and poplar moulding. 96.5" x 63.5" overall.
"what is a painting" led, ultimately, to a kind of possession wherein eventually I was forced to initiate a kind of philosophical/conceptual practice expressed via the form of hybrid painting/sculpture meta-painting objects predicated on a very personal relationship to the history of Western painting since before the Renaissance. Through the years, and with the benefit of hindsight and a more developed intellect, things have become clearer. But with more clarity come bigger, harder more complicated questions. The age-old axiom, "The more you know, the less you know" couldn't be more true.
As things became less nebulous it also became apparent, despite what I said earlier about having identified a discourse and context in the New York artworld of the mid-80's that seemed to apply to what I thought I was doing, that I was well and truly working in terrain that was almost uniquely my own. Recently I've been thinking that it's in a kind of twilight zone somewhere between and around Joseph Kosuth, James Lee Byars and Donald Judd if that makes any sense. At this point I think of myself as working for an audience of one, me, with the hope, of course, that others might find what I do interesting, meaningful and/or somehow satisfying. When I was doing my undergraduate art education, I was told that painting was dead and my response was, "Cool, what killed it? Let's do an autopsy." And as a result, I've been working from a post-painting mindset all along while most of my friends and colleagues are, and were, smart enough to know that painting could never be dead.
The show you were in, Color and Form at LACMA, in 2011, was where you showed with Imi Knoebel, John McCracken, Gunther Forg and Peter Halley. Why was this exhibition important considering that much of the art originally surfaced in the 1980s, or before, and was now being shown in 2011?
CE: Oh wow! I can't believe you've brought up that exhibition. I actually feel, about that show, is that it's the greatest missed opportunity of my entire art career. Maybe second greatest insofar as a lot went sideways with an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam called “Horn Of Plenty” in 1989 but that's a story for another day. My understanding is that it was organized to supplement and buttress an exhibition of Blinky Palermo works also at LACMA at the same time. Back then I felt that enough time had passed and enough critical writing of a certain sort had been deployed, as well as that the exhibition of Blinky Palermo's works provided an ideal context and jumping off point, for the possibility of initiating a deeper reconsideration of a certain type of postpainterly, post-minimal abstract production. And the artists who had been chosen by the curator were literally an A-Team, albeit extremely finite, for doing just that. Unfortunately, institutions being what they are, most of the heavy lifting was left up to the audience without provision or guidance about how to understand, read and use such gestures, why they'd been generated and what they might imply. As far as I'm concerned, if ever there was a show that could have used some robust didactic panels and a great accompanying catalog essay that was the one. Of course, I'm very
proud to have been included although I couldn't possibly convey how costly the fallout has actually been for me as a result of my inclusion. Think I'll leave it at that.
Were these artists also friends with whom you would hang, go gallery hopping, parties? Some good ones, I hope! Any stories you can share.
CE: Unfortunately, that's a "no"; Peter Halley is the only one of the group I've ever met although I can say that I've met just about everyone that there was to meet during that wild period of the mid to late 80's and then the 90's. However, I'm a huge fan of Imi Knoebel and John McCracken and my work has been included in numerous exhibitions and is in museum collections in which their works are featured as well. In relation to those names I was a bit of an interloper insofar as I'm somewhat younger than all of them and feel, ultimately, that I'm working in a way that has me now and again stepping into terrain that they were cultivating. Do I have stories about that time? You bet I do. I will say, though, that I once saw Keith Haring at a party standing in the middle of a room full of superstar artists – Julian Schnabel, George Condo, Francesco Clemente, etc. - and he was absolutely glowing from within and it seemed as though his aura, or whatever you might want to call it, was actually pressing everyone else against the walls.
What are you presently working on? How is it linked to previous work?
CE: Well, as usual I'm working on many things at the same time. I've recently completed some private commissions and have recently held a couple
of large group studio visits - one with about a hundred people and the other, a museum group from Laguna Beach CA, of around thirty. I continue to develop and produce the hybrid painting/sculpture constructed works I've been known for. However, my primary focus over the past few years has been digitally constructed works printed on Belgian Linen or canvas and generally related to the painting and photography of the enlightenment sublime. Although works from these two bodies appear very different superficially, the similarities are most intriguing to me. I've been involved with digital technologies, like many contemporary artists, for the past thirty years with the first totally digital pieces being made well over ten years ago. The more recent digital works are again driven by a powerful desire to engage with the history of painting and they're also constructed works in their own right although they're constructed digitally rather than mechanically. The exhibition at the Re Institute in Millerton, NY, was a spin-off from the digital works that have been my principle focus over the past few years.
However, the digital works are quite different insofar as they're motivated, to some extent, by concerns regarding the climate crisis. With the more recent digital pieces I've also been seeking to generate a type of imagery and manner of working that more directly corresponds to these new amazing image-making technologies. I've been seeking to identify an interstitial form that operates in a space that's not necessarily painting, photography, sculpture or film but, rather, its own thing. I suppose that I should admit to subscribing to a kind of McLuhanism in relation to his pronouncement
that "the medium is the message" which seems to apply here.
Tell us about the geometric series, Andachttsbild paintings?
CE: Andachtsbild denotatively means devotional image. My understanding is that an emerging merchant class (a totally new donor constituency beyond those of the church and state) would commission artworks depicting biblical stories that might have particular personal relevance and/or resonance. Apparently, such works were installed in private devotional spaces within the family homes of such newly minted wealthy families. For me, then, the term itself, Andachtsbild, refers to a certain kind of phenomenology of the use of artworks that indexes their utility as status symbols and mechanisms of transcendent aspiration at a critical time in history; the birth of the enlightenment, the beginning of capitalism, colonialism and the emergence of what people eventually called the "bourgeoisie." It was my interest to create works that were a disclosure/critique of the above-mentioned dynamics and it was my hope that such works would infiltrate institutions such as museums, banks, investment house, etc. I thought of those works as quite subversive although I'm fairly confident that that's not at all how they were received. The Reagan era distorted the reception of much of the critical production of the mid to late 80's art insofar as works of that period were seen as being complicit in, and with, a kind of frenzied consumerism rather than as a critique of such and the needs, wants and desires Continued on next page....
Christian Eckart, Forest 1, 2021. Unique archival aqueous ink digital print on Belgian Linen, 55" x 78.5".
of American society at the time. I'm always hoping for a sophisticated re-evaluation of the work from that period from a perspective somewhat ing for a sophisticated re-evaluation of the work from that period from a perspective somewhat like what I've just elaborated.
Rothko’s idea is that you should not have any explanations of art in order to get it. What do you think of this? How is it that artwork so simple, can be so compelling and profound in your opinion?
CE: Well, I for sure don't have any idea of Rothko's goals and imperatives although I do feel that I have a fairly deep sense of his achievement. What I can attest to is that I'm, as I believe Rothko would have been, not particularly interested in meaning, narrative and/or "aboutism" as it relates to works of art. It's my belief that art's greatest strength is in its apparent lack of usefulness, utility. I understand the use of almost every class of objects in the world; bicycles, corkscrews, towels, etc. In fact, most man-made objects have very clear and specified utility. Artworks, on the other hand, generally don't unless they're editorializing a position in which case, they're simply editorials. What this implies to me is that artworks succeed or fail based upon intangible utility and it's those intangible uses that have been at the center of my exploration from day one. So, I would guess that Rothko's primary concerns would have been around the poetic and unspecified ineffable implications and impact of the works he produced. As I've alluded to previously, I've been attempting
to develop and deploy a kind of meta-sublime whereby I've been obliged to identify and formalize specific properties of the Sublime as they pertain to painting and that's led me to notions regarding the re-acquisition of the space of the womb. I believe this applies quite directly and clearly to Rothko and the kind of light he ended up depicting.
Is there a work of art you have created that signifies great importance for you on your journey becoming an art maker? Tell us about this art, please.
CE: This is an interesting question to consider. I have strong feelings about certain works, certain series (such as the Andachtsbild series mentioned previously) and all of my large-scale commissions for various reasons. Furthermore, I'm very proud of most of the works that have left my studio over the years. However, if there's one artwork that stands out for me it's a work entitled "The Absurd Vehicle" from 2011. I think of that piece as a kind of summary of my thoughts, feelings and concerns as they apply to the work of the first 25 to 30 years of my career. I like to describe the piece as a painting that wanted to be a sculpture which then chose to be a race car, which morphed into a fighter jet and then subsequently a space vehicle, and finally manifesting as an oracle. For me it's a grand monolithic gesture that's a synopsis of the magical thinking and absurdity that accompanies the use of artworks as sites or mechanisms of status, communal self-aggrandizement and tran-
Christian Eckart, The Absurd Vehicle, 2011. Extreme-effect acrylic urethane on aluminum, powder-coated steel, stainless steel, automotive suspension systems, rubber tires and custommade race-car rims.
Approximately 140" tall x 144" circumference.
scendental aspirationalism. For me there is no question that artworks can be valuable tools for self-actualization, spiritual and personal development but that such functions are of little to no relevance in the context of hyper-capitalism and the imperatives of the instant gratification soundbite culture of social media and the 24-hour news cycle. In an overwhelming informational landscape, I like to think of artworks as alternative information - something other - and I'm disturbed by works that seem to be part of the problem rather that functioning as some kind of antidote or otherness.
Do you refer back to earlier works of art that you made in order to strengthen the work you are presently making? In what ways? And, how?
CE: With my work I am constantly referencing earlier works within a framework of my critical, theoretical and philosophical concerns. Excellent examples of this would be the Double Sacra Conversazione Painting, the Sacra Conversazione Painting - Versione Follia as well as the Polychrome Painting series. I started out operating this way because I assumed that there might be some kind of continuity to the audience. My working assumption back at the beginning of my exhibition history was that shows were for the presentation of findings from the private laboratories of various practitioners and that then those findings would be presented, considered, reviewed and disseminated by a community of peers and so forth. Pretty fucking naive is all I can say now.
You have lectured and published a number of essays and articles on art. You also taught at my former college, SVA! With that in mind, I am curious to know more about the Sacra Conversazione Painting series. Can you offer us a deeper understanding of this work of art based on your quote: “My belief is that art is a verb, not a noun, and that, if art exists at all as an objective reality, it is the byproduct of an interaction/negotiation occurring between a percipient and any object or act that invites or demands deep engagement.”
CE: That quote represents what I think about in art in general. Here's what I can say about the quote in relation to the Sacra Conversazione Paintings and how I ended up making them. An exhibition opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1987 entitled "The Age of Correggio and The Carracci: Emilian Painting of the 16th and 17th Centuries." It was an exceptional exhibition and absolutely perfect timing for me in relation to where I was headed as an artist having just emerged with two solo exhibitions the year before and with a number of shows upcoming in Western Europe. I went several times during the period it was up. Amongst many profound takeaways for me was the experience of a modest (relatively speaking) painting by Correggio entitled Sacra Conversazione. I found the painting working on me in a way that I didn't understand. It was a relatively small and simple painting; 4 or 5 figures standing in silence - in theory 4 or 5 saints and/or martyrs in Holy Communion. No drama, no action, just 4 or 5 people doing nothing but standing
around. And yet it was subtly disarming; but how so? As I thought about why it had impacted me as it had it occurred to me that it was doing so as a result of the abstract formal properties of the painting; ultimately the colors and arrangement of the garments the figures were wearing. Now the way I tend to work is that if I experience something like this I'll often wonder how, hypothetically, might I create something that re-presents the circumstances for the experience I had with the painting and what might the minimum means be for producing a mechanism (in this case a constructed meta-painting) that could potentially provoke similar responses from other viewer's? The Sacra Conversazione Painting series is a result of that process and methodology.
As far as your long list of commissioned art goes, how did you come up with the concept for the installation: Cloud Room Field?
CE: As I've mentioned before, almost everything I do is in relation to how I think about painting and the unique use of art history I've developed based upon personal interests, questions, concerns and needs. Cloudroom Field developed as a response to an awesome opportunity and spectacular site I was presented with for a piece for Hobby Airport in Houston. By the time I was selected to make a work for the site I'd already been producing works for many years with materials that are interactive in some way. This is going to sound a bit pedantic but a painting (or any work of art) requires a percipient to engage with it in order for
it to become activated. I had been making works with extreme-effect paint as well as dichroic glass in order to hyper-actualize the interactive aspect of my pieces and artworks in general. So, for instance, the materials for a piece might change color, shape and/or configuration slightly as a viewer moves around the work. The site at Hobby Airport offered sightlines from 180 degrees and so I proposed a work that would be different from every angle and based upon the model of colorfield painting of the 60's onward.
Polychrome Painting is captivating for me and wonder why you have chosen those particular colors to use.
CE: My relationship to color comes, again, as a result of being a consummate student of painting. Initially I was influenced by the color palettes of early Renaissance frescoes and then later by the palettes of the late Renaissance and Baroque periods. I've attempted to identify, emulate and then hyperbolize established palettes from those periods treating them as ready-mades in their own right. Of course, over the years as my relationship to color evolved and my skills as a colorist developed, I've become much more conversant and adventurous with color. However, I've pretty much always treated color and color palettes as readymades which is why the first works I made employing color utilized plexiglass, Formica and then automotive paints. I've always attempted to use the prosaic banal materials of industrial proContinued on next page...
Christian Eckart, Double Sacra Conversazione Painting, 2019. Private commission.
Acrylic urethane on aluminum.
60" x 100" x 3".
duction as one of the ways in which to demystify the objects themselves.
How was this physically constructed, by the way? Can you take us into your studio workspace and give us a picture of how you do the physical construction? What was the most difficult piece to assemble and feel masterful of?
CE: I've used fabricators to produce most of my works. This began as a simple studio-based decision. Did I wish to pursue a labor-intensive practice or a capital-intensive practice? Ultimately, I decided that time was more valuable than money (which may have been a substantial misjudgment there on my part) and chose the latter. That then became interesting because it removed much of my hand from the work; a problem I'd identified with regard to the cult of personality ascribed to figures such as Picasso, Matisse, Rothko and so on. It occurred to me that the presence of the hand of the artist, especially in works related to the tradition of the Romantic Sublime, was a philosophically loaded problem I wasn't interested in contending with.
So, the process for creation and production of the work is fairly straightforward. I'll have a bunch of noise floating around in my head until such time as it coalesces into some kind of apprehensible
signal that suggests an object that isn't a solution but is, rather, a manifestation of the root questions that brought it into being. I'll then do some rough sketches of the idea prior to working with my digital model-maker to generate renderings to see if it's worth pursuing. If it is my model-maker and I will begin to blueprint it and then, if necessary, generate auto-cad drawings or whatever will be necessary for a fabricator to make it. In the end I tend to receive a bunch of finished or semi-finished parts that go out to other vendors for completion and/or to be assembled, cleaned and installed. It's all fairly normal unless you consider that it's a totally useless thing in relation to the transactional utilitarian nature of human societies and most often made on spec without any idea regarding its ultimate disposition in the world.
What do you find most gratifying and most frustrating about being an art maker? Any particular things you might want to say?
CE: I prefer the term art-worker over artist and/or artmaker. For me the most gratifying experiences in relation to my work are when a piece or an exhibition becomes the grounds for a real and genuine exchange with someone new. It's always amazing to me when the work functions as an intermediary with regard to the creation of a new
relationship.
I think frustration comes with the territory. I like to say to people that I have both the best job and the worst job in the world. The best job is as a result of being able to focus on what truly interests and inspires me while the worst job is to be a sole proprietor and to be running a business in an industry as fickle as ours.
How much depends on the reaction of viewers that you feel the success of a piece of art you have made?
CE: In the end I don't really worry about this too much although I am committed to a communication medium and I do wish to be understood, at least to some extent. However, at the end of the day I'm interested in satisfying my own curiosity and it's my hope that others might find that stimulating. Of course, a guy has to eat, so one does hope that the interest of others might translate into the odd sale once in a while.
Hyperobjects are objects which have a vitality to them, but you can't touch them, like race or class, or climate change. What body of work of yours does this define?
CE: Hyperobject is a term I came across a few of years ago that seems to encapsulate what I
Christian Eckart, Polychrome Painting, 2015. Acrylic urethane on aluminum. 69” x 45” x 3".
thought I was trying to do with my overall body of work. Because my work has primarily been concerned with reverse engineering and disclosing the mechanics the Northern Romantic Sublime I have found myself deploying multiple series and bodies of work in the form of various types of meta-paintings (generally predicated upon tropes of 20th century abstraction such as the monochrome, grid paintings, white paintings, etc.) that attempt to locate the surface of what one might call "the ineffable." I know, that's a mouthful. What I mean by that is that I believe such an activity or practice would ultimately help us to reveal aspects of ourselves to ourselves in a useful and informative way. It's my belief that humans are predisposed to needs for meaning and purpose and that those concerns don't always manifest in particularly useful and healthy ways. I believe such examination is absolutely necessary. An easier way to talk about this might be to say, "I don't know if there is a god or not but what I do know is that, at a minimum, the notion of "god" is a manmade construct. And as such that construct is the basis for concepts that are not necessarily properties of human beings; truth, beauty, justice, love, etc., but are, in fact, attributes of an idealized construct that allow us then to structure and maintain society. They are the ideals we attempt to live
up to and which are necessary regardless of whether we choose to believe in a god or not." For a long time, I felt as though I was working alone in the wilderness. But recently there is beginning to emerge a body of theory that supports and affirms the ways in which I've been thinking and working. The most well-known book that I've read that, for me, aligns with my thinking is "Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari. I couldn't possible recommend a book more. It's an extraordinarily subversive book that will turn the world upside down for readers who can actually grasp what Harari is attempting to convey.
Speaking of essential books, the book “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger, was on my must-read list given to me by art professors at SVA and NYU. I wonder, what is your opinion of this book? Is it outdated? Aside from the book, “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari, what are some of your other top shelf books/pods, videos, gallery exhibits, that you suggest?
CE: I don't think it's possible for that book to be outdated although it is possible that it should be read with an understanding that it comes from a specific period in much the same way that many such books will have to be read going forward. Here's a short list of books that would be rec-
ommended reading if I were still teaching and that haven't already been mentioned elsewhere here;
—Theories of Modern Art – Herschel Browning Chipp
—Matter and Memory – Henri Bergson
—Painting as Model – Yves-Alain Bois
—Life Against Death, Loves Body, Apocalypse and/or Metamorphosis – Norman O. Brown
—Transfiguration of the Commonplace – Arthur Danto
—Modern Painting and the Northern Romantic Tradition – Robert Rosenblum
—The Body in Pain and On Beauty and Being Just – Elaine Scarry
—Other Criteria – Leo Steinberg
—The Anxious Object – Harold Rosenberg
—Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing
One Sees – Lawrence Wechsler
—Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, by Camille Paglia
—Renaissance Meta-Painting – edited by Peter Bokody and Alexander Nagel
Of course, most of these books belong to a time when I was still deeply engaged in developing my ideas and seeking to discover some language and tools for conveying my thoughts and concerns. I provide this list with the request that the reader
Continued on next page...
Christian Eckart, Studio, 2017
(Far left, studio view) Sacra Conversazione Painting – Versione Follia, 2015. Acrylic urethane on aluminum. 78” x 69” x 17” overall.
understands that literally hundreds of extraordinary books have been excluded for purposes of brevity. I almost always also recommend that people read William Gibson (in order if possible) as well as Neal Stephenson, especially the Baroque Cycle and especially if you're trying to make sense of why the West is as it is.
What are some of the important issues that artists face today, do you think?
CE: For me the greatest challenge facing artists today is the fragmentation and dis-integration of the social. In the past art-making has always been dependent upon a high degree of buy-in from the society from which it’s been gestated, which is to say that society, although not monolithic, has, in the past, been constructed upon a foundation of consensually established norms, facts, beliefs and values, etc. Artworks have the potential to be meaningful when they're addressing and responsive to more homogeneous, coherent, social, political, economic and spiritual conditions. There may be potential power to be found within the current circumstances of free-for-all and the collapse of old orders that we're witnessing but I certainly haven't been able to grasp it yet.
Living now in Texas, I hope you are happy. I know of your small band of pups, so I see there is a lot of love being shared. What truly makes you feel alive? Is it when you ponder thoughts such as why do we need to make art? Any good answers come up for you lately?
CE: Houston Texas works for me in a number of ways. It's a major American city with all the requisite frills and accessories of any major metropolitan center while at the same time reminiscent of my hometown, Calgary, in Western Canada. The people are grounded in the way I recall Calgarians being with similar (historically) primary industries, energy and agriculture. On the other hand, there isn't the energy and vitality of Williamsburg, Brooklyn or of New York City that I used to feed off of.
Living in Texas has allowed me to extend my practice as an art-worker, however. It's created a permission for me to continue to develop my interests and work in a way that I might not have been able to do in NY where I would probably have been under pressure to stay in a specific lane and to exert a lot of energy on the maintenance of a career rather than on the actual work. I'm not saying that that's the case for artists who choose to remain in NY, but I am saying that I needed to leave in order to be able to continue to pursue my interests on my own terms.
Yes, my wife and I have a quartet of awesome dogs and, despite the fact that I live in the center of the city, in the museum district, I've become a bearded guy that lives in a compound with dogs; which is totally awesome and wonderful to be honest.
I understand you hosted a large group of art viewers at your studio. Describe what that was all about? Is this a normal part of your schedule to do with people?
CE: Yes, I recently hosted two large studio events - one for the Holocaust Museum Houston with about a hundred attendees and then one with a collector group from the Orange County Museum from Laguna Beach, California. I have to admit that I kind of bombed for the former event; it was just too many people and they seemed not particularly sensitive to my concerns and interests. However, I totally made up for it with the second group and was adrenalized for a couple of weeks after that one. I'm much better, I think, one or two people at a time when I can go very deep in the weeds, but I do enjoy the challenge of engaging with large groups and try to accommodate that three or four times a year when I can.
Can you tell us which painting from another century in time holds much fascination for you and why?
CE: I would have to say that Holbein's "Dead Christ" at the Kunstmuseum in Basel is the painting that comes to mind first. I've thought about it extensively and have written about it for a catalog essay for an exhibition I was asked to co-curate for the Aldritch Museum in 1999. I still think it's one of the most challenging, provocative and subversive artworks ever produced. I've recently been thinking, again, a great deal about Goya's Black Paintings as well as Van Der Weyden's "Descent From The Cross" and Heironymous Bosch's “Garden of Earthly Delights” all of which can be seen at the Prado in Madrid. I'm also very fascinated by the Flemish Masters of the Northern
Christian Eckart, Medusa, 2022. Digital artwork in progress; approximately 50 - 75% finished. Materials and size not yet determined.
Renaissance collectively known as the Neo-Primitives. And obviously I'm somewhat obsessed with the tradition of the Northern Romantic Sublime and would point to artists such as Caspar David Friedrich, J.M.W. Turner, James McNeill Whistler, Gustav Klimt, through to modern figures such as Mark Rothko, Ad Reinhardt, Barnett Newman up to and including Richard Serra who I believe is the end-point of that particular lineage. However, the painting I've probably spent the most time in front of is Bellini's "St. Francis in the Desert" at the Frick. When I lived in New York I would visit it at least once a month on average.
In what works that you've made have you applied notions of the liminal?
CE: Over the course of my career I've made many works that deal with the notion of the “liminal.” My interest in this has predominantly been to disclose and objectify the use of works of art as thresholds for enlightenment and transcendence. For me works of art, and especially paintings in this case, are a lot like Jean Cocteau's mirror in the film Orpheus, occupying a space between this world and another virtual one that is the manifestation of a uniquely separate universe operating in accordance to its own rules, physics and reality. I have played with this interest in my work through the use of devices such as frames, orifices, apertures and mirrored surfaces amongst other elements. With many of my various series I've tried to conjure a dialectic of the material and the immaterial and in some cases the subject of the work
is actually an empty space that's been framed.
What are your thoughts when I pose this idea to you: The sacred is always with us, even if we sometimes fail to see it. Would this relate to your art making at all?
CE: I'm not sure that this is going to be an answer to your question. However, I've been very interested, over the span of my career, in extolling the spiritual while disclaiming the religious. People often use the terms interchangeably which seems to be a substantial theoretical error. For me what the two terms represent are almost diametrically opposed. The spiritual/sacred is a space of beingness and oneness with the cosmos and is available in the simplest of ways. Virtually anytime one is living in the moment, whether it be with their dogs or grandchildren or on a bench by a river or with a book or just focusing on their breath one is in the space of the spiritual. When one has chosen to outsource being and presence to an ideology, dogma, charismatic figure or belief system then one has entered the space of the religious and it's just a short step from there to a fascism of some sort or another which is something we're seeing unfold in front of our eyes in real time at this particular moment. That's not to say, however, that a person can't have a spiritual experience through religion.
With my constructed hybrid works I've always sought to present the viewer with a mechanism that obligates presence or being present in the present. Although those works might refer to a
history of a certain type of object making, they also, primarily, refer to themselves and their construction. Thereby, ideally, producing the conditions whereby the observer becomes aware of themselves engaged in the act of observing, which, I would argue, is the objectification of their interaction with the work and the point where art, as a verb, exists for me.
Christianeckartart.com
On the Cover: (Left) Small Cloudroom Field, 2022. Aluminum, stainless steel, spring steel and dichroic glass. Approximately 48" x 24" x 8" overall. (Right) Sacra Conversazione - Versione Follia, 2015. Acrylic urethane on aluminum. 78” x 69” x 17” overall.
Christian Eckart working in studio
St. Francis in the Desert, Giovanni Bellini
The Descent from the Cross, Rogier van der Weyden
BOBBY MILLER PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER
My teacher, master photographer Lisette Model, taught me that the secret behind a great portrait is the relationship between the photographer and his subject and the artistic capture of the moment. In my studio in Great Barrington, I do hair, make-up, styling, lighting and photography, thereby creating a finished portrait that tells a story even in its simplicity. I believe in incorporating both the classic tools of the camera and newer technologies like Photoshop. In that way my portraits correct the small flaws that nature has bestowed on us. I create images that show us not only as who we are but who we can be as well. So, if you feel daring and inspired to have a portrait that defines you at your very best, I encourage you to come sit before my camera.
Bobby Miller Studio, 22 Elm St, Gt Barrington 508-237-9585. By Appointment Only.
FRONT ST. GALLERY
Pastels, oils, acrylics and watercolors…abstract and representational…..landscapes, still lifes and portraits….a unique variety of painting technique and styles….you will be transported to another world and see things in a way you never have before…. join us and experience something different.
Painting classes continue on Monday and Wednesday mornings 10-1:30pm at the studio and Thursday mornings out in the field. These classes are open to all...come to one or come again if it works for you. All levels and materials welcome.
Private critiques available.
Classes at Front Street are for those wishing to learn, those who just want to be involved in the pure enjoyment of art, and/or those who have some experience under their belt.
Front Street, Housatonic, MA. Gallery open by appointment or chance anytime. 413-528-9546 at home or 413-429-7141 (cell) www.kateknappartist.com
SALLY TISKA RICE
Sally Tiska Rice was born and raised in the beautiful Berkshires. She is the youngest of four children. Sally lives in a rural town with her husband, and pets, where she is inspired by her surroundings.
As a young girl she would sit with her father as he designed and drew many blueprints. This was the start of her love for art in all its forms. While painting and drawing she feels spiritually gratified and relaxed. She is a spine injury survivor that finds her creative nature healing.
Sally focuses on blending and layering to achieve depth and dimension. She also experiments with light and color to create a piece that will be enjoyed. Sally employs many different techniques into her paintings, using acrylic, watercolors, oil paints, pastels, as well as mixed media.
Her love to travel has given Sally opportunities to further her understanding of art in all its forms. She has been able to visit many areas in the Northeast, ranging from the majestic mountains to the scenic shores. Sally has enjoyed art abroad while in Italy, Greece, Spain and the Caribbean as well. These experiences have encouraged her knowledge and appreciation of the history of art throughout the world.
Sally uses spontaneity to compose artwork. She also creates many beautiful commission art pieces for customers internationally. Her commission pieces are usually created from one or more images that the customer has chosen to blend together to form a one of a kind piece of art. Sally also has many customers that have purchased fine art prints.
Call to set up a studio appointment at the Clock Tower Business Center, 75 South Church Street, 3rd floor, studio 302, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Sally Tiska Rice - 413-446-8469 http://www.sallytiskarice.com, http://sallytiskarice.com/STR/The_Artist.html, https://www.facebook.com/sally.t.rice, https://mobile.twitter.com/RiceTiska, https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-tiska-rice-cpo5230777a/, https://www.instagram.com/sallytiskarice/ https://pixels.com/profiles/sally-rice
KATE KNAPP
MERMAID AND FRIENDS
JIM SCHANTZ LAND, WATER AND SKY
Interview by Harryet Candee
Photographs Courtesy of Artist
Berkshire-based artist Jim Schantz has been painting beautiful Berkshire landscapes since 1982. Known for his enchanting land, sea, and skyscapes, he takes the viewer to see the sublimity of nature. The Eternal Source | New Work, was Jim’s most recent exhibit this past October/November at the Pucker Gallery in Boston. Working with oil paint or pastels, he uses his skills and intuitiveness to interpret the nature of things in places off the beaten path.
Harryet Candee: Morning. Noon. Evening & night. In what ways do you set your mind to think for each of these times of the day in preparation for a fresh canvas?
Jim Schantz: I have been inspired by countless times of day and season over the years, yet each one is a totally unique experience, which determines different qualities of light. When a moment speaks to me, I realize the story of that place and time needs to be told, and that it is something that can be translated into a painting.
How do you approach the different elements? Air, water, land.
JS: These three aspects relate and talk to each other. I see it as a dialog going on between the elements.
The Berkshire landscape has a very unique quality of scale. There is an intimacy to the hills, that reminds me of figures in repose, perhaps contemplating the formations in the sky.
I have made compositions that are specifically sky, (Skyscapes), and some that are primarily
water. The Housatonic has been an important source of inspiration for the past 20 years or so. Water offers amazing variations of light and form as a subject. The river is such an important resource, which has remained viable through the efforts of the Housatonic River Initiative, and other environmental groups. Their efforts have helped us gain a greater awareness of the need to protect the Housatonic.
Monument Mountain has been an important subject throughout. It is a visible centerpiece from many perspectives throughout the South County area. It has an iconic presence and it resonates as the sacred site of the Mohican Nation.
When you observe the trees in nature, what do they say? Before you put your paint brush or pastel onto the working surface, what communication has transmitted from subject, to brain, to hand then surface?
JS: When describing a tree by drawing or painting, there is a natural connection as though we are one. There are structural aspects of trees that re-
flect our own anatomy. Glendale Pines Sunset is a depiction of the end of a winter day, where the sky changed rapidly. I focused on the unity of these tall, silhouetted pines, which appear like a family. Capturing this scene allows me to realize a moment time that will never be again. In this case, it is underscored by the fact that these trees are no longer there today.
How do you determine which size canvas or surface works best for interpreting a landscape you plan to capture?
JS: I have been working primarily in both pastel on paper and oil on canvas. These two mediums have very different surface qualities. Certain subjects are better suited to pastel while others work better as a canvas. In general, I have been creating larger pieces on canvas, or occasionally panels. The pastels are great to work out ideas on a smaller scale.
Your art is spiritual and therapeutic. Healing and soothing. But have you questioned the possibil-
Winter Sunset Konkapot Brook, Pastel on Stonehenge paper, 19 x 27”
ities of creating a landscape during a scary storm, or when nature is just plain angry? I am sure this might have a different effect on people.
JS: The spiritual aspect of my work is essential. The process of creating is in itself healing. I would hope that this carries over to the viewer, so they can have this meditative place to go into. I have made some works that have more threatening skies. There are several “post-storm” works, as well as more intense dramatic sunsets. Nature has an incredible range of subject matter, from the most subtle and soft to the most intense. It reflects life, continually shifting and providing new symbols.
How has your work changed over the years?
JS: When I moved to the Berkshires, I began my relationship with landscape as my primary source of inspiration. I had actually avoided it up until that point, but it slowly found me. It was not only the qualities of light or character of the land, but primarily that for me it’s been a way to transcend and reach some aspect of universal meaning.
What do viewers need to know in order to truly appreciate your work?
JS: I do not think there is any specific personal background or history necessary for someone to relate to my work. I would like to think that one who looks at my work will have some connection, whether spiritually, or formally to the painting composition.
American Luminist painters share some things in common with your work, and I wonder, what do you find in particular about Inness and Church that inspires you?
JS: I admire the grandeur of Church’s paintings; however, I love Inness’s work, the intimacy, and subtle qualities of light and sensuous application of paint. There are some great pieces in the collection of the Clark Art Institute.
Can you tell us about the Krasa Series you painted? This collaboration with art and music must have been a profound and lasting experience for you?
JS: This was a project proposed to me my friend Mark Ludwig, who was a violist with the BSO. Mark established the Terezin Music Foundation, which has a primary focus on preserving and performing music that was composed by artists who were incarcerated during the Holocaust in WWII. Artists and musicians were sent to the Terezin concentration camp, (located in the Czech Republic), and most were eventually sent to perish at Auschwitz. One of these composers was Hans Krasa, who wrote String Quartet, (1921). Mark had learned that as part of the Dada art movement in the ‘20’s, Krasa had wanted a painter to create a work while the music was being performed. I was able to create this with the Hawthorne String Quartet initially at Simon’s Rock and eventually, we performed this at Ozawa Hall in 2012. There were several abstract “Skyscapes” that I created to the composition performed in different venues. It was a great experience which enhanced my work.
Continued on next page...
Jim Schantz, Krasa Skyscape, Skidmore College, Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 72”
Jim Schantz, Alder Meadow,Triptych Oil on canvas
What would you say was your most loved and enjoyed formal training experience that you had, and in return, did you feel the same when you were lecturing art students?
There were some pivotal moments in my training. The first would be with foundation drawing classes at Syracuse University. I use these same principles from the foundation courses in my teaching. Jerome Witkin, my first painting teacher at SU, opened my eyes to color.
In graduate school at UC Davis, I had the opportunity to be Wayne Thiebaud’s teaching assistant. His approach to teaching also emphasized foundation drawing. Gaining an understanding of drawing foundations is essential for an artist, no matter what direction they intend to explore. My most enjoyable aspect of teaching would be those moments when someone starts to really observe and translate what they are drawing onto paper.
Do you find that Dusk is the most magical time of the day?
JS: I would have to say that both Dusk and Dawn
are magical. We have some incredible light shows here in the Berkshires. It’s always exciting to see what is in store during the beginning or last moments of daylight. I feel very fortunate when I am able to capture the emotion of those moments.
When you are not creating art, what grounds you?
JS: Being surrounded by nature, whether hiking a trail or kayaking on the river. We are fortunate to live in an area with such an abundance of resources, thanks to the organizations that protect open space, such as the Berkshire Natural Resources Council.
How did you enjoy the most recent art exhibit at the Pucker Gallery in Boston? What were your thoughts on seeing the past two years work on the gallery walls?
JS: It’s always gratifying to see the work in a gallery, presented together for the first time. I am never completely sure how cohesive the collection of works will look. This last exhibition seemed to work very well as a whole. There is a virtual tour on the Pucker Gallery website. It is also the first
exhibition which has both pastel works and paintings together. I was fortunate to have had a commission to work on during the past year through the gallery. It gave me the opportunity to work with the Adirondacks as a subject. The project developed into the triptych, Alder Meadow, depicting different light during the same day.
What have you taken from poetry or literature that brings you closer to your work as a visual artist? Perhaps the best way to answer this question is to list some good recent reads:
JS: Rivers of Power by Laurence Smith; a history of how rivers have shaped civilization and the importance of protecting them.
Thomas Hart Benton, by Henry Adams; focusing on his career that began with the American modernist movement in New York ‘20’s through his transition to a regionalist painter.
Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel; a narrative about the amazing women who shaped the New York School.
You used to think this and that about art and life,
Jim Schantz, Winter Sunset Konkapot Brook, Pastel on Stonehenge paper,19 x 27”
Jim Schantz / Land,Water and Sky
but now that you are at complete adult age, wise and responsible, confident, what do you firmly think is true about life and what you see around you that has changed your thinking over the years?
JS: Probably the most important thing I have learned in relation to my own work over the years is to follow my own voice as an artist. It is important to remind yourself that there is something that is your own in what you do, and that no one can take your work away from you.
What brings you to feeling deep sentiment?
JS: The state of our world. We live in turbulent times, environmentally, politically, and socially. The divisiveness is palpable. Artists are among those who help to maintain and preserve our sanity and reflect our humanity. Creativity is a way of expressing hope for the world.
What are you now thinking of working on?
JS: Since I am surrounded by my subject, I am always composing paintings in my head. I just have to choose among these possibilities. I’m currently
doing smaller pieces to explore options. If it becomes a place that resonates again and again, then that subject becomes a larger painting.
Can you tell us about what you believe has been one of your top achievements in your artistic career?
JS: The representation by Pucker Gallery in Boston for over 30 years is an achievement. They have been supportive throughout the ups and downs of my career. That is rare for a gallery to not only be in business for so long, but to stay behind an artist’s career throughout. In addition, I have had some great projects, including the Krasa Skyscapes and individual large-scale commissions. From 2016-2019, I was able to organize the River Art Project, which was a series of exhibitions to raise awareness and funding for environmental organizations; Housatonic River Initiative, Riverkeeper and the Housatonic Valley Association.
You are set to do a painting, but your mood has changed, and you need to change some things
about your plan. What do you do? Work through it?
JS: I have learned when the mood changes, or perhaps the light, that I am on a different path with the painting. I either have to choose to leave it alone and walk away, or to stay with it and see where it goes. Both are completely valid.
The Eternal Source means what to you?
JS: Nature, light and spirituality.
Jim Schantz is represented by Pucker Gallery in Boston. His work can also be seen online at jimschantz.com and riverartproject.com
Jim Schantz, Housatonic Evening Reflection, Oil on canvas , 48 x 48”
YANA VAN DYKE
Playing at the intersection of art & science, van Dyke creates works of art on paper and parchment with a deep-rooted understanding of traditional materials and techniques from the microscopic to the macroscopic. For more than thirty years she has been studying and practicing the art of intaglio printmaking, with copper as the matrix. Her experimental printmaking & painting techniques weave imagery born out of a naturalist, symbolist, alchemist; charged and characterized by their animistic atmospheres.
Yana van Dyke holds a MS from the Winterthur/University of DE Program in Art Conservation, is a recognized Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, a member of the International Council of Museums Committee for Conservation, the Society of Winterthur Fellows, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Institute of Paper Historians.
Yana van Dyke –https://www.linkedin.com/in/yana-van-dyke76639828/; https://metmuseum.academia.edu/yanavandyke; https://www.instagram.com/yanavandyke/?hl=en
GHETTA HIRSCH
I have new work for you to see. I have started a series of paintings on Arches paper during the summer and I seem to expand this experiment well into the end of 2022. The collection, framed and under glass, has quite a different look from my abstract realism paintings that are done on canvas. These have more texture and even though they represent nature, they seem to look more closely at details in my walks.
“Above the Line” is oil paint thickened with cold wax medium 50/50 and spread in buffed layers on Arches paper. The pond and its dried cattails near my home have been my inspiration for this one. I focus on colors and texture and love the disorderly beauty in this natural patch of land. It is a hiding place for hibernating creatures that will reappear in the spring. This compacted soil, foliage, grass, and dried seeds prepares a surprise for us in the new season. But first we will accept that it will be muddy, brown or covered with snow to reappear later fresh and greenready to welcome our wildlife or soothe our eyes.
This new body of work has not been exhibited yet, so if you wish to see it, please contact me. My other abstract realism work is being exhibited until February with the Winter Member Exhibition at Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, Vermont. Some smaller works will go to Futurelabs Gallery, 43 Eagle Street in North Adams, MA.
Ghetta Hirsch - 413-597-1716, ghetta-hirsch.squarespace.com
MARY DAVIDSON
Mary Davidson has been painting on a regular basis for the last 16 years. Davidson’s paintings are a two-dimensional decorative visualization of line, color, design, shape, patterns, and stamping. As you begin to study the paintings, you will find the foreground and background tend to merge, with overlaid patterns. “I love the intense complexity and ambiguity of space and dimension.”. The effect can be startling: the longer you look at the piece, the more you see.
Davidson’s New Hat series consist of 70 paintings. “I start with a basic drawing, building with color and shape, coming to life with gesture and flow. As the title suggests, the hats are important, and the millinery designs emerge. There is much joy in their creation and my passion for playful designs is reinforced by their bright colors, linear rhythms and patterns leading our eyes around and through the painting. My newest series is even more abstract, with an even stronger emphasis on design. I do like to use stamping, along with painting, because I love the result. When I finish with a painting, I adhere the canvas with mat gel to gator board, creating a nice tight surface. My paintings are always framed.”
Mary Davidson - PO Box 697, South Egremont, Massachusetts; 413-528-6945 / 413-717-2332; mdavidsongio@aol.com, marydavidson83155@gmail.com www.davidsondesigncompany.net
Conversational Spanish
Learn the fundamentals and conversational Spanish the fun way! All levels.
Via: Zoom, Skype, Whatsapp video call, & Facebook Messenger: Esteban Valdés
Author of the acclaimed book: Con Permisito Dijo Monchito (Amazon.com) References available 15 dollars per hour.
MY NEW HAT SERIES #5
ABOVE THE LINE OIL AND COLD WAX MEDIUM ON ARCHES PAPER, 9”X12”
LONGING
@ragsfrombritches
AUNT JEAN’S TREE
Ilene RIchard: 978-621-4986 Versatile subject matter / distinct style • COMMISSIONS • STUDIO VISITS The Clock Tower Business Center, 3rd floor, 75 Church St, Pittsfield, MA Studio 316 http://facebook.com/ilene.richard www.ilenerichard.com • ilene.richard@gmail.com
ILENE RICHARD
French Bulldog
Fancy Fish
Frollicking Felines
Contrasting Ideas Photograph
Round Barn Photograph
Field and Silo Photograph
MARY ANN YARMOSKY
Mary Ann Yarmosky: 413-441-6963 myarmosky@comcast.net • Face Book Instagram maryannyarmoskyart.com
“It’s up to you to decide who my ladies are and what they are thinking. They only came to me with the first stroke of a brush and a little paint. I don’t know their stories or where they hale from. I only know that they now exist, and some will love them, and some will not. Such is the life of a woman.”
-Mary Ann Yarmosky
The Sisters
The Remembrance
The Thinker
In the Grotta, watercolor, 6 x 17”
Winter Ice, wc, 10x12”
Incandescent Mushrooms, wc, 6 x 16”
ERIKA LARSKAYA
Soundproofed
Erika Larskaya Instagram @erika_larskaya_studio Www.erikalarskaya.art
Diptych, mixed media on canvas, 48 x 60 x 1.5”
Breakaway 4
Diptych, mixed media on canvas, 48 x 60 x 1.5”
Breakaway In Blue And Gold
Diptych, mixed media on canvas, 48 x 60 x 1.5”
MARK MELLINGER
Totem
Construction of wood ivory and plant material. 2020
Debris Collage on paper
Myrtle Avenue Glass washboard and photomontage. 2020
MARGUERITE BRIDE WATERCOLORIST
Wherever I go I cannot help but see the colors and scenes around me as a painting. Watercolor always provides a fun surprise….no matter how I may initially visualize the finished painting, the medium always tells me who is really the boss here. Often those little unplanned-for happenings are the most interesting part of the painting. When that happens, I just let the water do its thing.
Recently I have also been using acrylics in some of my paintings. That provides a new and different kind of challenge for me.
Creating painterly architectural images is most intriguing for me regardless of the medium… ..what stories lay behind those walls? I always try to imagine that when I am painting them. I especially love painting the old buildings and the lovely town centers here in New England.
I've waited many years before permitting myself to become immersed in art. The time spent in other professions (RN, then a software engineer) has made this one even more precious. For so long, it was on my "back burner" waiting; and now the wait is over.
May I paint something special for you? Visit my website to experience my full on-line portfolio. And be in touch.
Marguerite Bride – Home Studio at 46 Glory Drive, Pittsfield, Massachusetts by appointment only. Call 413-841-1659 or 413-442-7718; margebride-paintings.com; margebride@aol.com; Facebook: Marguerite Bride Watercolors.
BERKSHIRE DIGITAL
Since opening in 2005, Berkshire Digital has done fine art printing for artists and photographers. Giclée prints can be made in many different sizes from 5”x7” to 42”x 80” on a variety of archival paper choices. Berkshire Digital was featured in PDN magazine in an article about fine art printing. See the entire article on the BerkshireDigital.com website.
Berkshire Digital does accurate hi-res photo-reproductions of paintings and illustrations that can be used for Giclée prints, books, magazines, brochures, cards and websites.
“Fred Collins couldn’t have been more professional or more enjoyable to work with. He did a beautiful job in photographing paintings carefully, efficiently, and so accurately. It’s such a great feeling to know I have these beautiful, useful files on hand anytime I need them. I wish I’d called Fred years ago.” - Ann Getsinger
We also offer restoration and repair of damaged or faded photographs. A complete overview of services offered, along with pricing, can be seen on the web at BerkshireDigital.com
The owner, Fred Collins, has been a commercial and fine art photographer for over 30 years having had studios in Boston, Stamford and the Berkshires. He offers over 25 years of experience with Photoshop, enabling retouching, restoration and enhancement to prints and digital files. The studio is located in Mt. Washington, but drop-off and pick-up is available through Frames On Wheels, 84 Railroad Street in Great Barrington, MA (413) 528-0997 and Gilded Moon Framing, 17 John Street in Millerton, NY (518) 789-3428.
Berkshire Digital - 413 644-9663, www.BerkshireDigital.com
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH MUSIC GRAND
PIANO TRIOS
Close Encounters presents “Grand Piano, an all-Beethoven program performed live at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on Sunday, December 11 at 4 PM.
A virtual symphony for three musicians, expansive and noble—like the Austrian Archduke who was the dedicatee—the great “Archduke” is more than a trio. It offered Beethoven the perfect vehicle for the development of his compositional techniques and the exploration of instrumental brilliance and virtuosity with three independent, powerful voices. In the “Ghost” Trio, channeling images from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Beethoven plays with strangeness and eeriness. Both works are among his most Olympian and are in the best possible hands as Close Encounters With Music presents its second concert of the season: Pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute has been described as “an artist of commanding technique, refined temperament and persuasive insight” by the New York Times. Violinist Hye-Jin Kim won First Prize at the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition at the age of nineteen and has been guest soloist with major orchestras in the U. S., Europe and Asia since. They join internationally acclaimed music director Yehuda Hanani in compositions of tremendous scope, drama and wit.
For Hanani, “Beethoven’s music is an affirmation of life, of vitality, of a life given over entirely to art. He is to be found alive and vibrant in the architectural marvels of his work—in the dramatic chiaroscuro of roughness and tenderness, majesty and playfulness, the rage and the humor, at times Promethean, at others mischievous and childlike, covering the spectrum of human experience and aspiration. And he’s already heralding the arrival of Romanticism….the powerful appeal is that there’s incredible modernity to his music, which is unbound to any school, or period or trend.”
Close Encounters With Music - Tickets, $52 (Orchestra and Mezzanine), $28 (Balcony) and $15 for students, are available through cewm.org or the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center or by calling 413-528-0100. Subscriptions are available at cewm.org Virtual subscriptions and individual tickets are also available.
BUCKSTREEP MANOR, WATERCOLOR
Astrology for Creators
December 2022
With Deanna Musgrave
On the night of every New Year’s Eve, I have a tradition where I pull a tarot card for each month of the coming year. The card I pulled for December 2022 was the Two of Swords and when I look at the astrology and feel into my body what that month will be like, this is in alignment.
The Two of Swords showcases a blindfolded person holding two swords under a night sky lit by a crescent moon. Swords in tarot represents words, the intellect and thought. An interpretation of this card is that the person is weighing two ideas or possible courses of action. With the individual being blindfolded they don’t have a clear picture of where they are, what is coming, or other factors at play. They cannot see the ocean which suggests that we are not connected in with our emotions, symbolised by water. The only light, which represents a guiding force of truth, is the moon which is our intuition.
I feel this card will reflect the collective as, I think we will all feel a bit divided this December without knowing all the facts (although I’m sure there will be many who think they know the absolute truth). While this card foretells difficult decisions and weighing one’s options, it encourages the person to realize they don’t have all the information yet and there are factors that are unseen. If I was to pull this card, I would understand that I have a difficult decision to make that will require me to tap into my intuition (the moon) and feel into the emotions (the sea) for the answer. For the collective, I’m going to advise stepping back from the media, realize that maybe we don’t have all the information and to use your feeling and intuition when deciding on a position to take.
In December 2022 we will be very much in the energy of the Two of Swords as we will still be dealing with the Mars Retrograde in Gemini at this time until January 12, 2023, and processing what transpired with the Autumn Eclipses. As I have stated many times, a Mars Retrograde intensifies passion and anger. With it in the sign of Gemini, this will affect the area of the media, communications, truth, conversations, partnerships, and polarity. As an example, I am writing this column on October 28th, 2022, and Elon Musk just announced that he has of-
ficially bought Twitter, which has created a cascade of tweets from people announcing if they are staying or leaving this online platform. There are fears that his perspective on free speech may allow for us to see all polarities of humanity in a swarm of tweets and that this will create chaos. This is all happening amongst the Eclipse season as we head for the November 7-8th Eclipse in Taurus which is right on top of the US midterm election. While elections tend to bring up tensions of this nature, you have likely by now experienced the extra intensity that this Retrograde Mars and fall Eclipses brought forth. There would have likely been something around that November Eclipse that was Taurus themed such as disruption around food, money, security, the land, or the environment.
While I feel December 2022 will be a processing of what occurred in October and November 2022, there are some astrological aspects within this month that might add additional momentum or intensity. When I look at the calendar what first comes out at me is Neptune going Direct in Pisces on the 3rd of December 2022. Neptune has been in Pisces since 2011 which has been adding a lot of energy towards fantasy, the imagination, the spiritual and the transcendent on the positive polarity. It can also add illusion, deception, physical and emotional floods, as well as alcoholism/escapism on the more negative side. It has been Retrograde since June 28th, 2022, and when it stations to go direct on December 3rd, 2022, it might shift things in these areas. Neptune tends to create illusion but, it can also dissolve it. I wonder if there could be something deceptive, or a revelation of truth, around the 3rd which will ignite the passion or anger of that Retrograde Mars in Gemini which will play out in the media?
The other date I’m drawn to is December 7th, 2022, with that Full Moon in Gemini. Full Moons are culmination points, revelations, and closures. We will have been dealing with that Retrograde Mars in Gemini since October 30th, 2022, that is creating angry chaos in the media and having a Full Moon becoming conjunct with it might bring more intensity. During this time, the Sun in Sagittarius will Oppose that Mars in Gemini. The Sun can represent leadership or authority and, with it in Sagittarius, it can embody a position of absolute truth informed by higher education, religion, or philosophy. This is opposing that Mars Retrograde in Gemini which is a passionate and angry conversation that is considering multiple truths. I expect that there may be tensions around polarized truths playing out in the media and a leader stepping forward to speak with authority about a single truth. Who is right or wrong in this scenario will read differently for each person. This energy brings me back to 2020-2022 when the North Node was in Gemini and the South Node was in Sagittarius which brought on toxic arguments around the pandemic and voter fraud. During that time, I took a social media break. While I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the issues that is coming up at this time is related to the pandemic or voter fraud, it is entirely possible that a new “your truth/my truth” battle will surface at this time.
The next date I feel guided to talk about is December 26th, 2022, when the Moon will become conjunct with Saturn in Aquarius. When the Moon becomes conjunct with Saturn it is like an emotional
and intuitive person meeting a real world, restrictive and down to earth teacher. What this might translate into is having a reality check when it comes to our emotions or feeling restricted emotionally. There may be something karmic we deal with on that day having to do with our deepest wants and feelings. The Moon is also associated with mothers and Saturn with fatherly authority figures. Part of me is concerned that there may be something restrictive or karmic having to do with mothers or birth. With this conjunction happening in Aquarius, which is the sign of humanitarian causes, I wonder if there could be something to do with social justice? With this being on Boxing Day for many individuals, I would advise being very grounded during the winter holiday and especially when interacting with family. Remember that we have that Mars Retrograde which is going to add a lot of fire to every interaction, and you have Neptune in Pisces which can encourage alcoholism. This would be a good holiday to make sure you drink lots of water and do some calming ritual each morning.
We have another Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn coming in on December 29th, 2022, however, be aware that the pre-retrograde shadow period will be starting on December 15th, 2022. This is going to add more haywire in terms of communications and technology, which will already be intense due to the Mars Retrograde. This Mercury Retrograde is happening in Capricorn which, amongst many things, can represent the government and institutions so, there may be mistaken communications or errors specifically coming from those representatives. I always recommend being aware when a Mercury Retrograde is going on and to simply have more humour when you make typos in emails or speeches.
My final advice to take or leave: Hold onto your swords (words, thoughts, actions) and don’t use them for battle until after Mars goes direct on January 12, 2023. Fights during a Mars in Retrograde are a waste of your energy. We don’t have all the facts. If you are pushed during this time to “pick up a sword” then tap into your inner feeling and intuition for guidance. I call on creators to be the calming presence in this winter storm. Your creations can sooth the savage beast that is the Mars Retrograde, add humor to a Mercury in Retrograde communication blunder and give people a respite from the chaos. It’s also alright to take a social media break during this period and to hermit into your studio. Use this passionate Mars energy to create rather than to fight. No one wins in battles during a Mars Retrograde.
If after reading this you realize that the Two of Swords tarot card perfectly described December 2022 for you and/or the collective, then be prepared for the New Year as the card I pulled for January 2023 was Death Reversed which can herald an important but difficult rebirth.
Deanna Musgrave is an artist, astrologer, hypnotist, energy worker and intuitive. You can contact her through her websites at: www.deannamusgrave.com www.artisthehealer.com
Something For Over The Couch
Part 17 “Voltaire”
It was August in the city. Anyone who could afford a place in the country was in the country, and those without means were happy to accept invitations to their friends' second homes. August was the month agreed upon for Judith's show. Max had to agree to this date or his partners refused to even consider such an out of character exhibition. The other partners made it understood that they did not plan to attend the opening, and would not even be in the city. As the August date approached Max became less and less excited about his project, and he began to abandon all his hopes for success. He settled into an attitude of ‘just wanting the whole thing to be over and done with.’
The problem with his project was the artist herself, who was incapable of listening to any advice, or any reasonable sounding suggestions. There was a series of arguments, hopeless arguments in which there was no possibility of agreement. First of all Judith insisted on using house paint, and would not consider anything else. She took a liking to Francisco's hollow core doors, and decided to paint on them instead of canvas. This led to an actual argument with raised voices. Max could not even imagine a show of paintings not done on canvas. Out of his own pocket he had commissioned 12 large canvases, all of the same size, and he had already drawn up a plan of the gallery space. He had a preconceived notion of where each painting would go. To put it simply, Max thought of Judith as a sort of employee whom he had hired to complete a task. His were the ideas and the conceptions, and he expected his student, as it were, to complete his assignments.
But Judith was simply not cut out of Max’s cloth, and he soon discovered that his suggestions were met with instant rejection. Max was forced to accept the idea that the show was going to consist of twelve paintings done on commercial hollow core doors, hung vertically. He tried to patiently explain to his protege the absurdity of the idea. “Look,” he said, attempting to suppress his anger and frustration, “It’s going to look like a one night cheap hotel.* It will involve us in ridicule, it will appear comical. If, God forbid, critics happen to see the show, it will fire their imaginations with sarcastic observations. Will there be door knobs as well?”
But Judith was not to be moved, as a matter of fact, the more her idea was criticized, the more committed she became.
These arguments took place in the bar where she was a waitress, and so took the form of scraps of conversation, separated and interrupted by her work. Max: “What do you have against canvas for paint-
ing? Everyone uses it, the most important paintings being done now are all on canvas, or sometimes on linen. But painting on doors? Who would ever even consider it, except for Francisco, with his five hundred dollar paintings.”
Judith: “For the sake of cotton, people were enslaved and worked to death. I was just reading about it, and at first I couldn’t even believe it. For the sake of cotton England supported the South in the civil war. You never think about it, but cotton is the root of all the evils of America.”
Max: “ Can you believe this?” This remark was addressed to everyone at the table, rather than to Judith, as he sought to enlist the others in his attempt to alter her resolve.
In the same conversation she rejected the use of linen saying it was, “The cloth of the dead, useful in wrapping up cadavers, for entombment.” But in all this talk I could see that she was not serious, and had fallen into the habit of playing ping-pong with the ideas of the fine arts. And none of it made any difference to anyone except for her final comment, made in passing, which reduced all of Max’s plans to rubble as she said, “By the way, my Dad is coming from Dublin for the opening. He is terrified of flying, and has never been on a plane, but he has promised.”
And so Judith’s Dad sprang to life. This character we were in the habit of thinking had been murdered by his daughter, was quite well. This finally ended Max’s project. He would still go through with it because commitments had been made, money had been spent, and announcements had been mailed. Max consoled himself with the thought that it was August, and so virtually nobody of any consequence would be witness to his failure, and he looked forward to a future when his embarrassments and his lack of judgment would have been forgotten by everyone.
Just as Max’s prospects reached this nadir, Judith’s fortunes took an unexpected turn. It was just in the middle of the argument about the evils of cotton that a man known in our circle as ‘Voltaire,’ entered the bar and sat down by himself in a corner. How can I describe this individual? He was one of those very fat men who seemed to be proud of their obesity. He walked with his stomach thrust out and his head thrown back, seemingly well aware of his presumed importance. With a full beard attached to a face wider than it was long, he was wont to survey his surroundings with contempt. A bad odor, and bad breath would have completed his portrait, but his creator has mercifully spared him those defects. In conversation he was soft spoken to the point of being effeminate, but when he took out his fountain pen and a little ragged notebook he kept in his shirt pocket and began to scribble down notes in his cramped hand, with his puffy fingers, you might be certain some artist's career was about to meet its end. He was an art critic, and his nickname had been earned by smashing artists' careers to bits, and demolishing the reputations of famous galleries. He was called Voltaire because someone had pointed out that he was doing to the world of art what Voltaire had done to the Church and its prelates, reducing that establishment to ridicule with short acid sentences that once heard one could not help but repeat.
He even attacked Jackson when Jackson had just reached the pinnacle of his fame. At an opening he walked up to that volatile man, stomach first and
said to him, “Jackson my friend, I understand that you execute these canvases in your garage with the canvas rolled out upon the cement floor.”
“That is correct,” was the reply.
“Well then, shouldn’t we really be looking down on your work.” Not content with that insult he continued, “Well, you have to stretch them and hang them, or they might be walked on, and you know, how else are you going to sell the things, but it seems to me your paintings are art when adorning a garage floor, but simply commercial…” But here the conversation ended as Jackson, a person known to be inflammable, began to growl and show his teeth. Although this Voltaire person had a formidable reputation as an art critic, you could never find his reviews and essays in any of the major journals. Advertisers would not consider purchasing ad space if ever his name appeared in any list of contributors. All of his ideas and opinions appeared in a free journal to be found in kiosks on street corners, and even those free magazines never had any advertising in them. The staff of writers worked for free, driven by a burning sense of mission to inform the world’s uninterested population of the importance of contemporary painting. This journal lasted just under a year, and then ceased publication, but in that time came to be regarded as the only resource for critical commentary not available for purchase.
Voltaire became interested in Judith and her vertical door paintings. A friendship sprang up between them at their very first meeting. She served him a hamburger and fries, and said to him, “Here is your food Revoltaire, go on a diet.”
Voltaire reacted to this remark with a loud laugh, a laugh so long and loud that it was obvious to us all that he was stung by it.
In the next issue of his journal was an article titled, “Through a closed door.” In which he expounded on the symbolic meanings, not of the subject matter of a painting , but upon the significance of the choice of materials. He took Judith’s idea of the sinfulness of cotton, and applied it to all artists' materials, writing at length about wood, stone, steel, or aluminum, and he attached a moral significance to each. He ended his essay with the words, “Cotton is the root of all the evils of America.” To this he added an asterisk, and gave Judith credit by noting, “Said by an unknown waitress in a well known artist bar.”
Four days later one of Judith’s door paintings was reproduced in the gallery listings of the New York Times. It appeared in the center of the listings, just as a kind of throw away adornment of the page. There were no comments attached or any sort of a review, but the name of the gallery, and Judith’s name was printed underneath.
The following Saturday evening her show opened. I went to it, and at first I could not get in the door as the gallery space was so black with people. Her first show had that sign of a successful opening: people standing out in the hallway, or out in the street talking in small circles drinking wine and beer out of cans. Inside the room, in the crush of people stood Judith, her father, and Voltaire, engaged in heated conversation, about James Joyce.
*One night cheap hotels: A line from “The love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” T. S. Elliot
—Richard Britell
Parts 1 through 16, at Spazifineart.com (short stories)
