Art By Nyland's Syracuse Art Freak: November 2014

Friday, November 21, 2014

Kirkland Art Center Small Works Invitational, Clinton NY November 20 2014

Kirkland Art Center

9 1/2 East Park Row

Clinton NY

Click here to visit the KAC website to learn about their programs, classes, exhibition schedule, and how to get involved!

My Hamilton scene arts compadre & Kirkland Arts Center officer Trish Craig with KAC's new director John Paul Gardner! whom I met through the Project-U group back in 2013. Was taking notes left and right during this my first visit to KAC, never having realized that Kirkland and Clinton are essentially the same place. Like Dewitt and Syracuse: I grew up in Dewitt but the mailing address is Syracuse. Go figure, and great work on this show! Gave me ideas ... And indeed I'm impressed by the robust infrastructure here for exhibiting work including of a significantly large scale. Did not know the facility previous to this visit and will be looking for excuses to return.

The impressive turnout, and apologies to those artists whose work I may have missed! The place was jam packed, had a hot date, knew so many people there and spent as much time jawing as looking.

Before looking the show over Trish took me on a tour of the facilities, and this is the drawing studio where Catherine Wright has been working as a model for drawing sessions led by our hero Kathy Donovan! and I want to teach a drawing workshop here too.

The ceramics studio which I was told Vartan Poghosian was a resident artist here for many a moon. Also makes me want to do some tile pieces in greenware with a nice high fire glaze.

YES.

HOT.

Deborah Dougherty Wester

Leigh Yardley! and artist whose work I had not seen in person before and this got my #2 in show nod. Fantastic painting! if thats what it is.

Leigh Yardley

One of the few shots I got demonstrating the height of these walls & the distance which viewers are able to get from it without tripping over a floor hazard.

And this gave me ideas: A smaller works ante-room to the back of what serves as KAC's music stage, affording the viewer a more intimate relationship to works which might otherwise be swallowed whole by those magnificent walls in the main space. So here's an idea for the Macartovin Building: A small works shack, maybe using some of the currently existing attributes as supports for wall boards which could be put up or taken down on need.

Dan Bacich

Dan Bacich, and my favorite piece in the show!

Incredible.

Dan Bacich

Chris Cirillo Jr.

Steven Specht

Bill Evans, and my apologies as the closeups of these marvelous painting were all focus fails.

Jaqueline Adamo! one of my favorite artists from the Syracuse scene.

Jaqueline Adamo

Missed the name tags on these ...

John Fitzimmons! another Syracuse based artist and we agree on ratios. The two on the right are downright hot too.

John Fitzimmons

Tanya Gadbaw

Painting: Tanya Gadbaw

Ceramics: Paula Burke

Paula Burke, and that name sounds familiar. We had neighbors named Burke back in Syracuse and one of them was named Paula, babysat us brats a few times ... Will have to find out more.

Paula Burke

Amy Buchholz, and again apologies as the closeups were all blurred. Something about the lighting in there was different!

Keiki Soga

Jessica Loy

Jessica Loy, and my #3 favorite from the show. Go see it!

Ogling the lights.

With artist Leigh Yardley! whom I met during the aftermath of our Utica Music & Arts Fest shows and invited her to be part of the next Macartovin Building large works exhibit this winter. She currently has a show at Morrisville College with an opening event on Thursday December 4th. Got a shotgun rider in mind, and collaboration.

See, all I ever wanted was to be David Bowie. Or Peter Gabriel. Then maybe Sid Vicious for a while. Now I'm good just being me ;]

Kids playing with toys! after a yummy Chinese food dinner across the park with ArtCat. Here being introduced to the Super Manetron app simulating the classic Mellotron or Chamberlin keyboard instrument, and the only fone app I've actual money for. I can even play the riff from "Court of the Crimson King" on it, and am thinking about an adapted version for iFonez & ukelele.

No kidding!

Something a bit more free-form using the full version. Someday I hope to get to play a real Mellotron but this is a cool app, worth the cost and then some.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

4 Elements Open Studios: Vartan Poghosian & Victor Lenuzza, Ceramics and Paintings November 15 2014

My dates for the evening! Artists Catherine Wright and Julie Angerosa <3 on what was one of Julie's last nights in Utica before beginning her move to St. Petersburg Florida to start a new stage of her career. We miss you already girl!

With Victor! a seriously badass painter originally from Boston, now relocated to Utica where he maintains a studio in the Mayro Building downstairs from my homegirl Jenna North. I first encountered Victor's paintings at the Hamilton NY Broad Street Gallery where we both did our co-op work during 2012/2013. Liking that perm too, a leftover from his Bob Ross costume for Halloween, and I like how Victor's paintings tread that fine line between figurative and "abstract", a term I cringe at using & do so reluctantly.

With Vartan! as potent a creative force as I've encountered in this 2nd phase of my career as an artist. I say that because his work combines not just a gloriously high level of craft in its making but downright insane perspective on form & subject matter. Which at times reminds me of the bio-sexual horror of H.R. Giger's work, though less obvious in the execution and more concerned with color and line than evoking erotic-repulsive responses. The things are ghastly but beautiful in a manner which is deceptively traditional in appearance. You just have to look close.

Stoked to finally be in an art event with both Victor and Vartan coming up next week: The Uptown Downtown Arts Fair in Utica, which for me will be my first open studio at the Upstate Flux arts incubator on Columbia St. And the idea is to SELL ART. Period.

Click here for the Uptown Downtown's blog for information on venues and what they have in store.

Painting: Victor Lenuzza

Ceramic: Vartan Poghosian

Vartan Poghosian

Paintings: Victor Lenuzza

Ceramic: Vartan Poghosian

Vartan Poghosian

Julie Angerosa and Vartan talking shop: Julie was a ceramics instructor at Pratt / Munson Williams for many years!

Vartan Poghosian

Victor Lenuzza, and my favorite painting from his work on display at the right.

Paintings: Victor Lenuzza

Ceramics: Vartan Poghosian

The texture on the back side of the hands above, and if you ask me he was showing the piece backwards. That's freaking cool.

Victor Lenuzza, and bingo! Red spot. Told ya, that one rocks it.

Vartan Poghosian

Here was something I was especially looking forward to: A visit to Vartan's basement studio with his throw wheel, kiln, glaze hood, work table ... I had the good fortune to take ceramics for two years as a Syracuse University undergrad and very seriously considered declaring it as my major in junior year. I couldn't do wheel throwing, never had the patience to craft the forms and knew that was like a painter not being able to capture the human form. Always had a special fondness for ceramics ever since and would love to make some tile pieces again.