Art By Nyland's Syracuse Art Freak: May 2024

The Golden Foundation for the Arts

237 Bell Rd. New Berlin NY 13411

https://www.goldenfoundation.org/

https://www.goldenartistcolors.com/

First stop was the historic Earlville Opera House in Earlville NY where painter Henry Drexler was exhibiting works - Had not been able to catch the opening but was determined to see! And my fondest thanks to the gentleman in attendance who allowed an off-hours look. Be sure to visit their gallery pages below for information on upcoming exhibits & event hours.

Earlville Opera House

18 East Main St. Earlville NY 13332

https://www.earlvilleoperahouse.com/

Henry Drexler, Earlville Opera House

Henry's website: https://www.drexlerart.com/

Henry Drexler, Earlville Opera House

Top: "Parhelia Sunset - View from County Road 10"

Bottom: "Sailboat Race on Cazenovia Lake", both acrylics.

Henry Drexler, Earlville Opera House

"Child's Play", acrylics. And my vintage space toy collecting eye saw "Vintage Junk Drawer Lot on eBay: Toys Ephemera Books You Name It - Free Shipping US Buyers!" Any space figures in there?? Plastic rockets? Maybe a little wind-up tank?? Gimmie gimmie!

Henry Drexler, Earlville Opera House

"The First Chenango County Fair", acrylics.

Excellent. Mom would like the combination of gowns and cows.

Hey! Good time to show up, all three artists doing media with Emma G. Will admit to showing up in a "mood" that day: I needed to see more painting like Henry's, with a focus on figurative subjects with identity. And content. I wanted to see content, pictures telling stories and infused with meaning via startling use of materials and experimental solutions for painting surfaces. I needed to see exactly the art these three had produced during their residencies.

Thank You!!

Amra's website: http://amrakhan.com/

Instagram: @khanamra

Amra Fatima Khan

Oh my. Yes, this was what I needed to see.

Amra Fatima Khan

"What's up with the fishes?" he unknowingly asked. First clue is their color, which matches the outfit the (artist) in the chair. No he is not feeding a multitude, he is making conquests, regarding women as things to consume and/or toss aside. He is a metaphor for the artist's native phallocentric culture practicing the routine oppression of women. He is also unfinished, more detailing needs to be done, though I was impressed by the similarity between his coloring and a certain sewage texture from one of the video games I used to play. Am pretty sure that's the idea.

Amra Fatima Khan

A self portrait reacting to the guy with the fishes. She has had enough and looks it. You have me at the folds of her sari, unfished as the work may be. Powerful direct and the color makes it epic.

Amra Fatima Khan

Moss experiments using the miraculous GAC. I was envious of how they are still green.

Amra Fatima Khan

More artwork that made me think of vintage toys.

Amra Fatima Khan, and I want that.

Amra Fatima Khan

Counter-Alterpiece? With pomegranate as Forbidden Fruit, and men playing with their snakes.

Out of my league here and I know it - Please go visit her website to learn more.

http://amrakhan.com/

Instagram @khanamra

Preetika's website: https://prajgariah.com/

Instagram: @prajgariah

Preetika Rajgariah

Surface is yoga mats, overall size on the order of 60x80 inches. I looked at it and thought about a breeze blowing through. Air moves through those forms, which are strikingly formed with both acrylics and pastel. The choice of colors is almost sculptural, and the artists' identity as LGBTQ woman is celebrated with forceful conviction.

Preetika Rajgariah

Study work. I love study works.

Preetika Rajgariah

Work is unfinished, the figurative element still blending with the underpainting. Am fascinated by her thrown shadows motif, the figure almost serving as a collage overlay defying the rigid space the shadows suggest.

Yoga mats. Just making sure! I'm terrible, have to peer at everything, snitch all the good ideas. In this case the idea of what to paint on and why. Preetika's choice of yoga mats is deliberate and it wasn't just because she ran out of canvas. Has to do with what yoga mats are for & who uses them.

Preetika Rajgariah

More toys! I'd not even seen them before babbling to the artist about how I'd been painting on boxes and she gestured thusly. And spoke of how we are drawn to blocks as a connection to childhood, and how we will inevitably play with them and build things. They also reminded me of lunch boxes, another collectible bit of ephemera that I'm not allowed to even look at eBay for - Six Million Dollar Man lunchbox with thermos, $650. Not Allowed, though the idea of painting my own had never dawned before. And that's why you go to these things.

Preetika Rajgariah

Her motif! I like how it defines space and gives little working patches to manage rather than a splayed out single surface to finesse all at once. Also looks like a Piet Mondrian lunchbox.

Preetika Rajgariah

Preetika Rajgariah

LOL WHAT ... ???

Preetika Rajgariah

Am thinking these serve as a sketchpad? Forgot to ask. Go to her webs and find out more.

https://prajgariah.com/

Instagram: @prajgariah

The artist and others, most artists as well. We go to learn and encounter unexpected use of materials that we'd never though of on our own. Thank You!!

David's website: https://davidnajibkasir.com/

Instagram: @davidnajibkasir

David's work was overwhelming and it took me almost two weeks to figure out what to say: The content is powerful beyond words and the level of finesse on display a marvel to behold. The surfaces are plyboard which he cuts to shape, then` paints the figures + latticework simultaneously, producing a push/pull effect that is beguiling. It is exquisite artwork straddling the divide between content and form with perfect calculation. My fondest wish is that viewers of the news programming which some of the images seem drawn from get to witness David's work in person and be confronted by its humanity.

David Najib Kasir

Stencils for the gridwork patterns. Guy is a genius.

I always look for the footsteps that show the artist's journey while undergoing their residency experiences. Did not aksk, but am presuming that's the mass of tape from the stenciling sessions. We show it not to reveal the magician's tricks, but to better understand the precision of the painting and the planning which takes place. Which reminded me of stained glass window construction, an art form I've always been fascinated by.