They Have it Made

Seventy-four New York state-based artists comprise the current MINY art exhibition at Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn, NY, including my middle school art teacher circa the 1970s, Mrs, Joyce Homan!

Her piece, “COVID Bubbles” is a watercolor.

Gabriella Mirabelli, “Trees Reflected in Water 1”, 2022, acrylic
Hong Wu, “A Seat at the Table”, 2023, furniture and mixed media

(From the Schweinfurth website)

Jurors

Gary Sczerbaniewicz, sculptor

A New Hartford native, Gary Sczerbaniewicz currently lives and works in Buffalo. He earned degrees at Munson-Williams Proctor Institute School of Art, Alfred University, and the University at Buffalo.

“My recent sculptural work investigates the concept of cognitive dissonance as articulated through an architectural lexicon,” he says on his website. “I am drawn to create works in which an unknown, sudden, violent event has rendered a space inert, transforming it from its original intended function into a hybrid and liminal zone. A recovering child of both Catholicism and the Cold War, my works possess an acute fondness for cultural marginalia: the post-apocalyptic, the science-fictional, the Fortean, the weird and the eerie (as articulated by theorist Mark Fisher), the occult, and the many bewildering worlds of alternative history and conspiracy theory.

Sczerbaniewicz has had solo exhibits in Buffalo, Niagara, Philadephia, Connecticut, Delaware, and Florida, and has been included in group exhibitions in Toronto, New York City, Cleveland, Indiana, and Texas. His entry to Made in NY 2020 at the Schweinfurth won Best in Show award.

Theda Sandiford, mixed media artist

Based in Jersey City, NJ, Theda Sandiford creates multi-disciplinary experiences that provide a safe space to explore themes such as equity and inclusion, sustainability, and personal well-being.

“Using personal conflict as a starting point, I juxtapose various fibers with a variety of found materials using free form weaving, coiling, knotting, wrapping, and jewelry-making techniques,” Sandiford told Artwork Archive. “Meticulously collected materials, transformed by their collective memory become ‘social fabric’ weaving together contemporary issues and personal narratives.” 

Her work has been selected for Excellence in Fibers, curated by Fiber Art Now; displayed publicly in installations in New Jersey, New York, Florida, and more; and displayed in solo exhibits in New Jersey, New York City, Chicago, and more.

Kevin Larmon, painter

Kevin Larmon is a retired professor emeritus and Program Coordinator Art, Design, and Transmedia in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University. He received a BFA from Harpur College at SUNY Binghamton, and currently resides in Upstate New York.

For over three decades, Kevin Larmon has received critical acclaim for creating paintings that lyrically explore the divide between abstraction and referential imagery. His work has been associated with the post-conceptualism and neo-conceptual art movements, which were prominent aspects of exhibitions of the early 80s East Village Gallery Nature Morte and with critics/curators Tricia Collins and Richard Milazzo shaping the nature of painting after the rise of conceptual art.

His work is included in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, and Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery at the University of Texas, Austin. He is the recipient of an Atlantic-Pacific Fellowship and a Pollack Krasner Foundation grant.

Angela Gaffney-Smith, “A Thousand Reasons Why”, 2022, bluestone on maple
David Dorsey, “Sunny Skies, Green Furrows”, 2022, oil on linen
Joyce Hertzson, “After the (F)fall”, 2022, eco-print on rag paper

Pattern and texture is at play here. So many paintings, prints and mixed-media pieces are visually embellished with intricate segments of color, while macrame and other crafts, including crochet, embroidery and weaving adds the tactile component, which creates a cohesive bond to the exhibit. After perusing the jurors’ individual dossiers, it all makes sense.

Margery Pearl Gurnett, “Birds Sing Even After the Storm”, mixed media with resin

It is a wonderful show. The art is for sale. Made in New York 2023 opened last night and continues through May 28, 2023.

Judith Plotner, “Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down”, 2021, fiber and mixed media
Lorraine Walsh, “Marking Time”, 2021, ink on birch panel
Julia Graziano, “Perplexed”, 2021, fiber quilt
Denise Moody, “Her Trunk”, 2023, palm tree fronds

The museum is open Wednesdays-Saturdays 10:00 am – 5:00 pm and Sundays 1:00 – 5:00 pm. Visit their website for details.

David Zaggert, “Musk Portrait”, 2021, oil
Deborah Florentino, “Golden Field”, 2022, pastel
Kurt Treeby, “Atari Skies: Enduro 1”, 2021, acrylic yarn
Rebecca Taylor leather top, Alice & Olivia cotton maxi skirt, Rag & Bone boots, Coach purse

Teaching Bergeron

My Art-8 students viewed the paintings of Canadian artist Daniel Bergeron, specifically, his installation in Regent Park in Toronto.

Then they painted the teachers and staff at our school! The steps were as follows:

  1. Create an Abstract Expressionist base coat on the canvas.
  2. Trace a contour line version of the face photograph onto the canvas via graphite paper then paint the lines with black paint.
  3. Add paint – Abstract Expressionism, solid areas, and patterned areas.
  4. Using Mod Podge, adhere parts of the photograph onto the painting, as well as some patterned paper.
  5. Touch ups plus add bits of fluorescent and metallic paints.

This is my sample (above). We used acrylic paint.

Here are the results. They are on display in the school library. I’ve got one more class finishing up tomorrow for a total of fifty-five paintings. So fun! <3

Hoop Madness

Every year about this time, I assign a sketchbook assignment called March Madness, which is a drawing of people playing basketball. Not the hoop or a ball, or an aerial view of a basketball court.

But that is pretty much what I get. So frustrating. Basketball isn’t a successful theme for art.

As per this art exhibition at the Everson Museum of Art, I can only surmise that the curator thought – give the city what it loves, and for Syracuse, that is basketball. Art as secondary to the sport. Basketball players posing as contemporary artists.

Shoelaces as art. Basketballs as art. Sneakers as art. Trading cards as art.

And a room of basketball hoops and balls to actually play the game.

I wish I could be positive and open minded about this. Like in the vortex happy. But I was all – this is dumb.

Hoop Dreams: Basketball and Contemporary Art continues through May 21, 2023. Not sure if it is open today because of the blizzard, but you can make your own judgment during regular museum hours listed below.

Everson Museum of Art

401 Harrison Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
Tel (315) 474 6064

Museum Hours
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 11:00am – 5:00pm
Thursday: 11:00am – 8:00pm
Friday: 11:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am – 5:00pm
Sunday: 10:00am – 5:00pm