Category Archives: digital art

Measuring Up

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The Art Galleries at Syracuse University are designed to facilitate education.  In other words, it’s a teaching museum.  Professors require students to go to there – to critique the art/learn how to judge a work of art.  Students journal about experiences for classes, attend the receptions and lectures, and even work there (which has to be the greatest work-study gig).

Last year, former Director Domenic Iocono mentioned it was the reason artists like Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and Kiki Smith wanted to collaborate by sharing their work with our community, enhancing the walls of the spaces with their respective visions.

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In this season’s first exhibition, Not a Metric Matters, the university galleries led by new Director and Chief Curator Vanja Malloy, Ph.D. hosts its own – the School of Visual & Performing Arts faculty.  It is an opportunity to showcase their talent, yes, and also turn the tables on the critiquing process allowing the professors to show students how it’s really done.

Margie Hughto has been affiliated with the university for many, many years.  When I spoke to her last month, she said teaching is still fun and so, she will continue to share her expertise with students for many years to come.

Her ceramic and found object work is exquisite.  It is perfection in editing – selecting just the right found object pieces to coordinate with the ceramic pieces.  The work alludes to the recent discarded and forgotten in terms of technology.

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The thought provoking concepts aside, Hughto’s artwork screams of her strength of character.  She finds beauty in every angle, in each piece fused as one.  They are signatures of her style while continuing to surprise and delight us, continuing a growth trajectory as an artist and that in itself is the lesson.

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Holly Greenberg has isolated grief in this productive series of drawings.  These pieces resonated with me – as you know my father recently passed away and his belongings are still in the closets, his car in the driveway at Mom’s house.  Using these ordinary objects as memento gives them a lovingly somber power and isolating them in their compositions drives the message home.

It is curious how objects can retain the emotion of the spirit and Greenberg’s proficiency in rendering provides the elevation of their status.

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Ann Clarke‘s fiber artwork is marvelously original.  Texture is my thing and seeing monumental work on the walls creates a bold statement about time.  The fabrics are traditional, but the techniques are fresh and alive.  The hooked rug eye is really incredible in-person.  I love the idea of taking a method we all used in the past and formulating this new pattern, which seems to denote to me that someone is watching over me, loving me.

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Clarke’s statement does imply that she is the watchful eye for her ailing mother and that is a beautiful thing.  That the old becomes new again, and time is cyclical.

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Other teaching artists in this show –

Yasser Aggour, Cooper Battersby, Emily Vey Duke, Don Carr, Deborah Dohne, Heath Hanlin, Seyeon Lee, Sarah McCoubrey, Su Hyun Nam, Vasilios Papajoannu, James Ransome, Tom Sherman and Chris Wildrick

Their work takes dimension as paintings, drawings, photo-collage, video and installation – and all have something important to say within the context of their visualizations.

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There are more exhibits in the space, all curated by different people.  DJ Hellerman is the curator of this show.  He is the Art and Program Curator at the Everson Museum of Art and collaborates with SU’s Department of Transmedia.  I met him while stumbling into a critique of university students’ final exhibitions at Apostrophe’s.

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David Prince curated the display of former VPA faculty members.  As you know, I am an SU grad (B.F.A. ’85, M.S. ’93).  These professors are my people.  I absolutely loved Rodger Mack.  He was so devoted to building the sculpture department and his bronze sculptures are THE BEST!

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Seeing his hands portrayed by Jerome Witkin brought a tear to my eye.  There is so much love here, people.  Going to Syracuse University was a dream come true for me – I feel incredibly blessed to have been the first person in my family to ever go to a university –  and to see the professors being honored is such a gift.  They deserve every accolade.

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They were and are true working artists, not just people showing up to collect a paycheck.

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There’s lots more to see of these exhibits and the vast permanent collections.  It will all be on display until November 24, 2019.  There will be an art reception on Thursday, September 12, 2019 from 5 – 7 pm.  And Holly Greenberg will be giving a presentation in the adjacent Shemin Auditorium on Thursday, November 7, 2019 at 6:30 pm.

Syracuse University Art Galleries is located in the Shaffer Art Building on Syracuse University campus.  Free parking is available on Sundays and on Thursday evenings in the Q lot – or at least it was when I was there yesterday.  Call (315) 443-4097 for more information including hours of operation.  <3

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Cool August Moonies

 

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Tonight was the opening reception for the summer art exhibition at The Syracuse Tech Garden gallery (235 Harrison Street, Syracuse, New York 13202).  It is titled Cool August Moon. I saw my high school friend and fellow art teacher Audrey Levinson there!

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Artist Steve Nyland (another Jamesville-DeWitt alum) is the curator and a participant in the show.  He told me that he signed a new contract to continue with these exhibitions for at least another year.  They take place in the lobby of this building, which is across the street from the Syracuse Marriott (Hotel Syracuse).

Other local artists contributing to this show –

Laura Audrey
Terry Lynn Cameron
Richell Castellon
Fletcher Crangle
Kathy Donovan
Ryan Foster
Larry Hoyt
Lisa Ketcham
James P. McCampbell
Sally Stormon
Rabekah Tanner
Mitzie Testani
Ray Trudell
Kayla Cady Vaughn
Ryan Wood

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Massachusetts transplant Lisa Ketcham creates these kitschy assemblages and frames.  They are sort of a cross between steampunk and macabre via the use of gears, timey-wimey-ies and skeletons.

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Terry-Lynn Cameron brought her originals to share.  I met her on Sunday at City Market where she was selling prints of these lovely acrylic paintings.

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Richell Castellon Ferreira is the real deal – a painter and woodworker by trade.  He comes to us from Cuba.  His paintings of the Syracuse landscape would make perfect additions to any local collector’s art stash!  He paints from photographs and from memory.  These originals are only $175.

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Ray Trudell focuses on the invisible in his black and white photographs taken of the surrounding area.  He “slows time” by defining a glimpse of a moment using sharp contrast in his compositions.

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The exhibit will be on display until September 20, 2019.  For more information contact Steve Nyland at gallery.ttg@gmail.com.  To purchase artwork, contact the artists directly.  They have left business cards and also have contact information on their respective art tags.

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Motion Forward

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Summer is a time where time doesn’t matter to me.  I get up when I want.  I do what I want.  It is not slow or fast motion.  It is pure bliss.  Today was a bit wonky in that it was cloudy-ish – it rained last night and seemed like an indoor-all-day kind of day.  I worked on a fun, creative project, I practiced on piano, watched some TV (I cannot get enough of Million Dollar Listings on Bravo) then I noticed that it was actually nicer out than I thought.  So, I decided to go for a hike.  So satisfying!  When I returned, I stumbled upon information that there was going to be an art reception and I still had time to get ready to go!  Can someone hashtag #ootd fast enough?  Could this day get any better?  Yes and yes!

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Halston Heritage dress, Michelle DaRin Jewelry bracelets, BCBGMaxAzria sandals

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I was delighted.  For some reason I thought SU’s galleries went on summer hiatus but that is not the case with POC this time.

Syracuse University’s Point of Contact gallery is located in the Warehouse Building in Armory Square (350 W. Fayette Street, Syracuse, New York 13202).  It is primarily a space that features latin artists, although from time-to-time they curate other exhibitions, like the annual Sum Art show.

Time Changes Everything is the current exhibition.  Curated by Sara Felice, Managing Associate Director of the gallery, it features Margie Hughto, Beth Bischoff and Darcy Gerbarg with an art and video installation by Franco Andres in the back space.

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It is a magnificent show!  It was such a thrill to meet and speak with three of the artists.  I have met Margie Hughto before but this time – OMG, her new work is breathtakingly beautiful, the kind of thing that moves me to want to make art, moves me to the tears that form the essence of joy.  They are ceramic assemblages that sort of bridge the space between archeology and modernism.  Each piece is fired separately then the artist uses intuitive rhythm to create movement in each piece, a swirling that truly captivates.  Her inclination here is to showcase climate change.

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Darcy Gerbarg blends her history as an Abstract Expressionist painter with her knowledge of digital technology.  She has always been on the cutting edge in her field and these pieces are digital prints created by utilizing virtual reality software.  Like a conductor wielding her baton, she executes a rhythmic flow of movement that then gets translated into digitized color on a monumental scale.

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Beth Bischoff spent six years living in the Yucatan.  Her photographs of this landscape are taken with a unique panoramic camera then digitally printed.  The imagery created transports the viewer to a jungle habitat lost in time.  Again, the sweep of rhythm thrusts mightily, albeit in black and white.  It appears in tree branches and tall grass, as well as in the contrast of the stone facades.

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The time changing element to this show is that feeling of having been here in the present moment and everywhere simultaneously.  Time doesn’t stand still.  It swirls and dances upon the landscape of photograph, painting, print and bas-relief.  I feel changed for the better blessed by the momentum of art.

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If you would like to view this show and find out more about the 4th artist, Franco Andres, (I did not get the opportunity to meet/speak with him), the exhibition runs through August 9, 2019.  Point of Contact is open Monday – Friday 12 – 5 pm.  Call (315) 443-2169 for more information or visit the POC website at www.puntopoint.org <3

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***From the gallery website

TIME CHANGES EVERYTHING

MARGIE HUGHTO, BETH BISHOFF, DARCY GERBARG, FRANCO ANDRES

JULY 12 – AUGUST 9

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Each artist in Time Changes Everything battles the temporality of human existence and the material world constructed around it.

Bischoff’s photography expresses a harmony of the past and present depicting the ruins left in the world’s progression. Bischoff’s Ruins series functions as a reminder of the care our planet deserves.

Ceramist Margie Hughto draws inspiration from landfills and remains left by humans in the creation of her Excavation Series. Hughto’s work embodies the transience of the human experience in a world heavily structured by transitory material objects.

Bringing together numerous modes of digital art, Gerbarg forms The Syracuse Pictures. Her artwork abstracts the world into its own heterotopia, existing in both the past and present.

Andres realizes the difficulty of authenticity for artists as he utilizes an accumulation of mediums in the formation of one’s identity. The process of his artwork becomes a depiction of time and change as his work spans from ancient processes to contemporary modes of video.

These four distinct artists come together in “Time Changes Everything” to pose a larger challenge to the viewers through the ultimate tool, their artwork.

Time Changes Everything will be on view through Aug. 9th.

 

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