The Everson Museum of Art is open! I mean, it’s been open – I just didn’t know it. I was able to catch the tail end of the Lacey McKinney show, Reconfiguration. The Everson Bulletin states the show’s run ended on the 24th so…lucky me and my friend Penny.
*The show has now been extended to February 28, 2021 so…lucky you!
I love the discourse between Penny Santy and me when we see exhibitions together. We don’t always like the same pieces but we understand each other’s point of view.
McKinney’s paintings are oil and acrylic. I suspect the acrylic was either a means to create texture or the underlying Frankenthaler-esque washes in some of the female populated landscapes.
Penny loved these new-technique-for-the-artist “cyanotypes” (above) but they reminded me of a crafty high school art project – female body parts minus vagina, lol, that is too mean, sorry Lacey, but, I felt like these were a bit too safe and they read more like studies than finished pieces. I did admire the size relationships though. And in person, the blue hues are lovely and more nuanced than the photograph suggests.
The larger portrait/landscape mash-ups were far more interesting to me. They offered visual collage in a successful way – female as mountain, eyes averted so as not to become a focal point – they had an ethereal beauty to them. She is quite proficient in the rendering of the subject matter, as well as holding a cerebral allocation of the structure of her iconography.
These two (above) were my favorites. I loved the softness of the colorations and the rhythm in the compositions. They whisper emotion in a powerful feminine way with subtle colorations of glaze-infused shadow. Perfection!
This piece (above) reminded me of Marilyn Monroe, but that may be because I had just watched a documentary on Arthur Miller, ex-husband of MM, and one on the fashion designer Dries Van Noten, Belgium fashion designer who created a line of menswear with a variety of images of MM silk-screened on jackets and shirts.
The literature states that the artist selected images from magazines and reconfigured them stealing fragments of different women juxtaposed as either friend or foe. So, maybe?
This collection is on view in the Robineau gallery on the first floor of the museum. I believe there were only about five other people in the entire museum today when we visited. Plenty of social distancing room to ruminate on this new work. Call (315) 474-6064 for more information.
The retrospective currently on exhibition in two of the upstairs galleries at the Everson Museum of Art (401 Harrison Street, Syracuse, New York 13202) was fifty years in the making. Puerto Rican born Juan Cruz has spent the past forty years dwelling here in Syracuse, New York, making murals, teaching and working on a collegiate degree in Fine Art from Syracuse University. And painting – he has been creating the mother-lode of paintings.
This show exemplifies what I have always wanted the Everson to be – a museum that believes in local artists, supporting their careers and offering ample space to breathe love and life into a body of work that illustrates the strength, character and beauty of an artist’s life-long vision.
There are paintings that show Cruz’s proficiency with realism – watercolor landscapes and oil on paper portraits. These pieces are the yellow bricks of the journey. They offer the first dance on a path that takes a left hand cruise into abstraction.
Those abstracts even go 3-D via a few sculptures as well, but the artist’s main strength is in the confident energy of the gnarled face forms peering out of these canvases, evidently pleading to be understood.
This energy alludes to social injustices felt both personally and as a member of a Caribbean culture with economic drama. There is abundant repetition of shape and color interspersed with black outlines, as well as bright white. This co-mingling rhythm creates a cartoon-like flavor undermining the angst, which gets more pronounced in the newer pieces, suggesting a shift to a more positive perspective for this working artist.
I would imagine pure full-on non-representational abstraction is the goal, obliterating the need to be understood by the masses, because when the goal is freedom of expression, the limitation of pleasing others gives way to one’s own knowing. Knowing the rightness of choices made with deliberate intent.
It’s all about the journey, and this one is an enormously satisfying one. I am delighted that I was able to witness this body of work as it is displayed. And for Juan Cruz, the best is yet to come. Because the dance is by no means over – it has just begun. <3
Juan Cruz: A Retrospective concludes on August 4, 2019. (Up next – Yoko Ono!)
****From the Everson website
Syracuse-based artist Juan Alberto Cruz (b. 1941, Puerto Rico) combines rich symbolism with a bold and colorful abstract style to create work infused with his Caribbean heritage. Moving from Puerto Rico to Manhattan’s Lower East Side and subsequent travels to Spain, Mexico, Cuba, and Central America have had a major impact on Cruz’s work, which reflects a mixture of his cultural heritage and life experiences. From his earliest portrait paintings to recent abstract collages, Cruz uses the emotional realities of his past to articulate his feelings about economic inequality and systematic injustice.
As a child, Cruz taught himself to draw by copying the comic strips from discarded newspapers onto brown paper grocery bags, and later he drew portraits of everyday people that he sold for pocket change on the street. It was not until his thirties, when he enrolled in an art program led by then-Everson Director Jim Harithas that Cruz learned art could be more than replicating the world around him. Harithas taught Cruz how to paint and introduced him to a world of modern artists, which led Cruz’s drawings and paintings to evolve into a complex amalgamation of figurative and abstract forms. For the past five decades, Cruz’s boundless creativity and production has led him to compile a massive body of work.
Since moving to Syracuse in 1975, Cruz has made a significant impact on the local community. He has painted numerous murals throughout the city, including on the Onondaga Commons building, in Skiddy Park, and several in the Near West Side. He also completed a new mural with the Everson Teen Arts Council currently on view on the Museum’s Lower Level. Cruz served as artist-in-residence for the Near West Side Initiative for five years and ran the Patch-Up Studio, a community center that provided children and adults with a safe space to make and learn about art. By choosing to live and work in Syracuse, Cruz has brought together a multigenerational community inspired by his public art initiatives and workshops.
After the Happy Little Tree House art reception on Tuesday, Brandon Hall took Karmin and me to see his other hospital exhibition. It is in the cancer center wing of Upstate Medical Center and will be up for a couple months, I think, or at least until the end of May.
Brandon is an art teacher at Fayetteville-Manlius High School. He scours flea markets and garage sales to find discarded photograph albums and situates these unknown strangers into wallpapered assemblage landscapes peppered with texture and color. They are mounted on wood and double-lacquered to prevent fading. They are really exquisite and priced at only $250!
Also in this show are Heidi VanTassel’s photography and paintings by Kate Renetta.
I ran into a friend who told me about an amazing restaurant in downtown Syracuse, New York called The Fish Friar. She planted that seed of desire in me and within days I was seated in the outdoor dining space enjoying a fish sandwich (sans bread) and two sides.
It was a perfect summer night, the fresh breeze in the air turned a gorgeous sunset into a Prussian blue sky. The food was soooo good, the chef created a work of art on my plate, and so, we are talking phenomenological encounter here, which to be honest, is the only way I can possibly live my life. The present moment is exquisite.
Everyone there seemed to know everyone else and we delighted in sharing Gia DeLaurentis style verbal soliloquies of how the food tasted. So fun, and yet, I became distracted by a message thing-a-ma-bob on my pages manager app, which kept directing me to my like page on Facebook, Karen Tashkovski-Visual Artist. I couldn’t figure it out. I clicked on everything and still the 1 was left staring at me. I scrolled the messages for the umpteenth time, all read, and came to the bottom of the queue. Yes, I had read this last message when it was sent in 2014. But when I read it again – aloud – it was as if the late Michael Moody was speaking to me now.
Hi Karen
Like all artists, your art is evolving. I can appreciate your art because I know you personally and because you’ve been painting for a long time which shows your drive, desire and dedication.
I don’t attend all of the art openings but I do go to some to show support for other artists. I never see you anymore. I know that you work, so you’re busy and might not attend openings because of this. But this makes you invisible to much of the local art scene. Perhaps our paths just haven’t crossed but if not, then it’s time for you to leave your little bubble and rather cloistered life (If that’s the case) and mingle with other artists!
Some of your narration sounds like you’re still looking for approval and acceptance from those hoards of non artists that you’d like to buy your product. In your mind, body and spirit this attitude must cease to exist!
I’ve been in some shows simply because other artists have recommended me or just dropped my name. Think about it! There are also many new artists that would see you as a mentor or master simply because of the years in your craft.
Enough said! Come out, come out, from wherever you are! Show more zest for your craft by being there among your peers. No one else counts (give or take).
…and don’t publish this! lol Michael Moody …and thanks for mentioning my name in your narration! 07/29/2014 11:22PM
Karen Tashkovski – Visual Artist You’re right that I don’t want to mix and mingle. Absolutely right, lol.
Ya gotta change that babe! u can do it put ur back in to it!!! How else can your artistic peers get to know you and remember you!
Back then I was kinda-sorta still in a funk about direction in my life. I had started my blog and was slowly re-emerging into the local art scene. Fast-forward to now, and last night, where I was greeted by so many artists at John Dowling’s gallery on Hawley Avenue – everyone so wonderfully complimentary, telling me that they love my posts on Facebook and love reading my blog; that I am always smiling and positive, and all these nice things. I was told I am beautiful too.
Crazy, right? How time can change one’s perspective. How it only takes baby steps to get us back on track heading in the right direction in life and that those steps can lead us to such amazing things. It is such a gift to be a part of a group of like-minded souls who feel compelled to practice the art of making, sharing and selling art in such a cohesive way. I am incredibly grateful for my journey and where it leads and where life will continue to take me.
I was talking to John Dowling about the possibility of exhibiting my angel and heart paintings, if that theme works. He said he hadn’t thought of a themed show and so, I reminded him that his show dedicated to Cubawas one and this current show is as well.
In this case, the theme is size related. The pieces are 6″ x 6″ or 8″ x 8″. I LOVE a square canvas. And these pieces are deliciously inviting. Mini canvases in the artist’s styles, many you can recognize without needing their identification monikers – Hon Go’s modeling paste built geometric textured works, Diana Godfrey’s hauntingly rich abstract landscapes, John Fitzsimmons’ tiny-version portrait studies, Judi Witkin’s wearable art/steam punk jewelry turned collage art….
Kristina Starowitz told me that she has only just entered the sharing-her-art-mode and this show enabled her to experiment with ideas without committing to larger canvases. Her passion is evident in a tribute to the time-lapse of nature and its infinite beauty.
Tiny voices from big hearts. They are all priced to sell and offer this wonderful way to begin an art collection. You will be able to find space in your home or office for these pieces. It would be so cool if someone stopped in and said, “I’ll take one of each, please!”
Thank you, Michael, for reminding me of what is truly important. For knowing me better than I thought I knew myself, and for forcing that app to malfunction (which has now mysteriously fixed itself) in order for me to hear you again. You are da bomb.
P.S. You really did want me to share this message, after all. <3
Karen Tashkovski, Creation, 2017, encaustic, 6″ x 8″ on masonite mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard, $75
Karen Tashkovski, Pure, 2017, encaustic, 6″ x 8″ on masonite mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard, $75
I feel so much satisfaction in the completion of these heart paintings. I made them during Memorial Day weekend but only put finishing touches on them, including titles, a little while ago. They are sprawled on the dining room table currently, waiting for me to find a place to store them/sell them.
Karen Tashkovski, Veil, 2017, encaustic, 6″ x 8″ on masonite mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard, $75
Karen Tashkovski, Divinity, 2017, encaustic, 6″ x 8″ on masonite mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard, $75
Hearts are my thing. They are everywhere in my life – heart paintings in all media abound on the walls of my house; I even find heart stones, (literally, everyday) when I walk the trails of Green Lakes. I love love. I find beauty everywhere, particularly in the heart motif, and coupled with the vibrant hues of oil paint infused beeswax and its subsequent texture in my artwork, it fills me with gratitude, a sort of passionate energy and joyous warmth. I desire to share that feeling with everyone in the world.
Karen Tashkovski, Heartbeat, 2017, encaustic, 6″ x 8″ on masonite mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard, $75
One person’s positive energy is stronger than a roomful of debbie downers, lol. It would be lovely to think that my good vibes saturate these paintings and in that way I can spread seeds of love into this universe. Corny, I know, but genius. There is power in the unity of spirit. Believing in goodness is the stuff of legend. <3
Karen Tashkovski, Denim, 2017, encaustic, 6″ x 8″ on masonite mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard, $75
Karen Tashkovski, Butter, 2017, encaustic, 6″ x 8″ on masonite mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard, $75
Karen Tashkovski, Imprint, 2017, encaustic, 6″ x 8″ on masonite mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard, $75
Karen Tashkovski, Lyric, 2017, encaustic, 6″ x 8″ on masonite mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard, $75
Karen Tashkovski, Match, 2017, encaustic, 6″ x 8″ on masonite mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard, $75
Karen Tashkovski, Renaissance, 2017, encaustic, 6″ x 8″ on masonite mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard, $75
Karen Tashkovski, Harmony, 2017, encaustic, 6″ x 8″ on masonite mounted on 9″ x 12″ chalkboard, $75
Coach baseball cap, Halston Heritage dress, Karl Lagerfeld Paris boots
The closing reception for Art & Baseball, my watercolor show at Half Moon Bakery & Bistro, was sooooo much fun! The baseball cupcakes were so cute, and delicious too. I had a lemon one – yum!
I have such an amazing support system of love from my immediate family. My sister Kathy and my mom were there and my dad stopped in after a long morning of tilling his vegetable garden. My friend Penny was doing the same at her place in Sylvan Beach before coming! I have the best friends and I know how fortunate I am to have them in my life.
Proprietor Debbe Titus said exactly that – “you have the best friends supporting you”.
After the reception and take down, my friend Kim and I drove over to her hair salon, Kimberly’s Salon at 2520 James Street in Eastwood (Syracuse, New York). We hung the paintings there. So that is the answer to the questions, when and where is your next show? They will be up indefinitely and are available for sale in a cash & carry. I will just replace them with more art.
Kimberly’s Salon hours of operation are as follows: Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:00 am – 6 pm, Wednesdays & Fridays 9:00 am – 6:00 pm, and Saturdays 9:00 am – 2:00 pm. Call (315) 463-2735 for more information.
I do have the very best friends a girl could ever ask for. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Today was such an amazing day in my universe.
