Yesterday's Gallery Hopping

Comments on Wednesday's Gallery Hopping

 

 

Even with the ungodly heat raging outside yesterday, I thoroughly enjoyed lunching with my VCU Mixed Media class, going into many of the Main Street art spaces and then the downtown ones along Broad Street and in Linden Row.

 

Unfortunately, it is too easy for me to suffer from "art overload" during these excursions since I go for way too long with out visiting a gallery or museum and then see 7 spaces in the course of just a few hours.  (Remember the term "aesthetic seizure"?  I guess I am trying to avoid one of those.)  In fact I must admit that is why I skipped to VMFA yesterday. Not only had I just taken two groups there while teaching last week, I didn't want to forget some of the more memorable art I had just seen, particularly at the Visual Arts Center.   Thursdays evenings do sound like a great event at the VMFA however, just might force some culture into my husband and go there next time it works into our schedule.

 

Which works seem to be the most relevant to the work I am producing in this class?

 

From the Visual Arts Instructor's Show….

 

J.C. Gilmore-Bryan

La Victorie de Samothrace, 2011

Painting with mixed media on paper

 

It was like this artist was working along side me in this class and we were sharing the same materials.  The ground seems to be prepared with many painterly surfaces.  Creating a sense of visual texture that I also strive for in my work.  The figure of Victory is done with a quick heavy contour line that reminded me of the line quality I used in some of my studies earlier this week to depict roots and stones.  The main differences are this figure rests solidly on top of the prepared surface and also, Victory is front  and center on the ground.  My figures are obscured to the various levels in my work with many of them being completely hidden from the viewer. 

 

 

Okay really this is not a crass attempt to kiss up but I felt that Amie's collection, in the same show also has a bit of relevance to my work this summer with the loose application and dripping/running of paint as the first layer.

 

Amie Oliver

Heaven and Earth 2007-2011

Acrylic, paint, ink, and charcoal

 

 

 

 

Finally the show at 1708, Liz Miller's Illusive Insurgency, at first blush does not seem to have anything remotely similar to my work.  Her sculptural works are colossally huge with crisp forms, while mine are small, flat, and gestural.  It is in her use and then abandonment of repetition that I find some common ground.  I truly enjoy seeing a pattern set up and then deteriorate either suddenly or subtly.  Also while it has absolutely nothing to do with my work.  I love the way the installation reads as a high relief upon entering the gallery and then transforms as the into an interactive space that the viewer can walk into.

 

Liz Miller

Illusive Insurgency 2011

Stiffened felt, and other mixed media

 

A long, long time ago far, far away I once was a Bed and Breakfast waitress.  The restaurant/inn was in a Victorian Home which displayed really bad watercolors done by local wanna-be impressionists.  Given that awful aesthetic experience, I can only say it was a tremendous delight to see the contemporary art on display in Linden Row and thrilled that it is an ongoing project. 

Have a great weekend and stay cool...

Kathy