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art reviews: by Terrance aldridge
(disclaimer)
The opinions of the following critique does not express those of any organization such as SAGA, Grover Museum , Main Street, or Shelby County Arts Fest
ARTS FEST
(review #2 in a continuing series)
By Terrance Aldridge
Taste, creativity, vision and passion in art, as in life, are variable depending on the person, the place and the times as is evident at the juried art show currently at the Grover Museum. This multi-perspective diversity of creative passions, featuring 45 works by local and regional artists, will remain on display until Nov. 29 and is free and open to the public.
Since there are 6- billion people in our world there are probably 6-billion different ways to look at and read art. Historically, artists from Giotto, through Michelangelo to Picasso and contemporary artist such as Banksy, Takashi Murakami and Damien Hirst reject categorizing their works as an unnecessary evil of critics and art historians. So at the risk of offending nearly every artist involved this show, including myself, I will make a stab or two at some critical and historical categories of art to better explain this exhibition. My main focus, however, is an artist looking at art and during each week’s journey through the gallery I will bring and question a guest artist so as to be able to solicit opinions, reflections and sensations other than my own.
Initially, I will ask them which work, other than their own, immediately grabs their attention and then I will ask which work draws them back for a second, longer studious look. Finally, I will solicit general comments about the display, quality and format of the exhibit in order to present an “open letter ” of suggestions to the Arts Fest committee.
Historically, writing about art began with the Renaissance and traditionally focused on the subject matter portrayed in the work, which at the time was almost exclusively religious. From this perspective the 35 paintings or drawings hung at the Arts Fest exhibit break down into the following themes: two portraits, three still life’s, three farm scenes, three views of rural life, three abstractions, eight animal pictures, one urban scene, one seascape, and 1O landscapes, some with figures. If you add the numbers you see that this type of categorization does not work, as one picture can and often does fit into many various forms.
So, the modern era, beginning with the Impressionist, critics and historians more often than not categorized art by the medium that it was created in to better place art in context. From this perspective the 45 works in Grover can be divided into the following classifications for non –painting mediums ; four drawings in various media (graphite, carbon pencil, charcoal and colored pencil), three ink jet prints, three photographs, two sculptures (one glass and one mixed media)and one decorative arts piece (jewelry). Under this categorical format the paintings hung at the show are: three watercolors, seven acrylics, 20 works in oil,including two which add other media such as casein or glitter , one mixed media work and one pure casein. But, as one can deduce from this, lists and categories alone tell you very little about art and are quite absurd when it comes to critical analysis and judging such an eclectic thing as art.
With these very real limitations in mind, from now on I only will attempt to place works in an art- historical context and to judge works through my eyes and the eyes of another artist. Aside from these windy digressions, I and my guests found quite a few works in the Arts Fest exhibit interesting, compelling and well done. That said , let’s finally begin our stroll around the gallery with this week’s guests, artist and graphic designer ,Rachel Ackley and her six-year -old daughter Samantha.
The vision of children is often more compelling and interesting than the learned views of adults be they critics, historians or mere painters and for Samantha the most striking work in the show was “Majestic,” a watercolor by Joyce Graves of Indianapolis.
“I like birds and it has very, very pretty colors,” said this budding ornithologist. “It’s nice and most colorful and the bird is really, really neat.”
This judgment , however, opens another artistic can of worms, as this picture in question was awarded a 3rd-place ribbon in the “abstract” category of the juried show. In point of fact, the painting does have abstract qualities of distortion, especially in the background, but is essentially figurative. As Samantha repeatedly noted it is a loosely painted bird. Try as I might, I decided against explaining to her that all painting is essentially an abstraction in that it attempts to capture in two dimensions a multi-dimensional world.
Her other favorite work was also the winner of the “People’s Choice” ribbon during the exhibit’s opening day: “Going Home,” an acrylic, by Pamela Fishbaugh of Fairland. It is a well-executed and compelling work that, like most paintings in this show, can be classified historically and stylistically as a contemporary version of “American Regionalism,” a school of painting popularized in the 1930’s. In particular, American Regionalist painting focused on realistically depicted rural themes, especially farm and small-town life, and was often laced with nostalgia for the past. It was a substantial school of painting, particularly in the Midwest, which produced a national icon: “American Gothic,” by Grant Wood.
Fishbaugh’s work combines this rural nostalgia with a super-fine, clean style of painting that is Rockwellesque, both in its theme and idealized portrayal of life, which is not a bad thing. After all, Norman Rockwell was a legendary illustrator and a superb narrative oil painter, unembarrassed by his artistic vision. “I paint life as I would like it to be,” he often said.
For Samantha’s mother, Rachel, the atmospheric perspective of “Going Home,” grabbed her attention. In particular, she liked the way the painting progressed from a semi-darkened foreground to a hazy, light, bluish sky in the background. As for me, I rather enjoy the soft, nearly pastel, brushstrokes this artist (Impressionalistically) used to describe and define the leaves and grass of this nostalgic vision of farm life.
Another painting which caught the eye of Rachel Ackley, “Morning Repairs,” an oil by Jeff Jackson of Hope, also falls, somewhat reluctantly, under the stylistic banner of American Regionalist art. This painting, however, could also be a view of rural life in today’s Indiana. This painting, which features twin-light sources within a single canvas, effectively alternates a hazy view of a rural morning scene with varied brushwork to pick out details, particularly in the twin grain bins of the middle-ground that lead the eye to a luminous sunrise.
“This is something it takes some talent to do,” Ackley said. “He uses really unique paints strokes to describe a lot of different things.” In particular, she liked the contrast of the light cast by lantern against the diffuse light emanating from the rising sun.
For me, the light in this painting is also its most salient feature, especially the hazy effect that adds to the rural sentiment of a man alone working on his tractor. It is painting that recalls the light-filled, yet lonely, works of Edward Hopper.
The works that, however, especially excited and drew Ackley back again and again were two works which do not fit under the umbrella term, American Regionalism, even though thematically they are farm related. Repeatedly, in the hour, we spent looking at art in the Grover Museum she returned to two drawing by Kenna Al-Sayed, an equestrian artist from Carmel. On the artistic merits of these twin drawings all the of this week’s critics concur in praise,
“I particularly like the asymmetric designs,” said Rachel . “They are very nicely done works, especially her ability to capture the features of horses and their muscle structures. It is pretty impressive.”
The younger Ackley was equally thunderstruck by both of the award-winning works in question: “Around we Go,” an diagonally foreshortened graphite drawing , and “Ginger (Summer’s End)”, a colored pencil rendering of a horse, also receding obliquely into a blank background. Samantha and her mother each spoke about the fine detail within the simplicity of these masterful depictions. Equally, Rachel and I were also impressed by the clean, sharpness of the graphite, which is an essentially messy medium to work in. I also returned again later many times during the week to consider each of Al-Sayed’s works in detail and could see no visible erasure marks in either drawings, a quite astonishing thing.
In short, I will say that Al-Sayed is an artist of talent and extremely promising potential, and I would like to see her expand her work to the more monumental format and richer, textural possibilities of oil paint. I will also recommend her web –site “Sorrel Studios,” to anyone interested in art and encourage them to contact the 20-something master of the pencil.
During next’s week journey through The Arts Fest gallery I will focus on another traditional Indiana art form, landscape painting and will be joined by local artist, Ruth Roberts.
Facade grant
Facade Grants 2008 projects:
The Strand Theatre was the most recent recipient. The grant helped fund the materials and labor needed to restore the upper story windows and clean the limestone detailing.
Before: April 2007
After: May 2009
The three buildings on the busy corner of Broadway and Harrison in Downtown Shelbyville got a facelift with the help of a Mainstreet Shelbyville Facade Grant. Read a great article in the Shelbyville News about the project here. Before and after photos of the renovations are below.
Before: The same grey/white color scheme, mis-matched windows, rotting wooden trim and peeling paint hid the quality businesses inside this historic building.
After: The attention to detail has made this project outstanding. Repair to the upper story windows, wooden trim (including vents, mouldings, and more), tuckpointing, paint, and awnings in coordinating colors separate the buildings visually and draw attention to the architectural details.
Rendezvous Event and Catering at 34-36 East Washington was the second project to be completed. The grant helped fund the upper story window restoration, brick repair and tuckpointing and painting. The owners Patricia and Patrick Trefun have renovated the interiors for catering and events, a gift shop, and offices.
Before:
And After:
This project was featured in a recent e-newsletter from the Indiana Historic Landmarks Foundation. Read it here!
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