Report: June 22 Art Walk in New Albany

Earl Grey and Boris Zakic discuss Painting along with alums
Mary Margaret and Rachel
and one of the students involved in the creation of this work,
Alex, a senior art major at GC.

As mentioned previously on this blog and on the Georgetown College website, the 2013 entries of the New Albany Public Art Project (including Boris Zakic's installation) officially debuted on Saturday evening. Artists were on hand to discuss their works and to sign posters that visitors were able to make (using silkscreens designed by Ron Jasin of Madpixel Art and Design and available at the location of each of the sites where new public art is to be explored this year). 

Boris signs a poster made
by one of the attendees Saturday night. Each new public art
piece was embodied visually as a screen image that visitors
could apply to a blank poster sheet (with the help of friendly
volunteers to demonstrate the silkscreen process).
Artists were available to sign the image representing their installation.

Save the Date: June 22

Update, 6-19-2013: Read the story in LEOWeekly here.

The New Albany Public Art Project: Bicentennial Series is a multi-year outdoor exhibition that interprets New Albany's rich history and heritage. As part of the 2013 installment, Georgetown College's Boris Zakic was selected to address the theme of artist, artmaking, and local heritage. The result is an installation of several canvasses measuring 60 x 22 feet created by Zakic and students in his "Impasto Mannerisms" class taught at Georgetown College this past spring.

The work has recently been installed and will make its official debut on Saturday, June 22 as part of the 2013 Art Walk. Details here. 

Painting, 2013

Titled Painting, I see the work as interpreting the historic theme of visual arts and artists through crimson and clover gestures that neither contain nor are contained by their substrate.

Senior Spotlight: Kayleigh Riddell

Kayleigh Riddell (Georgetown, Ky) combines needle and paintbrush with a kind of symbiotic sensitivity that only some who is interested in the psychology of sibling interactions can. Coming from a strong and independent matriarchal family, she uses her bond with her sister to, in part, illustrate the nature of this particular relationship while also dramatize similar narratives found in other habitats, from the depths of seas to African jungle, for example. She is a double major in Psychology.

On Shelby (her sister): "Protection, caring, and home are just some of the main staples of our sisterhood." -- Kayleigh Riddell

Kayleigh Riddell, Shark and Remora, oil and embroidery floss, 16 x 20 inches

With Keyleigh, I conclude the expos of the five BA candidates in why is this happening? (2013 Senior Thesis, ART455). Please visit the previous blogposts on Daniel, Lauren and Elizabeth, and Jen. 

why is this happening?

Senior Art Exhibition 2013 

March 22 - April 5, 2013

reception, lecture and screening: Friday, March 22, 5 – 7 PM

For more information please follow Anne Wright Wilson Fine Arts Gallery, Georgetown College, Georgetown, KY http://www.georgetowncollege.edu/galleries/ or https://www.facebook.com/whyisthishappening2013

Jeanette Tesmer, Director of Art Galleries and Curator of Collections
E-mail: jeanette_tesmer@georgetowncollege.edu
Phone: 502-863-8399

Boris Zakic, Professor of Art

E-mail: boris_zakic@georgetowncollege.edu
Phone: 502-863-8107

Black History Month and other links

The largest art theft in U.S. history occurred in Boston on March 18, 1990, when 12 paintings collectively worth $100 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum by two thieves posing as police officers. (via)

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The Huffington Post closed out Black History Month but highlighting 30 Contemporary Art Makers Under 40 You Should Know 

"As Black History Month comes to a close, we've picked 30 young black artists who are contributing to the ongoing conversation of race and representation in contemporary art. Whether through sculpture, photography, video or performance, each artist illuminates the complexity of the self with a unique and bold vision." (All photos from The Huffington Post article) 

Look at these awesome photographs of kids portraying prominent black figures in honor of Black History Month by Eunique Jones Gibson. You can go to the website here.

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Real life depictions of famous works of art...

...maybe don't cut it? An article in The Atlantic highlighted some of their favorite ones:

"Fashion month is in full swing, and to capitalize on the runway spectacles that are happening in New York, London, Milan, and Paris, many museums—from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to the Allentown Art Museum in Pennsylvania—are opening exhibitions related to la mode.

Art and fashion have had a long relationship, with major glossies inviting artists from Salvador Dalí to Barbara Kruger to direct or shoot their editorial content. But by far the most fun art-fashion fusions are the dozens of photo shoots replicating famous paintings by the likes of Klimt, Vermeer, and Lichtenstein. Below are 11 hilarious, odd, and sometimes even magical examples of fashion editorials inspired by art."

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Devon Aoki as Hans Memling’s Virgin and Child (1475)
The Face, 1997
Photo by Michael Sanders

Grungy youth-culture mag The Face, which launched the career of a skinny teen named Kate Moss in the ‘90s, paid homage to Renaissance painting with a dash of irony. In Michael Sander’s recreation of Hans Memling’s Virgin and Child, the beautiful Devon Aoki holds a creepy plastic doll in place of the baby Jesus.

This was one of my least favorites. Aside from there being a baby in the recreation and the woman holding the baby in a similar position there's nothing else that's really the same and there's just nothing about this that I enjoy. I mean I get that the photographer was trying to be ironic but I really think he just did the piece a disservice. And it's not because I dislike Devon Aoki. (I mean have you seen 2 Fast 2 Furious???)

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Models as Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss (1907-1908)
Harper’s Bazaar, February 2002
Photo by Patrick Demarchelier
Gustav Klimt’s portraits of society women and bohemians all feature some pretty fantastic clothing; the painter himself was a “dress reformer” and had a long (sometimes romantic) relationship with (anti-)fashion designer Emily Floge. So it seems appropriate that Patrick Demarchelier would recreate his most famous painting, The Kiss, in a 2002 art-inspired editorial for Harper’s Bazaar that also featured interpretations of Picasso’sLes demoiselles d’Avignon, Andy Warhol’s portrait of Liz Taylor, and more.

I was initially torn about how I felt about this one. On the one hand, Klimt is almost impossible to recreate identically but I don't think a truly identical reproduction was the intent of any of these pieces. On the otherhand, I think the photographer did a really great job of using the fact that he couldn't match the fabric of their clothing exactly and taking the opportunity to put his own twist on the reproduction. When I first saw this it was one of my least favorites but the more I sat and looked at it, the more I began to realize that using the things you CAN'T match exactly are where you take the opportunities to put your own touch on a piece like this.

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Model as Edward Hopper’s The Automat (1927)
The New York Times, 2006
Photo by Joel-Peter Witkin

Joel-Peter Witkin’s richly packed tableaux often reimagine old masterworks, such as Velázquez’s Las Meninas or Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, but with the photographer’s signature morbidity. (Some typical motifs: corpses, skeletons, dwarves, invalids.) Witkin took a much lighter approach for “The History of Hats in Art,” a whimsical editorial for The New York Times using headgear from Prada, Ralph Lauren, and Alexander McQueen to recreate paintings by Manet, Picasso, and Edward Hopper.

No comment on this one. I love it. It is perfect. That is all.

Which ones were your favorites?

Recreating Rothko's work in Lexington!

The Actors Guild of Lexington is performing a play about Mark Rothko!

"Master abstract expressionist Mark Rothko has just landed the biggest commission in the history of modern art, a series of murals for New York’s famed Four Seasons Restaurant. In the two fascinating years that follow, Rothko works feverishly with his young assistant, Ken, in his studio on the Bowery. But when Ken gains the confidence to challenge him, Rothko faces the agonizing possibility that his crowning achievement could also become his undoing. Raw and provocative, RED is a searing portrait of an artist's ambition and vulnerability as he tries to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting. Winner of the 2010 Tony Award." (via )

Check out this article in the Herald Leader about recreating all the artwork. Definitely not as easy as one might think.

The faux Mark Rothko paintings used during the production of Red are the work of Lexington artist DeAnna Rigney. Photo by Briana Scroggins (picture and caption thanks to the Herald Leader)


Rothko is probably my very favorite painter. When I studied abroad with Dr. Decker I got to see some of his work in person and it. was. incredible. Dr. Decker was pretty awesome too. Who are some of your favorite painters?!

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/01/24/2488660/in-mimicking-rothkos-work-lexington.html#storylink=cpy

sad day...Helen Frankenthaler

The artist Helen Frankenthaler in her studio on Contentment Island in Darien, Conn., in 2003, with her work, "Blue Lady," acrylic on paper. Photo by Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times

Many students in art classes at Georgetown College come to know the work of Helen Frankenthaler because we are fortunate to have a work by her housed in the Dr. Donald L. and Dorothy Jacobs Gallery in the Ensor Learning Resource Center on campus. Personally, I discuss her work and development as an artist, sometimes briefly and other times in depth, in art history courses. Frankenthaler offers so much to art's history and, in my view, a means of critiquing the push toward abstraction in the mid-20th century. It was sad to learn that she'd passed away this week. In her honor, I've pulled some words about and images of her and her work. Enjoy.

From The New York Times...Helen Frankenthaler, the lyrically abstract painter whose technique of staining pigment into raw canvas helped shape an influential art movement in the mid-20th century, and who became one of the most admired artists of her generation, died on Tuesday at her home in Darien, Conn. She was 83. Read the full notice here.

GC's first art history major, Ashley Gabbard Darland (GC art history '07), addressed the artist briefly in her art history thesis that year. Darland discussed each work in the Donald L. and Dorothy Jacobs Collection, housed in the Ensor LRC on the GC campus. This collection includes Bilbao, a 13-color screen print from 1998, shown immediately below.

In commenting on the artist's place in art history, Darland notes: "Helen Frankenthaler’s works are often classified as stain paintings for their thin washes of pigment that are reminiscent of watercolors. She paints directly on to non-painted canvases so the pigments stain and absorb into the canvas. She began this technique in the early 1950s after being inspired by a large exhibition of Jackson Pollock’s works. Her techniques have influenced many artists over the years, most notably those who are color-fieldists. Other than painting, Frankenthaler also welds steel sculptures, creates ceramics, and illustrates books. In 1985, she had the unique opportunity of designing the sets and costumes for a production of England’s royal ballet. She has also taught art in several universities include Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. Frankenthaler was married to the late artist Robert Motherwell, whose work is also featured in the [Jacobs] gallery."

In the image above, from the original installation of the Jacobs Collection on the GC campus, Bilbao (the orange and yellow "picture" -- here, invoking Frankenthaler in my own use of language) is shown on the second wall at right.

For two thorough posts about Frankenthaler's work and her turn to prints, as well as the source site for two of the photos of Frankenthaler used above, click here and here. A screen capture of one of the blog posts, related to her work Mulberry, is inserted above.

Feel free to leave a comment below.

Gallery Hop & "Western Vistas"

Gallery Hop this Friday, November 18, in downtown Lexington from 5–8 PM. It's a great opportunity to see local and regional artwork and meet new art friends. Make sure to ask me for Nexus Flex credit if you attend. Click here to download a map of participating galleries and venues.

And if you're there, stop by Ann Tower's gallery to see the work of my friend Chris Segre-Lewis from Asbury University. He has a show entitled "Western Vistas," featuring large-scale oil paintings of landscapes from the American west. Chris's work will also be featured here at Georgetown in the upcoming State of Drawing exhibition.

Hope to see you there!