Recent review inclusion

Delicious art awaits at Customs House

National juried show reveals countrywide creativity

1:21 AM, May. 27, 2012

To lovely effect, 'The Scottish Lady' by Matthew Deric Gore pays tribute to the painters of 1600s-era Netherlands and to famed American artist John Singer Sargent. / Contributed

Written by inclusion

Karen Parr-Moody

Leaf-Chronicle/Clarksville TN

Customs House Museum’s National Juried Exhibition

WHEN: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday; 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday, through Aug. 5
WHERE: 200 S. Second St.
COST: $7 adults, $5 seniors, $5 teachers and college students with I.D., $3 children six to18 and free for museum members and children younger than 6. On the second Saturday of each month, museum admission is free for all.
CALL: 648-5780
ONLINE: customshousemuseum.org

CLARKSVILLE, TENN. — What diversity exists in a national juried art show — and what luck we have that the Customs House Museum’s biennial juried exhibition is once again open to the public.

Among the 44 works are those that received official awards, as chosen by juror and artist Alison Oakes. The Best in Show prize went to Alessandra Sulpy for her painting “Sunshine, Lollipop & Rainbow Come for a Visit.” Second place went to Leslie Shiels for her colorful “Provincial Hound, Right.”

Leslie Shiels, for her colorful 'Provincial Hound, Right,' won second place in the Customs House Museum's biennial juried exhibition. / Contributed

Local photographer Greg Sand received third place for “Remnants of Ella.” Matthew Deric Gore of Nashville and Elizabeth Porter of Knoxville won honorable mentions.

Clarksville artist Greg Sand received third place for his woven photo collage, 'Remnants of Ella,' in Customs House Museum's national juried show. / Contributed

As with any show, the winners are a matter of preference — in this case the judge’s — but of course, viewers will have their own personal favorites.

Gore, to my mind, will be a favorite of those visitors who appreciate a classical painting style. His technical prowess is stunning. He has three pieces in the show.

Gore’s award-winning oil painting, “The Scottish Lady,” is done in the vein of the great still life painters of the early 1600s who flourished in the Netherlands. There is a dark intensity to his work that is taken straight from the refined execution of Dutch painters, who thought nothing of pairing a pretty floral arrangement with a stark skull.

“The Scottish Lady” to whom Gore refers is actually Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, Gertrude Vernon, who was painted in 1892 and 1893 by the famous American artist John Singer Sargent. Sargent had a knack for making lovely ladies famous with his brushstrokes, as he did with his “Portrait of Madame X” of Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau. (That sitter’s bare shoulders caused such a scandal at the time that the painter removed the piece from public display and kept it in his studio for almost 30 years.)

In “The Scottish Lady,” Gore paints Lady Agnew on the page of an open book, its side planted on the table by a skull. Nearby is a selection of books; one is entitled “Sargent in Italy.” The painting is a clever nod in several ways. It reveals that Gore takes his own inspiration from centuries past. It also asserts that even for the fresh bloom that was Lady Agnew, death hovers nearby; riches can protect no one from the meaning of that ominous skull.

Another striking oil painting, which won no awards, is Denise Stewart Sanabria’s “Impaled Strawberries.” Her buttery strokes of oil capture the berries’ glossy juice as it drips down the canvas. In the way that painter Wayne Thiebaud elevated cakes and pastries during the 1950s and 1960s, Sanabria has lifted the lowly strawberry to lofty heights.  And the results are delicious.

Denise Stewart Sanabria's oil painting 'Impaled Strawberries' depicts the sensual gloss of strawberries in a style similar to Wayne Thiebaud's cakes of the 1950s and 1960s. / Contributed

The oil painting “Symbiosis” by California painter Mei-Ying Dell’Aquila is also memorable. From a series called “Liberty,” it plays with our notions about the Statue of Liberty. Gone is the carefully looped hair, replaced by flowing curls. This young lady’s mouth is not soberly set. Instead, she gives the hint of a sly smile. This is a modern version of our nation’s beloved statue, a woman flanked by colorful dragons in a moment of surety.

Such a show as the National Juried Exhibition is a rare treat that allows audiences to experience contemporary art from an array of sources. While a number of local artists were included, this show takes viewers on a trip across the U.S. while never leaving the Crouch Gallery.

And what a trip it is.

Red Clay Survey Reception Trip

The Red Clay Survey is an eleven state southeastern survey of contemporary art held periodically at the Huntsville Museum of Art in Huntsville, Alabama. My piece, Domination Extinction, was one of the eighty pieces from a group of sixty-one artists that were selected for the exhibit by artists Janet Monafo and Paul Rahilly from the Massachusetts College of Art.

Domination Extinction: charcoal and pastel pencil on plywood. 7'H x 6'W x 2'D

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While waiting for the opening reception to begin, we explored Huntsville, which is a gorgeous old city that NASA redefined. Part of its past, updated for today, is Lowe Mill, an old factory mill turned into three floors of studio spaces for artists, designers, and photographers. They also have a restaurant, the Happy Tummy, which serves the hottest Jamaican Jerk Tofu wraps in existence.

You can eat inside or out

checking a screen print in a printmaking studio

"My skirt's made out of a Damien Hirst Dot painting"

Ruth Ann Muirhead-Stephen's studio

Jim Jobe's studio. He had work in the Survey, and was one of  the primo artists located in Lowe Mill.

Yes! There were Number 71 issues all over town, and we don't even cover Alabama. I need to find out how they got there. I hope people read my East Tennessee Update. I focused on OK Mountain's exhibit at UTC's Cress Gallery. That was one exceptionally witty exhibit.

Stained glass and glass painting I guess? Impressive.

As with any large multiple studio space, you will see work that ranges from don't look, to wow, to WTF? What is micro-girl doing down there on the left?

Oh, I want this....but it costs almost as much as I spent on my van new. Maybe I can do a copy with some stuff I can rig up from Michaels and Party City. Crap. Not a chance. It is a Susan Knecht  http://www.susanknecht.com/ Drool.

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This is the second time we had been to Huntsville, and for the second time half of their downtown streets were closed off. The first.time it was a St. Patrick's day parade. This time it was multiple bike races-kids bike race, and these guys going in Nascar circles. They had hay bales leaning against any sharp stuff they hoped they wouldn't collide with.

Indian Creek Canal  is a man made canal that dates back to 1831 that is totally landscaped all through downtown, and is stocked with every imaginable fish in every color possible.

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Reception Time!! You can see all the artists and their info on the flip catalogue located on the Museum's index page: www.hsvmuseum.org 
Only one work per artist is there, however. I didn't see anything about camera policy, so I took some photos as I walked around. The reception was great- jazz band, good food, wine.

John Douglas Power's "Field of Reeds", a kinetic sculpture with video. In the background is a huge Gary Chapman painting-they both won awards which made me happy because they were two of my favorites there.

My multi-person piece from an angle on the left against the wall, David Marquez on the right-the same piece he had in Dogwood Regional three years ago. Leslie Nichols, who also has shown at the Regional was in this exhibit,which was great. They both came to the reception from Bowling Green, KY.

Maryville Collge professor Carl Gombert and his wife Anita with their youngest daughter-Carl won one of the three purchase awards! Those awards were made possible by the museum's most generous docents. The third artist representing the Knoxville area was Margaret Scanlan

A very cool plastic hanger sculpture from Miami, now Atlanta, artist Jose Gallo

Alexandra Sutton's self-portrait made of dirt from her ancestrial graveyard and glue. The artist is from Birmingham.

Andy Behrle's piece made from red clay and rust on metal. Behrle is also from Birmingham. Another award winner.

This is another very smart purchase piece, by Dori DeCamillis: "Thy Self, Thy Foe". It addresses the negative self esteem she had as a child, convinced she was the ugliest child in school. It is of course a gorgeous and amazing painting, and my absolute favorite painting in the exhibit, and is especially cool because the artist lost her negative self image long ago.

articles and reviews from the Huntsville Times:

http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2012/05/huntsville_museum_of_art_colle.html 

http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2012/05/huntsville_museum_of_art_award.html

http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2012/05/red_clay_survey_opens_at_hunts.html

Alison Oakes and I Head West for Exhibit Talks

The Customs House Museum in Clarksville, Tennessee, had two exhibits sharing the same reception on May 12, 2012: Quantum Confusion, my solo exhibit, and their National Exhibit, juried by Alison Oakes; painter, and professor of drawing at Pellissippi State Technical College in Knoxville. Another shared road trip! I like road trips with Alison. I would be talking about the ideas behind my installation, and Alison would talk about her jurying process, and handing out the awards she would give after seeing the work in person for the first time.

Pit Stop at Uncle Pete's Truck Stop somewhere west of Cookeville. I enjoy restroom door announcements.

This restroom had way more patina then you can see in the photo. We decided we didn't want to buy any snacks there. We have very high snotty standards. It would have to at least be a Pilot station.

The Customs House Museum is housed in an 1898 building originally designed for use as a Federal Post Office and Custom House to handle the large volume of foreign mail created by the city’s international tobacco business. It is built on the site of a former boarding house. The structure was designed by Federal Treasury Supervising Architect William Martin Aiken, and is attached to larger, modern additions. It is the second largest general use museum in the state. We love their outside exhibit banners.

My banner came with an entire sidewalk cleaning crew to keep things nice.

Alison's awards go to Alessandra Sulpy of Erie, PA (1st), Leslie Sheils of Cincinnati, OH (2nd),Greg Sands of Clarksville, TN (3rd), and two Honorable Mentions to both Matthew Deric Gore of Nashville, and Elizabeth Porter of Knoxville. Museum curator Terri Jordan waits for the results so the programs can be printed out.

We now have the rest of the day until the reception to Do Stuff. There is a lot of outdoor sculpture in Clarksville, and this is the one that the art community gets annoyed with. It is some kind of pre-fabricated fountain with add-your-own-children. The kids are supposed to be playing, but at the right angle they appear to be engaged in some kind of epic battle.

Downtown Clarksville is a beautifully restored small city with gorgeous turn of the century homes and public buildings. Mostly. I'm not sure how this got here.

Nothing is better than finding small, independent clothing stores where the buyers like really cool stuff. We hunted successfully.

I tried to make Alison buy this one because it says, "I'm a hard core gym trainer", because that is her other job when she isn't teaching drawing.

And we found a gym! Kind of. Your basic hotel tread mill, bike and multi-station deal, and nothing was busted so they got an A for that. We left when the couple came in to work out wearing slide on slippers. Alison set the tread mill up for her, then we got out before her slippers flew off and she landed face first on it, or maybe she was going so slow she survived?

Reception time. I love the size of the gallery my installation is in-it allows it to be isolated in a pool of spots. The reception food was gorgeous.

The gallery space the National is in is killer. They have done amazing things in here, everything from hanging Adrienne Outlaw's mummified body installation from the ceiling to mounting animal heads high on the walls. The last exhibit had woman writers painting their narrative texts directly to the walls-floor to ceiling.

Awards time for Terri Jordan, the museum curator, and Alison.

We headed straight to Nashville after for a series of events in the May Hosiery Mill on Chestnut Street. It contains a bunch of artist studios, Seed Space cube gallery in Adrienne Outlaw's studio, and the release party for the latest issue of Number, an independent art journal I've been writing for quite awhile now. Based in Memphis, it covers Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. I finally meet recent interim editor Jennifer Gonzales from Memphis College of Art (in red), and her art collaboration partner, Nathaniel Hein of Mississippi's Delta State University. They are know as go.hein, and produce conceptual constructions addressing societal issues.

New editor Chuck Beard doing The Hug in the plaid shirt. It was a happy night. This was issue NO 71, and the 25th year the journal has been around. The issue looks fantastic. http://www.numberinc.org/

We run into artist Sher Fick in Adrienne Outlaw's studio. We have all exhibited together at one point or the other. The Southeast is a large geographic area, but the arts community here connects with a sense of familiarity that I love.

The exhibit in Seed Space is SUPER LONG PLAY! by Benton C-Bainbridge and collaborators. SUPER LONG PLAY! is an interactive ‘old media’ installation that uses abandoned tech to move minds, bodies and souls. Obsolete VHS and CRT equipment creates an electronic cinema ‘time machine’ back through the creation of a dance and media art work made by Benton-C Bainbridge with his collaborators,Ezra Bainbridge-Powers, Perrin Ireland, Erin Law, Tony Youngblood, Ryan Hogan, and Johnny Invective.

We head upstairs to Victor Schmidt and Anise Doak's studio. Between the both of them-he is a metal sculptor, she works in wood, there is every tool I could ever hope to play with. Victor recently had an exhibit in Knoxville that I helped with as far as some installation was concerned, and he also had a piece in the Dogwood Regional Fine Art Exhibit, which I have been chairing for the last four years, so it was cool to see where he works.

We head back to the hotel in Clarksville, and wake up to an exciting event before heading back to Knoxville:

Snake causes power outage in Clarksville 

Associated Press Posted May 13, 2012 at 4:05 p.m. x

 CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Power has been restored to about 12,000 people after a snake slithered into a Clarksville Department of Electricity substation and caused the outage. The Leaf-Chronicle (http://leafne.ws/JIflek) reports electric crews found that the snake made contact with electrical equipment inside the primary substation, which caused a system protection device to trip and disconnect power to around 5:30 a.m. Service was restored to all customers by 8 a.m. 

 Information from: The Leaf-Chronicle, http://www.theleafchronicle.com © 2012, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

The Fort Wayne Museum of Art’s 2012 Contemporary Realism Biennial

I've got work headed up for the second time to this really nice Biennial. I was part of it for the first time in 2008 when I was totally psyched to be exhibiting with Vincent Valdez, Don Jacot, Richard Maury, Maria Tomasula, John Tuccillo, and a whole bunch of other amazing artists from across the country. Oh-and when we went up to the reception last time, Ice T was staying at the same hotel. 

( I just kind of ignored him while trying to paparazzi some sneaky photos)

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2012 Contemporary Realism Biennial: The Fort Wayne Museum of Art’s Contemporary Realism Biennial is a national invitational and juried exhibition which highlights the strength and innovation of America’s current trends in realism. 

 August 11-Oct.28 

The exhibit is a cooperative project of Bernarducci Meisel Gallery/NY 

and the Fort Wayne Museum of Art 

 http://www.bernarduccimeisel.com/index.php