Tuesday, November 19, 2013

CALDER SHADOWS DRAMATIZED WORKS (c) By Polly Guerin

www.artandmusicvenues.blogspot.com 

Calder Shadows cast a new venue of the artist’s mobiles and stabiles in an exhibition that dramatizes kinetic shadow impressions in a group of rare Calder works.  Showcased in darkness---the ‘Venus Over Manhattan gallery in New York invites you to step into the expansive dark gallery, where each of Calder’s sculptures, created between 1929 and 1974, are lit so that its shadows become the exhibition’s subject.
WHIM OF THE LIGHT Dancing on the walls and moving at the whim of a light breeze or gently prodded  the shadows cast on the walls, ceiling, and floor of the gallery provide a fascinating interpretation of the metal forms on display.  Ever changing the wire versions become oscillating line drawings and flat metal forms become independent presences. The fascinating shadows captivate attention as the shadows seemingly change position and present an entirely different view of the object. Case in point: A mobile does not stand still and as it gently moves a new perspective of the work emerges as a different shadow version on the wall.
CALDER'S OEUVRE Calder’s mechanized works gave way to his mobiles and stabiles, sculptures that disparate metal elements, made from bent wire and flat sheet metal cut-outs were constructed with such masterful equipoise that their movements occur naturally and unpredictably in response to the energy of surrounding atmosphere.  
INSPIRATION After visiting Piet Mondrian’s studio in 1930, Calder began the experiments with abstract construction that would come to define his oeuvre. He drew inspiration from the playful work of Joan Miro and Paul Klee, making hand cranked and motorized kinetic sculptures that challenged the definition of a sculpture as a form fixed in time and space.
CALDER REMEMBERED As a student in the mid-1920s, the man who would become the celebrated sculptor, painter, illustrator, printmaker and designer, worked for the National Police Gazette newspaper and was assigned to sketch the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.  One of the artist’s most enduring beloved works, first fashioned in 1926, is his Cirque Calder; a miniature circus made from wire, string, rubber and found materials, which today resides in the Whitney Museum of Art in New York. Today his works can be seen in other prestigious museum collections.
Alexander Calder (1898-1976), the renowned American artist, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died in New York City, which often proclaims him as their own native son.
VENUS OVER MANHATTAN is located at 980 Madison Avenue, between 76th and
 77th streets, on the third floor and is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday
 from 10 am-6pm. Additional info contact: info@andreaschwan.com
Polly Guerin author: The Cooper-Hewitt Dynasty of New York (History Press 2012) 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

MILLER, JOE Lyrical Landscapes By Polly Guerin

The imprint of being born and raised in the mountains of the West is perhaps the core influence of visionary painter, Joe Miller’s lyrical body of work. His boldly rendered paintings of land forms, rainwater and rivers, mountains and rocks present nature in paintings that are not a pictorial representation of place. Instead Miller’s imagination takes the viewer on a journey where the essence of the place translates into shapes, lines  and forms rendered in sun-drenched colors and pigment reborn with angularity and a mystical aura. Pictured left: "In Deep Woods." 
THE ARTSOURCE INTERNATIONAL Unique and exciting art works are presented in Joyce Towbin Chasan’s loft showroom, The Artsource International, LLC. She recently presented Joe Miller’s body of work, including paintings, watercolors and drawings in her creative exhibit space at 333 Park Avenue South, Suite 2A, New York City. Ms. Chasan, a successful gallery owner and art consultant is very selective in presenting artists and Joe Miller’s exhibit does not disappoint. The inquiring public  can view the show by appointment through November 30th; call 917.295.5016 or email joycechasan@aol.com. 

THE ESSENCE OF PLACE The artist states, “I paint from my imagination because I prefer to paint with a relatively free line with shapes and colors unrestrained from the brush and the color demands of realism.” His oeuvre creates dynamic compositions that draw the viewer into paintings that clearly take inspiration from nature, but astonish by their emphasis on minimalistic shapes and color impact. Miller works in a variety of media and infuses his work with elegant, minimal lines that evoke dynamic compositions in large- scale paintings. Pictured above: Detail from "Below the Mountain."  Check out Joe Miller’s website: joemiller4.com.
The artist says, “My imagination is excited by landscapes set above and below, and beyond the sea. As in the desert I still work from my vision.” Of his paintings Miller concludes, “These colors, shapes, marks and lines are like musical instruments capable of producing a beauty in their relationships and controlled freedom of application.”