On posting again, and why you should come and see TRIO.

April 14th, 2012 by Laura Miller

messy gallery

Been a while! Guess what gets left behind when we all get busy? Yep – this blog.

All galleries are different. One of the things I like best about our gallery is all the work we show is exclusively by artists we directly represent. This means we get to know these folks. In fact, over the past 3 months I’ve enjoyed visiting a whole bunch of them and hanging out in their studios. I love my job.

A few years ago – life got really hard for many artists. I am not an economist. Far from it. My world economic health gauge hinges on 2 things. How messy the gallery is, and how often we get to call an artist to say “It’s sold!” We are able, especially when times are good, to enjoy it on both sides – savoring that remarkable contact high from a client who is acquiring a piece of original artwork, and then bearing the great news to the creator of the work. Over the past year we’ve been relishing this fun on both sides at a record pace. Depending on who you read – there are great economic minds that write about both how our economy is headed for disaster, or believe  it’s on an upswing. I don’t pretend to know – but it’s sure been way more fun in the gallery lately.

SO – where to start. Why not with TRIO, our current show which opened last night. We have the new work of 3 very different artists. While enjoying the party last night, I realized there is a common theme. Each artists creates work that invites the viewer to move in tight. I’m talking really close. In both the 2 dimensional artists work, Carlos Gamez de Francisco, and Mariana Palova, there is so much content per square inch – it forces you to get really intimate. Ted Gall‘s work is also almost impossible to view casually. The sculptures demand to be explored from every angle.

each 72" x 26" acrylic on canvas

Angie, Unknown Girl and Katherine Staring Right, each 72" x 26" acrylic on canvas

Carlos Gamez de Francisco presents a series of fantastic work. Listening to him talk about his ideas behind the series last night was a treat. I love it when artists expose their nerdy side – and Carlos came through with flying colors. He is obsessed with everything historical – art / politics / sociology. His new series French Radical Fashion in 1789 is about so many things, including the rigidity of life for French citizens under Louis XVI; the namesake of his new hometown Louisville, KY, the real story of Louis and Marie Antoinette, and Cuban politics.The paintings are filled with ideas and symbolism.

In his latest work pictured at right, he explores historical ideals of beauty.  Throughout different periods, artists have used head height as a unit of measurement to render the body in proportion. Carlos has played with these equations  and how they have changed throughout history and the subject of the portraits. These 3 women represent different proportions; 10, 7.5 and 8.5, each relating to a historical rule accepted during different periods. Can you tell who’s who?

 

 

Woman exploring Pigs Fly, cast bronze, by Ted Gall

Ted Gall‘s new sculpture is awe inspiring. They invite you to touch and play and explore, which was a happy pastime for many visitors last night. Each moveable piece has hidden places to investigate under layers of gorgeously sculpted bronze. Observing a viewer as she discovers a hidden place or an idea within the work is a blast for us.

Beyond the interactive playing with bronze sculpture component, which is unique and fantastic, is the not-to-be-overlooked part where you realize Ted Gall is a phenomenal sculptor and technician. Possibly the strongest works in the group are the two larger stand-alone cast stainless steel pieces. Both enjoy exquisite modeling and narratives.

Here’s a video of Ted’s studio shot by his son. I loved finally seeing Gall World – the magic place where all his subjects are born.

 

 

Materia Prima (8/35), 22" x 15" digital photography

The Astrologer (6/40), 18" x 14" digital photography

Mariana Palova‘s body of work is spellbinding. When you live and work in an art gallery, you watch people looking at art. When folks come in and enter her area of the show, it’s fun to watch as they slow down and move in close. Her digital paintings are lushly colorful and magical. Mariana lives and works in Mexico and at 22 is showing mastery beyond her years in both technique and her imagery exploring nature, astrology, and the beauty of human metamorphosis.

 

 

 

 

 

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Bruce Riley – new work

January 21st, 2012 by Laura Miller

Bruce Riley & Gary Gleason launch "Headlong" towards Cincinnati

There are two new works in the gallery today; Headlong and Holomovement, from native Cincinnati artist Bruce Riley. We visited with Bruce and enjoyed a studio tour Thursday night.

Bruce is a dynamic playful man who is positively driven to make his art. He happily endures the brutal Chicago winters by practicing yoga, building winter bonfires outside the studio, and ice skating every day, oblivious to why the frigid temps would keep anyone from taking advantage of the Windy City’s outdoor neighborhood rinks. This helps to explain how he, along with his equally delightful wife, photo stylist Kelly McKaig, can enjoy their shared passion of energetically exploring Chicago’s abundant food scene. Their love of Chicago is infectious. We enjoyed a great visit and tour despite the breezy 2° evening, ending up at the fantastic Nightwood for a cozy and memorable feast.

His serious dedication to making art is pure, and his delight in it is inviting and contagious. The resulting work is both awe inspiring and welcoming. Playful, organic, and vibrant barely describe his visually stunning layered polymer resin paintings. Walking around his Chicago studio is an sense-stimulating workout.

Studio Visit 1/19/2012

Riley’s work connects with viewers on a visceral level. “Looking at” doesn’t convey how experiential it feels to be standing in front of “Headlong.” Some animal part of my brain grasps this vivid imagery with both familiarity and wonder – a window into an ubercolorful cellular organic other-world that might be within us – or we might be within it. There’s some part of my brain that vaguely  remembers this elemental place, and happily, Bruce gets to go there all the time.

details of Headlong

These remarkable paintings must be seen in person to begin to grasp the technical magic he’s clearly mastered.  We get a kick out of observing gallery visitors when they turn the corner and come face to face with Headlong. Upon discovery of this eight foot long painting is the inevitable sharp intake of breath, followed by exclamations of awe and surprise, succeeded by excitement, smiles and questions. This make for great fun on an icy dark wintery day.

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Billboard fun

November 9th, 2011 by Laura Miller

Last month’s billboard on Wooster Pike. Johanne Cullen   “Let The Sun Rise..  40″ x 78″ oil on canvas

Johanne Cullen visits her billboard

 

This month look for James O’Neil in Hyde Park. Pictured is Amphibious, 24″ x 48″ acrylic on panel

James O'Neil billboard

 

 

 

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Mixed Messages: GUILLERMO RIGATTIERI + GRACEANN WARN

October 19th, 2011 by Rosemary Seidner

 Opening Party and Reception for the Artists

Graceann Warn
Guillermo Rigattieri

Friday, October 21

Show continues through

November 3, 2011

Working in a variety of media, Argentinean sculptor Guillermo Rigattieri and Michigan artist, Graceann Warn present their latest works: Guillermo, his quirky, endearing sculptures in metal plate, and Graceann, her alternately ethereal and bold paintings/assemblages in encaustic, oil and collage.

Guillermo Rigattieri was born in 1976 in the town of San Rafael, Mendoza. At the age of 18, he moved to the city of Mendoza where he studied at the Faculty of Arts, receiving a degree in Fine Arts. In searching to find his own personal style of work, Guillermo began experimenting with various media in his studio. His first forays into the world of sculpture were made with “plastic” materials such as clay and latex. Once the artist felt more confident with the language of shapes, he turned his focus to welded and wrought metals which quickly became his preferred medium.

With his excitement at discovering the flexibility and immediacy of metal his expressiveness took flight. His fascinating, playful, thought-provoking sculptures have a broad range of themes, from the dramatic to the fantastic and amusing.

Guillermo Rigattieri, Heroe, 24" x 22" x D 19" metal plate

Using metal plate, Guillermo cuts the first shapes and then creates volume by pounding the pieces with a round point hammer. The pieces are welded together, polished, then finished with varnish or an enamel patina to protect the pieces against humidity.

Guillermo Rigattieri exhibits in South America and the United States, and has received numerous awards and honors. His sculptures are included in private collections around the world. He lives with his wife and young son in Mendoza, Argentina.

 

GRACEANN WARN, as a young child, began to think of herself as an artist but it never occurred to her that people could make their livings as such.

“I never knew an artist when I was growing up. I grew up in a really small town in New Jersey. We barely had an art program in my school. I went to college and became a landscape architect—it was the closest thing to art I could find. After I graduated, I was working for a private office in Ann Arbor, and they sent me to Minneapolis to attend an urban design conference, and when I was there I took a look at the Walker Art Center. What was showing was an exhibition of the last works of Mark Rothko. I went into the gallery, and, surrounded by these paintings, I had a strong emotional reaction — my heart was beating so fast and my eyes filled with tears. This was the first time that abstract art had affected me in such a profound way. In retrospect, I realized that my own work, the design work I was doing in an office, couldn’t compare with what art had to offer, and I decided to get a studio. My life changed within that year.” Graceann feels her profound reaction to Rothko’s abstracts was probably influenced by her synesthesia, a neurologically-based phenomenon.

“I’ll look at a color and I’ll taste it–as if colors have flavors. And numbers have colors. In my

Graceann Warn, Distance + Observation # 17, 11" x 11" mixed media assemblage

weirdly wired brain, I think: Yeah, well, it’s red, so of course, you have to have a number four there. There are all kinds of things that cross over in my head. I’ve only recently realized that I do this. I guess I assumed everybody did–that it was a normal thing. I think for me abstract art, especially color and form, has something to do with that, because when I look at an abstract painting I can taste it or I can hear it.”

Warn’s current work, encaustic painting and part assemblage, is inspired by walls–the layering of plaster, paint, graffiti, the covering over with time, over centuries, the palimpsest. Her greatest influences are Antoni Tapies, Cy Twombly, Franz Kline. Newer influences are Caio Fonesca and Sean Scully. Warn’s work is collected worldwide.

 

Mixed Messages: October 21 to November 3, 2011

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Every Painting Tells a Story—-but some are more interesting than others

September 29th, 2011 by Rosemary Seidner

The opening for our Contemporary Realism Invitational show is tomorrow–Friday, September 30, 6 – 8–and every single painting within the show is a testament to the outstanding and extraordinary talent of the contemporary realists we represent–and others we greatly admire and have invited to participate.

Included in the show is a remarkable painting by Russian artist, Daud Akhriev, now living in Spain.  The title of the 22 x 30 oil painting is Studio of Alexander Rabinovich, Luthier.  The story of how this complex painting came about is worth telling.

Studio of Alexander Rabinovic, Luthier, 22" x 30" oil on board Daud Akhriev

Alexander Rabinovich lives in St. Petersburg, Russia, and is a master luthier, a maker of stringed, wooden instruments.  His pieces are played in the great philharmonic orchestras of Russia, all the European capitals, the world.

Daud and his artist wife, Melissa Hefferlin, met Rabinovich because of Daud’s gift to Melissa years ago.

“Daud bought for me,” recalls Melissa, “in a Russian antique store, a beat up, cracked, dusty and falling-apart violin which had the sweetest little tiger face carved at the top of the finger board.  We decided to have it repaired and called the Russian Conservatory of Music to get the name of a luthier.  They gave us his, and he agreed to see us.  He lives in the dead center of old town (think 5th Avenue across from the Plaza), in a rambling old run down apartment which has cables strung on the ceiling.  From all the cables hang instruments by their necks.  We made friends.  We had tea there often, and tea often morphed into cognac or something before the day was over.  Often some musician, or several musicians, would wander in looking for a replacement instrument, or a new instrument, and they’d play for us for hours while they tested violins or whatever.  That was rather spectacular!  Imagine some ingenue breaking into Bach unaccompanied sonatas for an hour or two in an old pair of jeans while we drink tea…..!

“So Alexander, ‘Sasha’, totally rebuilt my beautiful violin, and restored it to glory.  He presumed it was 200 years old or so, probably Tyrolean, and I loved to play her for hours in Russia.

“Here’s the tragic end to this story!  When Daud bought me the violin, it was kindling.  Now that we have paid a fortune to restore her, she’s considered a ‘national treasure’ and can never leave the country of Russia!  I play her only three weeks every other year when we visit Russia.  It is our great pleasure to remain in contact with Sasha.”

 

 

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CARLOS GAMEZ de FRANCISCO

September 23rd, 2011 by Laura Miller

Carlos Gamez de Francisco. The subject matter of the oil and acrylic on canvas paintings is King Louis XVI (By Jonathan Palmer, Special to the Courier-Journal)

We are very pleased to announce the addition to the gallery of a remarkable emerging Cuban artist, Carlos Gamez de Francisco.  Born in Holguin, Cuba and now living in Louisville, Carlos, at just 24 years old has already exhibited extensively in the United States, Cuba and Spain.  His most recent 2011 solo exhibition was Cuban Now at the 21C Museum in Louisville, resulting in the institution’s purchase of 25 of his paintings.

A film-maker and illustrator of books as well, he has received numerous awards in all his artistic pursuits.  His current body of work, Last Words of Louis, looks at alter egos, human behavior, often monstrous, in a style influenced by the Renaissance painters, Russian artists, German expressionism, Japanese prints, and the graphic art of Toulouse Lautrec.  He works in a variety of mediums:  oil, watercolor, graphite, and ink.

Artist Statement

Like most of the children, I drew scribbles in my father’s books. When I was 5 years old my father explained to me how water passed through pipes. I was thinking about it and I drew each detail he explained to me. I preferred loneliness, only with my toys drawn and cut by me.

When I was 12 years old I went to a theater and I saw a contemporary dance performance. From that day on I understood the purpose of my life.  Then I attended one of the best Fine Arts School in my state for 3 years. There I received my first painting, dance, ballet, and music classes. It made me someone really disciplined, taking advantage of all the fine arts.

Then I studied in a visual arts school for 2 years. Every day I used to paint until I was tired. I found in fine arts my hobby, my work, and my own life.  When I finished my classes at school I tried to refine my knowledge, so I became a pupil of some of the best Cuban artists. I was influenced by each one of them and I learned some technical methods that made me more accomplished.

My work is the testimony to this silent battle that begins with each new proposal.  My interests are quite varied.  Again and again I revolve around the stereotypes of human behavior that aroused in me an almost morbid curiosity.  My figures which seem to escape the laws of reason, of physics and biology, are only our alter egos, usually friendly monsters, but monsters in the end, apparently mannerisms and ironic monsters. I’ve tried to demystify the reality around me.

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Interactive Sunday

September 22nd, 2011 by Laura Miller
Sarah Jane Bellamy

Artist / Teacher Sarah Jane Bellamy

This Sunday is the last Hyde Park Farmer’s Market ON the square. The following week, the “best Farmer’s Market in Cincinnati” moves to the lot behind the galley for fall.

All ages invited to participate.

From 10 – 2 on Sunday, we welcome the Queen of Craft…Flea Market Junkie…and Master of a massive  collection of interesting treasures; artist Sarah Jane Bellamy.  She will display and create her “MemoryVessels” at Miller Gallery. You are invited to  visit, watch and dive into her boxes and boxes of odds and ends and create  your own “Memory Magnet.” An amazing day of awesome assemblages and  transformed trinkets.

All ages invited to participate. Small materials donations accepted.

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John Agnew

August 21st, 2011 by Laura Miller

John Agnew's demo piece - in progress 84" x 60"

John Agnew

It’s HUGE! 7′ x 5 – ‘ This spectacular painting isn’t finished. The artist, John Agnew, will be working on it today from 10-2 in the gallery, along with chatting with foodies from the Farmer’s Market. Sundays have been really fun this summer at the gallery.

John Agnew was born in Dayton, Ohio. His parents met in art school, so he had an early exposure to the art world. With the opportunity to enjoy the best of science and art, he chose museum exhibits as his career, but began painting full time in 1983. John estimates that he has painted over 25,000 square feet of murals for the Cincinnati Zoo and the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, plus mural projects as far away as the Moscow Zoo in Russia.

I am excited to watch John work. I wonder how he lays out his palette, what reference material he uses – if any?, how he mixes colors, if he stands or sits, ipod?, can he chat and paint? – all of this fascinates me. I’ll be posting demo pics on our facebook page.

It will be fun to watch folks become immersed in this meditative magical painting today.  I wonder if everyone who really looks into it might feel just a bit more balanced and calm. :)

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Catching up

August 19th, 2011 by Laura Miller

I’ve been up in the North Woods of Ontario, Canada unsuccessfully resisting dark maple syrup, poutine (my next dog name) and butter tarts. I did not resist my complete disconnection from the internet. I managed to squeeze in an attempt at a palette knife plein air painting. The result was hideous, and as usual after an attempt at painting, my respect for our artists, in this case palette knife experts Pam Folsom and Lynn Whipple has multiplied accordingly. Now that I’m back, I thought I’d post about some random news from the gallery.

websession15

Queen's demo

Jonathan Queen‘s ongoing painting demo piece has changed dramatically in my absence. I missed posting images for a few sessions – so you’ll see a few surprises this week. I also got a sneak peak at another painting he’s working on at home for our late September Contemporary Realism Now show. It will not disappoint. Clue: A secret that’s not that book.

John N. Agnew Wet Granite Pebbles, 24" x 36" acrylic on canvas

This Sunday, August 21, John Agnew will be in the gallery doing his free live demo. I can’t wait to watch his technique in action. He’s an amazingly talented man. Can you believe his rocks? Freaking exquisite. These demos are really amazing. When artists of this caliber give workshops, they are never free. The opportunity to watch and interact with this varied collection of “art stars” in action is rare, fun, inspirational, and often just plain magic. They will continue through September – mark your calendars

Leszek Sokol , Zeppelin Adventures, 2008 32" x 42" oil on canvas

As the Lesek Sokol paintings slowly trickle in from Poland, the last hi-res images have been dropboxed from Warsaw to complete the catalog. The gallery will be transformed as the walls are filled with his paintings of a joyous, magical, and romantic world. Save the date for that opening party – Friday September 9th.

Our friend and artist Bill Starke‘s big commission for the Amway Center in Orlando made it onto Designboom.com.

There’s so much more I’d like to share here. Growing up with an art gallery as a living room is a very colorful experience. Maybe it’s just the nature of the gallery business – we seem to attract the lunatic fringe. If I can ever figure out how to write the gallery stories without getting into trouble, it would be fun. Between the artists, clients, designers, staff and neighboring vendors, you just can’t make this stuff up! I’m keeping a file of notes, just in case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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PAM FOLSOM – live demo Sunday 8/7, 10 – 2!

August 5th, 2011 by Rosemary Seidner

 

Pam Folsom

Cincinnati artist Pam Folsom, with her bold, vibrant, and energetic paintings, primarily of the rural mid-West, makes us all take another look at what we consider “the ordinary” landscape, those scenes we pass everyday without much thought. Pam’s paintings slam on our brakes and make us stop and look at what we take for granted–and see the landscape around us for its true, true beauty.

Fall Sunset, 16" x 20" oil on canvas

“The ordinary–not manipulated or manicured, is beautiful just because it is,” states Pam, who will be demonstrating her en plein air technique—painting in oils, primarily with a palette knife–at the gallery this Sunday, between 10 and 2.

“As a culture, we have become so destination oriented, that we have forgotten about what the experience holds as we travel along our way,” explains Pam. “It is my passion to capture the beauty of all these places and views that usually simply flash by.”

Glick's Field, 18" x 24" oil on canvas

Folsom encourages us to slow down, stop the car and really see the beauty the Ohio Valley holds. In her energized renderings of the scenes she so loves, we can virtually smell the fresh air, feel the breeze, and the warmth of the sunshine.

“Color is my inspiration,” Folsom states. “I love to go beyond reality but still create a believable, unique piece.” With her powerful palette, the rich texture of her oils, she accentuates the color that is really there, exhilarating us with her fresh vision. By painting out of doors, on location, rather than from photographs, she makes artistic decisions on the spot, full of pure and honest emotion.

“It’s not just what you see, it’s what you feel,” she says.

Educated at the University of Indiana, the University of Cincinnati, and the Vermont Studio Center, Pam has been painting for 16 years. Her work is included in corporate collections, hospitals, casinos, as well as many notable private collections.

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