The Further Adventures of Gallery Girl

What's Shakin?

2010-07-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

Bare Blue

2008-09-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

"little girl blue, the corn maiden"

5"x7", acrylic on muslin, 2008. sold.

"Dura astride"

20"x26", acrylic on canvas, 2008.sold.

"blue belle, straight to hell" (shake your shakti)

24"x36", acrylic on canvas, 2008.sold.

"alas, poor Sita"

16"x48", acrylic on canvas, 2008

"the celestial cow"

38"x20", acrylic on canvas, 2008.sold.

"i, perusa"

16"x30", acrylic on canvas, 2008

.... there are a couple more. they were at the gallery you'll find when you click on this blog entry's headline until the end of october. from there they went to the NYS museum for Art For Aids Sake..... the remainders are hanging out with moi. for now.

this month at the Daily Grind in Troy

2008-07-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

***Ed Riggs***

this cat really deserves a gallery show, so we' re only hanging this one painting here....

along with a nice selection of his drawings

GYOTAKU

2008-07-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

2008 Mohawk Hudson Regional at the AHA

2008-06-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

after a busy, and somewhat disappointing day (i was turned down for a low paying job in favor of someone who was thought to have been "more comfortable sitting in front of a computer all day" how ironic, eh?), i made a quick pop-in to the Albany Institute of History and Art to view the 2008 MOHAWK-HUDSON REGIONAL exhibition.

sometimes it's really nice to revisit favorites. sometimes it's nice to see something new. sometimes you walk into an exhibit and wonder if there are only a few people of talent worth showing in a given region, if there are only a few people that actually take the time to submit to shows, if the jurors need to be changed up more frequently, or if there's a mix of the three going on.

so i ran in, took some pictures of the good stuff, grabbed some cheese, and left.

here's what's worth seeing:

The Stone Hill Center 6-(18/21)-08

2008-06-22T17:10:00.000-07:00

it was a wednesday, and we (my regular art companion and i) decide to take a trek to Williamstown. we went to The Clark, or more specifically, we went to see the new building on the property- the building which was to house a collection of works by Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent- the Stone Hill Center.

and here is my pictorial of our arrival:

now here's the truly amazing part,( NOT THAT THIS PLACE IN AND OF IT'S SELF WASN'T COMPLETELY AMAZING) the thing that i almost can't believe,....... this was only three days before the gala event of the opening of The Center!

i know, i know

it doesn't seem that amazing

but

3 days later

THIS

is what i saw.....

and

then

arrived onsite.

and so

with a paper crane in my pocket

and a belly full of sashimi

.......just as it was getting dark outside......

i stole a seat on jimmy jim jimmy's and sir arthur's trolley

back down to the clark......

for coffee and dessert. and puppet lanterns.

and ...... oh yeah.......

did i mention that i took the tour of the conservancy side? freakin awesome. no, really, it was freakin AWESOME! look:

this is where the painting studio is built to catch the morning light- SWEET!!!

and

of course there are 3-d studios of all sorts

along with spaces for classes and the such...... i hope your visit will bring you to the same conclusion as mine did.

Modernism at the Hyde 6-17-08

2008-06-17T19:45:00.000-07:00

what a fabulous day!

as the intro page to the exhibit states:

"Modernism may not be the field one most naturally associates with The Hyde Collection, yet founder Mrs. Hyde clearly exhibited an interest in twentieth-century art and an understanding that collecting modernism was implicit in the Museum’s development. She was influenced by the taste and example of Joseph Jeffers Dodge, her second curator who served from 1941 to 1962 in her selection of outstanding works by Picasso and Matisse."

THIS

(untitled by Pierre Alechinsky)

is not what i would have expected to view at the Hyde house. but i did. how much fun! so it seems that, although not all of the works in this exhibit are necessarily "important", the artists and the statement which has been made by the Hyde in curating this exhibit Very Much IS.

let's take a tour of this small front room of modern works, or rather, my favorites among them:

(by Max Ernst- Danseuses)

("Waves" by Calder- TOTALLY COOL by the way)

(The Puritan by David Smith)

(untitled by David smith)

one very important reason to see this exhibit for yourself is..... the quality of the images that one is able to obtain..... being as poor as this one, of Amadeo Modigliani's "Head of a Woman".

the above is my most favorite piece in the show. regretfully, this is the best representation i can give you digitally. unless they send the image files that they said they were going to.

nope, security didn't seem to have a problem with me hugging this sculpture. but i did set off the alarm in this room for getting too close to some objects........

why pay less?

2008-06-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

so here's the thing:

ADDICTED

TO FANCY OVERPRICED COFFEE CONCOCTIONS

imma regular customer to "the grind", both in albany and in troy.

when stopping into the ultraviolet cafe, i just ask for my usual weirdness- if i have to say anything at all.

the muddy cup is also a favorite place to sip my hot cup of strange through a straw. especially on a monday night..... and we'll touch more on that in the next blog..... right now, i'd like to discuss a trip to "the perfect blend" in delmar.

a perfect blend indeed.

OF:

1) lousy service

2) condescending staff

3) unremarkable (except for the grounds in my cup) overpriced beverages

and, art that wasn't even worth snapping a cell phone pic of.

so i took my lousy attitude outside and sipped in contemplation for a while, trying to come up with possible reasons that my experience may have been so disappointing.

i tried to come up with a reason that i'd paid more than $5 for a drink that costs me $3.75 at Every Other cafe i'd been to in the area.

was it because i'd come straight from a job that had left me sweaty and paint splattered in cowboy boots and jeans?

could it have been that the staff were just having a bad day?

the thought crossed my mind that i might just be a bitch, meriting the sort of treatment received.

NO!

EUREKA!

This Is The Reason:

THEY have a plug for their take out coffee cup lids!

bah.

screw you, perfect blend of hooplah. next time i want a cup full of steamed half and half with chocolate syrup and a few shots of expresso, i'll just stop at a gas station and pretend i visited you and lost the fancy plug and found some extra change in the bottom of my bag.

“2008 Best Of SUNY Art Student Exhibition” at the New York State Museum

2008-06-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

today’s adventure took place at the new york state museum, in the interest of viewing “2008 Best Of SUNY Art Student Exhibition”. this is an example of the sort of thing i'd expected to see at the show:

Don’t let the photo on the cover of the brochure fool you,

there really IS some good work in the show.

Pieces seemed to have been arranged according to subject matter when it came to flora and fauna, and otherwise without rhyme or reason,

but it was still easier to take in than Mass MoCA right now (see blog on Mass MoCA for more on that).

Of the pieces I’d say were the most worth the trip to see, three were actually included in brochure for the show:

“Home” by Nicole Weber (which was given a decidedly unprestigious hanging),

David Hernandez’s “Dante and Virgil Awaiting the Styx”, and

“Side by Side, Alone. Passenger.” by Shannon Hayes.

Some other great reasons to hunt and peck through this show:

Julie Mehretu's "City Sightings" at Williams 6-10-08

2008-06-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

Uhhhhhm.

Yeah.

Uhhhhhm.

Yeah.

she was born in 1970 and became a MacArthur Fellow in 2005.

and it's no wonder why. SHE IS virtually a goddess of the arts. wanna see why? ok, here ya go:

this:is a detail from this:

yes, there are many more pieces on display in this exhibit- but i'm keeping them for myself!

Albany's First Friday in June '08

2008-06-07T14:13:00.000-07:00

first friday in june. it was much like first friday in may. which was much like first friday april.

it seems like there's all of these fun little cool events going on in albany here and there yet they seem to be, for the most part, completely uncoordinated with first friday.

so anyways, first friday in june was good. there's a lot of talent here in albany. here's my highlights:

AMROSE SABLE GALLERY on Hudson

UAG

Lark Street BID

THE ART ROOM on Madison

ROMAINE BROOKS GALLERY on Hudson

at Trinity Church

the above piece was created by a kindergardener. i'm still trying to reach the artist's agent.

Dean Snyder at the Tang

2008-06-05T23:48:00.000-07:00

We got to the Tang a bit late. i had a cup of coffee in one hand and a cell phone camera turned on in the other. And then the phone rang….
we were there to see sculptor Dean Snyder’s new exhibit.

as the director was walking us through, he spotted my phone and gave a little noise of disapproval. He told me that cell phone photos were crappy and sent someone to get a disc of images. He shrugged at my insanity when I asked if I could just take them anyways.

turns out that my instinct was correct, here is a picture from the disc:

a great shot- better than I could ever do, even with a real camera. but it misses the impact of this:

this show is really fun. Snyder’s processes are amazing.

And I’m very sad that the museum’s image disc didn’t contain a single shot of my favorite piece, which is embedded with 8-balls and coated in a purple metallic fleck automotive paint.

there is also a little pink metallic fleck hobbit cave, complete with green oozing drippy things. I wanted very much to put a candle on the little bench seat inside of it and wait for fairies to come land in its light. But sadly, the case was the same. Theirs:

and mine:

ok, one more peek and then you need to go see it for yourself.

Mass MoCA 5-28-08

2008-05-28T22:52:00.000-07:00

So me and my “regular (art) companion” went to Mass MoCA to view two shows; BADLANDS- NEW HORIZONS IN LANDSCAPES and EASTERN STANDARD.

what's good, you ask?

answer: Not Mass MOCA right now.

sadly, current exhibits are suffering certain curatorial challenges such as this:

so let's just skip over the issues and get to the good stuff

like kung fu.
and praying mantis.
hey.............. how about MANTIS CITY:

and gorgeous aerial photos of toxic environments:

and things that look like unthings....

see..... here’s the thing about looking at art. It needs to be chosen and presented in a manner conducive to viewing, which is why museums and galleries employ curators.

According to one of my favorite sites http://www.etymonline.com……

curator
1362, from L. curator "overseer, guardian," from curare (see curate). Originally of minors, lunatics, etc.; meaning "officer in charge of a museum, library, etc." is from 1661.

MOST of the work in the Badlands show was amazing. I never would have known it by the presentation.

And, thank you, but i’d like to be able to view an entire show in one trip. total run time for Eastern Standard is longer than museum hours . growl.

a studio visit with John VanAlstine 5-23-08

2008-05-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

wow. what a day..... a long country drive, a dog in tow, and an arrival at the old saw mill property that John Van Alstine has spent more than two decades converting into living quarters, studio space, and killer sculpture garden.
the dog and i hop out of my regular (art) companion's truck, and stumble onto this:

like KA-POW!

and then this:

BAM!

we tour the grounds and come upon THIS:

YES!

before moving the tour to the inside of the buildings. i counted no less than three studio areas, a shipping and receiving space

, and a proper gallery before retreating inside to his beautifully appointed home. the man is incredibly gifted, gracious, and accomplished. i even had to take a picture of myself to believe i was actually there.

"Locally Grown" at the Albany Airport (main) Gallery

2008-05-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

well...... she did it again (Sharon Bates). Another superbly hung show. my only real gripe is that Hampshire wasn't given the glory in any of the show's marketing that he's rightly due.

just as well, you should get off your butt and go see why for yourself.

in the meantime, Kagan was befuddling......

and here's somethings else you want to go there to see: the paintings of Anima Katz

and of Deborah Zlotsky

AVAILABLE WORKS

2006-01-01T16:45:00.000-08:00