ARTEZINE

-- A Cyberspace Review Of The Arts

Volume 17.5
June 17, 2009

Editor:

Robert Sievert
robert.sievert@gmail.com

Editorial Associates:

Eva Sievert

Publisher and Webmaster:

ETAOIN
artezine17@etaoin.com

Artezine is a New York City - based review of the Arts and Culture by artists for artists.

Editorial comments, contributions, and inquiries should be directed to Mr. Sievert.
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Permanent links to Artezine pages are best pointed to the archived version of any page including those of the current issue, since the index, contents and front pages of the current issue change from time to time.

All works, written, pictorial, musical or other, appearing in Artezine are copyrighted by their creator(s) unless otherwise indicated.

click on picture for press release

A State Fair In Queens

Socrates Sculpture Park Goes To The Country

by Gordon Fitch

Note: each image below is linked to a larger version which can be viewed by clicking on the small one.

Queens is reputed to have something like 157 different ethnic groups, each with its own language and culture. Perhaps almost as remote from the common experience of most of the locals in Astoria and Long Island City as the marches of Uzbekistan (except for our Uzbek contingent) this summer's Current Exhibition, "State Fair", was themed on the eponymous public events of America's rural areas. Artists were invited to connect the historic state fair of traditional rural America with the polymorphous 21st-century physical reality of urban Queens, within sight of the tallest of Manhattan's tall, glittering towers, and indeed in the literal glitzy shadow of advancing gentrification.

The curator of this exhibition did not intend a crowded, noisy state fair atmosphere, so the results, while popular enough, were somewhat less frantic than the Platonic form of the state fair, but fit in very well with the park's neighborly, congenial atmosphere. The resultant works were diverse and surprising: above, you see one of them, a "barn" devised by Bernard Williams. But there is more, much, much more.

-- and more is here --

German Art At Blue Mountain Gallery

by Robert Sievert

Barbara Deutschmann: "Pocket Sculpture"

In an interesting experiment Marcia Clarke, director of Blue Mountain Gallery arranged an exchange show with Galerie Mani of Berlin. They would have our Gallery for a show and in exchange Blue Mountain would have a show in Berlin. (For Galerie Mani's announcement of the Berlin show, see this PDF.) When one thinks of German Art one immediately thinks of the great expressionists of German Art and the power and graphic strength of their work. What we got was not exactly that. Four artists of rather uneven accomplishment were presented. Granted that the work was complicated by the obvious size restrictions of transporting it internationally, most pieces were small. The group consisted of four artists, maybe it is unfair to expect Galerie Mani to represent German Art but the show certainly lacked power and graphic strength. ...

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“Harsh Beauty in the Smashing Elements”

Black Sunrise

Louise Guerin at Blue Mountain Gallery

by Robert Sievert

Louise Guerin's new paintings, to be seen Blue Mountain Gallery in April and May, are bold expressionist images. She is at her best in a series of almost black and white painntings that seem to explode off her canvases. Her paintings of Utah's Park City and a beach in New Zealand seem to mark a real step forward into expressive painting.

Guerin was an artist in residence at Utah's Park City last Spring and was surprised to find herself wanting to paint that landscape, since it was so unfamiliar to her. The solemn majesty of the high peaks around Park City and the quiet hush of the salt flats of Salt Lake itself both captured her imagination and ended up in very different but equally forceful canvases.

Guerin sensed massive forces as she painted this current landscape exhibition -- a deep disquiet in the air -- the pounding surf in these imposing seascapes certainly does not invite thoughts of swimming. The geographic location is her homeland of New Zealand but the general atmosphere echoes the current worldwide uncertainty in all spheres. The paintings take on an allegorical significance and mythological forces seem to be at work here.

Guerin worked from drawings and photos of a beach she has been visiting all her life. Her animated brushstrokes match the crashing waters and the sense of impending danger and challenge. The huge pieces of driftwood being washed up could be survivors of an unknown struggle further up the coast or a transplanted version of Mathew Brady's battlefield corpses from Antietam. Harsh beauty in the smashing elements.

Utah Sunrise

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NICOLAS CARONE at WASHBURN GALLERY

Off The Chart, 2009, acrylic on tarpaulin, 42"x33"

by Robert Sievert

When I asked the man behind the desk at the Washburn Gallery "Just how old is Nick?" he hesitated and then said, "92?" It was almost an apology.

The paintings on view in the other room were all done in the past year. An amazing feat for an artist who is challenged by vision problems and what ever else comes along with being 92. No apology needed. Done in black and white, there is a visual excitement and sense of intensity in this work. Probably the finest work Carone has done yet.

This work follows a similar series shown last year at the Washburn gallery. Those were not new paintings but had been in his studio for quite awhile. I had seen them at least five years ago. They also were black and white. But it is in this new series currently on view that Carone has made his most definitive expression of his artistic vision yet. It is as if the attention of his last show has catapulted him into renewed energy and certainty.

-- more --

Visual Poetry by Diana Manister

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A New Format

With this issue, Artezine is embarking on a new format. Instead of accumulating an "issue" of articles and publishing them all at once, we're going to take advantage of the flexibility and immediacy of the Web and publish them as soon as they're ready to be seen. From time to time we'll archive the stories into a volume or issue.

Other advances are in the works.

However, past articles you've known and loved will remain here online as long as Artezine lasts.