Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from everyone at Delavan Art Gallery!

We'd like to thank everyone for their continued support and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

The Staff of Delavan Art Gallery

Please note our additional holiday hours!

Not only are we open our normal gallery hours through December 19 (Thursday and Friday from noon to 6 PM and Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM), but we are also open special hours between now and Christmas.

Special Hours:

Tuesday and Wednesday (December 22, and 23), noon to 6 PM
Thursday, December 24 from 11 AM - 2 PM

Stop by to pick up a unique gift for someone on your holiday shopping list! We have beautiful and unique gifts at a variety of prices - or pick up a gift certificate if you can't decide! Your purchase supports local Syracuse artists and brings new and exciting art to someone you love!

Syracuse Ceramic Guild exhibition

A collective display of members’ works at Delavan Art Gallery by the Syracuse Ceramic Guild is part of the organization’s mission to promote awareness and understanding of the ceramic medium, and also ties in with the gallery’s goal to feature and celebrate local artists.

The Syracuse Ceramic Guild installation, featuring pieces by nine of its member artists, opened in the gallery’s Wild Card space on Thursday, December 3 and remains up through Thursday, December 19. Please visit the City Eagle online for an article about the exhibition:
City Eagle Article

Brief introductions to each of the member artists celebrated in this show follow:

Carol Adamec, recently retired art teacher at Westhill High School, Syracuse, NY, is a native of Long Island who “fell in love with clay” when she was 10 years old and ever since, has ‘found clay and metal sculpture to be significant means’ of expression in her life. She says, “I work to express the reality of positive emotions we feel in our daily lives, translating them into a physical state and bringing them to peoples’ attention with beauty and elegance.” Indeed, Adamec’s works are described as “graceful, elegant and sensual.”

Lory Black also tells of her early “love affair with clay” and how it becomes “expressions of emotion,” pieces of inner feelings of “love, happiness, joy, sadness or beauties of nature.” Black’s experience in teaching kindergarten in the inner city instilled in her the wonderment and magic of the medium, referring to students’ creations as filled with the freedom and imagination of their uninhibited expression.

Walt Black, Lory’s husband, says he ‘came rather late to the art form,’ and describes his works as ‘strong,’ influenced by his years of physical activities and professional career as teacher, coach and administrator of Physical Education and Athletics. He adds, however, that he has always been interested in the relationship between ‘art and sport.’ Black enjoys the stimulation of creating a functional piece of pottery. He and his wife now have a studio in their home and one at their camp in the foothills of the Adirondacks where, he says, “we can produce ceramics inspired by the woods and Kayuta Lake.”

Sue Canizares likens her surface decorating on stoneware and porcelain to ‘embroidery’ saying the technique called “Sgraffito” design is finished using clay as thread and fire as loom. Having lived for a time in the rich historical region of Burgundy, France, Canizares says she draws inspiration from the culture of the medieval period, viewing ancient tapestries both as a window to the past and as a resource for creation of the stylized flowers, vines, leaves and animals that adorn her three-dimensional pieces.

Megan Conner, ceramics teacher at Jamesville-DeWitt High School, says her work is strongly influenced by the colors, patterns and textures she sees in the natural world. To her, the veins of a leaf or the texture of eroded stone represent growth and the passage of time and she refers to those ideas for expression in the carved and stamped surfaces of her pottery and textural compositions of her tiles. Conner’s current theme of work focuses on landscape and its connection “between our physical and emotional landscapes.” She describes her works as “hand built textural wall tiles using slips and stains on layered slabs of clay.”

Miyo Hirano says her wheel-thrown and altered stoneware reflects her Japanese heritage and adds that she is grateful to all those who helped in her journey from when, as a child in Japan, she first experienced the joy of rolling a small clay ball in her cupped palms, to venturing down a potter’s path and ultimately opening her own shop called, “Pleasing Pottery.” Hirano says that “working in clay is a continuum of mystery” and understands that her joy arises in connecting with elements of earth, water, fire and cosmic presences beyond ideas and forming techniques. Compelled to work through her inner self, Hirano says that she applies the concept of “sitting with a beginner’s mind.”

Amy Komar, having worked in a variety of expressive arts mediums from visual arts to performance, finds that the single uniting focus has always been ‘story’ and says her work evolves from a fascination with the personal narrative. She adds, “I draw heavily upon cross-cultural stories, favoring ‘trickster’ tales that explore, teach, cross and push boundaries to walk one’s own path. My visual representation of the trickster has become my personal signature.” Komar loves the direct contact with clay and the freedom of expression that it provides. She says, “As well as incorporating poetry, I can invent a language not limited by words that expands to include form, texture and color.”

Sabrina Nedell, who grew up in the Adirondack region, calls her hand built work ‘whimsical at times’ and says she is influenced by nature. Having been awarded three NYSCA grants, Nedell adds, “I have been seriously playing with and teaching clay for the past 13 years.” Before moving here and teaching classes in her home, she taught at the Old forge Art Center and did all after school art programming for the Camden NY school district. Of her Creamer and Sugar pieces, Nedell says the swirls remind her of seashells or gusts of wind, and the ‘squiggly’ atop the bowl, a whimsical hat..or maybe a croissant.

Wes Weiss, newly retired from the US Postal Service, is forging ahead with his art that first captured his interest much earlier when a student both at SUNY Oswego and later at Syracuse University. He currently works out of a studio at Clayscapes Pottery in Syracuse and hand builds pieces using slab construction methods. Weiss says he enjoys creating curved pieces from leather-hard clay and is currently working with heavy doses of colorants wedged into different clay bodies.

Critique of "Drawing in Air" by Bonnie Rosenberg

“Drawing in Air” heightens viewer understanding

Bonnie Rosenberg

December 2009

All too often surveyors of art are left to their own devices to decipher the meaning behind paintings, sculptures, installations, or posters. The task can seem insurmountable. But, on rare occasions, artists will take the viewers by the proverbial hand and guide them through their artistic creations

The Delavan Art Gallery’s latest Wild Card exhibit, “Drawing in Air,” explores the work of local artist Andy Schuster. Running concurrently with an exhibition of his sculptures at Lipe Art Park, the show displays the sketches and models that led up to this latest installation as well as some of his ceramic pieces.

For each sculptural model on display there is a bevy of accompanying sketches that flesh out the effects of changing sunlight and the impact of applied color on each monument. With his “Ellipse” series, the projected light of day lends each sketch different weight. Casting shadows change with the moving sun.

In “Red Square,” strategically placed sections of red paint come together to reveal a somewhat hidden, yet cohesive crimson geometric shape.

Each drawing includes flicks of colored ink and pen that suggest the intended color palette. The wisps of ink are hurried and brief, but lend an overall understanding of what the artist envisions in the end.

Text also aids the viewer in grasping Schuster’s grander artistic schema. In “Flapping Wings,” his script reads:

Flight

-birds wings flapping

-allow grass to grow and become part of sculpture

-contrast w/ bldg. windows

These sculptures, and the studies leading up to them, are experiments in shape, perception, and the effects of environment on art. With time, the saplings that constitute these works will blend into their surroundings. Snow and grass will become integral elements in all of the works.

Material is the chief difference between these pieces and that of other sculptors. “Spiral galaxy with grid” takes a page from Richard Serra’s book with its winding design. Though unlike Serra’s large, imposing sheets of manipulated metal, Schuster’s work is fragile and impermanent.

Next to the art itself is a video display of the sculptures as they appear in Lipe Art Park. This display adds to the exhibit’s emphasis on multi-media art production.

Interspersed throughout the studies and models are samplings of Schuster’s ceramics. Fired from the same series, these plates feature primal geometric shapes that float on top of an undulating, rippled surface.

A patina-tinted line cuts through the center of the plate in “Drawing, 9 Triangles.” This disruption adds visual interest and a welcome break from the rigidity of the many painted shapes.

“Drawing in Air” guides you to a certain point. It reveals everything up until the moment of artistic actualization. The next logical step for the viewer is to go out to the Lipe Art Park itself and see the installations in their literal natural habitat. Go, walk under the saplings, watch the shifting shadows, and bring along your newfound understanding of the artist’s intent.

Drawing in Air

Delavan Art Gallery's newest Wild Card exhibition, Drawing in Air featuring work by Andy Schuster, opened this week with a reception on Thursday, November 19.  For this exhibition, Lipe Art Park’s large scale outdoor installation is moving indoors as its designer, Andy Schuster presents renderings of his drawings and planning models for a special exhibit across the way in Delavan Art Gallery. The show remains up through November 28.

Central to his work, Schuster says, is drawing. “I draw on paper, on ceramic surfaces using fire and glaze or in space with steel.” The exhibit at the Delavan will consist of drawings and planning models for the concurrent installation at the park, along with recent ceramic works.

Schuster says, “The drawings, visualizations of the stick sculptures at Lipe, are executed on white ground suggesting snow-covered landscapes, and indicating how the finished installation evolves with seasonal environmental changes throughout the year.” Of his ceramic pieces, Schuster says, “The ceramic work is drawn on clay using glaze and controlled flame patterns produced by a high temperature wood fired kiln, producing loose geometric interventions on the clay’s surface.”

In a recent artist’s statement, Schuster offers insight into a new series of large-scale sculptures he is currently working on that incorporate natural elements, creating pieces that are both interactive with viewer and their surroundings. “The creation of this series of work,” he says, “combines my interests both in sculpture and in natural cycles, and will entail more of an imposing scale than anything I’ve previously attempted.”

Currently On View: Elements

Just a reminder to stop by Delavan Art Gallery before December 19 to see our feature exhibition, Elements, with work by Lynette Blake, Amy Haven, and Jim Van Hoven. While the three artists each enjoy dual art careers and endeavors, all of them offer strong, insightful statements about their work as painters and potter.

Lynette Blake, well-recognized in the Rochester, NY region where she has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows, has this to say of her richly colored pieces: “In my paintings, I strive to convey a sense of the infinite which exists in the everyday, but is veiled to our conventional senses. I believe that everything within the universe is comprised of the same elements, of the same energy, and if we are open to it, we can perceive and experience the universe through every object, every form of life and equally through every landscape and every event.” She continues, “My current work is an effort to integrate three facets which jointly help us to experience this sense of the infinite: first, that which we call real, the world experienced through our senses, captured by the depiction of objects; secondly, that which is commonly included in the concept of intellectual, expressed by the use of geometric shapes and patterns; and finally, connecting and embracing the first two, the cosmic, expressing that which we can intuit as though things were unbounded by space and time.”

Painter Jim Van Hoven also references the senses and touches on the infinite when describing his approach to his work, saying that in doing a pure landscape piece, “I strive to capture the experience of being immersed in the primeval environment,” adding, “this not only includes the visual experience, but also the sounds, smells and even the temperature of my surroundings. Sometimes there are signs of civilization that are subservient to the landscape. These are usually vestiges of a time gone by that reinforce the transient nature of human existence.” Van Hoven says that his work “is an extension of his personal connection to nature, a combination of observation and memory,” and that he “hopes that the viewer can relate their own experience to my art and gain access to a place they may never have been.” The artist feels that the use of various media, such as oils, watercolors, etchings and pastels, provides him with more “languages to speak in,” and he says that the rural backdrop and areas surrounding his West Monroe, NY “Settlement Studio” provide much of his inspirations for his art.

Amy Haven uses her art to “understand the world through making and using functional objects.” She says, “Clay gives me a connection to cultural pasts and provides me an affinity with my contemporaries. I believe that beauty can be found in the simplest forms, and to me, there is no simpler form than a pot.’ Haven applies the term ‘infinite’ to its possibilities of surface, form and function. She compares the action of opening a kiln to “opening presents under the tree on Christmas morning –You never know what to expect and if you’re lucky you will unwrap a treasure.” In her more recent work, Haven has been exploring the use of text on the surfaces of her pieces, because she explains, “I have been discovering how words can be both functional and decorative, much like any artwork. It is amazing how what we say often defines us and yet the use of intelligent verse is becoming more and more obsolete these days.” Haven, a studio potter and tile maker in Central New York for ten years, was formerly an artist in residence at the Mendocino Art Center in Mendocino, CA and the Watershed Art Center in Edgecomb, MA.

Keep reading the blog for a review of Elements by Bonnie Rosenberg!

In Case You Missed It: TLS Exhibition

Delavan Art Gallery’s Wild Card Exhibit The Art of Transitional Living Services, which was on view through November 14, celebrated 35 years of services to the Central New York community by TLS, a long-time active organization that provides a broad range of supports and services to individuals living with a developmental disability, mental health issues or brain injury.

The celebratory purpose of the exhibit extended the organization’s focus in helping people live in the community with dignity, responsibility and hope. David Barber, TLS Program and Service Coordinator, says, “An important part of TLS’s philosophy has always been to provide individuals with opportunities to explore their creativity and potential, and we believe that the creative process of art making enriches, heals and enlightens the life of the artist and the viewer as well.”

Transitional Living Services began in 1974 with twenty staff members committed to helping individuals who were being de-institutionalized from state facilities to live in the community. Today, a staff of professionals offer many hundreds of people not only residential services, but also support for employment, education, medical and substance abuse issues, community involvement, habilitation activities and service coordination. The organization’s vision of service encompasses the needs of veterans, immigrants who do not speak English, those with hearing impairments, and other individuals challenged in different ways.

Independent Review: Elements and Transitional Living Services exhibitions

Delavan looks to the elements for its November Show
-Bonnie Rosenberg

Earth, wind, fire, and water are the substances of life and the soul of the Delavan Art Gallery’s latest exhibition aptly entitled “Elements.” Though vastly different aesthetically, three artists – Lynette Blake, Jim Van Hoven, and Amy Haven – come together in this show to communicate their views of nature. The paintings, ceramics, and woodcuts on display reveal the indelible mark nature leaves on each artist and their work.

Lynette Blake explores the infinite through her oil paintings in an effort to connect herself to the viewer, the viewers to one another, and the in the end, everything in the atmosphere.

Blake’s approach to still lifes and landscapes is double-edged, as she melds organic and geometric shapes on the canvas. In Zigzag, tree branches are superimposed with transparent, kaleidoscopic shapes. The paintings appear to have a distorting piece of glass sitting in between the foundational natural image and the viewer’s gaze.

Each painting is covered in hues of blue and copper. When dominated by shades of copper, the canvases nearly glow with warmth, while the bluer canvases are cooler and more somber.

Positive/Negative looks like an over-exposed photograph. Branches and still life elements dissolve into one another. The radiance of suggested sunlight at the heart of the work abstracts and transforms it. Blake’s highly stylized technique is an exploration in unreality and the duality of the image.

Fellow nature enthusiast Jim Van Hoven’s many incantations of landscapes run the gamut in terms of style, technique, and medium. In all of his works, Van Hoven endeavors to relate an experience rather than a likeness. His aim is to truly capture every aspect of the scenes he paints/etches, etc.

His oil works provide placid vistas of the outdoors. In Rainbow Falls a cascading waterfall rushes to the waiting rocks below. Grays, blues, and forest greens constitute this innocuous painting. Beyond paintings, the exhibit also displays Van Hoven’s woodcuts, which sit on a plane above his other works. In Northern Nocturne, intricately cut treetops weave together in front of an invented moonlit night. Less literal and more editorial, these woodcuts alter nature and defy expectation.

Peppered throughout the exhibit are Amy Haven’s ceramic pieces. Not strictly sculpture-in-the-round, and certainly not paintings (although some are fastened to the walls), these works admittedly teeter on the precipice of decoration and function. While the precise setting for them is unclear, the appeal of them is not.

Haven’s ceramic pillows affix to the wall and are ornamented much like a turn of the century travel trunk. Post cards, stickers, stamps, and text are printed on every rotund rectangle as if chronicling a trip abroad. An avian theme flutters throughout the works as does adage-bearing script. Text is applied with a heavier hand in Font Vase, where disassembled letters float on a neutral ceramic background.


Transitional Living Services exhibition

Exterior of the main Elements exhibit is the gallery’s ever-changing Wild Card show. Running until November 14th is the celebratory The Art of the Traditional Living Services. Traditional Living Services (TLS) is an organization that provides services and support to people with developmental disabilities, mental health issues, and brain injuries. It encourages its clients’ creativity while acclimating them to everyday life. The fruit of their artistic labor is what is currently on view.

With some items up for sale and others not, the exhibit offers a diverse collection of works in various forms of media. Graphite drawings, stained glass panels, watercolor paintings, and photographs are just some of the artworks produced not only by residents of TLS, but also by employees and others connected with the organization (which happens to be celebrating its 35 year anniversary).

Elizabeth Edinger’s Family Portrait appears as though it’s been ripped from the cover of a cherished childhood book. The illustration is bright, whimsical, and reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland.

This show recognizes the artistic capabilities of those who would not otherwise have the opportunity to showcase their art. It highlights the greater philanthropic project of TLS, while at the same time challenging preconceived notions of what constitutes art and who is an artist.

Delavan Art Gallery's Favorite Trickster

Last weekend's Halloween Party at Delavan Art Gallery embodied all the treats promised, but one sole trickster managed to get his 'licks' in at the end of the evening.

Monty, Caroline's black lab/golden retriever mix and stalwart member of the office staff, chewed his way through two foil-wrapped packages, one containing a large piece of Halloween decorated cake and the other, several deliciously baked Italian cookies...all 'carefully put away' to give to the garage attendant on duty in a DAG staffer's condo complex. Moreover, the 'carefully put away' description and Monty's access to these treats defies logical thinking: Those two wrapped items were stored in the hollow of a collapsible witch's hat that was then placed in a plastic shopping bag, resting in the middle of the staffer's office desk. When Monty's deed was discovered, the plastic bag was found partially under the desk alongside the hat, and the shredded foil wrap scattered about. The upshot of the whole incident is twofold: Monty has wonderfully hygienic eating habits, for there was no trace of gooey cake frosting in the hat nor crumbs on the floor. Secondly, when returning home and into her parking garage, this staffer was able to expand on that old adage: "the dog ate my homework" saying instead to the person intended for the treats: "The dog ate your cake and cookies!"

**This shall remain anonymous so as not to alert the reader to the identity of the staffer whose practice it is to carry away refreshment left-overs with which to ply the parking attendent to get her a good space in the garage.

Bill Storm: A Letter to the Editor

Bill Storm, a photographer and a current exhibitor in our show Visions, has written the following Letter to the Editor of the Post-Standard regarding Katherine Rushworth's review of September 27th. His letter is copied here in its entirety. We cannot say if it will be published by the Post-Standard, or, if it is published, whether and how the P-S will edit it, so this blog entry can both inform you and give you an unedited baseline. Also, feel free to comment by going to the bottom of this entry and clicking on comments.

-Bill Delavan, Director

**Note the letter that follows is Bill Storm's original letter, which he later shortened to fit within the Post-Standard's length limits for Letters to the Editor.


An Art Critic Fails Badly
 
Among the many things that fall into the domain of subjective criticism is the world of art. There is no membership required. Everyone and anyone who wishes to participate can join in with their opinions. That is part of the fun for the viewers and as well as the artists who are trying to convey through their work some expression of what is inside of them.

At a bit more formalized level, we have the interjection of the art critic.â These folks can provide a rallying point for individuals who may share a particular critic's sensibilities. Done well, the critic can be an educator and a motivating factor in any community to help promote the arts. So while one may or may not agree with the critics subjective views of some art, a positive dialog can be fostered that is stimulating and benefits all concerned.

Unfortunately, Post-Standard contributing writer Katherine Rushworth, in her September 27, 2009 review of the Delavan Art Gallery fell badly in reaching the level of a respected art critic. From the onset of the article it was blatantly clear that Rushworth had a personal agenda with the gallery and it wasn't a constructive one. Rushmore made it plain she did not like the manner in which the gallery operates. On that note she then let loose with lines laced with contempt that quickly lost any credibly in the context of her disturbing approach. Interestingly, her comments about the art appeared to pick up on earlier reviews (Nancy Keefe Rhodes, City Eagle, et al.) and turn positives into negatives.


Art helps reveal what is inside the artist. Writing can do the same. In this instance Rushmore's words spoke volumes about an animosity that had no place in the Post-Standard. The Delavan Art Gallery, all galleries and the community deserve better than this.
-Bill Storm

Fall/Halloween Party Sneak Peek!

Here's a little sneak peek of the scarecrow that will be joining us at the Fall/Halloween party tonight at Delavan Art Gallery! Stop by between 6 and 9pm for lots of fun! (Admission $10 at the door, costumes optional)

 

City Eagle article by Nancy Keefe Rhodes

Delavan Art Gallery would like to highlight the article written by Nancy Keefe Rhodes for the City Eagle newspaper. Published on September 17, this article takes a look at the Visions and Discoveries exhibitions that opened the season at the Delavan. Thanks Nancy!  Click the link below for the article:

http://www.cnylink.com/cnyarts/view_news.php?news_id=1253207849

Fall/Halloween Party at Delavan Art Gallery!

 

Please Join Delavan Art Gallery for

All Treats and No Tricks

at our Fall/Halloween Party!!

Featuring

jazz vocalist Marcia Rutledge

and guitarist Doug Robinson

Friday, October 23

6 to 9 PM

Admission $10 at the door

(Costumes optional)

Stop by to celebrate Halloween and the fall season with the staff at Delavan Art Gallery! We'll be in costume, and you're welcome to dress up or not, whatever you like. Our favorite musicians Marcia Rutledge and Doug Robinson will supply the entertainment, and we'll supply the light, non-alcoholic refreshments and hors d'oeuvres! Give us a call if you have any questions (315-425-7500). We hope to see you for a good time!

Christine Chansamone, Intern

Hey! My name is Christine and I am an intern at the Delavan Art Gallery. My work with the gallery began in September of this year. I made my way to Syracuse, NY via an education at Syracuse University. Growing up in a lower middle class suburb of southern California, there weren’t any galleries or museums in the immediate area for me check out. The community did not support the arts, and the arts programs in school were severely under funded. When there’s something you can’t have, you want it all the more, and thus I came to SU to learn art and music history in the College of Arts and Sciences. During this time I began to learn about the subjects I had not been thoroughly exposed to. At SU I was able to attend frequent gallery exhibits, recitals and orchestral performances on and off campus. I began to imagine that if I could get some experience volunteering or interning at a gallery, museum or performance arts space, I could possibly make a career out of supporting the arts.

Upon graduating from SU in December, I began looking for opportunities in Syracuse to learn more about supportive roles for the arts. I gained a position in the Dean’s Office for the College of Visual and Performing Arts at SU where I have been able to make many contacts in the field and learn more about the arts community within Syracuse. My favorite part about Syracuse is how artistically rich the city is. There are so many artists and organizations working in this city, and so many opportunities to learn from them.

I have worked with TH3, Arts Covenant, Westcott Theatre and now the Delavan Art Gallery. This is the first exhibition space I have worked with. I have learned a tremendous amount from the awesome staff here in the short amount of time since I’ve come on board. I enjoy every minute spent here because I am constantly learning or being entertained by our conversations with the each other and the exhibiting artists.

I have had the opportunity to hang and light multiple exhibitions. The hands on experiences have been priceless. Bill and Caroline are an encouraging and patient team when it comes to teaching the interns how to properly hang and light exhibitions. They always make sure to let us know what rules to follow and what tricks to use.

It’s not all work here at the gallery though. Doggie breaks are always welcomed, and Monty, Caroline’s dog, is always sure to be cute and silly on call. We also welcome chocolate breaks. You are sure to always find some kind of cookie, cake or chocolate treat in the kitchen!

Everyone at the Delavan Art Gallery has been very warm and inviting. I feel as if I have known these people forever, and it only adds to the fun! For anyone thinking of interning with the gallery, I would highly recommend it. The experience is absolutely wonderful.

Independent Review of George Earle: A Retrospective

George Earle: A Retrospective
Bonnie Rosenberg
October 8, 2009

The Delavan Art Gallery’s retrospective of George F. Earle comprehensively charts the progression of one artist’s style along with his diverse choice of subject matter. Hung chronologically, the show plots the trajectory of Earle’s long artistic life.

In the gallery’s Wild Card space, the viewer can see a bevy of 95-year-old Earle’s classically American paintings. Richly colored scenes of rural New York and beyond expose the viewer to the familiar yet striking. Earle abstracts nature with his highly linear style and inventive use of color.

In “The Bay in Fall,” a barrage of fluorescent yellows, oranges and reds are balanced by the cool, blue color palette that dominates the right half of the painting.

 
The crown jewel of the exhibit is Earle’s large scale “Clark Reservation.” This wooded vignette is laded with color, texture, and imagination. Each natural surface is treated with a different painting technique, the conglomeration of which amounts to a visually stunning painting. The large tree trunk that dominates the composition seems to come to life with its snake-like appearance – its white, red, blue, and yellow scales slink across the painting. Globs of paint jet out from the canvas as they intersperse with the swirls of color that upon closer inspection come to resemble Van Gogh’s undulating brushstrokes.

Although the show consists chiefly of landscapes, it also highlights Earle’s foray into portraiture. “Mexican Caretaker” features the stern likeness of the artist’s former maid in Mexico. Drawing his color palette from the terra cotta bowls that rest beside the sitter, the painting becomes a study in pink, red, and burnt orange.

Earle’s overall command of technique is evident in this exhibition. His “Leadville, CO” looks like an Impressionistic view of a rural, Rocky Mountain town. Wisps of greens, teals, and cream define the lush background, as stark buildings exist in the foreground. At the same time, “Water Under the Bridge” is highly abstracted. Save for the suggestion of a dock at the bottom left corner of the canvas, the work appears to be an organic string of blue and white lines that twist like puffs of smoke.

Each painting in the collection offers insight into the artist’s skill. As agreeable as the paintings are themselves, perhaps the greater attraction is the clear delineation of an artist’s entire career. It is varied and vibrant.

George Earle: A Retrospective

Wild Card

George Earle: A Retrospective
(October 8 - October 31)

George F. Earle is 95 years old and still painting with the same passion for his craft that emerged when producing his first oil painting at age eight. Delavan Art Gallery is pleased to honor this accomplished artist and his creative legacy through a retrospective curated by his family. The display in the gallery’s Wild Card space opens with a reception from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm on Thursday, October 8, and remains up through Saturday, October 31.

Throughout George Earle’s adventurous life, he has managed to combine his love of painting with his passion for skiing and urge to write. In his early years growing up in New Bedford, MA, the pursuit of artistic studies coupled with the desire to experience better snow conditions brought him to Syracuse University to the undergraduate art school that remains one of the oldest in the country, and to the hills of Upstate New York that allowed him plenty of opportunity to ‘hit the slopes.’

Back then, Earle started the University’s first ski team, and many years later, he would return to that campus to teach design and art history before moving on to SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, School of Landscape Architecture where he now holds the title of Professor Emeritus. 

During the years between 1933 and today, Earle traveled an exciting journey. In 1937, he was awarded a Tiffany Foundation Fellowship and spent the next year painting in Mexico. In 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor, Earle interrupted his advanced studies at Yale to enlist in the army, where for four years he served as an instructor and coach of the great 1944 10th Mountain Division ski team. After the war, he returned to SU to teach art and direct what was, at the time, the largest ski school in the country.

Throughout his journeys, Earle continued to paint whatever subject was at hand and would later publish books visually documenting his adventures, both with palette and written words. In The Road Less Traveled, Earle recounts his escapades in Mexico, while Birth of a Division takes the reader through the first operation that established the 10th Mountain Division as an important part of the U. S. military force that remains so today.

Following are the artist’s comments on three of the paintings included in Delavan’s display. Of “Mexican Caretaker,” Earle says: “In Mexico, I rented a small house complete with a maid who slept on the front step and did my cooking and laundry. It is among the many paintings I sent home that year.” He says “Water Under The Bridge” was painted in New England and adds, “the stream crossing, dark with pine trees, shows the complicated patterns of water in it’s eddies and turns.”

The painting, “Clark Reservation” was done first as a quick sketch to show his Landscape Architecture class ‘a few tricks’ when brought there to paint from the reservation’s natural scenes. “Later, I enlarged and developed the sketch,” Earle says. “I was particularly interested in the snake like tree trunks and beams of light through the trees.”

The End of One-Way Journalism: Reviewing the Reviewer

Sept 30, 2009

(Note: this is kinda long – feel free to skip down to the “Response to the Review “ section. We also encourage you to leave a comment on your thoughts about this or future posts by clicking on the Comments link at the end of the post, in this case, after the words "stay tuned".)

I INTRODUCTION

Art Reviews of shows and venues are important to the life of artists, museums and galleries. They are frequently the only point of contact between an artist, gallery or museum and the non-artist public, which means most everybody but the small group of active art goers.

At the beginning of this exhibit, prior to any other reviews, we initiated a program to have Independent Reviews of our shows because we perceived an urgent need for more reviews (and hence more reviewers) of the visual arts scene in general and of our shows in particular. We hired Bonnie Rosenberg, a graduate student in the Goldring Arts Journalism Program at SU, to write ongoing independent reviews of our shows. The deal is this: We pay her for her time to view shows and write reviews, which we will then publish on our website and blog regardless of what she writes. We will check the review only for factual matters, not evaluative or interpretative content. We posted her first review of Visions on our website and blog (delavanartgallery.blogspot.com) on Friday, September 11. We, of course, reserve the right to comment on her review, as she has the right to comment on our comments.

Up to now the review situation has been characterized by One-Way Journalism. If an art critic decides to do a review of a venue’s show, he or she comes, writes a review and publishes it on a schedule convenient to them. For all practical purposes there is no possibility of a publicly viewable response – certainly not one which is timely or in the same part of the newspaper in which the review first appeared. At best, any response would appear, unedited, the following week, in the same section as the original piece of writing. But that “at best” doesn’t happen. A Letter to the Editor, if it is published at all, will generally be placed in the op-ed section and will generally be cut in overall length or heavily edited. (In one non-art related case I’ve had a “Letter to the Editor” held up for over a month, then edited with changes in paragraphing, sentence structure and tense to the point that the final result made me look incoherent).

Ideally the resolution to the problem of One-Way Journalism would be to have the review done earlier and then made available to the artists and venue being reviewed so that they could make their comments. Then the whole ensemble, the original review and the comments, would be published at the same time in the same space. The newspapers may not have the time, inclination or space (ink), but this would be a valuable asset to the community.

So, we are forced to do it ourselves. However, with the internet, a whole new dimension of communication has opened up. It is possible not only to post writings and responses to them, but also to make public comments regarding those writings. This opens up the process to interactivity – i.e. posting of an original writing, a response(s), then response(s) to the responses etc. So, who can respond? Anybody: gallery staff, artists who have been reviewed, other artists, the general public—even the art critics being themselves reviewed. The next section of this writing is our response to the Katherine Rushworth’s recent review in the Post-Standard.

II RESPONSE TO THE REVIEW

The review of our show Visions by Katherine Rushworth appeared in this past Sunday’s Stars section of the Post-Standard (Sept 27, 2009). For your convenience we’d like to post the entire review here on this blog, but that would probably violate copyright law. As a second option we’d like to provide a convenient link to the review, but so far have been unable to find it posted on the Post-Standard’s website Syracuse.com.

We’re therefore left with the challenge and necessity of commenting on a piece of writing that we are unable to provide here in its entirety. So here goes.

IN GENERAL

In the second paragraph of the review Rushworth, who will be referred to as the “Art Critic” from here on, said “There’s little unifying the works thematically…but that really doesn’t matter. Each artist demonstrates some degree of vision and all three prove to be at least competent in their respective media”. How can the term Visions not be inclusive in a visual arts show? Does not every artist have a vision? Then, her use of the term “at least competent…” displays, in my opinion, the grudging acknowledgment of the quality work shown here, but put in the least appealing terms. I think it indicates an upfront bias against either the artists in question, or, more probably, against the Delavan Art Gallery. For the record, these four artists are very competent and deserve more than a grudging nod to their abilities.

TANYA KIROUAC

Next, the Art Critic states that Toronto artist, Tanya Kirouac, has a solid command of encaustic painting, but (and now comes the negative) she “limits her subject matter to the point of redundancy.” The Art Critic goes on to say: “This may not be entirely Kirouac’s fault, but the consequences of the specific works show organizers chose. But that’s always the risk an artist faces when the gallery assists in the selection of work”. In both a discussion with the Art Critic at the end of her review time at the gallery, and in an e-mail on the subject when she sought clarification, we made it very clear that we, the gallery staff, pick the artists to be exhibited, the timing of an exhibit and the selection of an artist’s art work*. While we certainly encourage input from artists during the selection process, selection is our responsibility. That said, I am quite proud of our selection of work by the four artists, including Tanya Kirouac’s – as well as the selection of over 165 artists and their artwork over the past six+ years. In this case I have re-examined the five pieces the Art Critic listed and found them to be sufficiently different to be shown together – they provide variation within an internal “unity of theme” that in other contexts the Art Critic seems to like.

BILL STORM

She states: “But in other images, in which he ratchets up the color to high-octane levels, he seems to have lost his aesthetic sense and is playing with color (and digital toys) simply for the sake of playing with color. In Primeval #12 and #8, the color seems manipulated and does not enhance the natural landscape he’s using as subject matter. I’d rather Storm went over the top in to the realm of the impossible, as in Primeval #2, #7 and #1, than not be fully committed.”

Most photography today has moved from film to digital, and therefore goes through a computer. The “digital toys” to which the Art Critic refers, are, when more respectfully considered, the photographer’s tools to be used by the photographic artist as a painter uses paint brushes and paint. The skill and judgment with which the photographic artist uses a computer determines whether the output is good or bad art. It is fair to criticize a photographer’s use of the digital tool box, but the Art Critic has here stipulated an interesting criterion which is that changes in color (which she derogatorily refers to as manipulation) must enhance the natural landscape. Further, she has criticized the artist for manipulating images, but then suggests that he should do more of it.

PHIL PARSONS

The Art Critic made a generally favorable comment of this excellent oil painter’s work, but she felt the placement of one of the buildings interfered with the natural composition. OK, so he has twelve marvelous paintings on display, and she takes her limited space to dis one painting she didn’t like.

BARBARA STOUT

An all too brief description of the watercolors and ink pieces by a fine artist.

OVERALL

More space given to Barbara Stout, and less to uninformed speculation/projection about the selection process would have made a much better review. Also, the pejorative reference to the artists as being “at least competent” was unhelpful to a reader wanting to find out about the exhibit.

I invite the reading public to visit the gallery and see for yourselves the show of the four artists’ work, and the accuracy of the Art Critic’s review. One note: Tanya Kirouac’s work is only up for three more days – Friday, October 2 (noon – 6:00 PM0 and Saturday, October 3 (10:00 AM – 4:00 PM).

-Bill Delavan, Director

* Note: Only in some special circumstances such as elementary school shows, retrospectives and some of the group shows, do we not select the artwork.

Final note: Caroline Szozda McGowan, Gallery Manager, will shortly be posting her comments on Katherine Rushworth’s review on the blog and other reviewed artists may also be posting. Stay tuned.

Visions and Discoveries

Feature Exhibition:

Visions

(September 10-October 24)

A collection of works by three artists, including paintings by Phil Parsons, photography by Bill Storm, and ink drawings by Barbara Stout is the featured exhibition heralding the start of the new season at Delavan Art Gallery. Visions opens September 10 with a public reception that night from 5:00-8:00 PM.

Phil Parsons, a graduate of The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA, is a nationally published decorative artist who works with interior designers and clients throughout New York. His current collection of paintings at Delavan, however, points to pride of his families' roots in Syracuse and appreciation for the city's rural surroundings of small towns, farms and countryside fields. Under the title, Roadside, Parsons says, "I wanted to capture those ragged woods, matted fields and old homesteads." The works represent over two years of work, altered in his perception of viewing the subject matter following the passing of a family member. He says, "In death, everything seems fleeting. I needed a record, a reminder for my children and myself. This is where we live." While Parsons' pieces are painted in a realistic style, he explains, "I have felt free to change the landscape, repaint barns, and invent skies to reflect my feelings."

Bill Storm, influenced from his early professional background as musician, recording engineer and producer, says his show titled, Primeval, is the outgrowth of a lifetime fascination for expressing emotions and ideas through artistic media, be it sound or visual, that "makes me want to stop and look or listen." Storm says he discovered his love for fine art photography while at Syracuse University where his musical experience earned him positions both as a Director of the Belfer Audio Laboratory and Archive and as an instructor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He says that his good fortune of having worked with a host of noted recording artists in his previous career, along with appreciation for works by masters studied in his new endeavor, helped him to 'see in single images the wonderful sensory impact associated with great musicians playing on great recordings.' Thus his fine art approach and straightforward goal of "creating images that trigger imagination."

Gods, Beasts, and Mortals is the title Barbara Stout says best describes her ink drawings included in Visions, citing that only a few are clearly or vaguely human, and the rest, animal or beast-like or in the deity category. The artist, whose strongest influences come from primitive art, signs and symbols from numerous cultures, as well as from psychology and social relationships, says that in her creations she is looking for a resonance with the raw experience of love... "its vulnerability, openness, heightened awareness, abandon and beauty." She feels that these explorations "have their own rules that translate a poetic truth rather than a literal rendering." Thus Stout describes her paintings as becoming like a jazz improvisation, exposing the history and beauty of freedom where in her painted worlds "a beast can buy a car, Jesus can leave the high and mighty, wings can appear in unexpected places, and somewhere a new set of wings are sprouting.'

Wild Card Exhibition:
Discoveries
(September 10-October 3)
Encaustics by Tanya Kirouac

Reaching beyond US borders, Delavan Art Gallery is pleased to present Discoveries, an exhibition that celebrates the engaging talents of an encaustic painter who hails from Toronto, Ontario. The artist describes the term encaustic, derived from the Greek word 'enkaustikos' meaning "to heat" or "to burn," as a technique that uses wax in a process involving heat to apply the medium and secure it. Composed of beeswax or microcrystalline wax, damar resin and pigments, the term is often used to describe both the paint itself and the method for using it.

In her artist statement, Kirouac explains, "I am an encaustic painter, deeply rooted in the visual language of landscapes and the natural world. Similar to the way nature builds up and washes away what it creates, I apply and remove layers of wax. Possibilities, which had yet to be discovered rise and make themselves apparent. This process allows me to develop complex images in relief." She continues, "Encaustic has an inherent opacity. This quality creates transparency, which mirrors the fragility of our world. These transparencies give the completed works an almost dreamlike finish - a reminder of the possibility that the objects of my inspiration can be fleeting and might one day exist only in my memory."