Independent Critic Review Program

September 11, 2009

Dear Patrons and Artists,

Delavan Art Gallery takes pride in celebrating the creativity of artists shown here. To further that end, we also strongly believe that a review of each exhibition is important, not only in response to artists' efforts to avail their works for public view, but also to give viewers another dimension through which to enhance their appreciation and enjoyment of what they see. However, there are too few media reviewers and/or reviews to cover the large number of visual art exhibits that take place in this area.

To address this situation, we are beginning a new program of having independent critiques of our shows, beginning with our current exhibitions. Here's how it will work:
--We will pay the independent critic for her/his time for coming to the gallery and writing a critique. We will review the critique for factual matter only prior to posting to our e-mail list and blog. We will not change interpretative, evaluative, or other matters of content. The independent critic is free to write what she/he wishes without fear of editing. On the e-mail posting, following the critique, we may choose to post our comments regarding the critique, and on the blog we may likewise post comments along with other readers, which may include the artists being reviewed. Thus this new program, through the blog, allows interactivity between critic, gallery, artist and viewer which only the internet enables.

To begin the program we are proud to announce that Bonnie Rosenberg has been selected as Delavan Art Gallery's first independent critic. Bonnie is currently a graduate student at Syracuse University's S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications where she is receiving her masters in Arts Journalism as part of the school's Goldring Program. Prior to coming to Syracuse, Bonnie graduated from Saint Louis University where she earned a dual Bachelor's degree in Art History and English Literature and also held two competitive internships, one as the Family Program intern at St. Louise Art Museum and the other as curator of her own exhibit in the Historic Samuel Cupples House on campus.

This reviewer's interest in the visual arts was ignited by her hometown Chicago, and as she says, "persists in Central New York where I will be an imbedded critic for Delavan Art Gallery and connoisseur of the Syracuse art scene at large." Bonnie adds, "In my efforts, I hope to create an on-going dialogue among artists and the public."

What follows are Bonnie Rosenberg's comments on Delavan Art Gallery's 50th Show opening our new season: our main exhibition titled Visions and the gallery's Wild Card Show, Discoveries.

Our thanks and congratulations to artists participating in these exhibitions and to Bonnie for coming to the opening to view them. We also wish to extend an invitation to the public to visit here during the shows runs and join with us in applauding the creativity that permeates throughout Central New York and beyond.

Sincerely,

Bill Delavan
Gallery Director

Visions Exhibit Opens New Season at the Delavan

Bonnie Rosenberg
September 7, 2009

Artists have the ability to create their own version of reality. They can purge a bad memory with the sweep of a brush or create an alternate one with the click of a camera.

In the Delavan Art Gallery's September exhibit, Visions, four artists - Phil Parsons, Bill Storm, Barbara Stout and Tanya Kirouac - present their art as it derives and deviates from reality. This show highlights the power of artistic license and its ability to manifest differently in artists.

This exhibit provides more than aesthetic appeal. It provokes thought and calls into question the notion of truth in art. If Keats was right, and beauty really is synonymous with truth, then the Delavan has found the key to artistic veracity.

Bill Storm's show Primeval presents nature through lenses both abstract and straight. His black and white photographs depict beautiful natural scenes that glorify what remains of the great American landscape. Storm's color photos are less representational and transform nature into amorphous studies in color, texture and composition. In Primeval #3, streams of brilliant blood red weave around chunks of earth. Detached from its original context, this photo takes on a sinister feeling - adopting overtones of violence and rage.

By cropping nature and applying color, Storm distorts reality and constructs his own landscape. His view of nature evokes an immediate visceral response from its audience, a reaction that is aligned with the prehistoric title of the collection.

The adjacent exhibit, Roadside, by Phil Parsons explores the landscapes of the greater Syracuse area. Parson's scenes are inspired by Central New York's rural vistas, but were composed in his imagination. Farms, winding roads and emotive skies mark these serene paintings.

The muddy color palette that characterizes these works is sporadically disrupted by leavening strokes of yellow and white. These small dots of color are welcome in a painted world where browns and tans prevail. In Howlett Hill Moon a single smudge of pale orange illuminates a path to the painting's apex.

The rurality of these paintings appropriately follows in the tradition of Hudson River School artists. Parsons artworks serve as records of his life's events in New York. Each canvas represents a memory, albeit a manufactured one.

In her ink and watercolor drawings, fellow exhibitor Barbara Stout reveals a personal iconography that is influenced by primitive art and mythic figures, but ultimately stems from her imagination. The images in her Gods, Beasts, and Mortals show are whimsical, cartoonish and rooted in the mystical.Tendrils of black ink race across all of the pieces in a modern Art Nouveau style. At times they loosely resemble humans, but most often they outline invented figures. In the same vein as Paul Klee, these works seem to point to a deeper meaning with their imbedded symbols, but the significance is unknown to the viewer.

Because of their indecipherable subject matter, these works largely fall into the realm of quaint decorative pieces. Ooh La La, a red, white and black drawing, leans so far toward farce that it is divorced from its purported historical foundations. Any spiritual bridge is broken by Stout's recurrent use of handlebar mustache motifs and her frivolous approach to substantial subjects like love.

The gallery's Wild Card Show is comprised of works by encaustic painter, Tanya Kirouac. In Discoveries plant life images are shaped from many layers of wax and pigment. The artworks seem to radiate warmth as rich shades of hazel green, violet and maroon coalesce on the panels.

Bold vermilion flowers abound in big red, one of her larger paintings. Reminiscent of Cy Twombly's floral paintings, the work features loosely formed, free-floating flowers. In the background, shades of yellow melt into pools of orange and cream.

Like the other paintings in the collection, this work draws in the viewer with its accessibility. With surface textures that look like malleable wood, autumnal colors and inviting titles like serenity and passing day, this collection practically demands enjoyment of the viewer and is all too willing to supply the fodder for easy artistic consumption.

Visions runs from Sept. 10 - Oct. 24, and Discoveries runs from Sept. 10 - Oct. 3. These exhibitions are harbingers of good things to come from the Delavan this fall.

Tiki Bar

Tiki Bar? Many people have been asking, why would the Delavan Art Gallery need a tiki bar? Well, many reasons. Tiki bars are this summers new must own item. P-Diddy, Justin Timberlake, and Brittany Spears all have invested millions of dollars to have their own tiki bars. Bill was at home watching MTV Cribs when he realized that he must have one, too. The next day he proposed the idea to Reggie and believe it or not, Reggie was thinking the same thing.

That day Reggie began drawing up blue prints for the estimated 1.3 million dollar tiki bar and began construction. Katie and Lacey then put the finishing touches on the bar and now it is ready to serve all. But then Bill had another problem, who is he going to serve? Then another brilliant idea struck Bill, a luau! Of course every tiki bar needs to be opened with a killer luau.

Everything written above was all in the mind of one of our wonderful interns, Ryan Petrus. What really happened was this: Staff had begun planning to close out the end of the current season with a great party. While brainstorming themes and ideas for the event, everyone came up with the idea of a luau. It also helped that the Gallery Manager Caroline had spent last summer living in Hawaii so she had a few ideas up her sleeve for all the amenities. Director Bill was away on vacation at the time, so the staff ran with different wild ideas on their own. They came up with so many of these, Bill couldn't help but go along with the whole plan when he got back.

Now every luau needs its own tiki bar. So where to find a tiki bar? Any of those we came across that looked anywhere near decent were at least $1000 and there was no way Bill was going to let us spend that much on something we may only use once. We asked around and no one had one that we could borrow or even rent. We were running out of options when we had another brainstorm. The amazing Reggie, who does so much at Delavan Center and Delavan Art Gallery, might be able to make us one. Caroline approached him and humbly asked, "Could you make us a tiki bar?" Reggie's response was, "What's a tiki bar and what does it look like?" Staff sprang into action and looked up some pictures for him and found a few rough plans to give him an idea of the look and measurements of the bar, and next thing we know, he's creating us our very own tiki bar. Only using the measurements for the height and width of the bar, Reggie had the rest all planned out in his head.

Just about everyone has had a hand in the creation of our tiki bar. Its coming together nicely and we will post progress pictures of it's creation and evolution soon.

The staff of Delavan Art Gallery

P.S. We are already working on ideas for future uses for our tiki bar.

We Have a Nurse in the House

I have lived in Syracuse for four years this summer, and I can still remember meeting my neighbor, who is an artist. She, Lew Graham, talked about her studio at Delavan Center and how much she loved her space and her landlord, Bill Delavan who is also the Director of the Delavan Art Gallery. She kept telling me that I had to stop by and see the place. Well, it took me almost three years to discover the gallery.

First of all, I have to say that for the past 26 years, I have been moving all over the world, following my military husband. Initially, I worked as a Practical Nurse and later discovered there is more to life than medicine. I took classes at varying colleges as we moved 15 times over the years. When my husband retired and promised we wouldn’t move any more, I pooled all my credits together to find I was very close to earning my BA. Majoring in Art History and graduating from SU took up most of my time. However, I did acquire some experience in the art world before applying to the gallery.

Working as an intern and afterwards, a full time volunteer at the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, gave me a wealth of experience. Also in the summer of 2007, I worked as an intern at the Albany Institute of History and Art with the Registrar in collections. I never forgot about the Delavan Art Gallery though. So, I took a chance and applied and was offered a volunteer position. I’ve been here since the middle of January of this year.

Lew was right about the personnel here. Everyone is very warm and welcoming. It didn’t take me long to feel like one of the gallery crew. The gallery manager, Caroline, put me right to work from small jobs, like watering plants, dusting pedestals, and answering phones, to hanging labels, climbing ladders for lighting, and most importantly, hanging artwork for the opening exhibits.

I look forward to getting ready for the openings the most. It entails meeting the artists and learning about the art they are submitting to the show, which I think, gives some history to the art. Helping to de-install a past exhibit then installing the new art, along with the opening reception is a lot of fun. It’s almost like changing the décor in your house and inviting everyone over for a party to celebrate the new look!

Another treat is working with the interns who are still students at area colleges. They have fresh ideas, love to work hard and have their artistic biases. The first intern I ever worked with was Kari, who majors in photography. She taught me a lot about different styles of photography and particularly wanted to hang all of the photography work that we have in the gallery. Ryan, who also majors in photography, looks at the world through the camera lens, which has become very contagious for me.

It’s also funny how my past experiences have merged with the present. At times, when Gloria, the PR Coordinator is feeling under the weather, or when Caroline tries to take off her finger with a cutting knife, or when Kari’s shoes are digging into her heels, or when Reggie, the “Very Handy Man” gets a large piece of lumber stuck in his hand and calls it a splinter, somehow, they tend to make me feel special in calling me for some medical advice or better, medical treatment.
Lew has since moved south to live near her family.

Lew, if you are reading this blog, you were right and thanks for the encouragement!

-Kathy Simpson, Gallery Volunteer

(Left: Ryan Petrus, Right: Kathy Simpson)

Return to Delavan

(Left: Ryan Petrus, Right: Kathy Simpson)

Hello everyone, my name is Ryan Petrus and I am the new intern here at the Delavan for this summer. I just finished my senior year at SUNY Purchase where I majored in photography, but I have to return next semester to finish up two required classes. My goal for next year is to return to the NYC and find a job working in either a gallery or assisting an advertising photographer. For the future, I plan to take some time to travel and work, to pay off student loans and then eventually return to school to get my MFA.

I am really no stranger to the Delavan. I have been making work in this building for years in my teacher’s studio and have been a regular visitor to the gallery since I was in high school. I originally attended Onondaga Community College for my first two years of college. Working here is nice because I get to see a lot of my old teachers’ art hanging in the gallery and see them stop in from time to time.

Since I started interning here, I have had the experience to travel out to two of our artist’s houses to pick out work for our upcoming show. I have learned how to properly hang and display artwork in a gallery setting, along with properly wrapping and organizing the art we keep in storage. Caroline, Delavan’s gallery manager, has showed me how to use the software Masterpiece to keep all of our art organized. Reggie, the man who keeps this place standing, has showed me how to maintain a gallery and the actual amount of work it takes to keep it running and working properly. Working at the Delavan and having the experience to meet other artists has enlightened me on how a gallery works and functions. I have made a lot of friends and met a bunch of artists who have made this experience fun and influential.

Fusion Exhibition

Delavan Art Gallery is proud to present the Fusion exhibition, on view through June 13. We hosted a reception on May 7 to celebrate the show, see some of the images below. Be sure to stop by the gallery to see this colorful exhibition!



(Above: The four exhibition artists - Catharine Westlake, John Fitzsimmons, Pam Steele, and Diana Gofrey)


(Bill Delavan with Joyce Day Homan)


(Bill Delavan with one of John Fitzsimmons's pieces)


(Visitors taking in the exhibition)


(The hard-working ladies of Delavan Art Gallery)

Fiber Art

On March 12 Delavan Art Gallery hosted a great reception to celebrate our Fiber Art exhibition. Check out the images below of some of the artists with their work!


(Above: Lauren Bristol and Sharon Bottle Souva)



(Wilson Akuamoah-Boateng)



(Linda Esterley)



(Barbara Conte-Gaugel)

Ceramics by Carles Vives

Remember to stop by this week and check out our Wild Card exhibition "Ceramics by Carles Vives"! Delavan Art Gallery is one of two outside venues chosen to exhibit selections of works by Carles Vives, on loan from Onondaga Community College where the ceramicist recently completed a residency. “Ceramics by Carles Vives” runs through this Saturday, March 28 at the Delavan, concurrent with a similar display featured on loan at the Everson Museum.

In the interest of a cultural exchange, Vives was invited here by OCC art professor Andy Schuster to do workshops and an exhibit at The Gallery at Ann Felton Multicultural Center. Schuster and Vives are long-time friends who once shared a studio in Spain. From his home in Catalonia, Vives traveled to the United States for the first time and set to work with OCC students, redoing and firing his architectural and sculptural pieces influenced by the different environment of their world. The artist says that some of the work he created here in February reflects Syracuse’s nature, especially winter tree branches.

With regard to community outreach, Professor Schuster planned to give more of the public the opportunity to view and experience Vives’ multiple talents before his show ends at the college in mid-April. “Doing a show at the Delavan Art Gallery was a likely choice,” he says. “Bill Delavan is known for his untiring efforts to enrich the community. His art gallery, readily accessible to the public, is home to many regional artists and their diverse works of high quality art.”

Bill Delavan says of his gallery’s Wild Card show: “The Delavan Art Gallery, along with the Everson Museum of Art, is honored to host “Ceramics by Carles Vives.”

Gallery hours this week are Thursday and Friday, noon-6pm, and Saturday 10am-4pm. Stop by and see this stunning exhibition!