I’ve been getting work ready for my upcoming show, A Place to Stand, which opens June 8th at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA. This will be the thirteenth consecutive year that I have had a solo exhibit there yet it still induces a certain fear and anxiety, feelings that my own common sense tell me should have faded long ago.
In anticipation of our upcoming G.C. Myers opening of 'A Place to Stand', we would like to share this wonderful post that Gary wrote for his own blog, Redtree Times! We hope you enjoy it at much as we did and that you will join us as we welcome Gary on Friday, June 8th from 6:30-9pm!
G.C. Myers, 'Blue Sovereignty', 16 x 12, mixed media on canvas, 2012.
This is an art exhibition dedicated to making a difference. It provides people whore lives have been affected by mental illness the opportunity to use art as a form of expression in order to engage the Alexandria community in a conversation about mental health issues.
The exhibition will feature artists of all ages, young and old! The artwork will range in medium from sculpture and ceramics to drawing, painting, photography and even writing. The artists have been invited to share the inspiration behind their art pieces, and some of their personal stories, to help viewers understand their perspective and the impact of mental illness on their lives. The artists will be in attendance at the opening event!
Margaret Dowell, author and artist, will be guest speaking at the event. Dr. Dowell will be discussing the emerging role of art as a powerful force in fostering an environment and society more supportive of recovery. Dr. Dowell has been producing artwork since before her college days, starting with minimal sculptural installations and evolving into drawing and painting. She has been featured in a variety of solo and group shows around the DC metropolitan area. She was a co-editor of Addiction and Art published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010. Dr. Dowell currently lives in Maryland and teaches for the Art Department at Carroll Community College.
The event will also feature performing artists Poet Shelly Bell and Pianist Ann Lee.
This is a wonderful event and cause! We hope you will join us in supporting the Mental Health Anti-Stigma HOPE Campaign by attending the event with us on May 10th.
If you are unable to attend the event the artwork will continue to be displayed at the Lee Center until September 2012 at which point it will be moved to the Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library. The artwork will be on display at the Central Library (5005 Duke Street, Alexandria) from October 2012 through January 2013.
Just last week, master frame maker and oil painter extraordinaire, Rett Ashby, sent us some beautiful examples of his work. Within a couple of days three of the pieces sold out of the window.
They’re even better in person, if you are able to stop by, please do!
Before there was America, there was Columbia. For much of our nation’s history, America’s alternative name, Columbia, was a byword for the shared values that united a diverse and fractious American society.
Photograph by Francis Smith
Gallery friend and talented photographer & filmmaker Francis Smith will grace Principle Gallery with his presence on Thursday, April 26th from 6-8pm for the inaugural fundraising party for his new project, American By Another Name.
Columbian Press photograph by Francis Smith
In 2011, Francis began studying the use of the name Columbia throughout American history. Gaining inspiration from his roots, traced back to before the American Revolution, he found the name Columbia to be the connection between all of his ancestors. Whether it was Columbia, Tennessee, Columbia County, New York, or Columbia University, it seemed as though everyone could be linked with the word Columbia.
Francis’ interest in Columbia is not limited to just places that share the name, but rather the people who inhabit or are influenced by those places. He is exploring the name’s history and looking at contemporary American life in Columbia places. If you have a connection to the name Columbia and would like to participate in Francis’ research feel free to contact him here.
For more images that Francis has collected, in addition to updates about his search across America, visit his blog here or the Facebook page here.
Columbia Township photography by Francis Smith
If his monthly work in American Art Collector and American Fine Art is any indication of his multimedia project to come we cannot wait to see what he has to show us. Check out some of his work here and here.
To get more information about the fundraising event or if you wish to attend, please RSVP on the America By Another Name event page.
If you are unable to attend the event but would still like to make a tax-deductible donation, please click here.
America By Another Name is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.
Above (clockwise from top left): Mia Bergeron, ‘Silence’, 60 x 34, Oil on Linen; Cindy Procious, ‘Where’s the Tabasco’, 12 x 16, Oil on Linen on Panel; Terry Strickland, ‘The Three Fates’, 30 x 40, Oil on Panel; Sadie Jernigan Valeri, ‘Undersea’, 16 x 20, Oil on Panel.
It all started back in 2009 when Sadie Jernigan Valeri, Alia El-Bermani, and Diane Feissel decided to start a blog entitled Women Painting Women devoted to highlighting contemporary women artists who specialize in painting the female figure.
Above: Terry Strickland, ‘The Three Fates’, 30 x 40, Oil on Panel.
All the hard work of these wonderful women paid off when in November of 2010 Robert Lange Studios hosted the first “Women Painting Women” opening. This exhibition features work from over 52 talented female artists, including our own Jennifer Balkan, Terry Strickland, and Sanna Tomac, whose subject matter for the show was strictly the female figure.
Before and during the show, 12 artists descended upon Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, just outside Charleston, to partake in a group painting excursion. The women rented a house on the beach and spent the next week living together and exploring the surrounding area with their paintbrushes.
On Friday, April 13th, 2012 from 6:30-9:00pm we will be opening the wonderful culmination of this expedition in a show called “Women Painting Women: The Expedition & Beyond.” This show will feature artwork painted while on the expedition as well as new work that was inspired from the artists’ time together. All of the women continue to focus on the female figure and in this case they have been primarily influenced by each other.
Above: Linda Tracey Brandon, ‘Mia in a White Turban’, 20 Tondo, Oil on Canvas on Panel.
Twelve of the thirteen artist will be in attendance for the opening: Mia Bergeron, Linda Tracey Brandon, Rachel Constantine, Alia El-Bermani, Diane Feissel, Catherine Prescott, Cindy Procious, Shannon Runquist, Terry Strickland, Stefani Tewes, Alexandra Tyng, and Sadie Jernigan Valeri. Unfortunately, due to her distance, Kate Stone will be unable to attend the opening, but we are pleased that we will still be able to display her work.
After the show, the women will be traveling to Catherine Prescott’s house to begin another expedition that we know will result in another amazing body of work.
For as long as I can remember, the Lynn Boggess piece above has been one of my personal favorites. All the elements that often pull people to Lynn’s work are present — perspective, natural beauty, capturing reflection, movement, and a feeling of perfect calm. He creates a wild duality in his work: far away you would swear you were looking through a window to the natural world, yet up close the heavy impasto of the oil paint is interestingly abstract.
On Friday, February 24th, 2012 from 6:30-9:00pm we’ll be opening our annual exhibition for Lynn focusing on his winterscapes. Last year we were all stunned by a 64 x 54 inch canvas that Lynn captured after putting chains on his truck tires and making a long, treacherous trek into the depths of his Canvas, West Virginia property. It was just magnificent!
’18 January 2011′, 64 x 54, Oil on Canvas, 2011.
We hope to see you on February 24th! Lynn will be in attendance to talk about his adventures with this 2012 batch of paintings.
Above: Pamela Wilson, ‘Cinnamon Incursion’, 14 x 11, Oil on Panel, 2012.
Join us this Friday, January 20th from 6:30-9:00pm for a Broad Street Studio Curated Exhibition: From What I Remember / From What I Forget.
15 of the participating artists will be in attendance! Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to see some familiar gallery faces (Joshua Suda, Brian Martin, & Jason John) as well as many other incredibly talented artists and their work!
G.C. Myers, 'Blue Sovereignty', 16 x 12, mixed media on canvas, 2012.
