FUSEDChicago launches new website

Our new website also has a blog.  Please check us out:  http://www.fusedchicago.org .

Get Out the Votes

Jane Michalski, Memory Construct III   [FusedChicago]

How we experience art is changing much like many other things in our lives. With recent technology comes immediacy and the ability to participate, comment or vote on something…including art.

Notice the headline said, “Get Out the Votes,” not “Get Out and Vote.” It refers to a new way of experiencing art in Chicago, the Art Loop Open. From October 15-29, Chicago’s new art competition will transform ten venues throughout Chicago’s Loop into interactive public art exhibits. 200 local artists have been selected from a pool of 750 entries, and they are vying for more than $60,000 in prizes, as judged by the public. The event mirrors the popular ArtPrize event in Grand Rapids, MI (a burgeoning franchise perhaps?).

Has art become a popularity contest? Hasn’t it always been? For artists it’s now become about motivating your “constituency” to get out and vote. Personally I find the event an opportunity filled with possibilities. I do know I’m excited that FusedChicago’s Jane Michalski’s painting, “Memory Construct III,” has been selected and will be on view at Block 37.

JR: Jane, what’s your take on Art Loop Open?

JM: I’m proud to be included. The jury was made up of some highly regarded people from The Art Institute, Museum of Contemporary Art and the University of Chicago. It provides a great vehicle for me to get exposure and show my work in a downtown location. The whole contest concept is admittedly a bit weird. Especially since the people who get the most votes for their art will win some substantial prizes. It draws attention to Visual Artists in the Chicago area and if it can build some excitement in the general population it’s a good thing. My prediction is that the winner could be a photographer with a very strong, easily understood but arresting image. People seem to like art they can easily understand. We’ll see!

JR: Tell us about your selected painting.

JM: “Memory Construct III" is part of a series. The first "Memory Construct" is a small piece that Shelley Gilchrist bought from me at Around the Coyote and her buying it is actually how I first met her and ultimately became involved in FusedChicago. I chose the name because I recognize that part of my creative process is building a structure with the wax and then altering it; covering and uncovering parts of the painting as I work. This often suggests the idea of time and memory to me. I also like the idea that we build up mental structures for thinking about things and remembering things. For me they can be visual rather than verbal.

JR: Why work in encaustic?

JM: I was already working on constructed panels and I had done a lot of painting with cold wax medium. After seeing Joanne Mattera's book, I felt compelled to try encaustic. I watched a demo by Kathleen Waterloo and got the basic method. I set my studio up to do encaustic, started making my own paints and just dove in. I feel in synch with the layering, the translucency—the process is interesting to me. It results in a complicated surface quickly without having to wait days for oils to dry. I love working back and forth between trying to control the wax and seeing what it will do on its own. I don't have a set concept for what I will find and I just keep layering, scraping and scoring until the piece feels right to me. I take the approach that you can't discover anything new unless you are willing to move forward without knowing exactly where you will end up. The painting tells me where it wants to go.

JR: What are you working on currently?

JM: I’m creating a large surface that is quiet but has subtle variations — two panels (each 36" x 24") that work together as one piece. I'm getting some momentum with what I'm doing and getting into some interesting shows, it's motivating me to work as much as I can. I just walk into my studio with a cup of coffee, turn on NPR and the fan, and melt wax. There is a spiritual connection to making art for me. I sometimes hear things that resonate such as a quote from Karen Armstrong that’s pinned to my bulletin board and reinforces why making abstract art is meaningful to me,"The Brahmin is present in the space without words or language."

I vote that we all get out and support Jane, other artists and art in Chicago by “getting out the votes!” That means encouraging friends and colleagues to enjoy Art Loop Open. Send an email, do a post on your personal Facebook page, invite people to join you. It will be interesting to see how this event evolves in the coming years.

- Julia Ris

Hot look to HOT ART

Our latest exhibit, Encaustic:  Hot Art is up at The Art Center in Highland Park for two more weeks. We had a steady appreciative crowd at the reception last weekend.  Here is a peek at the installation, curated by Dan Addington, Shelley Gilchrist, and, chiefly, by Jenny Learner, who devoted her summer to this exhibit and did the lioness's share of the work.  She is responsible for its success.
(It goes without saying, photos from better photographers are welcome; these are the only ones I have that are in focus.)

FusedChicago exhibit at The Art Center, Highland Park

K. Keller; A. Nomellini; J. Learner   [FusedChicago]

M. K. Smyth   [FusedChicago]

E. Martin; K. Waterloo; D. Korman   [FusedChicago]

D. Byrne; H. Nagy  [FusedChicago]

D. Funfsinn; C. Keebler  [FusedChicago]

D. Addington  [FusedChicago]

B. Loevy; A. Nomellini  [FusedChicago]

S. Gilchrist; K. Gold; N. Huss  [FusedChicago]

M. Thrane; M. J. O'Hearn  [FusedChicago]

B. G. Mills; P. Rinaldi  [FusedChicago]

E. Rutledge; K. Gold; B. Loevy  [FusedChicago]

J. Michalski  [FusedChicago]

C. Keebler (2); T. Jovancevic; D. Byrne  [FusedChicago]

J. Learner; E. Martin  [FusedChicago]

P. Rinaldi; D. Korman (lower right)  [FusedChicago]

Send a friend to see the show!

Call for Submissions: Paper & Encaustic!

Haley Nagy and Catherine Nash are co-writing a book that illuminates and presents contemporary international artists who combine paper and encaustic in innovative and diverse ways. We will be curating from artists who are committed to paper (i.e. not just one or two works) and encaustic and are exploring inspirational ways of integration. You are invited to submit your images of appropriate artwork to be considered for inclusion.

Please send us an initial reply to the email address below that lets us know of your interest with a couple of sentences (informal) that tell us how and why you've been involved with paper and encaustic as well as a website link or photo bucket link...no jpegs now. We'll ask for specific images later. We also welcome personal suggestions of artists whose work with these media you highly respect and you think we should contact.

The softcover, bound book (anticipated publication by late summer ’11) will represent committed artists who employ encaustic with paper in a "gallery" format:  collage; sculptural paper, either cast or formed or woven; monoprinting on paper; painting on paper (pulp paintings); found papers; artist books; photography; etc. The works will explore the diversity of paper and celebrate the renaissance of two ancient media melding in our contemporary art world.

Catherine Nash is an artist who has embraced paper and encaustic in her own work (works on/of paper since the mid 70s and encaustic since the early 90s). We are so excited and jazzed to discover how other artists have explored these rich media!

Looking forward to hearing from you.
All the best,

Catherine Nash & Haley Nagy

cnash@wvcnet.com





http://www.catherinenash.com/
http://www.papermakingresources.com
http://www.conradwildegallery.com/catherineNash_3aei.html
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile/Catherine+Nash/120171.html

///////////////



info@haleynagy.com
http://www.haleynagy.com

FusedChicago presents HOT ART exhibit

Exhibiting artists:
Dan Addington
Donna Zarbin Byrne
Alicia Forestall-Boehm
Denise Funfsinn
Shelley Gilchrist
Ken Gold
Nikkole Huss
Tatjana Jovancevic
Catherine Keebler
Kimberly Keller
Dawn Korman
Jenny Learner
Barbette Loevy
Elyse Martin
Jane Michalski
Bridgette Guerzon Mills
Haley Nagy
April Nomellini
Mary Jo Parker O'Hearn
Paul Rinaldi
Emily Rutledge
Mary Krebs Smyth
Michele Thrane
Kathleen Waterloo

WGBH responds

The prior post argues that  Jared Bowen's reporting for WGBH was "clueless," and therefore Montserrat has an obligation to distance itself from the story.  In response to letters and similar blog comments, Mr. Bowen reviewed his tapes and gave a thoughtful answer about the information he actually received from the College interviewees.  This is posted in these comments on August 5 and it is worth reading.

Notwithstanding, Montserrat's role as an academic institution is to correct the  impression falsely created by the WGBH story that the credit for the conference should go to the College and not to Joanne Mattera.

Montserrat responds

A response from Montserrat's president came today:

We all feel very badly about how the interviews came out.  Joanne was acknowledged many times.  I began my responses talking about the central role that Joanne played in the conference.  Unfortunately, WGBH chose not to use most of what was taped including all the references to Joanne and her leadership.  In retrospect, given how many times the taping was rescheduled, we should have probably just scrapped the whole thing.  In truth, we wanted to shine a light on the fantastic conference and the community that has developed around the art.  Its a stark lesson and I assure you will not be repeated.

I have a hard time accepting the notion that we "blew it" when we did not have editorial control.  If there was any mistake it was to have gone ahead in the absence of Joanne, a decision for which I take full responsibility and deeply regret.

-Steve

Stephen D. Immerman, President
Montserrat College of Art

What can the College do to make this right?  If the WGBH reporting by Jared Bowen was clueless, as all evidence suggests (yes, I wrote to him, too!), the situation demands that Montserrat distance itself from the story. It has created  messy PR fallout for them and has virtually destroyed a productive working relationship between Joanne and the College.  The College should immediately delete the website link to WGBH and correct the news story with its own informative truthful article or video about the encaustic resurgence.   By offering a corrected record, the College will no longer be taking credit for Joanne Mattera's work.

Furthermore, for Montserrat to have attempted to give factual news interviews about encaustic or the conference in Joanne's absence was sheer hubris.  This is where an apology is in order.  ("Deeply regret" and "I apologize, Joanne" are not synonymous.)   By all accounts, this was a fence that should never have been broken.  Dr. Immerman, you need to write to Joanne SOON.  Or, better still, pick up the phone! 

There are more comments and more pieces to the puzzle.  You can follow the thread on Nancy Natale's blog: http://artinthestudio.blogspot.com/2010/08/wheres-joanne-person-who-is-encaustic.html