June 6, 2019
AIRCAT Inaugural Week
Last Fall, Gerard "Gerry" Smulevich and I crafted an artist studio program for Tossa de Mar, Catalunya, Spain. Gerry and I used to teach together back in the 90's at Woodbury University's Architecture Program (in Burbank, California) under the chair of Geraldine Forbes, a wonderful leader. I chose not to continue teaching adjunct after 8 years, coinciding with Geraldine's departure and Gerry continued on in the program as part of the permanent staff, he has a unique ability of getting the best out of students, with a track record of winning competitions to prove it. Gerry also ran the study abroad program for decades, stewarding large crews through both Barcelona and Berlin both learning about new environments and demonstrating their knowledge with contextually specific design projects. Often over the years in the break intervals of Gerry's program abroad, he would visit me in Tossa and he fell in love with the Costa Brava and its southern seaside village.
Last summer, Gerry and I were investigating the possibility of manifesting a residency program in Tossa, one that is focused on bringing contemporary art back into the experience and history of Tossa de Mar. Tossa today was minted in the decades when Tossa was a refuge for writers and visual artists during the interwar years of Europe in the 20th century. Marc Chagall, André Masson and Georges Bataille were among these ranks. When Franco's Spain was beginning to break isolation and open to the world, the first Hollywood movie was shot in Tossa, "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman", featuring Ava Gardner and James Mason (the art director was Man Ray). This presence lingers, especially in the form of a collection of paintings and sculptures in the museum collection that were produced exclusively in the village itself, a distinction that sets Tossa apart from other similar municipal museums in Spain.
It was all talk between Gerry and I until we had secured the commitment of the cultural leadership in Tossa's local government for the use of studio and exhibition space in their museum and municipal infrastructure. It's a beautiful physical plant, situated in the heart of the town, tucked behind ancient walls, built at the end of the first millennium on order to repel the slave trading piracy in that part of the Mediterranean of that time. What we are promising is an exhibition and an audience situated in Catalunya's Costa Brava.
The program is flexible, depending on the spectrum of participants that we will attract in the future. The general conceptual armature is the idea of the littoral, which we are using to frame experiences that include a spectrum that includes physical aspects (three littorals: dry -hiking trails that frame the shoreline, wet -kayaking the coastline, and immersed -snorkeling) and conceptual aspects of the flows of culture within this pocket of the Mediterranean.
PS: An abiding idea, we had talked about this possibility for years. Check this early framework out:
June 4, 2019
Feast of Bacchus
Feast of Bacchus
2019
#576
30" x 20"
Oil on Canvas over Wood Panel
El Quitasol
El Quitasol
2019
#575
30" x 20"
Oil on Canvas over Wood Panel
Garden of Earthly Delights
Garden of Earthly Delights
2019
#574
30" x 20"
Oil on Canvas over Wood Panel
Witches in Flight
Witches in Flight
2019
#573
30" x 20"
Oil on Canvas over Wood Panel
Saturn Devouring his Children
Saturn Devouring his Children
2019
#572
30" x 20"
Oil on Canvas over Wood Panel
this camino
this camino
2019
#571
60" x 48"
Oil on Canvas over Wood Panel
June 3, 2019
shear naked lust
shear naked lust
2019
#570
18" x 12"
Oil on Canvas over Wood Panel
this grand cycle
this grand cycle
2019
#568
(W x L x H) 30" x 27" x 45"
Oil on cardboard, wood, wire & plastic
June 1, 2019
Divine Interventions
The Press Release:
Press Release: Divine InterventionContact:
Teri Hackett (917) 655-1273; hackteri@aol.com
Rev. Karen Campbell (978) 835-2672; gardenerforgod@gmail.comDivine Intervention
A Summer Exhibition at Christ Episcopal Church: 5 Hampton St., corner of East Union Street, Sag Harbor, NY
Saturday, June 1, 2019 thru Monday, September 2, 2019Free and open to the public
Saturdays from 3-5pm and Sundays 8am - 2pm
By appointment other times - please call (631) 725-0128 or (978) 835-2672Opening reception: Saturday June 1, 2019, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
Contemporary Art Refreshes a Significant Church in the East End
Divine Intervention brings together 34 artists from the East End and New York City, a blend of installations, paintings, photography, sculpture and artists books. This will be the first contemporary visual art project that Christ Episcopal Church has welcomed into its sanctuary space.
Lisa Hein and Bob Seng's site specific "Jib Net", is the tour de force which greets viewers from outside the church, an ever expanding webbed sail that turns the church into a vessel in motion. The Church's vestibule and bell tower have great historical significance, and artists Bastienne Schmidt and Almond Zigmund transform the vestibule into a metaphorical point of entry using vinyl, threads and fabrics, color and pattern.
Inside the sanctuary space, the beautiful 1917 Tiffany window is flanked by the works of Drew Shiflett, Carole Seborovski and April Gornik. The paintings of Reynold Ruffins, Maureen McQuillan and Karen Arm complement the reflective light projected by the smaller stained glass windows. Other places of contemplation and reflection in the church's interior, such as the altar, corners, niches, arches and pews, will be sites for works of art. Divine Intervention is a visual treasure hunt that celebrates and refreshes the church, long acknowledged as a place where community can gather.
With additional works by Amanda Church, Leah Guadagnoli, Theresa Hackett, Leo Holder, Dennis Hollingsworth, Erica-Lynn Huberty, Mary Jones, Christa Maiwald, Ray Manikowski, Diane Mayo, Nell Painter, Marilla Palmer, Liza Phillips, Bonnie Rychlak, Anne Seelbach, Alison Slon, John Torreano and Michelle Weinberg. Artists Books by: Angela Britzman, Barbara Friedman, Elisabeth Condon, Janet Goleas, Stephen White and Jodi Panas.
50% of all sales of the artwork will go to the Community Cafe, a ministry to serve those in the Sag Harbor area who are lonely and/or hungry. The cafe will alleviate some of the food insecurity in the community where over 7.9% of residents do not know from where their next meal will come. Statistics show that East Hampton has the most people who are food insecure in Suffolk County. "Our desire is to hold a free dinner, served with dignity, restaurant style, once a week for the community," says Rev. Karen Ann Campbell, Rector of Christ Episcopal Church, who is spearheading this initiative.
Divine Intervention is curated by Teri Hackett.
High resolution images available upon request.
Ahora / Wellsprings
Works drying recumbent in the studio. A salute to a moment in my life fifty years ago when I first stood in front of the following paintings in el Museo del Prado in Madrid and became certain as to what I should do with my life: to become a painter, an artist.
