Artebella On The Radio: September 10

Art in the Time of COVID-19 is an on-line exhibit for the Portland Museum curated by Bailey 0'Leary and featuring the work of Jeribai Andrew-Jaja, Rachel Singel, & Erica Lewis. All four join us for an interview on this week's show. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM, or stream on Artxfm.comThursday mornings at 10:00am to listen to LVA's Artebella on the Radio.

Art in the Time of COVID-19, a digital exhibition now being featured on Facebook and Instagram social media platforms.

Art in the Time of COVID-19 details three artists' experience of the novel coronavirus pandemic; 

Bailey O’ Leary, the Curator, is an MFA candidate in Curatorial Studies at the University of Kentucky.

Jeribai Andrew-Jaja is a Nigerian-born artist but currently;y living in Louisville, Kentucky.

Rachel Singel is an Associate Professor at Hite Art Institute, University of Louisville. She has participated in residencies in Italy, Spain, New Zealand.

Erica Lewis is an MFA candidate and graduate teaching assistant at the Hite Art Institute at the University of Louisville.

Open Studio Spotlight: Hite Institute Grows West in Portland

On the outside, right now, it is a decidedly non-descript building. There is evidence of renovation, but no signage yet. Come closer to the building at 1606 Rowan Street though…press your face against the new glass windows and you will discover that the interior is much further along. Freshly painted drywall and track lights are visible and some random art paraphernalia is finding its way to these rooms.  

Helen Payne

The University of Louisville Hite Art Institute’s Master of Fine Arts program is moving into the historic Portland neighborhood of Louisville a little early because this Saturday and Sunday is the annual Open Studio Weekend, and Curatorial Studies professor and Director of Galleries Chris Reitz has been determined to see this location included on this 5th year of touring artist’s studios. Open Studio Weekend is a co-production of Louisville Visual Art and the University of Louisville’s Hite Institute, a fundraiser for LVA’s Children’s Fine Art Classes and the Hite’s Mary Spencer Nay Scholarship.

The inclusion of the Hite MFA studios represents a dramatic expansion of Open Studio Weekend participants in the Portland neighborhood, which includes artists Victor Sweatt and Tara Remington in the LVA building at 1538 Lytle Street, just 2 blocks from Hite, John Brooks’ Quappi Projects space next door to LVA, Billie Bradford’s woodworking shop across Lytle Street from LVA, sculptor Bryan Holden on Main Street, and the Dolfinger Building on Montgomery Street, which will include painter Julia Davis and fiber artists Colleen and Maggie Clines.

Occupying a renovated warehouse constructed in the 1800s, the Fine Arts Department will offer studio space for MFA students and faculty focusing on ceramics, drawing, fiber, glass, painting, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media, book arts, and design. Faculty and MFA program artists who are listed as participants in the 2018 Open Studio Weekend are: 

Mitch Eckert – Photography                         James Grubola - Drawing
Scott Massey - Sculpture                              Tiffany Calvert – Painting
Ying Kit Chan – Mixed Media                      Moonhe Baik - Fiber
Barbara Hanger - Drawing                          Mary Carothers – Mixed Media
Zed Saeed – Photography                            Megan Bickel - Painting
Helen Payne – Drawing                                Reid Broadstreet – Mixed Media
Che Rhodes - Glass                                       Rachid Tagoulla – Photography
Monica Stewart – Mixed Media                   Lauren Bader - Sculpture
Shae Goodlet - Drawing                                Katherine Watts - Printmaking
Todd Burns – Ceramics                                KCJ Szwedzinski - Glass
Tammy Burke – Mixed Media                     Meena Khalili – Mixed Media         
Karen Weeks - Printmaking                                                                                               

The building will also provide space for the Anthropology department’s Master’s program, with gallery space and outreach programs planned for the Portland neighborhood. Construction will continue for some time, but classes in the building are scheduled to begin in January 2019.   

Open Studio Weekend Directories are being sold at the following locations:

Moonhe Baik, 33"x168" 100% cotton thread, 100% linen thread threadwork

AA Clay Studio & Gallery - 2829 S 4th Street, Louisville, KY
AC Hotel Marriott - 727 E Market Street, Louisville, KY
Artist & Craftsman Supply - 1002 Barret Avenue, Louisville, KY
CRAFT{s} Gallery & Mercantile - 572 S 4th Street, Louisville, KY
Cressman Center for Visual Arts - 100 E Main Street, Louisville, KY
Kentucky Fine Art Gallery - 2400 Lime Kiln Lane, Louisville, KY
Kentucky Mudworks - 506 Baxter Avenue, Louisville, KY
Louisville Visitor Center - 301 S 4th Street, Louisville, KY
Louisville Visual Art - 1538 Lytle Street, Louisville, KY
Nitty Gritty - 996 Barret Avenue, Louisville, KY
Preston Arts Center - 3048 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY
Revelry Boutique Gallery - 742 E Market St, Louisville, KY
Silica Ceramic Studio - 222 W 6th Street, Jeffersonville, IN 

Juried Exhibition Opening Reception and OSW Launch Party

November 2, 2018
6:00pm–8:00pm
The Cressman Center (100 E. Main St.)

Open Studio Weekend Self-guided Tours

November 3-4, 2018
Saturday and Sunday 12 noon–6pm

“35 THINGS THAT HAVE ONCE TOUCHED EACH OTHER STAY UNITED” by Megan Bickel, c-print. Digital Collage of artist materials: glitter, holographic film, excerpts from "too nice"

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved. In addition to his work at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville.

Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more.

Vignette: Dobree Adams

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“These photographic mosaics are my way of making sense of and giving form to images captured in brief encounters with these ancient towns.” – Dobree Adams

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"Sant'antimo One" by Dobree Adams, 24x32in, Composite; Archival Inkjet Print (2017), $535

When an artist shifts from one medium to another, it is always tempting to see elements of the first medium in the second, and often there is a foundation in such observations. In the work of Dobree Adams, we can see the pattern and textures of her weavings reoccur in her photographs, and as she often has chosen historical architecture as a subject for her camera, we might also connect the fundamentally earthy tones of her textile palette with the aged, dusty surfaces found in much of her photography.

That palette also runs to a spectrum of greens, and in Adam’s most recent work she juxtaposes images of ancient architectural forms with lush gardens and mazes, connecting and contrasting the mortality implicit in the modern occupation of structures built thousands of years ago with the verdant arrangements of shrubbery and garden design. The “photo mosaics” are drawn from sixteen towns in Umbria, Tuscany, and Le Marche.

"Assisi Two" by Dobree Adams, 24x32in, Composite; Archival Inkjet Print (2017), $535

“I captured strong yet intimate images, often weirdly dissimilar,” explains Adams, “gargoyles, fragments of stone work and frescos, colors, light patterns, and landscape jewels. These photographic mosaics are my way of making sense of and giving form to images captured in brief encounters with these ancient towns. The images in each mosaic, although from a single geographical location, may be from different places, different times, different materials, and are sometimes reproduced at different scales.”

"Sweet Summer" by Dobree Adams, 62x32in, Felted by hand and on the FeltLoom; Silk, Merino and Lincoln Wool (2016), $950

“The energy or movement perceived in the mosaics works like the optical mixing of colors so important in impressionistic painting. Your eye is trying to make sense of the relationship between the images, perhaps trying to deal with that weirdness, looking for perspective or perhaps trying to argue whether a line is straight or crooked.”

Adams wants her compositions to communicate a sense of place through the subjective lens of her camera, as well as the unique and sometimes unorthodox juxtaposition of locations. There is an aspect of assembling a puzzle using pieces that aren’t a natural fit, yet there is an association that we only discover through the artist’s perspective; one we almost certainly won’t discover anywhere else.

Dobree Adams has been long recognized as a contemporary fiber artist. Most recently she has been creating felted landscapes using the FeltLoom in the University of Kentucky Fiber Studio. is also an accomplished photographer who began actively exhibiting her photographs with her woven work in 2003. She has had collaborative shows of her tapestries and photographs intertwined with the poems of her husband Jonathan Greene since 2009, including the Albrecht-Kemper Museum in Saint Joseph, Missouri, the Headley-Whitney in Lexington, and the Evansville Museum.

Her felted piece ‘Homage to Jasper Johns’ was included in the New Editions Gallery exhibition MIX IT UP. She is also in three current or upcoming exhibits:

"La Foce Nine" by Dobree Adams, 24x32in, Composite; Archival Inkjet Print (2017), $535

Way of The Land: The Farm Story, an invitational exhibition designed to document the region’s agrarian culture, will run through October 22 at the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art.

Italia Con Amore, a solo show and premiere exhibition of photographic mosaics from Umbria, Tuscany, and Le Marche will run September 22 through October 27 at Crafts(s) Gallery, as part of the 2017 Louisville Photo Biennial.

Lexington Camera Club: New Work, work by 32 members curated by Paul Paletti, will run October 6 through December 15 at the Lyric Theatre Gallery, Lexington.

Hometown: Frankfort, Kentucky
Education: BA, Mathematics, Wellesley College. Over 25 years in the scientific arena before becoming a full time artist/farmer; has studied at the Penland School of Craft & Santa Fe Photography Workshops
Website: www.dobreeadams.com/dobreegallery/

"Montepulciano One" by Dobree Adams, 24x32in, Composite; Archival Inkjet Print (2017), $535

"Umbertide One" by Dobree Adams, 24x32in, Composite; Archival Inkjet Print (2017), $535

Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more.

Feature: PYRO Relocation

From The Firehouse to The Butcher Block: PYRO Gallery On The Move.

It was christened PYRO because it made its first home in a converted firehouse on Hancock Street nestled along Nanny Goat Strut. Yet it has always seemed a good name for an artist’s cooperative: a word suggesting the fire of inspiration but also containing a note of danger. As the members prepare to move into their fourth home at 1006-1004 East Washington Street, they seem poised to rediscover the upstart nature of their beginning.

From the firehouse they relocated to the former Chapman-Friedman Gallery on West Market Street, one of the most beautiful gallery spaces in town, with high ceilings and polished wood floors. The location felt premium, but the traffic didn’t match the mission. Too many tourists carrying miniature bat souvenirs from the nearby Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory and not enough art collectors.

Meanwhile, 10 blocks east on the same street an explosion of restaurants, local retail, and galleries called NuLu was happening, gaining national attention with coverage in the New York Times. PYRO joined in by moving to a space in the 909 East Market building. It was an effective exhibition space, but positioned away from the street in an L-shaped structure, it was hidden from view to passing traffic.

“If we had been one block west it might have made all of the difference,” laughs James “Chip” Norton. Norton has been conducting a tour of the new location, which still needs a lot of work, some of which will take a period of months to complete. As opposed to the idea of a large, single gallery, the new location is actually two adjacent buildings that will house five separate exhibition spaces for PYRO, as well as a home for DE Gallery Boutique, which has shared space with PYRO at 909 East Market. The two will be connected by an addition whose construction is currently underway, the foundation blocks still visible as of this writing. Beyond this is a common outdoor area that the building’s owner, Andy Bleiden, is planning on developing in such a way that it will connect with the businesses on the equivalent block on Main Street, Hi-Five Doughnuts, and Pho Ba Lu.

"Untitled #1" by Keith Auerbach, archival digital print, 2017

“This community - which is named Butcher Block - consists of several renovated National Historic homes and is a family of retailers, galleries and restaurants that work together to promote their members,” explains PYRO member Debra Lott. “The Butcher Block businesses will be connected by a green space in the center and we believe it will become a destination for tourists and local customers for a unique, relaxing, shopping experience.”  

Despite the broken up space, Norton states, “Once we are finished I think we will have pretty close to the same linear square feet that we had in the previous location, but it will be easier to have multiple exhibits when we choose.” There will also be a full working kitchen, which will help facilitate public events.

PYRO Gallery was founded in 2003 by CJ Pressma, Marilyn Whitesell, Debra Clem, Erin Devine, Susan Gorsen, Michael Brohm, David Modica, Cean Peevey-Rosenthal, Mitch Eckert, Keith Auerbach, and Susan Moffett, who is still a member and very excited about what she sees as potential and possibilities: “Potential in that, this "Butcher Block" area will be a destination once all the development is complete - Butchertown is blooming! And possibilities in that having several smaller galleries will allow us to have more exhibits up by different people, perhaps some guests of PYRO. Not to mention some fun and challenging installation/performance artwork.”

PYRO Gallery’s FINAL show in its current location, 909 E. Market St., is a group exhibit featuring members and several invited guest artists. PYRO Squared, through August 26.

The current membership consists of: Debra Lott, Jeffrey Skinner, Bette Levy, Mike McCarthy, Susan Moffett, Guinever Smith, Bob Lockhart, C J Pressma, James Norton, Claudia Hammer, Corie Neumayer, Nancy Currier, John McCarthy, Keith Auerbach, Beverly Glascock, Shawn Marshall, Julia Davis, Kathy Loomis, Leslie Anglin.

The first show in the new space will be Experimenting with Light by Keith Auerbach. It will run September 7 through October 21, with an opening reception September 7 from 5 to 9pm. The exhibit will be part of the 2017 Louisville Photo Biennial. PYRO will also be open for the First Friday trolley Hop on October 6.

PYRO has a Grand Opening planned for December of 2017 - exact date to be announced.

"Untitled #3" by Keith Auerbach, archival digital print, 2017

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This Feature article was written by Keith Waits.
In addition to his work at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, www.Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville.

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Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more.

Vignette: Garin Horner

Photographer, Garin Horner (Photo by Colleen Small)

A Photo-ethnographic Study of Personal Spiritual Shrines & Altars

Most people likely think of religion and spirituality in monolithic terms: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islamism, Judaism, etc., but by some estimates tally as many as 4,200 different religions existing in the world today. And spiritual practice is often a very individual and private action. Garin Horner seeks out and documents what he calls, “…intimate connections people have with places and objects that serve as focal points, where subjects feel strong links with transcendent beings, ethereal energies, and/or supernatural realities.”

‘The subjects I collaborate with are a combination of artists, actors, and spiritual practitioners who want to give voice to and celebrate their own distinct views as part of a multitude of spiritual beliefs. They are believers in a supernatural meta-ecology, or structure of subtle dimensions that co-exist with our reality comprised of various beings (or forces). Part of this view recognizes altars to be microcosms and/or nexuses of those subtle dimensions.”

"A Collection of 2016 Relics from the World's Religions" by Garin Horner, 24x30in, photography (2016), $450 | BUY NOW

It should come as no surprise that Horner sometimes encounters resistance from his subjects. He turns his lens on a topic that is sensitive even in the mainstream, so to ask people to reveal themselves in such specific, confessional terms requires delicacy.

“I contact my subjects through calls for collaboration and word of mouth. It’s a fairly complicated process that doesn't always work out. Whenever I am traveling to a city (for a conference or exhibition) I research spiritual organizations in the area and reach out to people. I also use a catalog from the Parliament for the World's Religions.  Sometimes I get positive responses and people invite me to photograph them, but when I get there they have a change of heart.”

Horner keeps the identities and locations secret, and in some cases where the subject has refused to be photographed, Horner has, with permission, recreated what he has witnessed from detailed notes and sketches. So far, in the last 18 months he has produced about 25 separate images in the series.

"Ancestors Guide Us and Protect Us" by Garin Horner, 24x24in, photography (2017), $450 | BUY NOW

“Most people don't want me to photograph them, but some do. Some are very excited to show other people their connection to their spiritual practices. Some are excited in the beginning and change their minds in the end. If someone goes as far as being photographed and signing a model release and then asks me to not show their photos - I don't.”

Horner exhibited photos in Louisville a few years ago as part of a show curated by the Midwest Society for Photographic Education. He was recently named Director of the Adrian College Center for Effective Teaching. Adrian College, Adrian, Michigan.

Horner’s newest exhibit, Otherworldly Signs / Unworldly Believers will be at the Prairie Center of the Arts, Peoria Ill, in October 2017.

Hometown: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Education: BFA, Sienna Heights University; MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art
Website: www.garinhorner.net
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garinhorner

"Calling the Spirits of the Fallen" by Garin Horner, 24x30in, photography (2017), $450 | BUY NOW

"rive Deep the Magic Nail" by Garin Horner, 24x30in, photography (2016), $450 | BUY NOW

"The Souls of Four Enemies and One Friend" by Garin Horner, 24x30in, photography (2017), $450 | BUY NOW

Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more.