Artists Talk with LVA: December 26, 2024

"New Beginnings" opens at Pyro Gallery on January 3 and will feature work by Janet Dake and Erica Chinise Wilcox, Janet joins us in the studio this week to talk about it. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Janet Dake is a figurative painter from Versailles, Kentucky, now based in Louisville. Her work is about people, both real and imagined. Dake’s paintings tell stories. Through intricate (and often made-up) backgrounds, Dake creates narratives that reflect contemporary social issues and cultural phenomena. In 2021 she completed an Artist Residency in Toronto, Canada, where she had her first solo show entitled Human Nature. In 2022, her work was selected for the Ferrara Showman Gallery for their annual No Dead Artists group show and the Post Roe Louisiana show at the Carrollton Gallery at Tulane University. Her work was recently displayed at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art for the annual Louisiana Contemporary showcase. Dake is currently a member of Pyro Gallery in Louisville, KY. 

“New Beginnings”, in which Janet will be exhibiting with Erica Chinise Wilcox, opens at Pyro Gallery on January 3, with a reception from 5:30-8:30 pm

Artebella On The Radio: May 13

Shayne Hull is showing at 1512 Portland Avenue & Lori Larusso is at Quappi Projects, so I talked with them about the work now on public display. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM or stream on Artxfm.com Thursday at 10 am.

SHAYNE HULL is an award-winning Louisville-based artist. His paintings have been shown regionally, nationally, and internationally in over 175 exhibits, including 25 solo shows. His work can be found in the public collections of Brown-Forman, 21 C Museum, and the Kentucky Arts Council, as well as the private collections of Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown and the Rev. Al Shands.

Hull has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Maryland Institute, College of Art; a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Texas A&M University and a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from the University of Louisville

For 20 years Lori Larusso’s art has graced local, national and international venues. Her consistently experimental and evolving work has earned her multiple awards from the Great Meadows Foundation, SouthArts, Kentucky Arts Council, Kentucky Foundation for Women. Additionally, Lori has been awarded numerous residency fellowships from institutions including Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Sam & Adele Golden Foundation, MacDowell, and chaNorth. She was the recipient of the 2020 Bill Fischer Award for the Visual Arts from the Community Foundation of Louisville and Louisville Visual Art. Her first solo show in Louisville “Rogue Intensities” is currently up at Quappi Projects through June 12.

Lori’s work is represented by Galleri Urbane in Dallas, Texas, and Mulberry & Lime and Eastin Creative in Lexington, Kentucky. She currently lives and works in Louisville, Kentucky.

Vignette: Joshua Jenkins

"Wächter (Guardians)" by Joshua Jenkins, Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 48x60x1.5 in, 2018, POR

To be prolific is a gift. Creativity as a practice does not always come easy. Painter Josh Jenkins has been steadily making art for several years now, some years filling 2-3 exhibits with new work. Yet in the last year or so he found his productivity slowing down: “Aside from finding it hard to make time for myself in the studio after starting a full-time job I've also been in a bit of an artist’s slump--which has led me to paint over more paintings than I've ‘finished’.”

Jenkins is an expressionist painter whose work, over time, can be seen as an extended, ongoing narrative illustrating a Neo Bohemian world of colorful characters. These people are usually captured at leisure; sometimes celebrating, but almost always being social.

"Just A Family Stroll Around The Neighborhood" by Joshua Jenkins, Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 48x36x1.5 in, 2018, POR

But now the artist has broken free of his slump, and his newest work, such as “Just A Family Stroll Around The Neighborhood” and “Wächter (Guardians)” seem to be an emphasis on domesticity; children and pets join Jenkins’ society, or at least they have taken more of the focus. The peace and tranquility of the traditional image of family, before dysfunctional was a descriptive term that would be quixotically embraced by the former “nuclear family” unit, is here placed within the unsettled line and mark making that has always been characteristic of Jenkins, providing a compelling visual tension.

One other piece we see here, “A Self-portrait at 31”, is perhaps the key to understanding the slight shift in themes, because Western culture highlights the passing in age of each decade, locating yourself one year after such a milestone suggests a time for rumination, an assessment of both the moment and the future.

Currently Jenkins has several "mini" drawings on wood available at KORE Gallery in the Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center. They are recycled drawings mounted, painted, and then sealed on re-purposed wood. He is included in a group exhibit at The Champagnery on Frankfort Ave that will run through the summer.

Jenkins also will be participating in a group pop up show on Friday, August 3rd (a part of Trolley Hop) in the lobby of 635 West Main Street (next door to Red7e) from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. Other participating artists are Shawn Marshall, Mike McCarthy, and Amy Chase. 

Hometown: Poughkeepsie, NY
Education: BA in Digital Media with a Minor in Studio Art, Marist College (Poughkeepsie, New York)
Gallery Representative: Joshua is self-represented locally, but has works available at Revelry Gallery, KORE Gallery, New Editions Gallery (Lexington, KY), and at Caza Sikes (Cincinnati, OH)
Website: 

Scroll down for more images

"A Portrait of a Young Man That Knows Something" by Joshua Jenkins, Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 24x24x1.5in, 2018, POR (available at Revelry Gallery)

"A Self Portrait At 31" by Joshua Jenkins, Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 24 x 18 x .75 in, 2018, POR

"Two Nude Figures Reflect On Life Together" by Joshua Jenkins, Acrylic, collage, and mixed on canvas, 40x30x1.5 in. 2018, POR

"Sleeping Nude Figure" by Joshua Jenkins, Drawing on wood, 5x7x0.5in, 2017, $45 (available et KORE Gallery)

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved

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