Art Focus Oklahoma, May/June 2005

ArtFocus Ok l a h o m a O k l a ho m a V i s u a l A r ts C o alition

Vo l u m e 2 0 N o . 3 M a y / J u n e 2 0 0 5

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Strength

in Numbers

Forming a support group for their artistic endeavors has paid off in many ways for the members of The Five 2 Nine Group — a collective exhibit of thier works is planned to run at Norman’s MainSite Gallery. p. 12 ArtFocus-mayjune05

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contents

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ArtFocus Art Ok l a h o m a

profiles

Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition P.O. Box 1946 • Oklahoma City, OK 73101 ph: 405.232.6991 • e: director@ovac-ok.org visit our website at: www.ovac-ok.org

3 defining and defying

Executive Director: Julia Kirt director@ovac-ok.org

5 interview with nathan lee

Editor: Lori Oden publications@ovac-ok.org

6 installing the gates

Art Director: Anne Richardson anne@speccreative.net

reviews/previews 8 hudson river school

Art Focus Oklahoma is a bimonthly publication of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition dedicated to stimulating insight into and providing current information about the visual arts in Oklahoma.

10 the (red) heat goes one 12 the five2nine group

Mission: The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition supports visual artists living and working in Oklahoma and promotes public interest and understanding of the arts.

features

OVAC welcomes article submissions related to artists and art in Oklahoma. Call or email the editor for guidelines.

15 owed to art history

OVAC news 16 at a glance / round up 16 renewing members 17

gallery guide

on the cover

OVAC welcomes your comments. Letters addressed to Art Focus Oklahoma are considered for publication unless otherwise specified. Mail or email comments to the editor at the address above. Letters may be edited for clarity or space reasons. Anonymous letters will not be published.

Please include a phone number.

Editorial Board: Janice McCormick, Bixby; Stephen Kovash, Randy Marks and Sue Moss Sullivan, Oklahoma City; and Teresa Valero, Tulsa.

Assistance from: Edward Main, Bixby.

OVAC Board of Directors 2004-05: Richard Bivins, Cleveland; Elliott Schwartz, Rick Vermillion, Edmond; Diana Brown, Lawton; Maya Christopher, Joan Goth, Norman; Thomas Batista, Ellen Berney, J. D. Merryweather (Treasurer), John Seward (Vice President), Carl L. Shortt (President), Lila Todd, Oklahoma City; Suzanne C. Thomas (Secretary), Spencer; Chris Ramsay, Stillwater; Pam Hodges, Claudia Doyle, Teresa Valero, Tulsa.

artist: Sue Clancy, Norman title: Dances with Scissors 12x8, handmade papers, ink, acrylic on board

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition is solely responsible for the contents of Art Focus Oklahoma. However, the views expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Board or OVAC staff.

Member Agency of Allied Arts and member of the National Association of Artists’ Organization. member agency

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© 2005, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved.

This program is supported in part by the Oklahoma Arts Council

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profile Nathan Lee Waiting mixed media

DEFINING AND DEFYING: An African American Artist Experience

By Nathan Lee

I have never been one to accept someone else’s definition of who I should be. I try to do things that make me feel whole as a person. Sometimes without even knowing it, people decide what you should be simply because of race. The unexpected part is it can come from a person within your own race. I don’t think there is anything wrong with cultural identity, but what about when the idea of who you are is negative?

What about when being Black is defined by Ebonics and sports? What if it is defined by how loud and disrespectful one could be?

It may seem as if that view of possibilities is rather extreme but in my experience of working within minority communities, I have found that young Black kids have very narrow views of what they can be in life. I am sure that there are more African Americans who strive to achieve noble goals than not, and the number of us who are beginning to adopt this new and dangerous definition of what it means to be Black is too large to be ignored. Any time an angry African American tells someone, don’t make me act my color, what does it say about that person and where that person comes from? I am not an extraordinary person; in fact I am quite average at best.

I don’t think I am any better than my Black brothers and sisters from other walks of life. The problem is this: When I encounter certain Caucasian Americans who have limited contact with Black Americans, they view me in a way that says I am an exception to the rule of the typical African American. When someone tells me that I don’t talk Black or act Black, it tells me that his or her definition of Black is not one of articulation or proper etiquette. One person who continued page 4

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continued from p. 3

I recognize as a friend told me; you might be the only Black guy I know that can’t dance. In his eyes it was a harmless comment, but that type of thinking is crippling Black communities.

I work as an arts facilitator for a life skills program for at-risk youths. I see exactly what this type of thinking can do. There is a notion among blacks in our own communities that we can’t get along with each other in large groups and we can’t work together. We are beginning to embrace the idea of being ghetto.

We are becoming proud of calling each other the ‘n’ word and we are losing interest in being part of the rest of the community.

It seems as though we are becoming more interested in destroying our identity.

I have had the privilege of being on both sides of the fence as an artist. In the Oklahoma art world there aren’t many black artists or patrons that attend exhibits. They aren’t turned away, they just simply opt not to go, and that is their prerogative. I think what bothers me is the assumption that art exhibitions are for upper class white people. I have people who collect my art and a few of them are wealthy. They simply appreciate what I do and what I create.

As African Americans, we need to embrace and support our artistic expression. In Africa, art was not just a form of luxury it was made out of necessity. We are an artistic people and it saddens me that we are reluctant to connect with that creativity.

Our communities are a reflection of our lack of creative expression. There have been studies that show how schools without creative outlets suffer academically. In school systems where art is encouraged, students excel in their studies. There is a relationship between creativity and education.

A large part of being an artist is thinking outside of the box.

Improvising and using available resources is an attribute that gives me great pride. Sometimes innovative thinking can offset a lack of money and resources. The ability to find new ways around problems has not only emerged in my art, but in my life as well. You could say that my life is a reflection of my art.

I think the act of creating awakens something within us and that process can translate into our daily existence. When you don’t have material things such as money you must rely on your ingenuity and ability to make something from nothing.

Imagination, not money, is what gives birth to ideas. I would like to see this type of thinking take root within the African American community. The arts must find their way back to our communities if we are to expand into new constructive ways of thinking.

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The arts must find their way back to our communities if we are to expand into new constructive ways of thinking.

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Imagination, not money, is what gives birth to ideas. I would like to see this type of thinking take root within the African American community.

The arts must find their way back to our communities if we are to expand into new constructive ways of thinking.

Nathan Lee volunteering for OVAC

Nathan Lee Realization mixed media

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Interview with Nathan Lee

by Randy Marks

Anyone who has known Nathan Lee for very long knows that he puts actions behind his ideas and words. From his job at Youth Cornerstone to making and marketing art he is serious about being a professional artist and a positive force in the community.

Nathan was not content to whine about the lack of an art market in Oklahoma and wait for buyers to come to him; he put his art on eBay. So far he has sold more than 60 works on at least two continents. He was not content to see minority artists fade into oblivion because they did not know that there are resources available to help them; he started the organization Inclusion in Art to spread the word and get them the help they need.

State Representative Mike Shelton, a friend since high school, has been recruited to the effort. Shelton says, “I’m helping push awareness of art. The biggest benefit is it makes you a more well rounded person.” He wants to see that benefit extended to more members of his constituency. To that end he is helping to find a home for Inclusion in Art on Northeast 23rd Street in Oklahoma City.

Art Focus: There are several hundred artists active in OVAC, IAO, Tulsa Artists Coalition and other artist organizations and only a handful are African American, Hispanic, Native American or Asian. Where is everyone?

Nathan Lee: I believe most of the minority artists are scarce because they are not aware of the art related organizations in our state. Many communities, particularly the African American community, don’t know very much about their own artists and they even, to some degree, view them as oddities.

AF: Are there actually fewer Black artists per capita than Whites? If so, why is that the case?

NL: There are fewer Black artists than Whites. I think there are several factors. I think the dynamics of the African American

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community plays some role.

Many Blacks, even well-to-do ones, are very practical. Art is not often viewed as practical or as a viable career. Because of this, many potential artists are defeated before they even start.

There isn’t any support for these artists because the Black community does not see them 2004 Members’ Meeting (Nathan Lee, Trent Lawson, Heather as legitimate professionals.

Lee, OVAC Board Member Suzanne Thomas) Since they aren’t connected with art organizations, they who seemed self-conscious was me! Everyone give in to an unsupportive surrounding. there was supportive and friendly. There Why the arts are important and what art really wasn’t an issue of color and the barrier I related careers are available needs to be had built went down in short order. That was conveyed to the Black community. I think one of the few experiences I had here, when I letting the African American community was in the minority, that color was never an know how important the arts are for issue. Race will always be an issue somewhere establishing and perpetuating a positive and may even happen in the art community cultural identity is just as important as occasionally, but it seems that artistic people the pay involved for pursuing an artistic are more open and I like that fact. career. It is just a matter of communication.

Another factor is many Black artists are just AF: What kind of support are you getting uninformed. I think more would join the from the African American community? community if they were sure there was an The Hispanic? art community that would include them.

NL: I met with Joe Mendoza, the director At one time I thought the art community of the Capital Hill Mainstreet Project. I here was geared for older White artists and wanted to find a place to hold a show that Affluent White collectors. Reaching out included Hispanic artists. He was very to Black communities will take time and enthusiastic about it and we talked about patience. the similarities between African American AF: What do you want Inclusion in Art to do?

NL: I want Inclusion in Art to be the beginning of a bridge that will diversify our artistic landscape. There are so many talented artists and creative people of many races. I also want minority communities to understand why their creative people are a valuable asset to our state.

AF: Tell me about your first OVAC experience.

NL: It was in 1999. My wife and I were invited to an artist luncheon sponsored by OVAC. I can’t remember what exactly it was for, but I wanted to meet Julia Kirt. She was one of the first people I met within the art community. I was very apprehensive at first because I was the only Black guy there, but then I started to notice that the only person

and Hispanic American culture. He helped find a place to have the exhibition and the reception. The tentative date is August 4, 2005. He also invited Inclusion in Art to be a part of the Primavera Festival this year in May. We feel the same about cultural pride and identity, but we also agree to be inclusive of others.

AF: Talk about Primavera.

NL: I am actually a newcomer to the event, but from what I was told it is a large festival that celebrates Hispanic culture. There are expected to be thousands of visitors this year. This is a chance to experience the Hispanic community. We are looking forward to being a part of the festivities and connecting with that community.

For more information about Inclusion in Art visit www.inclusioninart.org

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profile

INSTALLING THE

GATES

Last month, artist and OVAC member Jacqueline de los Santos worked on the installation crew for The Gates, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s environmental art project in Central Park, New York. We asked her to write the following article about her experience.

The Gates is the largest art project ever planned for New York City. It consisted of 7,500 saffron-colored gates with freehanging saffron colored fabric panels, installed over 23 miles of Central Park’s meandering paths. New Yorkers and

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Jeff Armstrong. Sun Hitting the Gates in Front of the Central Park Bridge, February 2005

By Jacqueline de los Santos

visitors alike regard Central Park as a green oasis, having been originally designed by the famed nineteenth century landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead. In designing such a large-scale project for a piece of land which is considered both the heart of the city as well as ecologically sensitive, Christo and Jeanne-Claude bowed to the history of the park and its original design, and envisioned a work which required no digging or other physical disturbances to the soil, plants, and animals in the park. It is noteworthy to add that the first project design was submitted 21 years ago, but was rejected

by Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude were accustomed

to rejection, but instead of giving up, they worked on other large-scale projects in the interim years, such as Pont Neuf in Paris, The Umbrellas in California and Japan, Running Fence in California, and the Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin.

They never abandoned their wish to do a large project in New York City, their adopted home since 1964. Originally from Bulgaria, Christo and France (Jeanne-Claude), were born on the same day in 1935. The husband and wife team began collaborating on large-scale, sitespecific projects in the early sixties. Almost fifty years later they continue to exude the vitality and passion of artists in their twenties.

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At the training session that took place two days before the start of the project, Christo and Jeanne-Claude greeted us and made a detailed presentation about their original inspiration for doing the project, described our individual responsibilities, and discussed the project timeline. Although the potential for harsh winter weather was a real possibility and much of the whispering among the workers was about strategies to keep warm, it became apparent that the excitement over being part of this once-in-a-life-time experience was going to be enough to sustain us no matter what weather we would encounter.

Nothing about this job was ordinary. For weeks, leading up to the training days, I received cryptic emails sketching some of the final preparations and logistical matters and telling us to meet at a remote subway stop in Queens where we would be picked up and brought to the warehouse. Far from the Sopranos visions that these instructions invoked, the reception was warm and friendly.

At the presentation, Christo talked about the project’s name, The Gates, as stemming from the original nineteenth century design of the park. The original design contemplated a walled-in park with entrances through stone gates, each named for different purposes, such as Merchants’ Gate and Artists’ Gate. He explained that the squared-off shape of the gates (rather than the classic arch design) responded to the grid pattern of the surrounding city blocks. The soft material, blown by the wind, was meant to form organic shapes, inspired by the organic shapes found in the park. The saffron color of the material was chosen because it suggested a warm contrast to the cold gray of the park in February, but a brilliant golden color when dry and blowing in the sunshine. JeanneClaude told us that the workers were not only the ones that were going to bring this project into being, but we were also each an ambassador of The Gates. She said the most common question we would hear would be, but what is it for’? and she continued, Of course you know the answer… ‘Nothing!’…

It is just art.

Installation was scheduled to take place February 7 through February 11th and Saturday, February 12th was the day that the fabric panels were scheduled to be unfurled. Each day began at dawn; a stream of bundled people in Gates uniforms made their way through the freezing and dark park towards the boathouse. Christo and Jeanne-Claude provided coffee and

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Jacqueline de los Santos (middle) with her Crew After Installing The Gates, February 2005.

cocoa with pastries every morning as we gathered and listened to our instructions for the day. This was the time that Christo and Jeanne-Claude reflected on how the process was going, and when Vince and Jonita Davenport, chief engineer and project director respectively, would go over problems and solutions and give us our strategy for the day.

For the next six days our team (team 11) worked steadily, assembling 118-16 feet high gates at Columbus circle, which ranged in width from 9’6” to 18’. Each gate assembly consisted of two 5-inch square vertical and one horizontal poles made of saffron vinyl, aluminum corner braces and footings, a base assembly with a leveling plate, and the fabric panel wrapped in a cocoon attached to the upper horizontal pole. After a rough start on day one, and falling behind schedule day two, we gradually fell into a system where each of the eight member team had a specific job assembling, erecting and bolting the gates to the 700 pound steel base footings.

Along the way we gradually came to know each other and discover that despite our different ages, genders, and backgrounds, strong bonds were growing. Though the workers in our group came from as far away as California, Florida, and Oklahoma, we met others from as far away as Australia, Bulgaria and Columbia.

Among the workers I met a curator from The Metropolitan Museum, Governor Anne Richards, who applied to work online as we all had, many sculptors, graphic designers

and other artists, filmmakers, business people, theatre people, architects, students, academics and retirees from every field.

On Saturday the 12th, we took turns using a long pole with a hook on the end to rip open the Velcro cocoons and watch the saffron panels unroll. A moving sense of wonder fell over the crowd that had gathered. I had gone on this project expecting to further my research into largescale sculptural projects and to learn more about the process of carrying out such a work in a public space. What I did not expect was to come away changed by the emotional impact The Gates had on New Yorkers and visitors from around the world.

On opening day, after the initial hoots and hollers, as we opened one gate after another, a hush fell on the crowds as they strolled under what Christo described as a golden ceiling creating warm shadows.

Visitors kept saying, it’s beautiful! Have you ever seen so many New Yorkers so happy? The discussion of whether it was art and how it changed the experience of the park was ongoing. Some visitors continued to be skeptical, but most praised the temporary transformation of Central Park. However, it wasn’t until a week later when I was working as a monitor that something unanticipated happened. A man came up to us and said, you don’t know what this means to us New Yorkers—now 9/11 is not the last big thing to hit New York.

For more information on The Gates and other works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, visit www.christoandjeanneclaude.net.

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Albert Bierstadt.

Capri Beach, 1857- The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut

The Hudson River School

by Rhonda Davis Recently, Tulsa’s Philbrook Museum of Art showed a sampling of works from The Hudson River School from the Wadsworth Atheneum’s Collection in Connecticut.

The Hudson River School is touted as the first school of landscape painters in the United States. The exhibit was broken down into thematic categories, serving as a testament to the diversity at play within this art historical framework.

Most of the works are the result of collections established and commissioned between 1825 and 1875 by two major American art patrons, Daniel Wadsworth and Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt. The paintings are diverse in philosophy, but tightly held together in their formal execution and idealism. Classified into themes: From Fear to Reverence, Niagara, Rapture of the Wild, The Sea Edge, The Lure of Italy, and In Search of Eden. The paintings represent specific locations, from the Hudson River to Niagara Falls and ultimately Jamaica.

The fascination of the exhibit lies within this New World image juxtaposed with the perspective of the artist. The

portrayal of a nation is the underlying objective here, and during this time in history, complexities of concepts surrounding manifest destiny existed; complex because on the one hand, leaders and politicians in the 1840s were revitalizing a sense of national destiny for many Americans, but alongside this mission, a reverence for the untouched, beautiful and sublime land also prevailed.

This latter became symbolic of what America was – open, pure, not yet tainted by the unpleasant side effects of civilization. Enigmatically, the very ideals these paintings were created to celebrate undoubtedly invited what was cherished in its absence – the mark of society and just around the corner, industry.

That said, it comes as no surprise that responses to this land – whether commissioned or not – would show personal influence. Throughout the exhibit, it sometimes seems the goal of the work might only be part of the agenda of the artist, like the shaded area representing the overlapped shape of two circles in a Venn diagram.

Thomas Cole’s Scene from The Last of the Mohicans, - Cora Kneeling at the Feet of Tamenund, 1827, depicts a grand landscape, with a Native American ritual taking place. Relatively infinitesimal in scale, the event is only barely subordinate to the composition as a whole, but its integration and centralized location with spotlighted attraction speaks of its symbolic importance. Cole’s best known work, The Courses of Empire, is not part of this collection, but its moral storytelling of the stages of civilization that lead to eventual destruction of land suggests his recognition of America in a birth-like state of existence at this time in history.

Cole’s personal agenda overlaps with the purpose of many of these pieces in the moral and religious associations that could be made with nature.

The room devoted to The Sea Edge, was dedicated to artists of this period who focused on the luminous and ethereal qualities of the land and water. Though compositionally built upon basic concepts of perspective – atmospheric and linear, John Kensett’s Coast Scene

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reviews

with Figures (Beverly Shore), 1869, and Asher B. Durand’s View Toward the Hudson Valley, 1851, are departures from the stage-like, picturesque scenery which dominates the exhibit. These paintings are less about national identity and more about the qualities that landscapes often address: light, color, atmosphere and scale. In fact, many of the works under this subcategory reveal a more personal and poetic response to nature. Lots of great, open and expansive sky and ocean engulf small figures. In this sense, it is in keeping with the human scale of other works in the show, which all set up a humbling relationship.

The exhibit closed with the room, In Search of Eden. What began as commissioned, directed works by patrons such as Wadsworth ends with a hint that perhaps many of these artists were less attuned to the building of a national identity and more excited by the idea of newness. Frederic Church was a student of Thomas Cole, and both artists were allegedly encouraged by Wadsworth. Church departs radically from the subject matter central to this group. His Vale of St. Thomas, Jamaica, 1867, seems to revel in observation for observation’s sake. Though compositionally as formulaic as the rest of the show, the jewel-like quality of details in the foreground contrasting vividly with atmospheric haze of the background is more exquisitely rendered and decorative. This room seemed to celebrate the moving on of these exploratory and adventurous painters into more untouched, exotic land – perhaps for the sheer sake of experience. (top photo) Thomas Cole. Scene from The Last of the Mohicans, Cora Kneeling at the Feet of Tamenund, 1827--The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut (bottom photo) Alexander Wyant. Florida Sunset, 1885-1892--The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut

Oklahoma Painting and Drawing

Biennial VIII

April 30-June 10, 2005 Art Gallery at the University of Science and Arts in Chickasha

Organized by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition • For more information, go to: ovac-ok.org or call (405) 232-6991.

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reviews

Photo Rebekah Bogard’s Lunae Lumen (foreground), Barbara Frey’s Step by Step Teapot #1 (midground)

The (Red) Heat Goes On Similar to the initial Red Heat of last year, Red Heat: Contemporary Work in Clay 2005, a national exhibition at the University of Tulsa, February 3-25, chosen by juror Patti Warashina, surveyed the variety of stylistic approaches to ceramics.

Thus, it reflected the eclectic nature of contemporary art in general. There were functional, such as utilitarian and narrative, and non-functional pieces, with many falling somewhere in between.

Styles included whimsical, baroque, formal, conceptual and minimalist.

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Barbara Frey’s Step by Step, Teapots #1 & #3 are heavy on the whimsy. Shaped like the tugboat from an early cartoon or child’s pull toy, Teapot #1 incongruously has rocks embedded in its hull and smokestacks as it sits stranded on top of a conglomeration of rugged granite boulders. The turquoise glaze at the tip of the droopy cannon reveals its function as spout, while the gray pipe running from the smokestack to the deck forms the handle. Teapot #3 offers a delightful take on the rock motif by transforming the teapot into a loose, precariously balanced stack of smooth, potato-shaped granite rocks stranded on a heap of rough boulders. This textural difference and the patch of turquoise glaze on both its bottom and on the rocks help to delineate the teapot from its rocky and

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watery surroundings. Presumably these whimsical teapots are functional, but it is unlikely they would be used for such a mundane task.

Instead of fulfilling a strictly utilitarian function, Craig Clifford’s Baroque vase entitled Cat’s Paw takes up another traditional function of ceramics: telling a story. The artist closes off the vase’s mouth to create a shallow birdbath and lavishly festoons the vase surface with white flowers and bright red cardinals. The gold on the loop handles and window frame adds a gaudy touch. Within this window a deformed skull of a cat stares out, its jaws wide open. The meaning of the punning title is clear: the birdbath (and indirectly the owner of the birdbath) is the tool used by the cat to attract birds into its gapping maw. While the macabre object lesson of this story is clear and does serve as a warning to all bird lovers, the lumpy, misshapen and gaudy look of this piece is unappealing. In fact, it is so unappealing that you may not even want to pay attention to the story in the first place.

Jeffrey Smith’s The Account re-interprets the soft, flowing silk kimono in hard, rigid terra cotta tiles bound together by copper wire and hung from a large tree branch. Though possibly wearable, this

By Janice McCormick work primarily represents a formal, artistic study of patterns. Cuneiform, or wedge shaped impression, decorate each and every tile with a repeating pattern: two rows of three wedges each, with a single wedge placed below the two rows. Smith creates a second pattern by strategically inserting brown tiles among the orange terra cotta ones. Placed with mathematical precision, the arrangement of brown tiles on the left side of the garment mirrors that of the right side. The resulting effect calls to mind the written diagrams that weavers work off of or those out-of-date computer punch cards. All in all, while this geometric garment might not fit the human figure well, its title fits perfectly.

As most conceptual work, Diane Eidenbach’s Untitled sculpture does not quite succeed visually and emotionally.

Her altar-like homage to the structural power of the spinal column remains an intellectual exercise. Its truncated, inverted pyramidal solid balances upon a branched, dark blue-black structure.

A similar branched structure in bone white rests on top of this solid form, holding three tri-foliate forms. What this particular combination of shapes means becomes clear upon examining the black and white illustrations applied to the sloping sides of the pyramidal solid. They

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depict various bony structures of the spine, which help identify the branched shapes as sections of rib cages and the tri-foliate forms as having some function within the spinal column. These illustrations appear to be straight out of an anatomy textbook; they add information, but do not express emotion. There is only a hint of the gravity defying power of the spine in the way the pyramidal solid sits balanced on the rib cage. This balancing act, however, is not readily noticeable due to the work’s placement on a fairly low pedestal. That aside, the over all image does not draw you in emotionally. It is simply a puzzle to be solved intellectually.

The minimalist work Nuance: Still by Karen Swyler excels in subtlety while remaining firmly functional. This small, delicate vaseshaped creamer and lidded sugar bowl epitomizes the essence of a matching set.

Each oval shape is slightly flattened on the side nearest to the other so that they fit closer together. Furthermore, the raised lip of the creamer arches toward the sugar bowl, while the knob on the domed lid of the sugar bowl tips towards the creamer. Even their shared glaze, an ever so slightly greenish/gray haze of celadon, re-enforces their intimate relationship.

A slight shift in perspective enables the eye to discern the subtle difference in surface quality between the unglazed grayish white porcelain and the greenish gray celadon. Yet, it is more than just sharing the mix of glaze and unglazed surfaces that connects this pair.

It is also how the over-all pattern of the glaze establishes a visual union: each vessel’s glaze curves up towards the other. The point where these implied lines would meet lies in mid-air, in the space between them. It is like two lovers blowing a kiss to each other.

Rebekah Bogard interprets the sensual, organic beauty of a moth in her elaborate ceramic construct Lunae Lumen. Despite its scientific sounding title, this work is more evocative than realistic. The most striking feature is its size.

Its widest expanse measures approximately 36 inches. It stands around 17 inches tall, with a depth of 6 inches. Using bilateral symmetry, the artist explores the motif of the curve. The undulating, horizontal “S” shape of the ridge runs down the center of each feather-like antenna and is echoed by a similar pair of antennae at the back of the work. Nestled in the center is

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the spherical head, with its huge round eyes peering out from behind the antennae. In turn, both head and antennae are cradled in a canoeshaped vessel with a scalloped edge. Below the scalloped edge, a broad, horizontal teardrop shape and its mirror image suggest a pair of wings. A base comprised of sharp-pointed teeth holds the whole construct up, adding a touch of menace. Its soft pink color, however, counters this seeming threat. The overriding movement of graceful, flowing curves captures the essence of the luna moth.

As this brief glimpse showed, Red Heat: Contemporary Work in Clay succeeded in providing a well-rounded view of what is going on in the world of ceramics today. May the (Red) Heat go on.

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(top photo) Jeffrey Smith’s The Account (foreground), Diane Eisenbach’s Untitled (background on left)

(bottom photo) Various artists represented in Red Heat at the University of Tulsa’s Alexandre Hogue gallery

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preview

the

5IVE 2 NINE group

by Elizabeth T. Burr, Ph.D.

(top photo) Vicki Maenza.

Raven, 21x17x5, acrylic collage on canvas

The Five2Nine group of artists is based in Norman, Oklahoma. They formed together as an entity in the late 1990s as a way to find compatible artists

(bottom photo) Corazon Watkins.

Summer, 40x40x2, oil on canvas

who would meet on a regular basis. Their intention was that the group would be willing to offer each other valuable critiques, support for their endeavors, provide each other with small workshops, as well as commit to find exhibition opportunities for each other as a group, and as individuals.

In all of these worthy goals, the Five2Nine group has succeeded unequivocally. They have all been recipients of distinctive awards, juried prizes, and growing national (international in the cases of Corazon Watkins and Sue Clancy) purchases. Their next group exhibition will be at the Mainsite Contemporary Art gallery in Norman this summer from June 17 to July 29, 2005.

Below are profiles of the contributing artists of this collective: The skill that Sue Clancy brings to all her artifacts reminds me of work that emerged from the 19th century Arts and Crafts movement, but with a modern twist, as Clancy’s books and paintings radiate a wicked humor. The foundation of Clancy’s book making and painting lies with the exceptional talent she brings to the making of paper. She makes her own paper for her projects, producing paper of every delicacy or strength. Clancy sometimes embellishes, adds collage elements or colors her papers by adding pigments to the wet paper pulp, or watercolors and inks after the sheets have dried.

Clancy also uses her hand-made papers with found paper and objects in her paintings.

These are almost all figurative, and their subjects are wry and humorous. Brightly colored and cleverly composed works made from colored, shaped and hand-marbled papers incorporating touches of ink or acrylic paint on board, produce such delights as her Dances with Scissors.

Dixie Erickson is currently making large collages of individual women. These collages

convey an elegance and gravitas inspired by the late 19th century. Erickson has assembled two major series involving 19th century American women. One is a group of four paintings inspired by photographs of Women of Ill-Repute. Each of these women is framed by an intricately painted false gold-leaf frame within their wooden frame,

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and it is this false frame that these ladies transcend, breaking the conventions of pictorial space, as they broke the rules of society to survive our hardscrabble West. Erickson’s other series of 19th century women are large, vertical compositions with full-sized depictions of women, posing in dignified glory. Each of these works has been built up with precise pieces of fabric or paper, which describe the figure itself, as well as the background setting. In a small collage, Grandmother’s Flower Garden, Erickson has cleverly, and with great beauty, created the garden out of the “flower garden” quilt pattern. The flowers tumbling out of the woman’s wheelbarrow are deep red, but are formed from the same “flower garden” pattern: the pattern fits the subject.

Carolyn Faseler produces stunning still life

paintings. She uses acrylic paints, and often prepares her canvases with acrylic modeling paste. Faseler strives toward a heavy texture in her work, as this increases the lushness of her finished painting. She adds further depth and texture to her canvas by using palette knives, brushes and even scrappers to reveal layers of color in her painting. Before beginning a composition, Faseler lays down a grid framework on her canvas, providing the artist with a formal structure upon which to paint. She believes that the grid construct adds to a sense of stability in her work, helping to pull the colors and composition together. It is Faseler’s mastery of color that is her hallmark and, because the underlying structure of her paintings is so formal, the vibrancy of her palette creates a delicious tension in a playful game between the classical and the romantic.

In her latest paintings, Vickie Maenza adds transparent layers of paint onto Plexiglas sheets.

Maenza manages to maintain a satisfying formality to even the most abstract of her compositions. She adds texture and line by scrapping and manipulating the flow of the paints. Maenza discovered that painting with Plexiglas creates significant differences from that of canvas or paper – Plexiglas demands that the artist paint in a backwards manner. On paper or canvas, the last layer of paint applied is the first layer seen by the viewer, but with the Plexiglas medium, it is the first layer of pigment that is seen. The artist always has to plan her layers with this visual reversal in mind. Maenza enhances the compositions and texture of her paintings by pressing paper, bubble wrap, stamps, leaves, lace

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and more against the wet paint to create imaginative shapes, as well as using squeegees and tools to augment her compositions. Her strong formal sense brings weight and visual satisfaction to all her works, abstract or figurative. The subjects of these paintings reflect the artist’s pleasure with nature, and the rich landscape visible from her studio.

Bill Munsell paints figures, still lifes and domestic

interiors with skill and precise delicacy. His subjects are the pleasures of a rich domestic life: a kitchen, the preparation of a meal, the beauty of food and the family. In addition to his life-long career as an artist, Munsell is a mechanical engineer who specializes in failure analysis, the study of why machines break. Munsell believes that just as an artist feels a drive to render something visually, so, too, does an engineer feel a drive to render physical phenomenon mathematically. Recently Munsell consciously tried to merge these two worlds. One of these paintings, Defect, is a triptych oil painting of a car wreck.

Surrounding this image are mathematical equations, seemingly decorative. Ah, not so admits the artist.

These mathematical formulas are the exact linear differential equations he used in solving the sequence of events that led to the death of a child. The defect the title refers to is the tragic intersection of theory and real life, when the theory is wrong. An affinity with photography is another feature of Munsell’s artistic life. There is one series of photographs Munsell took in Paris, Stream of Consciousness, which used a technique called Rear Sync Flash. These photos show subjects walking down a Parisian street, but with parts of their corporeal figures evaporating into the air like ghosts, beautiful and haunting in their impact.

(top photo) Betty Wood.

Delicate Wild Wheat, 8.5 x 17, monotype (bottom photo) Carolyn Faseler.

Pacer’s Zinnias, 34x46, mixed media on canvas

Timothy Sullivan’s silkscreens exhibit his skill in this

medium. A single silkscreen might have over 21 colors; some of his pieces have been composed from upwards of 40 individual screen layers. He likes to think of his screen images as being a sort of glyph, or words that communicate. Sullivan’s ceramic pieces certainly measure up to the quality of his screenprints. He has a group of large vessels based on the unique wedding banquet jars made by an ancient Greek community in Pesto, Italy. Sullivan’s are about two feet tall and are articulated into different segments that can be lifted and be used individually. Not only a clever design, Sullivan has managed to evoke the Greek origins of these

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Bill Munsell.

Defect, triptych oil

pots by his use of color and classical figuration. For the past four years, Tim Sullivan has also studied glass and the use of glass for sculpture. Sullivan has created some accomplished and imaginative glass busts and small sculptural pieces.

He is experimenting with creating glass sculptures using a lost glass technique.

His Medusa, a head that he made mixing dirty glass (in this case, window glass), copper powder and iron sand. It, too, elicits an archaic world.

Corazon Watkins paints a range of

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haunting landscapes, both abstract and very specific. Her sense of color, composition and texture are superb.

Watkins stretches her own canvases and prepares their surface with gesso and a spackling compound. Watkins uses this as a medium to give texture to the painting’s surface. Over the spackling, the artist lays a mix of turpentine and linseed oil; this gives the canvas a more varnished look, and allows the artist more control over the application of

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paint. Next, she adds her carefully mixed oil paints. Watkins does not rely on brushes to apply her paints: she uses her hand, her fingers, the palette knife, and an object called a color shaper.

To give more body and texture to her large and small paintings, Corazon uses mixed media and incorporates found objects into her works. She also likes to score the spackling on her canvases with the palette knife or other objects, enhancing the play of depth and texture in her work.

embossing her prints: running the paper through her press again, but without the ink. This results in a beautiful relief pattern. Wood allows her compositions to break through their “frames”.

Most prints have a distinctive border around the printed image, and it is this “frame” that Wood’s more vivacious plants occasionally burst through to exhilarating effect.

Betty Wood works fluently in etchings,

monotypes, woodcuts and lithographs.

Her prints customarily have a landscape theme and express the artist’s deep love of nature. Wood creates a rich textural surface, enlarging the limits of a twodimensional art form. To add textural detail, Wood manipulates her collections of wild wheat, grasses, weeds, and feathers and fixes them onto her papers, which are then inked and pulled through her press. Another technique she uses is

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by Sue Clancy

When I was taking art history courses in college it seemed as if the ‘famous artists’ magically became that way. They were ‘discovered’ or some such. There weren’t any business of art classes available to dispel any of these myths so things just seemed easier for the artists in history.

Or so I thought.

Then some years after college I was asked to curate an exhibit on Abstract Expressionism for the City Arts Center. This meant delving deeply into art history again. Research became a major part of my normal workday as I read book after book about Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Louise Nevelson, Willem De Kooning, David Smith and Helen Frankenthaler.

I began to notice that in the lines of these books was information about how each artist conducted the business of their art and how they became successful. I found that fame and fortune actually didn’t ‘magically occur’ but was painstakingly crafted over time. Consider the following examples: Willem De Kooning worked on the Federal Art Project (the WPA), painted houses, and did some commercial artwork, specifically signs and displays for shoe-shops. He also experimented with portrait painting all to ‘make ends meet’ before achieving his ultimate success. Willem De Kooning worked with his wife, Elaine, who was also a painter.

Elaine De Kooning became an influential art critic writing chiefly for Art News. She never reviewed her husband’s artwork, but through her writing helped to create an atmosphere that welcomed Willem’s art.

Jackson Pollock recorded his working process through a series of photographs and two films, which he used to attract the attention of the mass media. Louise Nevelson worked on the Federal Art Project (WPA) and was employed as an art teacher. This work ultimately led to her shift from painting to sculpting and also introduced her to art dealers, galleries and collectors.

David Smith studied mechanical drawing and worked as a cartoonist. He was also employed at the Studebaker car factory where he learned welding. Mark Rothko worked in the garment district in New York where he cut patterns for

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clothes. He had experience as an actor, scene-painter and illustrator. Later he became a part-time teacher of art. The Federal Art Project also played a part in Rothko’s career, introducing him to new artists and opportunities.

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OWED TO ART HISTORY These artists (and others) formed salons or schools to help themselves both individually and as a group.

One of the more famous schools became known as The New York School.

I could continue with the art history lesson, but what struck me about all of these artists was that each used life experience as an opportunity to further their art. While they ‘made ends meet’, they furthered their art education. Specifically they chose paying jobs that helped their art-making skills in some way. Wherever possible they exposed themselves to new ideas. They didn’t wait to be discovered, they created their own luck. They utilized available resources such as the Federal Art Project to forge new artistic alliances and create new audiences for their art.

While we no longer have the Federal Art Project, we do have other non-profit organizations to fill this role. I would guess that we have more nonprofit organizations available to us than any of the artists in the 1940s. While the situations may be different from then, some basic things are similar.

For example it is still true that we must create our own markets, our own ‘art world’, using the ingenuity and resources that we have here. Nonprofit organizations, both in the state of Oklahoma and in others, are a valuable resource as is anything that brings artists, writers, critics, filmmakers and historians together.

Success didn’t ‘just happen’ for Rothko, Pollock or any of the other artists; it was a direct result of hard work and deliberate strategy. What worked for them still works today: talking and working with other artists, utilizing available opportunities from non-profits, reading books and taking art classes or workshops from a good teacher.

Following the examples of the artists in history we can work together as a group toward the greater success of all. When success happens, however large or small, we owe gratitude to the artists who came before us. Art history isn’t just a group of fairytale stories about magical artistic lives long dead and buried, but a series of guidebooks for current and future artists. Read a biography of your favorite artist! Read as a “how-to” instead of a “who-done-it” mystery!

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AT A GLANCE

Round Up

round up

by Julia Kirt With the timing of this magazine’s deadlines, the Café City Arts may seem like a long time ago, but the artwork remains strong in my memory. Held January 28, the exhibition sadly ended as Troy Wilson’s swan song as Exhibits Director at the City Arts Center in Oklahoma City. What Wilson created over the last 11 years is an amazing mix of strong exhibitions. He blended the educational with the contemporary and international artists with regional artist seamlessly. Wilson challenged artists. I heard from several artists after a studio visit from Wilson, they worked harder to prepare for their exhibition and felt motivated to improve their artwork. His curatorial eye and strong focus on artists will be sorely missed as he pursues other interests (managing Lux, a great gift store in Oklahoma City).

The Café City Arts this year was an exceptional amalgamation of artwork. Although a fundraiser, the exhibition did not emphasize commercial intent. Subtle works by Matthew Hill were juxtaposed with the palpable, oversized paintings of Michele Mikesell. Linda Warren’s heavily worked mixed media assemblages were around the corner from Dustin Hamby’s light as air transparent works that read like a memory. One of Troy’s great skills, however, was picking out and cultivating new talent. Young artists like Camden Dunning and Benjy Russell brought quirkiness, color, and perspective to the show. Congratulations Troy on your new adventure, but we’ll miss your strong curatorial leadership.

We are excited to welcome OVAC’s new Publications and Marketing Associate, Lori Oden. Lori has great experience in the arts, working for the past seven years at the International Photography Hall of Fame. A photographer, Lori also teaches alternative photographic processes and history of photography at Oklahoma City University.

Besides spearheading our marketing, she will also be the Editor of Art Focus Oklahoma magazine. We are excited to have Lori. Her email is publications@ovac-ok.org if you want to welcome her yourself!

Many thanks go to editor Janice McCormick for her great leadership for the magazine over the last few years.

Thankfully, Janice will continue to write for Art Focus Oklahoma! We appreciate her dedication to the arts and insightful critiques.

OVAC was pleased to give several grants in the last artists grant deadline round (January 2005). Professional Basics Grants were awarded to Stuart Asprey, Norman, for a digital camera to document his artwork and Margaret Aycock, Tulsa, to help with framing and shipping to an east coast gallery. Education Assistance Grants were awarded to Lynn Barnett Sparks, OKC, to attend the Southern Graphics Conference in Washington, DC, Sarah Diggdon, Tulsa, to attend a glass conference offered

by Bullseye Kiln, and Harvard Tomlinson to attend a workshop by Gay Faulkenberry. OVAC’s next grant request deadline is July 15—check the website for application forms and instructions.

Please note OVAC’S new address and update your address books/contact lists, PO Box 1946, Oklahoma City, OK 73101.

Thank you to our New and Renewing Members from January and February

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Peggy Acker Jo Ann Adams Marciso Arquelles William L. Beasley Ellen Berney Betty C. Bowen Laura Boyce Barbara Broadwell Lacy Brown Gustafson Chris Cameris Jean Artman Campbell Stan Carroll Janet E. Cartwright Deborah Clements Gerald Martin Cournoyer Bryan Dahlvang Kendall Deaton

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Ashley Desmond Helen Duchon Janet Duncan Konrad Eek Cheryl Ehmann Patricia Emmett Carolyn Faseler Ralph Foste Jim Franklin James Gallagher Ricky Gathright Joseph Gierek Karen Greenawalt Brent Greenwood Tony Grigsby Stephanie Grubbs Susan Hammond

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Michelle Hammond Bradsher Ruth Harris Matthew Hill Michael Hoffner Cecelia Hussein Garvin Isaacs Aaron Jones Sam Joyner Steven Kroeger Karoll Kyle Grant Lacquement Patsy E. Lane Connie Largess Patta LT Lorena McClain Josh McCormick

Jim McCue Paul Medina Mike Mooney Micheal Mooney Chad Mount Kim Pagonis Patricia A.Pearson Magoli Pinero-Hernandez Chris Ramsay Sue Ross June Roys Tom and Velma Sanders Katy Scales Mark A. Seibold Beth Shearon Scot Sidwell Silver

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James Simmons Frank Simons Erin Siobhan Smith Rolf Strasheim Shirley Sutterfield Doris Swanson Corazon S. Watkins Janice Weeks Charlene Weidell Christopher Westfall Lisa Wharry Whim Designs Donna Wilkes Thompson Williams Linda Wilson Cynthia Wolf

Jim Meeks.

London Cab, Black and White Photography from City Arts Center Back to Basics Exhibit

Gallery Listings

&

Exhibition Schedule

Ada Senior Shows Through May 14 University Gallery

Claremore Foundations Gallery-Baird Hall Rogers State University (918) 343-7740

East Central University (580) 310-5356 www.ecok.edu

Durant Southeastern OK State University 1405 N. 4th PMB 4231

Ardmore Area Middle and High Schools Through May 2 36th Annual Art Exhibit May 15- 27 Opening reception and Award ceremony May 15; 1-3 Charles B. Goddard Center 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 www.godart.org Bartlesville Dennis Oppenheim: Indoors, Outdoors Through May 22 Building Images: 70 Years of Photography of Hedrich Blessing June 3- July 31 Price Tower Arts Center 6th and Dewey (918) 336-4949 www.pricetower.org Broken Bow 8th Annual Spring Wood Art Exhibit Through May 7 Kiamichi Owa-Chito June 17-19 Forest Heritage Center Beaver’s Bend Resort (580) 494-6497 www.beaversbend.com Chickasha OVAC’s Painting and Drawing Biennial April 30- June 10 Make Me a Copy: The Progression of Photography and Printmaking June 17-July 8 University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma Gallery-Davis Hall 1806 17th Street (405) 574-1344 www.usao.edu/ gallery/

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Durham Art of the Curve: An Exhibition of Sculpture Through May 28 Young Guns: Visual Artists Who Shoot from the Hip June 1- August 27 Doug Ricketts: Art From the Ruin July 5- August 31 Metcalfe Museum Rt. 1 Box 25 (580) 655-4467

Chambers Library Gallery University of Central Oklahoma 100 University Drive (405) 974-5931 http:// www.ucok.edu/ El Reno Redlands Community College Student Show Through May 19 Redlands Community College (405) 262-2552www.redlandscc.edu/visitors/ gallery.htm Idabel Museum of the Red River 812 East Lincoln Road (580) 286-3616 www.museumoftheredriver.org

Edmond Watercolor Oklahoma XIX Exhibit May 3- 26 Here Comes the Bride: Weddings in American Society June 4- July 16 Edmond Historical Society 431 S. Boulevard (405) 340-0078 www.edmondhistory.org Louisa McElwaine May 6 Opening reception May 6, 5-7 Dick Evans June 17 Opening reception June 17, 5-7 Shadid Fine Art 19 N. Broadway (405) 341-9023 http:// www.shadidfineart.com/

Lawton Works on Paper: Lou Moore Hale May 7 The Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery 620 D Avenue (580) 357-9526 www.lpgallery.org Norman Daniel Gegen: Ceramics Through June 4 Norman High School, Middle School, Elementary Art Show June 10- July 23 Firehouse Art Center 444 South Flood (405) 329-4523 www.normanfirehouse.com Annual Indian Market May 7-8 Jacobson House 609 Chautauqua (405) 366-1667 Selections from the Permanent Collection Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art 410 W. Boyd Street (405) 325-3272 www.ou.edu/fjjma/ Spring Art Walk April 29- June 10 Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery 122 East Main (405) 292-8095 www.mainsiteart.com Oklahoma City Back to Basics Photography and Eye Spy Through May 31 Hands On: Squiggles, Wiggles & Giggles June 18- August 20 City Arts Center 3000 Pershing Blvd.

(800) 951-0000 www.cityartscenter.org

Lou Ackerman.

Expectation Capitol Gallery

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Christina Busche.

Spring Abstract Oklahoma State Capital Galleries July 18-September 16

Jackie and Jim Meeks May 9- July 8 North Gallery Christina Busche July 18- September 16 North Gallery Tom Stotts May 2- July 1 East Gallery William Bennett Barry July 11- September 9 East Gallery Lou Ackerman Through June 3 Leslie Lienau Capshaw June 13- August 14 Governor’s Gallery Oklahoma State Capital Galleries 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 www.state.ok.us/~arts New works by DJ Lafon Through May 21 JRB at the Elms 2810 North Walker- The Paseo Arts District (405) 528-6336 www.jrbartgallery.com 12 Story House: Art by Steve Crossett put to music by Roger Lienke May 6- 28 Opening reception May 6, 6-8 Jennifer Taylor and Robert Henry June 3-25 Opening reception June 3, 6-8 5th Annual DeadCenter Film Festival June 10-11 Individual Artists of Oklahoma 811 N. Broadway (405) 232-6060 www.iaogallery.org The Noble Metals: Platinum and Palladium IPHF Main Gallery Through July 4 From a Child’s Heart: Toy Camera Collection and Photography by Michael Gilbert IPHF Gallery A Through July4

Hugh Scott: Oklahoma City National Memorial, 10 Years Remembering IPHF Hall Gallery Through July 4 International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum 2100 NE 52nd Street (405) 424-4055 www.iphf.org Kirkpatrick Galleries at the Omniplex 2100 NE 52nd 800-532-7652 www.omniplex.org Brent Phelps: Photographing the Lewis and Clark Trail Through May 8 Fred Beaver and Acee Blue Eagle: Oklahoma Indian Artists Through October 23 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 www.cowboyhalloffame.org

Margaret Bourke-White: The Photography of Design, 1927- 1936 Through June 12 Mid-Century USA: American Art and Design, 1940-1960 June 30- August 21 Oklahoma Museum of Art 415 Couch Drive (405) 236-3100 www.okcmoa.com Nona Hulsey Gallery, Norick Art Center Oklahoma City University 1600 NW 26th (405) 521-5226 Antje Manser: Botanicals Mykl Ruffino: New Works Through May 28 Joseph Daun: Fear and Apathy Sunni Mercer and Candice Black June 10- August 13 Untitled (Art Space) 1 NE 3rd St. (405) 815-9995 www.1NE3.com University Gallery Oklahoma Christian University 2501 East Memorial Road (800) 877-5010

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Ponca City Paintings by Dean Bloodgood Through May 28 Robert Bubp: A Video Installation June 3- July 2 Artsplace Ponca City 319 East Grand Ave (580) 762-1930 Ponca City Art Center 819 East Central Shawnee Brush in a Healing Hand: Barbara Gallagher Through May 8 Bedecked and Bedazzled: The Art of Personal Adornment June 10- June 30 Opening reception 10, 7-9 pm Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art 1900 West Macarthur (405) 878-5300 www.mgmoa.org Stillwater Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition Through May 6 Gardiner Art Gallery Oklahoma State University 108 Bartlett University art.okstate.edu/gallery.htm Tonkawa Eleanor Hays Gallery Performing Arts Center Northern Oklahoma College 1220 East Grand (580) 628-6670 Tulsa Annual Men’s Invitational Exhibit: Wasteland Through May 19 Annual Women’s Invitational Exhibit: Lace May 26- June 30 Opening reception May 26, 6-9 Apertures Gallery 1936 South Harvard (918) 742-0500 www.aperturesphoto.com

Jackie Meeks.

Santa Fe Dog, Color Photography at the Oklahoma State Capital Galleries May 9-July 8

Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas Through July 10 Gilcrease Museum 1400 Gilcrease Road (918) 596-2700 www.gilcrease.org Holliman Gallery Holland Hall 5666 East 81st Street (918) 481-1111 Skin and Essence: George Hughes May 6- 26 Opening reception May 6, 5-8 Lifetime: Beverly Wissen June 3-23 Opening reception June 3, 5-8 Living ArtSpace 308 Kenosha (918) 585-1234 www.livingarts.org Ann Marie DiStefano Through May 12 Ceramics by Frank Campbell and Barbara Buell June Floating World Gallery 3714 S. Peoria Avenue (918) 706-1825

The Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 South Rockford Road (918) 749-7941 www.Philbrook.org 5x5 Annual Fundraiser May 5-28 Reception and party May 5th at 5 pm The Prufrock Challenge: Juried Exhibit on T.S. Eliot’s Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock June 3-25 Tulsa Artists Coalition Gallery 9 East Brady (918) 592-0041 www.tacgallery.org Tulsa Performing Arts Gallery 110 East 2nd Street (918) 596-7122 Tulsa Photography Collective Gallery North Hall at OSU-Tulsa 700 North Greenwood Master Thesis Exhibition Through May 21 Senior Project Exhibition May 25- June 17 Alexandre Hogue Gallery Phillips Hall, the University of Tulsa 600 South College Ave. (918) 631-2202 www.cas.utulsa.edu/art/ Waterworks Art Studio 1710 Charles Page Blvd. http://www.cityoftulsa.org/parks/ Waterworks.htm May Rooms Gallery 328 East 1st Street Blue Dome District-Tulsa Backbone by Michelle Firment Reid Photography and Paint on Canvas May 5-22, opening May 5, 5-9 www.michellefirmentreid.com

The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art Zarrow Campus 2021 East 71st Street Tulsa, OK 74136 (918) 492-1818 Varian Fry: Assignment Rescue, 1940-1941 and The Last Good-bye April 17-June 5 Woodward The Quilt Bus and Fine Arts Competition May 2- June 25 Jesse Montes July 1-31 Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum 2009 Williams Ave www.pipm1.com (580) 256-6136

Margaret Bourke-White.

Chrysler Building, 1930, Oklahoma City Museum of Art April 14-June 12

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ArtFocus Ok l a h o m a

Non Profit Org. US POSTAGE PAID Oklahoma City, OK Permit No. 113

PO Box 1946 Oklahoma City, OK 73101

Annual Subscriptions to Art Focus Oklahoma are free with membership to the

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Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.

Membership forms and benefits can be found at www.ovac-ok.org or by phone (405) 232-6991.

Student Memberships: $15 Individual Memberships: $30 Family/Household Membership: $50 Patron Membership: $100 Sustaining Membership: $250

Don’t Miss It

See the gallery guide (page 17-19) for complete listing of local events.

Blue Dome Festival, May 20-22 May Rooms Gallery, 328 East 1st Street, Blue Dome District-Tulsa Backbone by Michelle Firment Reid, Photography and Paint on Canvas May 5-22, opening May 5, 5-9. www.michellefirmentreid.com

Visit www.ovac-ok.org

Promise Guidry Cowboy Pickle acrylic on canvas 2004

to learn more about artists in Oklahoma.

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