DISCOVERY! : Three One-Woman Exhibitions - Karen Lastre

D I S C O V E R Y !

Karen Lastre July 10 - Aug 8, 2015

Wi l l i a m Re ave s F i n e A r t

D I S COV E RY !

JULY 10 - AUGUST 8, 2015

Exhibition Events Opening Reception: Saturday, July 11, 6 - 8:30 p.m.

Gallery Talk - Rita Blasser: Saturday, July 18, 2 - 4 p.m.

Artist Talk - Karen Lastre: Saturday, July 25, 2 - 4 p.m.

Gallery Talk - Constance Forsyth: Saturday, August 1, 2 - 4 p.m.

“So, what would life be like without artists of one type or another. Could we stand the deathlike silence?”

-Karen Lastre

William Reaves Fine Art | 2143 Westheimer Road | Houston, Texas 77098 | 713.521.7500 Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm and by appointment, please call 713.521.7500 or email info@reavesart.com.

Artist Statement: Since 1969, when I began my painting career in Houston, I have been dedicated to the field of abstract painting. I use canvas size, color and various shapes within the color plane to generate a “subject matter”. If one wishes to label my art I guess you could call me a colorist. My work is deliberately subtle which I control by using unprimed canvas and thin washy layers of acrylic, sometimes applying oil pastel on top. I love to experiment and have completed several mixed media pieces using gels and mediums which contain sand, stucco and fibers. I have been known to adhere tapestry fabrics to the canvas using the pattern of the fabric to generate the painting field. My goal is to keep the viewer’s attention; to find something new each time in the color field. I want my work to be intriguing in all lights, even in the dark. I want my work to glow!

Over the years I have been influenced by Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, Robert Rauchenberg and my two favorite Houston artists—Dorothy Hood and Charles Schorre. In 2011 I was honored to be chosen to present an “Artist Eye” series talk on Mark Rothko at the Menil Collection.

I explore, in my work, the pure realm; the question of renunciation (outward sight for inward enlightenment.) The ground, the very matter from which consciousness or rather imagination emerges. For we must have an imagination. We must allow ourselves or rather be allowed to breathe in this life! No boundaries, no borders. I believe that a painting should be an experience; a consummated experience between picture and onlooker. In 1943 Rothko and Gottlieb stated: “The appreciation of art is a true marriage of minds. And in art as in marriage lack of consummation is grounds for annulment.”

Music is a very important “instrument” in my work. So much so that in 2009 I began a series titled “Sounds From Within”, based on the music I was listening to at the time I was working on a piece. I actually cannot think of a time I was working without music!

I have, over the years, formed strong opinions about the role of the artist in society and their function as, Joseph Campbell states, the mythmakers of our day.

Campbell very simply, yet wisely wrote: “Myth must be kept alive. The people who can keep it alive are artists of one kind or another. The function of the artist is the mythologization of the environment and the world.”

- Karen Lastre

Karen Lastre • July 10 - Aug 8, 2015 No.

Artist

Title of Work

Date

1

Karen Lastre

Field #1

2

Karen Lastre

3

Medium

Size (inches)

1970-2012

oil on canvas

44 x 40

Fusion (Light into Heavy)

2012

acrylic on canvas

40 x 30

Karen Lastre

Homecoming of a Loving Soul

2014

acrylic on canvas

60 x 40

4

Karen Lastre

Imagine If

2014

acrylic on canvas

18 x 36

5

Karen Lastre

The Path X, from In Search for Higher

Understanding Series

2011

acrylic on canvas

20 x 16

6

Karen Lastre

Reveal Thyself to Me, Oh hovering Spirit

1994

acrylic on canvas

54 x 42

7

Karen Lastre

Passage III, from the Ancient Passage Series

2014

acrylic on canvas

20 x 16

8

Karen Lastre

Sounding II- Trinity + One from Sounds from 2003-2007

acrylic on canvas

72 x 54

2008

acrylic on canvas

72 x 60

2003-2007

acrylic on canvas

60 x 48

Within Series

9

Sounding V- For Hildegard from Sounds from

Karen Lastre

Within Series

10

Sounding IV- Chosen One from Sounds from

Karen Lastre

Within Series

11

Sounding I- Veiled Memory from Sounds from

Karen Lastre

Within Series

2007

acrylic on canvas

60 x 48

12

Karen Lastre

Spiritual Spiritualle

2013

acrylic on canvas

72 x 60

13

Karen Lastre

Sun Creation- The Vision

1989

acrylic on canvas

54 x 42

14

Karen Lastre

The Awakening III

2014

acrylic on canvas

60 x 48

15

Karen Lastre

The Path- Second Sounding from In

Search for Higher Understanding Series

1970-1994

acrylic on canvas

70 x 54

16

Karen Lastre

The Seduction

2007

acrylic and oil pastel on canvas

68 x 52

17

Karen Lastre

The Visitation

2007

acrylic and oil pastel on canvas

60 x 54

18

Karen Lastre

Transfiguration I- Soul Rising

2013

acrylic on canvas

72 x 60

1. Karen Lastre, Field #1, 1970-2012, oil on canvas, 44 x 40 inches.

2. Karen Lastre, Fusion (Light into Heavy), 2012, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 inches.

3. Karen Lastre, Homecoming of a Loving Soul, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 40 inches.

4. Karen Lastre, Imagine If, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 18 x 36 inches.

5. Karen Lastre, The Path X, from In Search for Higher Understanding Series, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.

6. Karen Lastre, Reveal Thyself to Me, Oh hovering Spirit, 1994, acrylic on canvas, 54 x 42 inches.

7. Karen Lastre, Passage III, from the Ancient Passage Series, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.

Sounds From Within “Sounds From Within”, began in early 2007, is loosely based on the theory of Visual Music also known as “color music”.

From that came the idea of synaesthesia, which, according to Jeremy Strick in his writings in “Visual Music” the catalog for the exhibition “Synaesthesia in Art and Music Since 1900” shown at the Hirschhorn Museum, Washington, D.C. and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in 2005, of which Mr. Strick was one of the organizers:

“…….is the idea of synaesthesia: the unity of the senses and, by extension, the arts. According to the principle of synaesthesia, sensory perception of one kind may manifest itself as sensory experience of another---one example being the phenomenon of

seeing color when one hears certain sounds.”

I have always painted to music and found that my work would become vibrant with reds, hot pinks, purples and bright yellow when listening to flamenco music and the colors of the Southwest when listening to Native American music. The idea of “visual” music did not take hold in me until I read the Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky’s 1912 treatise On the Spiritual in Art: “Musical sound has direct access to the soul. It finds there an echo, for man ‘hath music in himself “’.

“Sounds From Within “ is more than seeing color when viewing the work but also, hearing the color with or without hearing music in the color. The titles of the works may or may not lead the viewer to a particular music, however some will lead the viewer to the music listened to while the painting is executed; others not. The intent of this series: TO ENTICE THE VIEWER TO SEE, HEAR AND FEEL the work on their own terms. I can only supply the hints as to what’s in my soul, the viewer is asked to stay long enough to find their own.

-Karen Lastre

8. Karen Lastre, Sounding II- Trinity + One from Sounds from Within Series, 2003-2007, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 54 inches.

9. Karen Lastre, Sounding V- For Hildegard from Sounds from Within Series , 2008, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 inches.

10. Karen Lastre, Sounding IV- Chosen One from Sounds from Within Series, 2003-2007, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches.

11. Karen Lastre, Sounding I- Veiled Memory from Sounds from Within Series, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches.

12. Karen Lastre, Spiritual Spiritualle, 2013, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 inches.

13. Karen Lastre, Sun Creation- The Vision, 1989, acrylic on canvas, 54 x 42 inches.

14. Karen Lastre, The Awakening III , 2014, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches.

15. Karen Lastre, The Path- Second Sounding from In Search for Higher Understanding Series, 1970-1994, acrylic on canvas, 70 x 54 inches.

16. Karen Lastre, The Seduction, 2007, acrylic and oil pastel on canvas, 68 x 52 inches.

17. Karen Lastre, The Visitation, 2007, acrylic and oil pastel on canvas, 60 x 54 inches.

18. Karen Lastre, Transfiguration I- Soul Rising, 2013, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 inches.

KAREN LASTRE EDUCATION Glassell School- Houston, TX SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2008 Series- Connection and Sounds From Within- Lonestar College Gallery- Tomball, TX 2000 Soundings - 1994-2000- Flatbed Galleries - Austin, TX 1997 Space as Spirit/Art in the Alternative- Little City- Alternative Space- Austin, TX 1995 Featured Artist - Better Half Dead- Circle Theatre- Fort Worth, TX- Sponsored by ABH

Productions and Milan Gallery 1994 Everything In Sight - Alternative Space- Dallas, TX

Dallas Area Rapid Transit Headquarters - Dallas, TX 1993 Everything in Sight - Alternative Space - Dallas, TX 1990 Houshang’s Gallery- Santa Fe, NM 1974 Cannery Hill Gallery- Houston, TX 1973 Erdon Gallery Ill - Houston, TX 1972 Erdon Gallery- Houston, TX 1971 First Unitarian Church - Houston, TX

Paint Box Gallery - Houston, TX SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2013 The Jung Center- Houston, TX 2012 GOD- Art Car Museum- Houston, TX

June 18, 2012, 7:05PM Art Takes Times Square billboard showing NYC

AMOA Austin 5x7 Show- Austin Museum of Art- Austin, TX

Transcendence- The Jung Center- Houston, TX

Art House Sketchbook Travelling Project- Brooklyn Art Library- Brooklyn, NY 2011 9x12 Work on Paper Exhibition- Fort Worth Art Center- Fort Worth, TX

Atmosphere- Mary Tomas Gallery- Dallas, TX

M Squared Gallery- Houston, TX

FLORENCE BIENNALE-December 2011 2010 5 X 7 2010- Arthouse- Austin, TX

Art House Painting & Sketchbook project- Brooklyn Art Library- Brooklyn, NY 2009 2009 Annual Juried Art Exhibition - Live Oak Art Center- Columbus, TX

Juror: Gus Kopriva- Red Bud Gallery- Houston, TX 2008 Hunting Art Prize Exhibition - Decorative Center- Houston

Midtown Visions Studio Art Tour- Houston 2007 Houston Artists at City Hall - April 2007-2008 - Jurors: Gus Kopriva and Karen Renazi 2006 Big Show- Lawndale Art Center- Houston, TX Juror- Dominic Malon - Pamela

Alper Associate Curator- Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago 2005 Black and White - Sippora Gallery - Houston

Visual Arts Alliance 22nd Juried Open Art Exhibition - Juror: Ann Shaw Lancaster, Ex

Director- Center for Contemporary Craft- Houston

Houston Artists at City Hall - September 2005 - 2007 Juror: Gus Kopriva

Open Show- Gallery 101 – Houston, TX- Juror: Wayne Gilbert 2004

2003 2001

1999

1998

Nexus of Dreams- Amsterdam Whitney Gallery- New York, NY 21st Juried Open Show- Visual Arts Alliance- Houston- Juror: Sally Sprout Premier Exhibition: Houston in Art- Art House Gallery- Houston, TX Three Texas Women – Matthew Travis Gallery- Houston, TX Open Show 2001 - Art League of Houston- Houston TX - Juror: Virgil Grofeldt Hot and Bothered- Artists Gallery & Studios on 6th - Austin, TX AVANTI10 Retrospective- Austin Visual Arts Association Gallery- Austin, TX Austin Visual Arts Association- Norwood Window Display- Austin, TX The McKinney Avenue Contemporary Group Show- Dallas, TX

1997

1996

1995 1994

1993 1992 1991 1989 1986

1974 1973

1972

1971

Exhibit K - Coming of Age- Austin Visual Arts Association- Austin, TX Thunder & Lightening- University Galleries at Salisbury State University, Salisbury, MD Jurors: Christopher Brownawell, Ex. Dir. Academy of the Arts, Easton, MD and David Scott, Director, Corcoran Gallery 1996 Texas Competition (Regional Show)- The Art Center- Waco, TX Juror: Ricardo Hernandez, Assistant Director, Texas Commission of the Arts Dallas Visual Art Center- Dallas, TX National Contemporary Painting Competition - Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville, TN Jurors: Jennifer Wells, Curator, Paine Webber Collections NY; Kenneth Noland Dallas Women’s Caucus for the Arts- D’Art- Dallas, TX Emporium Fine Art- Dallas, TX Milan Gallery- Fort Worth, TX New England Fine Arts National- Boston, MS Dallas Women’s Caucus for the Arts- Irving Cultural Art Center- Irving, TX 500X Gallery- Dallas, TX The 500 Inc.- Dallas, TX Surfaces Ill- Art League of Houston- Houston, TX 37 Hour Show- Museum of Fine Art- Houston, TX 18th National Sun Carnival- El Paso, TX Spring Exhibition- Art League of Houston- Houston, TX NSPCA National Traveling Exhibition- National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic Exhibition- New York, NY May Membership Show- Art League of Houston, Houston, TX Special Summer Exhibition -Art League of Houston Juror: James McDermott- University of Houston Dimension Houston VII -Art League of Houston Juror: G. Fibbs Milikin - University of Texas at Austin Spotlight Series #3- Art League of Houston Juror: Robert Weimerhirsch -Artist Jewish Community Center Exhibition - Houston, TX - Juror: Leonard Sipiora- Director, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, TX Art League of Houston - Juror: Beth Black Mathis - Houston Baptist College 13th Annual Eight State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition - Oklahoma Art Center- Oklahoma City, OK- Juror: Walter Hopps, Director, Corcoran Gallery of Art- Washington, DC Dimensions VI- Art League of Houston Juror: Dr. Donald Weisman, Professor of Art & Chairman, Division of Comparative Studies, UT at Austin

AWARDS AND HONORS 2011 Participant: Florence Biennale- December 2011 2008 Finalist: The Hunting Art Prize 2008-Houston, TX 2005 Honorable Mention: 22nd Juried Open Exhibition- Visual Arts Alliance 1997 Merit Award: Thunder & Lightening - Salisbury State University - Salisbury, MD

Jurors - Christopher Brownawell and David Scott 1994 Merit Cash Award: National Contemporary Painting Competition- Cheekwood Museum of Art-

Nashville, TN - Jurors: Jennifer Wells and Kenneth Noland 1989 Honorable Mention: The 500 Inc.- Dallas, TX 1972 Third Award: Midwinter Exhibit- Art League of Houston - Juror: Beth Black Mathis, Houston

Baptist College

Second Cash Prize: Jewish Community Center Exhibition - Houston, TX

Juror: Leonard Sipiora- Director, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, TX COLLECTIONS Allstate Ametech Baker Botts, LLP IBM Charles Schwab Tivoli Systems

About William Reaves Fine Art

H OUSTON’S T EXAS- C ENTERED G ALLERY William Reaves Fine Art, established 2006 in Houston, Texas, is dedicated to the promotion of premier Texas artists of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, focusing particularly on historically significant artists active in the state during the period of 1900-1975. Now beginning its ninth year, the gallery showcases many of the region’s most accomplished and recognized talents, all of whom have significant connection to the state of Texas and have evidenced the highest standards of quality in their work, training, and professionalism in the field. The gallery exhibits artists working in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, works on paper, and photography. In addition to its general focus on Early Texas Art, the gallery places special emphasis on the rediscovery and presentation of early and mid-century works by Houston and South Texas artists. William Reaves Fine Art is the foremost provider of Texas Modern Art, which includes mid-century masters and pioneering expressionists working in the state.

In order to promote interest and broaden knowledge of earlier Texas art, the gallery supports related gallery talks, community events, scholarly research, and publication related to its subject, artist, and period. William Reaves Fine Art also represents a dynamic group of contemporary artists, known as the Contemporary Texas Regionalists, actively showing their works in annual gallery exhibitions as well as traveling exhibitions throughout the state. Most recently, The Houston Press voted William Reaves Fine Art Houston’s Best Art Gallery for 2013.

Additionally, William Reaves Fine Art is a comprehensive gallery offering fine art appraisals, consultation, brokerage, and sales services.

Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm and other times by appointment.

Gallery Contact: Sarah Foltz, Director sarah@reavesart.com

William Reaves Fine Art 2143 Westheimer Road • Houston, Texas • 77098 • www.reavesart.com Tel : 713.521.7500 • Contact : INFO@reavesart.com