a view of John Wallbank's studio showing rich, evocative shapes fashioned from scraps
It was a tremendously rejuvenating afternoon, and it continued into early evening. Barry and I both feel refreshed and renewed from an interaction yesterday's with a number of charming, smart, creative people and their art, after a rather slow summer and continuing dramatic reminders of the hideous knavery and incompetence which describes the alternate universe of the business and political world. (Yes, we're all entitled to call it a depression, even if for now it only describes our psychic state.)
At the invitation of the organizers, Barry and I spent hours walking through the workshops of dozens of artists from all over the world who had been invited to participate in a two-week program sponsored by Triangle Arts Association. This coming Saturday their Front Street Brooklyn studios will be open to the public, from 1 to 6 pm, as part of DAC's Art Under the Bridge Festival. I highly recommend a visit. This is an extraordinary group of artists: We weren't able to make it to every studio space in the time we had, but there certainly were no disappointments yesterday.
The images which surround this text represent only a peek at what I saw in some of the studios. I've indicated the name of the artists, but of course what you see here does not necessarily represent finished works, and for that matter, it may not be what you might find set up for visitors on Saturday.
Sun You's shimmering wall assemblage, in the form of a triptych, moves with the viewer
two sketches by the painter/printmaker Bertrand Bracaval explore and expand his themes
Suhee Wooh's improvisatory paintings may begin with barely-discernible human shapes
Valerio Carruba's pencilled frontispiece to his series of anatomy drawings
Maya Attoun's assemblage relates the body to the domestic materials which define it
This is the complete list of artists in the workshop this year:
Maya Attoun (Israel)
Bertrand Bacaral (France)
Astrid Busch (Germany)
Jillian Conrad (USA)
Valerio Carrubba (Italy)
Sungjin Choi (Korea/NY)
Alessandro Dal Pont (Italy)
Ann Gollifer (Botswana)
Alice Guareschi (Italy)
Minji Kim (South Korea)
Ethan Kruszka (USA)
Francis Okoronkwo Ikechukwu (Nigeria) [unfortunately unable to secure US visa]
Dan Levenson (USA)
Ghassan Maasri (Lebanon)
Maggie Madden (Ireland)
Kabelo Kim Modise (Namibia)
Liz Murray (England)
Klaus Pamminger (Austria)
Keun Young Park (South Korea/USA)
Emma Puntis (England)
Paul Santoleri (USA)
Justin Storms (USA)
Nicholas Tourre (France)
John Wallbank (England)
Suhee Wooh (Korea/NY)
Sun You (Korea/NY)