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ArtisSpectrum
Vol. 15
The Art of
Healing Spaces
Designer, Gay Kanuth,
Accepts a Sublime Challenge
Painting with Sand:
The Art of the Mandala
Healing and
Transformation
Through Art
Profiles of Contemporary Art and Artists
“Corriendo en el Mundo Abstracto” oil on canvas 100 x 130 cms.2003
Jesus Moctezuma
www.jmoctezuma.net
Masters of the Imagination The Latin American Fine Art Exhibition
2 ArtisSpectrum
Agora Gallery New York City
March 23 - April 13 2006
530 W. 25th St, Chelsea. • 415 W Broadway, SoHo
www.Agora-Gallery.com
ArtisSpectrum
Vol. 15, 2005
Publisher
Ariel Kahana
Editor in Chief
Angela Di Bello
Art Director
James Conrad
Staff Writers
Douglas Singleton
Daisy Carrington
Mark Blickley
Blaise Morita
Edith Sumaquial-Howard
Sasha Vaslilyuk
Alison Rogers
Erin Siegal
Contributing Writers
Donna Clovis
Ms. Ping Ho
Tom Kerr
Editorial Assistants
Stefanie Mathewson
Meghan Gaumond
ArtisSpectrum provides a forum for artists
and art
professionals. Articles express
the opinion and knowledge of the authors
and not necessarily that of the magazine’s
management. Artist profiles are written by staff
writers or the artists unless otherwise noted.
© All copyrights are reserved by the authors.
The copyrights of all published artwork are
retained by the artists. Reproduction of any
published material is prohibited without the
written permission of the magazine’s publisher.
Suggestions for future articles are welcome.
Any topic submitted in writing by an artist, art
professional or professionals in the service of the
art community will be considered for publication.
Address:
ArtisSpectrum Magazine
530 West 25th St.
NY, NY 10001
www.ArtisSpectrum.com
212.226.4151
[email protected]
Features
9–The Art of Healing Spaces: Designer, Gay
Kanuth, Accepts a Sublime Challenge
20–Painting with Sand: The Art of the Mandala
28–Healing and Transformation Through Art
38–A Dedication to New Orleans Jazz
Profiles
2 Jesus Moctezuma
4 Miguel Paredes
5 Howard Woody
5 Jackie Black
6 Andrei Acris
12 Ta Barbanakova
14 ChristineDrummond
14 Thomas Gruber
15 Kim Stratford
16 Cliff Kearns
17 Evangelos Mikropoulos
18 Kristine Gade Hansen
18 Robert Hinkelman
19 Judith Brust
22 Shikou Furuichi
22 Carlos Maneiro
23 Michael Friedman
26
26
27
30
30
31
31
33
34
34
36
40
43
R. Sawan White
Koichi Kamidozono
Maxime Stamati
Valery Beljakov
Jonah Kinigstein
Zoë Sherwood
Leigh Rosenberg Earnest
Henri Desclez
T. Mikey
Erin Gleeson
Shandiz Zandi
Felizitas Wermes
Markus Wanger
Cover Photo: Designer Gay Kanuth / photo by Toni Harith
ArtisSpectrum 3
Miguel Paredes
H
ip-hop rhythms tinged with the
frenetic energy of a graffiti tagger inspired
by the visionary Parisian artists of the early
20th Century, seasoned with a Latin sensibility that
employs explosive color to emancipate pop culture
icons, and you partake in the emotionally charged
pasticcio Miguel Paredes creates on canvass. This
sumptuous visual feast is no metaphoric coincidence. Paredes is as accomplished a culinary artist
as he is a painter, a former executive chef who plied
his artistry at some of Miami Beach’s most posh locations. He declined a prestigious restaurant position
in New Orleans in favor of creating conceptual art
and mixed media presentations at his private studio
in Miami Beach, where he still lives and works.
A native New Yorker, Paredes grew up on
Manhattan’s Upper West Side and his work draws
heavily on the physical and metaphysical urban
landscapes of his youth. Simple subway travel is
transformed into cultural tableaus of lush island
vegetation, bursting with the vibrant color of imagined tropical delights in the paintings Paredes creates for his Train Series. Young Hispanics ride the
subway not merely between two destinations, but
between two cultures—the natural beauty of their
island heritage juxtaposed with the unnatural beauty
of urban New York. The rain forest ambience that
perfumes each subway car is also populated by Pop
Art icon figures taken directly from Saturday morning cartoon classics. They are dualistic transports of
ancient and modern culture that does not end when
these youthful riders exit at the next subway stop.
In Paredes’ series New York Stories, the artist
often splays text across his visual narratives populated by wraith-like expressionistic figures striking out
against, as well as embracing, the destructive nature
of urban life. Within this series of monumental
canvases that are often incorporated as installation
pieces, the artist pays tribute to one of his earliest
and most significant influences, Keith Haring, who
he accidentally encountered while Haring was drawing inside a subway car.
Miguel Paredes began his artistic exploration
as a graffiti artist called Mist. A unique aspect of
his art education occurred when he came under
the tutelage of former F.B.I. art forgery expert
Paul Kus. As Kus’ apprentice, Paredes worked
on legal replicas of some of the world’s greatest
paintings. This experience afforded him a new
found respect for the craft, sensibilities and techniques of master artists from the past, a lesson
Paredes continues to incorporate into his original
and highly stylized paintings. -Mark Blickley
www.miguelparedes.com
www.art-mine.com
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Descending Angels, mixed media, 53” x 53”
The artist pays tribute to one of his earliest
and most significant influences, Keith Haring,
who he accidentally encountered while
Haring was drawing inside a subway car.
Doña Laura, mixed media on canvas, 60” x 60”
Toronto Crystal, Laser Etched, 12” x 4” x 4”
Howard Woody
H
oward Woody crafts are stunning sculptural wonders that float through the skies in aerial flight events he has
organized since the 1970s. His lifelong work began through an
interest in sculptural space leading to free flight launches of his floating
constructions. These Sky Sculptures utilize metallic panels supported
by helium-inflated tubes of sizes up to 100 ft.long. Each launch event
is an ephemeral response to the atmospheric conditions found at that
select time and site.
Woody has launched over 250 Sky Sculptures across the United
States, Canada, England and Europe. They have been flown over universities, festivals and contemporary art museums. He was never satisfied with
attempts of translating his Sky Sculpture events into gallery settings through
photographs, maps or drawings, but recently, Woody has employed a hightechnology laser computer program that has. The program constitutes a
laser etching-imagery process, which produces thousands of dots into a crystal stone that make up an image of the panel surfaces floating in space.
The 3-D clear crystal block represents a block of sky where the atmospheric forces cause the planar surfaces to shift and move in a slow dance.
In March 2005, the Toronto Sky Carpet Crystal was created where
a 10’x 65’silver, 1/2 mil, mylar Sky Sculpture was inflated and positioned
by a 30 person launch team. The serpentine sky carpet undulated and
responded to the energies flowing through a shifting space block above the
launch site at the International Sculpture Conference.
Living and working in Columbia, South Carolina, Woody has been a
Distinguished Professor Emeritus for the Art Department at the University
of South Carolina since 1994. Woody began his work in welding, aluminum
and bronze castings, fiberglass and mixed media. -Douglas Singleton More of Woody’s work can be seen on skysculptures.net Sky Sculpture is registered in the U.S. Trade Mark Office, 1983-2023
www.jackieblackart.com
ArtisSpectrum 5
the singular emotion they‘re feeling in that instant. The intensity of his lighting is contrasted with a subtlety in the gestures
he uses. There is nothing dramatic about his subjects’ expressions. Moreover, he prefers to small gestures that advertise
stronger emotions. Through the use of the seemingly mundane
– a crane of the neck, a closed eye, a raised shoulder – he is
able to depict an entire world of thought.
In Girl by the Window, a woman, basked in light, is
embraced by her lover. Her eyes are heavy, and her mouth
only slightly upturned. He, on the other hand, is looking away
as he holds her. Both subjects, however, appear completely
lost in their embrace. Their faces are melded mid-nuzzle,
and their shared contact
result in warmth. One can
see heat emanating from
underneath his hand, which
is holding her arm. The act
is a simple tender show of
affection, and the melting
effect is a manifestation of
the subjects’ unity and of
the feelings they share. His
use of bare skin also draws
out the sensuality of the encounter. Her bare leg, suspended at
a slight angle, is completely evoking. It is a haunting detail, the
Andrei Acris is
able to capture
on the faces
of his subjects
a wealth of
emotion in a
single instant.
Girl by the Window, acrylic on canvas, 36” x 24”
Andrei Acris
I
n his lush, sun-soaked portraits, Romanian-born artist, Andrei Acris, is able to capture on the faces of his subjects a
wealth of emotion in a single instant. A mere 22-years old, the precocious young artist enjoys exploring such universal themes as love,
lust, ambition, determination, and self-discovery, themes indicative
of his age. Such are emotion easily glimpsed on the subdued expressions of the characters he paints. Also, by using a merging technique,
whereby his subjects melt into one another, he is able to capture the
alternate facets of a single individual, or alternately, the unity of a
couple in love.
With the use of acrylic, Acris will place his subjects directly
beneath a sunbeam. His warm palette, filled with rich oranges, and
vibrant purples and blues, lends his paintings the same nostalgic qualities of a memory. By basking his subjects in sunlight, he punctuates
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Girl in Orange, acrylic on canvas, 20” x 16”
even. One aspect of her is pulling at another aspect. The face being
drawn in is more subdued. It is almost as if one part of her is trying
to encourage the other, trying to enliven it. Such is a struggle one
comes across in youth.
Acris’ paintings are seemingly simple constructions that in
actuality depict a wealth of very complex themes. He has said, “in
painting, one’s intentions should always gravitate towards a genuinely fresh plastic vocabulary, since originality is the starting point
of everything worthwhile.“ He is successful in this aim, which is why
it is difficult to compare him to any other artist. While many have
addressed the same issues as he, Acris ascribes to his work with a
totally unique style.
In spite of his age, Acris has endured a magnitude of experiences, and such comes across in his work. His family moved to
Montreal, Canada shortly after the fall of communism. Acris took up
painting two years later. In 1997, his family moved again to North
Carolina, where the artist still lives and paints. Perhaps it is through
his many travels that Acris has settled on such universal themes to
cover in his work. -Daisy Carrington
www.andreiacris.com
www.art-mine.com
Girl with the Yellow Hat, acrylic on board, 20” x 16”
type that might infect a memory. As a result, it engages the viewer,
and makes the painting that much more powerful.
Acris also enjoys playing the role of voyeur. His leggy portraits
of individual women, the two different angles of themselves merging,
are erotic overtures to the subject. In Girl with Apple Tree, a
young woman with her hair tied
back closes her eyes while the
sun hits her face. Green fabric
drapes across her knee, drawing
attention to the flesh underneath.
In this instance, Acris used light
to show off the woman’s muscle
tone. It is a very careful and
tender depiction. One senses
that what they are watching is
not so much a young woman as
someone’s fantasy of a young
woman. She almost appears to
be performing for the viewer.
She is in full possession of her sexuality, almost as if she is embodying sexuality, the way one does in a fantasy. She is confident, brazen
In painting,
one’s intentions
should always
gravitate towards
a genuinely
fresh plastic
vocabulary,
since originality
is the starting
point of
everything
worthwhile.
Girl in Blue Shirt, acrylic on canvas, 20” x 16”
ArtisSpectrum 7
8 ArtisSpectrum
The Art of
Healing Spaces
Designer Gay Kanuth
accepts a sublime challenge from
the blossoming
Orchid Recovery Center
for Women.
by Tom Kerr
W
hen asked to describe her vision
and methodology as a designer, Gay Bordal
Kanuth admits “To explain something
innate is a problem for me. As an artist
and a designer it is inside me, but to voice
it is not easy.”
Although the Norwegian native has lived on several
continents, Kanuth’s current home is in West Palm Beach,
Florida. The beautiful manifestations of her intuitive approach
have helped to establish her as one of the most sought-after
domestic and commercial designers. Her business, IMAGLO,
is especially known for quickly transforming static spaces into
vibrant, nature-inspired sanctuaries of comfort, luxury, and
elegance.
One of Kanuth’s current creative endeavors – a redesign
of the Orchid Recovery Center in Boynton Beach, Florida – will
draw upon her entire repertoire, as she seeks a discerning
balance of environmental
elements. Kanuth explains “In the quietness the artistic challenge of
of it all I feel a redesigning the substance
hum. I keep that abuse treatment facility. “As
within myself and a painter, I have a freedom
go into that space
to create the ideas and colors
whenever I can.”
as I myself need them to be”
Kanuth explains. “It is the freedom and personal joy of a project
with no attention to any person’s ideas and needs but my own.”
But the design of the Orchid Center is based upon the theoretical
concept of “healing spaces”, and requires a thoroughly empathic
and selfless approach. “Sometimes designers get caught up in
fashionable hip designs, not really taking note of the client’s needs.
The result can be a cool-looking place but it does not feed the soul
as it should,” she says.
ArtisSpectrum 9
and the specific needs of those who inhabit
the space. Most people experience fear, angst,
loss of personal control and a heightened
sense of isolation as soon as they enter the
institutional setting of a technologically oriented
healthcare facility. Planetree design strives to
eliminate those effects, by providing positive
therapeutic stimuli and support through a
proactive strategy. The design itself becomes
an intentional instrument in the healing and
recovery process.
People have gravitated toward safe and
comforting environments since the beginning
of time. The Mayans chose construction sites
based upon nature, and used everything
from soil samples to calculations of math and
astronomy to determine the ideal orientation
for their buildings. In ancient Greece,
patients were restored to health through
harmonious combinations of music and art.
The physician Galen induced laughter to
treat depression 2,000 years ago. Ancient
Chinese medicine called for balancing the
energy centers of the body via sound, aroma,
and meditation. In India, ayurvedic musical
Using the crystal “singing bowls” and the human voice, sound healer Laura Di Bello conducts an educational workshop
tempos, corresponding with different cycles of
to acquaint the staff of Orchid Center with the principles of sound healing therapy.
physiology or times of day, were recommended
The philosophy of designing “healing spaces” focuses upon as treatment for both physical and mental maladies.
Musical tones can be used to restore the body to its original and
integrating a variety of environmental elements to create an ambiance
that is not only attractive, but has a measurable effect upon the health natural resonant frequency, according to Laura Di Bello, a classically
and well-being of those who use the space. Julie Queler, director of the trained vocalist and sound healer, is a consultant at the Orchid Center.
Orchid Center, is a passionate advocate of holistic approaches to therapy. “Sound therapy is the utilization of sound vibration as a medium for
The Orchid Center is the first treatment facility of its kind to incorporate healing,” she explains. Di Bello works with the human voice, crystal bowls
art, color, sound, aromatherapy, and other powerful elements of interior that give off particular tones, and meditation and yoga sessions, to help
design in a deliberate attempt to make the living environment its own participants relieve stress and feel more physically, psychologically, and
spiritually centered and balanced. She is also producing a CD recording
unique therapeutic tool.
“Central nervous system problems, restlessness, the inability to calm of the therapy meditations, so women who visit the Orchid Center can take
the mind – these are all common side effects of detoxification from any the exercises with them and continue practicing the modality at home.
Kanuth began to hear and feel a resonance of creative inspiration
substance,” explains Queler. “One of the reasons we hired Gay was for
her unique and intuitive ability to ‘feel’ spaces and to create an inspiring within herself, while living in a remote oceanfront location near the rain
forests of Australia. “In the quietness of it all I felt a hum”, she says. The
and peaceful sense of well-being.”
Whereas a Feng Shui master employs the use of a traditional artwork and spiritual attitude of the indigenous people had a profound
energy-locating compass known as the Lo-pan, Kanuth relies upon influence upon her. “I keep that within myself and go into that space
her artistic percipience – and practical common sense – to accurately whenever I can.”
In the same way that she once listened to the quiet wilderness of
identify the elements in an environment and arrange them in their
healthiest positions. But to design an environment like the one at Australia, Kanuth now listens for inspiration on how to design Orchid
Orchid, where the intention is to provide a safe haven for people the Center. “I am listening to people that are already in sobriety. I am
artist may never know, Kanuth needs to pursue nature’s own universal listening to and observing families who visit treatment centers and AA
remedies. On a personal and intimate level it is necessary for her to meetings. I am listening to the wonderful work and ideas Julie Queler is
undergo a continual creative process of self-balancing, in order to creating for these women staying at the Orchid. And I am convinced that
the next step in the healing process is the surroundings. It is all about
envision and implement an effective therapeutic design.
“Working with the Orchid project has made me confront the why inspiring these women to change, to open their eyes to what possibilities
and how of my approach,” she says. “I realize that all types of women lie ahead for them. Creative thinking and exploration of their own ideas
from all walks of life will come here. The importance is to make them all can be inspired by their surroundings.”
Studies have measured the effectiveness of healing spaces and
feel right at home in the space. They are at a place of surrender in their
lives, and are in pain. I am interested in creating environments that are lend scientific credibility to this alternative design approach. Findings
suggest that well-planned environments can reduce depression,
restful, peaceful, and surround them with a secure place to heal.”
Kanuth is building upon the so-called Planetree design model, restlessness, insomnia, perception of pain, high blood pressure,
first established in the 1970s. Emphasis is placed primarily upon the and anxiety. Mood elevation, increased endorphin levels, enhanced
spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical influence of an environment cognitive functioning, and improved immune-system responses are
10 ArtisSpectrum
all strongly correlated with the Planetree model. The Orchid Center
melds traditional 12-Step philosophies with modalities based upon
the latest empirical research, to create a “recovery Mecca” where
women can join a treatment community whose rhythms move to a
feminine beat. Acupuncture, yoga, meditation, art therapy, sound
therapy, and color therapy are all implemented in the Orchid’s
multi-modality approach.
One of Kanuth’s tasks is to enhance and support those recovery
tools within the context of physical architecture, functional space,
and practical, comfortable furnishings. She plans to incorporate
basic Planetree concepts while adding her own visionary ideas.
She will include, for example, “simple but beautiful touches, and
also some elements of surprise, to challenge them to take more
notice of their surroundings.” A red wall – “a challenging color,
but muted by the elements of nature,” –
might be used as a backdrop for a Buddha
figure surrounded by lush green plants,
Kanuth suggests. “Simple ideas can be
effective, like a long piece of bamboo
tied up on a wall. Just the colors of the
bamboo are fascinating enough to hold
your attention.”
Kanuth is “encouraged to create magic
with simplicity”, and will use mosquito
netting to give a sense of simultaneous
privacy and freedom. While a canopy
bed offers a sense of security, privacy,
and elegant luxury, the diffused light of
the soft and airy netting will help avoid
feelings of claustrophobia. “The beds will
be made of rattan and covered with white
linens and feather pillows. The walls will
be in yellow for warmth or a very Mexican
pink for joy, and an intense pale blue for
calmness. With the right mix of soothing
elements, color becomes a background
for the comfort and calmness of the
room and its contents. In the evening
when lying there, they will hear the water
fountain and the bamboo clinking as the
wind blows gently, and will be able to find
the security and the hum of the simple
things we never hear when too busy or
too stressed.” Kanuth wants residents to
enjoy the experience so much that they
will be inclined to recreate healing spaces
in their own homes, once they leave the
Orchid Center. “I make spaces for people
to live in, enjoy, and find the peace they
need to nurture the soul, so that they can
go out into the world again and again, as
warriors.”
“The art I will be installing will
include close-ups of huge colorful orchids,”
Kanuth says. She wants to create portals
to verdant nature through the placement
of nature photos, landscapes of the human
body as hills and valleys, wood carvings,
and a ceiling lamp made from crystals that
dance in the sunlight, along with the art of
words. “I love profound sayings,” she reveals “and sometimes print
them out and make them into art in oversized frames.”
A thatched hut with sumptuous cushions, a huge stretched canvas
in pink to offer shade over a conversation pit in the garden, cobblestone
pathways, and the sound of flowing water will conspire to create
sanctuaries throughout the Orchid Center, in what Kanuth says will be
“a spa of living space.”
In seeking creative refuge within the context of helping to
heal others, Kanuth once again redefines herself as an artist while
following the exquisite and mysterious journey of self-discovery.
Along the way she gives voice to that innate force within herself
that she finds so difficult to articulate in words, the voice we all
hear and recognize when we are confronted with living works of
original, authentic art.
ArtisSpectrum 11
First Snow, oil on canvas, 20” x 28”
Ta Barbanakova
T
a Barbanakova crafts gentle, impressionist works of
poignant beauty. Her dash and pointillist technique fashions
tableaus rich in emotion and expressive pictorial structure. In
subtle poetic forms of light and space, in
natural tones and with unique rhythms
of composition, her works are reflections of intimate, delicate interactions
between material and spiritual forces in
the living world.
It is instructive to consider
Barbanakova’s vibrant work through the
prism of Impressionists Pissarro—with
his dash and pointillist technique—and the soft landscapes of Monet.
Still life paintings featuring landscapes of tree lined paths, birds
perched upon night lamps, fashionably dressed women strolling about
with pet dogs, and park benches graced with napping cats, pepper
her works. Ta draws inspiration from aspects of both physical and
unseen worlds. Simple things that surrounds us in our daily lives—a
window, a street light, a house—and things that affect us on a deeper,
spiritual level—thoughts of happiness and sadness, friendship and
loneliness—all provide inspiration that is reflected in Ta’s paintings. In
Postal Official, a mysterious, frightening postal worker stands beneath
a hanging street clock, trees and an urban cityscape behind him, a
12 ArtisSpectrum
Ta draws as
inspiration
from aspects
of both the
physical and
unseen worlds.
cat on a fence wary of this dark individual. Barbanakova suggests an
isolation felt in cities where individuals toil in their work but often
feel alienated. The cities are built from buildings stacked on top of
one another vertically, in a manner suggesting factory assemblage,
both the beauty and inevitability of social structures. They are akin
to Klee’s towns of distinct, geometrical stacked homes, of interest not
because of their pragmatic visual beauty, but for metaphysical architectural attributes, pictorial orderliness and metaphysics.
There is a pictorial clarity and excellent composition in First
Snow, a beautiful, wonderfully semi-abstract tableau of snow
filled trees, paths, and a barely viewed road-bound school bus, all
arranged in a succinct, powerful composition of mercurial elegance.
Interweaving these physical and unseen worlds, their internal and
external forces, drives and inspires Ta’s work. Breakfast, though on
the surface a quiet, unassuming still life, brims with life, drama, and
narrative innuendo. An outdoor breakfast table composed with soft
pastels of blue, green, and pink, is reminiscent of the mature cubist
work of Georges Braque, though the use of color and light is distinctively Impressionistic. The table, set charmingly with green apples,
croissant, and cup of coffee, awaits a diner who will breakfast alone.
A flower placed in a cup of water is a sincere effort by someone—a
servant, lover, the diner himself—to make quaint and pleasant this
outdoor dining session. And yet, mysteriously, the diner has yet to
appear to enjoy it, the coffee growing cold. “My paintings are my
thoughts, my childhood memories that are calling me back, new
experiences and my dreams that drive me forward.” Barbanakova
Rara avis, oil on canvas, 20” x 24”
Postal Official, oil on canvas, 32” x 30”
Breakfast, oil on canvas, 20” x 20”
has exhibited extensively at galleries in St. Petersburg and Berlin. The
stunning beauty of these colorist diaries of nature in all its splendor
and varying moods—drag ugliness as well as beauty—are powerful
and edifying. Man and animal, caught in attempts at finding a place
in nature’s embrace, is a recurring theme that speaks to the yin and
yang of the inanimate and living, the breathing, and that in nature still.
Barbanakova’s ability to frame and juxtapose these cohabitants of the
planet presents instances of worldly
beauty and a mystical reckoning of
our place within it. A view outside
a window, across a sill and onto a
city, becomes a multilayered, emotional vision of personal longing and
societal relations. The mystical Rara
Avis (meaning loosely a “rare, unique
thing”) gives us a dove framed in a rectangular box of compositional
sophistication, alone in nature, going about its business and yet hyperaware of its place not only in nature but in the painting itself, staring out
at the viewer, questioning its role in the cosmos, and our relationship to
it. -Douglas Singleton
Barbanakova’s ability to frame and
juxtapose these cohabitants of the
planet presents instances of worldly
beauty and a mystical reckoning of
our place within it.
says. Her paintings are dialogs between the artist and her
thoughts, her experiences, visions
and memories. The beautiful harmonies of nature, splashes from
the fountain, a sudden gust of
wind, branches of the tree, or
snow flakes in suspended animation are all reflected in her paintings
with balanced forms and color relationships.
Born in the city of Krasnodar, Russia, Barbanakova received her
Master of Fine Arts degree from Kuban State University in her hometown. Her work betrays the temperance of small Russian towns, sharing
the tableaus of fellow Russian Chagall—color drenched, small towns
rich in folklore and regional beauty. Many of Ta’s works are located
in private collections throughout Russia, Europe and the U.S., and she
www.colordiary.com
www.art-mine.com
ArtisSpectrum 13
Christine Drummond
G
rowing up in Rio de Janeiro and living in
France, Christine Drummond exhibits a unique combination of influences in her oil paintings. These origins are
displayed in her impressionistic
style, which she uses to depict
themes of socialization and the
lives of everyday people and
their work.
Drummond brings vibrant
color to the canvas, creating
a cheerful and relaxed mood,
and her textures create magnificent imagery. At first glance,
the paintings look like a dense
and complex arrangement of
color, but upon closer examination, her brush strokes reveal a
detailed social scene. Her portrayals of people with little or no
features, combined with bold color and muted human details
reveal Drummond’s optimism, “I really want people to feel good
when they own one of my paintings.” -Edith Sumaquial-Howard
Drummond
brings vibrant
color to the
canvas, creating
a cheerful
and relaxed
mood, and her
textures create
magnificent
imagery.
www.chdrummond.com
Trabalhando na lavoura, oil, 21” x 25”
Thomas Gruber
T
homas Gruber’s artistic style fuses his 35 years of architectural experience with the medium of watercolor, and is known for
capturing the nostalgia of small town America. Gruber’s architectural
influence is prominent in his work as he conveys strong composition, background
perspective and distinct building details.
Every inch of the canvas has a structural
succinctness and purpose. In fact, many of
his motifs convey architectural subjects such
as buildings, windows, balconies, street
scenes and corners.
Gruber has developed a fascination for
spaces that shapes live in. He has portrayed
this through watercolor, a difficult medium with which to create precise images.
However, says Gruber, “Watercolor is my choice of medium. I love to see what
happens when two or more colors collide and mix on the paper.”
These everyday themes connect with real people, as if he is taking
a photograph of his environment during a leisurely stroll around town. “Each
painting is an adventure and experiment with the objective to communicate the
feeling and spirit of a particular place or scene,” explains Gruber. -Edith Sumaquial-Howard
Gruber has
developed a
fascination for
spaces that
shapes live in.
www.art-mine.com
Hairspray, watercolor, 36” x 22”
14 ArtisSpectrum
Kim Stratford
I
mbuing her paintings with warmth and
elegance, Kim Stratford translates the world of ideas
and objects into a display of raw color, texture, and
form. Her works, full of light brown, brick red, gold, offwhite, and black color fields, combine a balanced internal
structure with passionate sensuality.
By working with broad brushstrokes and thick layers
of paint, Stratford creates compositions that are simultaneously playful and controlled. The zigzagging outline of
geometric shapes gives the works a visually pleasing lively
rhythm. At the same time, nothing in these paintings is left
to chance.
Many of her works are structured around a loose
grid-like arrangement. By adopting the grid, Stratford
continues an important tradition that characterized much
of modern art in the 20th century. The underlying grid
gives Stratford’s luminous paintings an overall sense of
symmetry and balance. Yet, it is through the artist’s use of
detail that these works truly come alive.
Influenced by the multilayered surfaces of Robert
Rauschenberg, Stratford builds into her painterly surface
a complicated web of shapes and textures. By varying the
depth and width of brushstrokes and smudges, the artist is
able to emphasize the physicality of the paint. Thus, instead
of discerning an object
and its background,
the eye of the viewer
is left to wander across
a patchwork of equally
significant fields.
In these abstract
works, Stratford makes
the structural elements
like color and texture
into the center of her
painterly explorations. On her canvases, texture is no
longer a means of depicting a subject, but has become the
subject itself. The amount of incident built into its many
layers makes the texture of her works both revelatory
and intense. The color scheme helps give these paintings
an expressive dimension. Comprised of earthy tones,
Stratford’s palette serves as a universal conduit for emotion. Here, instead of unsettling the viewer, the network of
colors provides a haven of tranquility and self-inquiry.
Through her artistic career, Stratford has transitioned
from realistic subjects to abstraction. After receiving
her formal art education, she has expanded her skill
set to include textile design, sculpture, silversmithing,
and jewelry design. Stratford’s paintings and sculptures
have become a part of many private and corporate collections, and in the past year have been exhibited in
Arizona, Los Angeles and New York City. The wide
acclaim of her works also propelled her to be chosen to
represent United States in the 2005 Florence Biennale.
-Sasha Vasilyuk
The underlying
grid gives
Stratford’s
luminous
paintings an
overall sense of
symmetrey and
balance.
www.kimstratford.com
www.art-mine.com
Attic, oil on canvas, 16” x 16”
Picnic, oil on canvas, 12” x 12”
ArtisSpectrum 15
Cliff Kearns
T
Image Six is Squarer, mixed media, 27.5” x 32”
he intricate illustrations of Cliff Kearns speak of a long
career as both a designer and visual artist.  A native of Ontario, his work has
been shown in both solo and group exhibitions across Canada.  Kearns has
also had a noteworthy history of freelance graphic design, and has designed posters
for clients ranging from the Junior World Figure Skating Championships to General
Motors.  In his layered paintings, Kearns pays meticulous attention to texture, using
materials such as ripped plywood, old newspaper printing plates, wood type, and
broken computer parts.  His use of mirror and plexiglass dictate that each piece of
work becomes eternally individual to each viewer, since the viewer’s actual reflected image become part of the work.  The juxtaposition of polished elements, such
as paint and drawing, with the various mediums bring life, motion, and fluency to
otherwise inanimate objects.  Kearns’ complicated method of working perfectly
represents his choice of themes: love and sacrifice, and numerology.  “Numbers
are a fact of life,” says the eloquent artist.  “The numbered series suggest that
each piece is related to another and therefore, can only express one small facet or
portion of our experience.”
Born in 1943, Kearns has led a rich artistic life of creativity and learning.
He began studying art in secondary school, and then continued his studies in a
life drawing class taught by Jack Chambers. At Toronto Image Works, he took
Digital Imaging Workshops, laying the foundation for his future explorations into
the possibilities of digital art.
Cliff Kearns had his first solo show in 1982, at the Howell Gallery in
London, Ontario. Following this, he had a one man show at the Picture This
Gallery, and then most recently at the Arts
Project in Ontario. His artwork has led an
illustrious life of participation in numerous
group shows, staring with the Howell Gallery
artist’s group show in 1983. His next exhibition was in 1984 at the CAPIC artist’s show
in Montreal, followed by another at the same
venue in 1985. His latest group show was
in 2005, at the Art/Sport Turmoil Group Show at the Arts Project in London,
Ontario. Cliff will be exhibiting recent work in a group show at Galerie Gora in
Montreal December 05.
News media and the press have always paid attention to Cliff Kearns, starting as early as 1981. He was featured in the London Free Press as well as on
CFPL-TV in Canada. Feature articles have been written about him in London
& Company Magazine, as well as in Studio Magazine. NewPL-TV has showcased his work, and the Londoner as well as the Wortley Village News have all
mentioned his artwork.
A reoccurring theme in Cliff Kearns work is that of love and spirituality. He
writes, “The intersection between the heart and the cross are intended to express
the relationship between the passion or love and hurt or sacrifice that most life
experiences embody. Quite often, one can’t get passionately involved or in love
with someone or something without feeling some hurt, pain, or incurring sacrifice
at some point throughout the course of that encounter or endeavor.”
Texture and color within the artists’ work are the most important physical
components. Kearns’ surprising combinations and complementing color palette
lead the viewer to a place in which to contemplate not only the intersection of the
tactile and the visual, but the repercussions of each upon the overall meaning of
the work. Taken apart, the individual pieces that make up a Kearns work each
maintain their identity, while shifting as the juxtaposition of diverse elements pulls
them into an alternative sphere of interpretation. Kearns’ bold brushstrokes and
creative mediums are testament to his fearless approach to art, and his passion
for art ensures his permanence as an artist. -Erin Siegal
A reoccurring
theme in Cliff
Kearns work is
that of love and
spirituality.
Image Barometer, mixed media, 22” x 24”
16 ArtisSpectrum
www.postpicasso.com/cliffkearns
www.art-mine.com
Evangelos
Mikropoulos
A
colorist of enchanting proportions, Greek painter Evangelos Mikropoulos captures and reflects rays
of light on his canvas much like the Aegean Sea captures and reflects the rich phenomena of overhead skies, mirrored through a watered prism of pristine blue. Mikropoulos,
a native of Athens, imbues his paintings with a fluidity that
gives rise to a sensuous richness of hue, yet his corresponding
dispersal of light and display of color is infused with a strong
conceptual streak.
As much as Mikropoulos is a celebrant of color’s effervescence, he also sets about the technical task of liberating contingencies of perception from masses of dark and muted color. In many
of his works Mikropoulos suffuses time with a subliminal drama
detailing the havoc its passage reaps on emotional and environmental issues. Through painterly surfaces that Mikropoulos
raises up with vigorous and quite visible brush strokes-- as well
as sparse integration of foreign objects such as mesh netting and
bits of metal-- he tears away at the constructive aspects of shape
and form to reveal the depths of a darker vision that plummets
beneath the surface in his search for “the frail existence…balancing between layers of colour.”
Mikropoulos is an ardent admirer of the Greek philosopher Eucleides of Megara, renowned for his fondness
for controversy and a practitioner of the art of disputation,
who perpetrated the doctrine that all multiplicity, as well
as motion, are illusory. Mikropoulos’ pictorial response to
this ancient tenet is present in his painting, Helixes. In this
evocative abstraction there are elements of composition,
technique and emotion that are as apparent as the piece’s
symmetrical lines and sumptuous colors. Yet within these
varying components there is a mystical hint that the work
is an imaginative, holistic rendering of the famed sixteenth
century windmills on the island of Mykonos.
An engineer who
studied and worked within the discipline of building design, Mikropoulos
has devoted the past
decade exclusively to his
art and the construction
of a body of work that
explores an amalgamation of transforming imagery. Mikropoulos writes, “everything
is changing into a new element: intersecting axes, imaginary
landscapes, concrete shapes.” When the artist is not painting, he
writes poetry that echoes his visual aesthetic of placing the highest
value not on the object created, but on the journey itself: “Without
remembrance, I stroll on history. Passions become paler, a sudden gain.” Mikropoulos’ journeys continue to originate from
his hometown of Athens where light radiates and is absorbed,
producing a dream-like sensation that inspires and penetrates his
paintings. -Mark Blickley
Man and Woman, oil on canvas, 39” x 27”
His corresponding
dispersal of light
and display of
color is infused
with a strong
conceptual streak.
www.mikropoulos.com
www.art-mine.com
Helixes, oil on canvas, 39” x 27”
ArtisSpectrum 17
Kristine Gade Hansen
D
anish mixed media artist Kristine Gade Hansen
uses a number of different materials in her poetic paintings,
as well as utilizing different materials in her vibrant textiles.
Fragments of different shapes, materials, and colors combine to form
a graceful portrait of a recognizable concept or theme, while the actual
line structure of the painting remains spontaneous yet controlled.
Fascinated by the idea of interception, Hansen visually
describes meetings and the feelings derived from them in these
detailed lines and angles. Born 1968 in Aarhus, Hansen studied
at the Design School of Kolding
and became a certified textile
designer. She has taught art
courses at Elbaek Folkehojskole
and
Byhojskolens,
and
became a certified teacher of
Textile Craftmanship at Skals
Haandarbejdsseminarium in
1990. In addition to creating and showing her own work, Hansen
also actively participates in charitable causes and collective projects. She recently worked for Borneprojekt Danmark, which is
a Danish charity dedicated to improving the lives of hospitalized
children. Hansen’s work has been exhibited at the Aarhus School
of Architecture, AalborgART at the Aalborg Congress and Culture
Center, and at Carlsberg Bjalker. -Erin Siegal
The actual line
structure of the
painting remains
spontaneous
yet controlled.
Fly Away, acrylic and oil on canvas, 35.4” x 35.4”
www.kghansen.dk
When light creates
effects, the brush
moves effortlessly.
Low Country, acrylic on canvas, 24” x 36”
Robert Hinkelman
R
obert Hinkelman constructs breathtaking landscape
paintings of vibrant, majestic, natural vistas. These spacious,
breathing landscapes show nature in all its wonderful splendor.
Haunting, rocky shorelines, burning deserts, snow filled mountains,
18 ArtisSpectrum
everglade jungles, glorious sunsets, and barren seascapes.
Hinkelman’s painting career began as
a creative outlet and partial cure for cabin
fever. “From the beginning, I have been
drawn to nature’s infinite moods and displays. Look at the ocean and feel its relentless energy. Contrast that to the gentle flow
of a stream and the serene, colorful autumn
forests and mountains. Feel the bite of the
winter wind over the snow. Then, when
light creates breathtaking effects, the brush
moves effortlessly.”
Hinkelman has analyzed the painting masters to gleam their inspirations.
“Landscapes, seascapes, skyscapes, birds of
prey—how best to bring the right form, light
and color to canvas jumpstarts and sustains my creativity. A memory
returns of a warm, misty early morning as the sun rises to light the
sky.” Expressive form, vibrant color chock full of personality, and stoic
temperament abound. -Douglas Singleton
www.yessy.com/rhinkel661
www.art-mine.com
Judith Brust
J
udith Brust’s luminous
monoprints arrest the viewer’s sensibilities at first glance. Her series of
work entitled “Life Cycle” explores the
transition space between life, death and
rebirth. Her large canvases are purely
abstract, connecting circular shapes with
linear ones, their delicate colors blending in and out of one another. Inspired
by religious and psychological masters
like Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell,
Brust finds endless ways to represent
humankind’s spiritual journey using the
artistic language of color and line.
Her latest additions to the “Life
Cycle” series are pictures entitled “Spirit
Guide.” These works are delicately rendered collage-like pieces that seem lit by
an inner source of light. One soft impression blends into another; pure color flows
into intricate tracery as naturally as stream
into a lake. Brust’s color choices are cool
and understated, allowing the viewer to
enter slowly into her dream-like landscape.
Brust’s work invites the viewer to bring his
own myths and memories into her canvases, to conjure his own interpretation of
the painting. The ability to leave the interpretation of her art an open question may
be one of the reasons why Brust’s work is
so powerful.
Recurring circular shapes occur in
the paintings, in the form of doorways,
windows, planets. These images function
as both portals and boundaries in the world
of the painting, as the viewer’s eye is drawn
into one circular image, only to be halted
moments later by another. Each shape and
image bears the viewer back to associations
of the past. Shapes and textures suggesting
plant and marine life are meant to summon
images of our ancestral history. Through
this series of work, “Spirit Guide” makes a
stunning addition to the continued exploration of “Life Cycle.”
Judith Brust is a nationally recognized artist who has been exhibiting her
work for thirty years. She has her MA and
MFA from the State University of New
York at Albany. She maintains a studio
in Rochester, NY as well as Nantucket,
MA and continues to show her work
in both public and private collections.
-Alison Rogers
Life Cycle Series–Spirit Guide 9, monoprint
Life Cycle Series–Spirit Guide 6, monoprint
Brust takes spiritual
inspiration from
artists Mark Rothko,
Eva Hesse and
Louise Bourgeoise.
www.galleryblue.com
www.art-mine.com
ArtisSpectrum 19
PAINTING
WITH SAND:
THE ART
OF THE
MANDALA
By Donna L. Clovis
20 ArtisSpectrum
T
he painting with colored sand is one
of the most unique and exquisite artistic traditions
of Buddhism. In Tibetan, this art is called dul-tsonkyil-khor, which means “mandala of colored powders.”
Millions of grains of sand are laid into place on a flat
platform over a period of days. The lamas begin the work
by drawing an outline of the mandala on the wooden
platform. During the following days, they lay colored sands by pouring the
sand from traditional metal funnels called chak-pur. Each monk holds a
chak-pur in one hand, while running a metal rod on its grated surface; the
vibration causes the sands to flow like liquid.
Formed of a traditional prescribed iconography that includes
geometric shapes and many ancient spiritual symbols, the sand-painted
mandala is used as a tool for healing the earth and its people. “Although
the mandala comes from the oldest Hindu and Buddhist traditions, the
mandala lends itself to modern representations of art in its abstractions
and geometric shapes of the circle, triangle, and square,” said Dr. Helen
Asquine Fazio, Special Projects Director of East and South Asia at Rutgers
University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
In these traditions, there are two different types of mandalas. One
mandala type shows a deity or figure representation. The other mandala
is more esoteric highlighting an idea of a deity or sacred symbol. The
mandala created by the lamas at Rutgers University in September 2005
was devoted to Avalokiteshvara, the deity of compassion, in anticipation
The Mandala
Construction
Process Opening
Ceremony
The monks consecrate the
site of the mandala sand
painting with 30 minutes
of chants, music, and
mantra recitation.
Drawing of the Lines
Immediately after the
Opening Ceremony, the
monks draw the line
design for the mandala.
This is very exacting and
takes three hours to
complete.
of the visit of the Dalai
Lama, an internationally
respected advocate of
peace, who spoke on the
theme of compassion to a
large audience gathered at
Rutgers University Stadium
in New Brunswick, New
Jersey on September 25,
2005.
“The mandala is a
beautiful ritual and work
of performance art of
divine architecture,” said
Alfredo Franco, Curator of
Education at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University in New
Brunswick, New Jersey, “The mandalas intrigue as they are built grain
by grain and are then destroyed. All beauty
is not lasting.”
The Lamas of Drepung Loseling
Monastery have displayed mandala arts in
museums across the country, including the
Arthur Sackler Gallery, Washington; Field
Museum of Natural History, Chicago; Peabody
Essex Museum, Salem; the Indianapolis Art
Museum, Indianapolis; Kimbell Art Museum,
Fort Worth, and The Provincial Museum of
Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Traditionally, the mandalas are destroyed
shortly after their completion. This is done as
a metaphor of the impermanence of life. The
sands are swept up and placed in an urn in
order to fulfill the function of healing. Half
is distributed to the audience at the closing
ceremony and the other half is carried to a
nearby body of water, where it is deposited.
The waters carry the healing blessing to the
ocean, and spreads throughout the world for
planetary healing.
In anticipation of the Dalai Lama’s visit to
Mandala
Construction
Throughout the mandala
creation, the monks pour
millions of grains of sand
from traditional metal
funnels called chakpur.
The finished mandala is
approximately five feet by
five feet in size. This takes
three to five days of work.
Mandala COMPLETION
The monks complete
the mandala with a
consecration ceremony.
Dismantling the
mandala
During the closing
ceremony, the monks
dismantle the mandala.
They sweep up the colored
sands to symbolize the
impermanence of all that
exists. Half of the sand is
distributed to the audience
as blessings for personal
health and healing.
Dispersal of the sand
The remaining sand is
carried in a procession by
the monks, accompanied
by guests, to a flowing
body of water, where it
is ceremonially poured
to disperse the healing
energies of the mandala
Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey on September 25,
2005, the monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery constructed
a mandala sand painting at the Zimmerli Art Museum over a fourday period beginning September 21 through September 24. The
photographs show the construction of the mandala sand painting in
progress on Day 3.
The Zimmerli Art Museum conducts and promotes scholarship as a
fundamental activity of the museum. To facilitate research, it maintains
extensive archival collections that add to its visual art holdings. The
museum is located at the corner of George and Hamilton Streets,
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ. Its hours of operation are
Tuesday - Friday: 10:00am-4:30pm and weekends: Noon-5:00pm.
ArtisSpectrum 21
Shikou Furuichi
S
hikou Furuichi, calligraphy Artist, was born in
Japan in 1967. She began studying traditional calligraphy as a
six year old elementary school student. Shikou has continued
to expand and nurture her singular ability for more than 20 years,
earning countless awards, including many of the highest honors a
calligrapher in her field can achieve.
Her talent is so widely respected that she earned her calligraphic
name, Master Shikou, from the Seifu Japanese Calligraphy Foundation.
She is a master of composition and rhythm
and possesses a highly refined touch for
the blending of white and black color on
Japanese rice paper.
It is certain that she has and will
continue to make many calligraphic
contributions to the United States through
cultural exchange exhibitions. The “Asia Boom” that is currently
taking place in the United States, including and explosion of interest
in the cultures of countries like Japan ensures that she will have many
chances to contribute to the depth of American culture in the future.
It is also important to mention that today she continues to expand and
contribute her calligraphic exhibitions in the USA, mainly at Tenri Cultural
Institute of New York (solo exhibit in April 2004), Sushiden Gallery in
New York (solo exhibit in December 2004), and Consulate General of
Japan in New York (New Year’s group exhibit in January 2005).
Shikou Furuichi will have an exhibition and lecture introducing
Japanese Calligraphy for JET members. JET (The Japan Exchange
Furuichi is
a master of
composition
and rhythm.
Sea Poem, Japanese Calligraphy on rice paper, 37.5” x 23.5”
and Teaching program) is operated by Japanese local authorities in
cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications;
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology. The Americans who are selected to
participate in this program have an assignment to promote International
cultural exchange at the community level in Japan. The program will
start in this (2005) summer to next year (2006). -Erin Siegal
www.geocities.jp/shikoucalligraphy
Carlos Maneiro
W
ith education steeped in academic and international
culture from the Essy Art Academy of Caracas and the prestigious Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Carlos Maneiro
takes a humanistic and organic design approach to his works. Earth tones
make up the majority of his palette, creating naturalistic atmosphere that
sets his subjects in realistic environments.
Strong foreground figures bathed in light
embrace highlights and minute details, standing starkly against silhouettes that give a paradoxical ambiance of revelation and mystery
in equal doses. An attention to architectural
form is noticeable against sweeping landscapes
and the muse of nature, which pervades the
majority of Maniero’s works and are a delicate
reminder of Chinese landscape painting.
Stoking his creative fire with evolutionary artisan embers such as
Duchamp, Ernst, Chirico and Picabia, Carlos Maneiro has chosen his
influences studiously. The surrealist school is prevalent in his work,
which combines his ethereal landscaping with constructive contours
and whimsical stylistic renderings. Abstract and realism find harmony
in Manerio’s earthy tonal range, which exploits the vivid colors in
nature to the outer reaches of the imagination.
Maneiro is not only a gifted visual expressionist, but is also an
accomplished verbal wordsmith. His website, www.carlosmaneiro.
com, features a bevy of his poetry in addition to selected pieces in
his gallery. -Blaise Morita
Abstract and
realism find
harmony in
Manerio’s
earthy color
range.
Attack of the Stubborn Bull, oil, 14” x 26”
22 ArtisSpectrum
www.carlosmaneiro.com
www.art-mine.com
Michael Friedman
T
his eight-year-old really loved artwork, was all
the adults could muster. At eight, Michael Friedman won first
place in an All Adult Art Competition. His pencil drawing of a
New England’s lighthouse stunned the judges, and revealed to young
Michael his future path.
At once, his pieces become clear and in the ‘blink of an eye’
abstractly dissolve, becoming a patchwork of color and form. Blocks
of shades instantly provide a simultaneous solid read and then beautifully morph into unique outlines. The digital montage creates images
with strong tonal contrast, appearing at first glance like an old black
and white television show doctored by Technicolor; yet immediately
this partial photographic ensemble is revealed as no mere morsel.
Each piece is placed intensely and with purpose, occupying an out of
the ordinary collision between abstract and apparent.
These photographic montages can only be classified as digital
prints, as the manipulation of Friedman becomes graphically evident.
The range is resounding; while some pieces show clear evidence of
their photographic origination, others have taken the journey beyond
the lenses through the innovations of the artist’s hand. Evidently,
this technique extends past his montage and photography compositions. Friedman’s watercolor method
reveals his eye for instant color pattern, even in the lucid transparency
of the fluid approach.
Environment, no doubt, shapes
the perspective of this colorful artisan. A rainbow spectrum of tones
and hues are a perfect result of reflections off the waters in his tropical
locale. “Art is a living and breathing
influence within me,” Michael states.
“It surges through my spirit like essential breath. Birthed within my
soul, it has developed into a fierce dynamic. Therefore, I create.
” The subjects within his works also to tend to lean toward the
inspirational. The rainbow effect enhances this
positive, pot-of-gold ambiance. Even his ink
pieces, embedded in their two-tone trait, seem
to set the stage for the explosion of color that
invariably follows.
Featured in publications along the East
Coast, Friedman inspires a broad spectrum of
collectors, including celebrity clients as well as
the more seasoned collectors. He embraces a
responsibility to know his target audience as a
society. Perhaps this communal perspective
indicates his outlook on art and its irreplaceable
contribution.
“Personally, I believe that as 21st century
artists, we have a responsibility to our community’s values. Greater inroads into the hearts and
minds of the ‘movers and shakers’ will be made
by producing art that inspires our communities
to become enthralled and introspective, whereby
we’ll all grow into better human beings.”
Friedman expresses clear joy in not only
nurturing his own experience of truth through
art, but also educating the public about the
Blocks of
shades instantly
provide a
simultaneous
solid read and
then beautifully
morph into
unique outlines.
Gemenii II, digital, 16” x 12”
value of artists. “The world needs our voice and vision…especially when those voices are unclouded and forthright, not lacking
in integrity.” -Blaise Morita
www.artistmon.com
www.art-mine.com
Darkside Dancer, digital, 18” x 24”
ArtisSpectrum 23
Artists in Residence
Agora Gallery
Miguel Paredes With a manifest fond-
ness for the places he paints, he transforms the
anonymity of public domain into intimate imagery.
Marga Duin’s
process is intuitive, and results in abstract images that
“express the deepest and most fundamental emotions which make up human
relationships.
Katrin Alvarez-Schluter’s
art explores
the “deep uncertainty of modern man,” giving a face to
the entrenched apprehensions of our time-the fears that
linger deep in the subconsciousness, as well as the overt
and importunate concerns of every day life.
24 ArtisSpectrum
Fernand Vanderplancke He casts
his own sheets of plaster, from which he creates
the molds used to model his bronze works.
Helmut Preiss The Pure, bight colors he uses contribute to the unmis-
takable feeling of energy present in his work. The viewer is pulled into the colorful
dance of the painting: a paradoxical montage of movement and stillness. Preiss
received the distinct honor to participate in the 2005 Florence Biennale.
www.art-mine.com
ArtisSpectrum 25
R. Sawan White
T
he paintings of R. Sawan White are
pictorial searches for a narrative hidden beneath
layers of oil paint and wax. Her colorful mixed
media abstractions are executed on board and wood and
offer the distinct impression of a communicator carving
out primal messages with an
emotional force that reinforces the artist’s contingencies of perception. The artist
reveals, “A misspoken word
and a jumbled metaphor are
my starting points.” The
titles of White’s paintings
read like found fragments
of poetry, and their visual interpretations wring a lyrical
effect that is achieved through his changeable complexions of color and texture. This lyricism is realized by a
patina of pigment and wax that often goes from dark to
light with dynamic brush strokes that intertwine one color
with another. White has worked with British artists as a
master printer, and is currently an artist and lecturer for
the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. -Mark Blickley
www.rsawanwhite.com
www.art-mine.com
A misspoken
word and
a jumbled
metaphor
are my
starting
points.
For Doing, For Being, oil paint waxes on wood, 12” x 12”
Koichi Kamidozono
K
oichi Kamidozono is a self-trained Japanese artist who works in a variety of painterly styles. His Complication
is a work of “Sensibilitism” – a unique style that Kamidozono
developed out of the principles behind kendo, a Japanese mar-
Complication, oil on canvas, 31.6” x 39.4”
26 ArtisSpectrum
tial art that he has practiced since
childhood. Sensibilitism asks the artist to suppress his consciousness
in order to achieve a free-flowing
artistic expression. In this
abstract work,
Kamidozono
uses intense
primary colors
to create red
and blue forms
that embody an
uncanny physicality and echo
each other in
a
polarized
dialectic. Full of movement and verve that
suggest the artist’s personal, emotional investment, Kamidozono’s work emits a strong
sense of power and freshness. As his painting
style excludes any premeditation or conscious
resolve, the artist tends to experience his art
in the same way as the outside audience. In
this way, Kamidozono is able to make art that
exhorts a visceral reaction from his viewers.
-Sasha Vasilyuk
www.kami-online-jp
Full of
movement
and verve
that suggest
the artist’s
personal,
emotional
investment,
Kamidozono’s
work emits a
strong sense
of power and
freshness.
Maxime Stamati
A
musical space where imagination and
reality exist together. Stamati’s lush landscapes and portraits are inspired by the journeys
he has taken to exotic locales, each place transforming
his artistic vision with its unique impressions. With bold
brush strokes, Stamati exhibits a vivid, painterly style that
infuses his canvases
with emotional depth
and a sense of immediacy. Influenced by
dreams and fantasy,
Stamati gives voice to
the chimerical visions
that stand at the edge
of reality. The canvases explode with
movement; Stamati
reflects a dynamic
world where images
and figures seem to pulse before the viewer’s eye.
Bright, vibrant colors dominate Stamati’s work; his
use of color is heightens the viewer’s sense of the dreamlike, where the landscape becomes, as the artist states, “a
world of curves, masks, extraordinary animals.” Stamati
paints the exotic in all its untamed beauty and the ordinary with whimsical freshness. The artist’s travels have
become the ultimate muse; each place he visits becomes
re-invented through his brush. Stamati’s figures and
With bold brush
stokes, Stamati
exhibits a vivid,
painterly style
that infuses his
canvases with
emotional depth
and a sense of
immediacy.
Toutankhamon, oils, 45” x 35”
landscapes become places steeped in dreams and
imagination, allowing the viewer to see unexpected
color and rich forms. As an artist, Stamati shows
himself to be a passionate observer of life’s spectacular vivacity; through Stamati’s eyes, the viewer
can partake of the artist’s joyful impressions of the
world around us. - Alison Rogers
www.m-stamati-com
www.art-mine.com
Le Grande Bleu, oil, 47” x 47”
ArtisSpectrum 27
Healing and Transformation
through Art
Science has shown how the mind affects
the body’s ability to heal and resist disease.
Art is a window to the mind; therefore, art has
the capacity to heal. All artists must know
this through experience. Yet, state and federal
funding priorities reflect a lack of appreciation
for the healing power of art.
1, 2
T
he field of art therapy emerged
in the 1940s, when psychiatrists found
art as a gateway to understanding patients
with mental illness.3 Art therapy focuses
not on the product but on the process of
expression and the self that is revealed
through it. By reflecting on unconscious
themes that emerge, art therapy can
identify needs, trigger insight, heighten
self-awareness, change behavior, and
enhance health. 4
Research has shown that art can be used to improve recovery
from injury, 5 mental function, 6 pain, 7 8 caregiver stress, 9 trauma,
10
self-esteem, 11 12 and emotional well-being.13 Art therapy offers
a nonverbal, universal, and accessible tool for reaching diverse
cultural groups. 14 15 16 It does not bear the stigma of therapy and
can accommodate the intensity of the human experience.17
Art therapists work in a variety of settings, such as hospitals,
mental health agencies, residential treatment centers, halfway
houses, violence and homeless shelters, community agencies,
schools, correctional facilities, elder care facilities, art studios, and
private practices. The American Art Therapy Association sets
standards for training, credentialing, and care. 18
Despite the fact that art therapy has been used successfully
in the community for the last half century and has been shown
as a valuable tool in health care, art therapists are still relatively
invisible in medical and educational settings. Why hasn’t art
therapy taken root in these institutions? One of the main reasons
is that implementation in these settings depends largely upon
rigorous scientific research, and the little evidence that exists
has been largely anecdotal, single-case observation, or poorly
controlled.
In the absence of rigorous research, however, there may be
another way to mainstream art therapy.
Fortunately, we know from the rise in popularity of alternative
approaches to healing (such as acupuncture, herbal medicine,
yoga, meditation, chiropractic, and massage) that public demand
28 ArtisSpectrum
fuels supply of services and government funding for research. 19
Many people have turned to these methods of healing because an
increasing number of health care problems are chronic and rooted
in emotions and behavior, but conventional treatments for them are
not effective. 20 21 22
People will use what works, and allied health professionals
are desperate to find new tools for healing. Furthermore, peer
experiences are more convincing than scientific evidence per se
when it comes to adopting new ideas and behaviors. 23 24
So how can we increase the demand for art therapy in health
care? By giving people an opportunity to experience it.
Last year, the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA)
and the Salamander Fund initiated a program in Creative Arts
and Healing to facilitate the use of the arts for healing by offering
experiential learning opportunities to educators, counselors,
health professionals, community workers, caregivers, artists, and
the general public. This new model of health education bridges
academia and the public by strategic outreach to key professional
groups and practical education that moves beyond the typical
lecture format. Because experiences evoke emotions, experiential
learning should have enduring and transformational effects. 25 26
This year we have embarked upon a broader collaboration to
bring our programs directly into the community. For our current
project, “Healing and Transformation through Art,” we have joined
forces with Gallery Saint Germain in West Hollywood, CA, to
offer a three-week, multi-media exhibit of painting, sculpture, and
installation art by artists whose work is aimed at healing. Music for
healing, relaxation and meditation will be curated by Jay Oliver,
world renowned pianist, composer, and founder of Sounds in
Silence. The gallery will also hold three, free public workshops in
which artists and art therapists will show, through first-hand stories
and hands-on activities, how art can promote insight and enhance
health. The three experiential workshops will also explore the use of
drumming, writing and meditation to further the healing process.*
We can secure the place of art in our culture by rooting it in
health care and by giving people an opportunity to experience its
healing power.
Ms. Ping Ho, MA, MPH, is Coordinator of Educational Outreach
for the Pediatric Pain Program. She was the founding administrative analyst for
both the UCLA Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine and the UCLA
Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI). In the latter role, she had
the privilege of writing for Norman Cousins and co-writing the professional
autobiography of George F. Solomon, M.D., founder of the field of PNI. Ms. Ho
began her academic and professional journey at Stanford University, where she
received a B.A. in psychology, coordinated research on exercise and lipoproteins,
and was appointed to start up the Health Improvement Program for faculty and
staff. She has an M.A. in counseling psychology with specialization in exercise
physiology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has an extensive
background as a health educator, exercise specialist in private practice, and
performing artist. Ms. Ho recently completed graduate work in the UCLA School
of Public Health where she pursued her interest in using tools for mind-body
healing as a vehicle for community empowerment and transformation.
* For more detailed information on “Healing and Transformation through Art,”
go to www.uclamindbody.org and click on “Upcoming Events.”
References:
Kemeny ME, Gruenewald TL. Affect, cognition, the immune
system and health. In: Mayer EA, Saper CB, eds.The
Biological Basis for Mind Body Interactions. Vol 122.
Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B.V.; 2000:291-308.
2
Felten DL. Neural influence on immune responses: underlying
suppositions and basic principles of neural-immune
signaling. In: Mayer EA, Saper CB, eds. The
Biological Basis for Mind Body Interactions. Vol 122.
Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B. V.; 2000:381-392.
3
American Art Therapy Association. Art Therapy Frequently
Asked Questions. http://www.arttherapy.org/aafaq.html
4
National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations.
Available at: http://www.nccata.org/. Accessed January
30, 2005.
5
Pratt RR. Art, dance, and music therapy. Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation Clinics of North America. 2004;15:827841.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
Lee DWH, Chan ACW, Wong SKH, et al. Can visual
distraction decrease the dose of patient controlled
sedation required during colonoscopy? A prospective
randomized controlled trial. Endoscopy. 2004;36:197201.
9
Walsh SM, Martin SC, Schmidt LA. Testing the Efficacy of
a Creative-Arts Intervention With Family Caregiver
of Patients With Cancer. J Nursing Scholarship.
2004;36(3):214-219.
10
Chapman L, Morabito D, Ladakakos C, Schreler H, and
Knudson M. The effectiveness of art therapy interventions in
reducing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in
pediatric trauma patients. Art Therapy Journal. 2001; (18) 2:
100-108.
11
White K, Allen R. Art counseling in an educational setting:
self-concept change among pre-adolescents. Journal of School
Psychology. 1971;9(2):218-225.
12
Rentz CA. Memories in the making: outcome-based evaluation
of an art program for individuals with dementing illnesses.
American Journal of Alzheimers Disease and Other Dementias.
2002; 17(3):175-181.
13
bid.
14
Henderson DA, Gladding ST. The creative arts in counseling: a
multicultural perspective. The Arts in Psychotherapy.
25(3):183-187.
15
Chapter 3 - Learning and transfer. How People Learn: Brain,
Mind, Experience, School. National Research Council,
Washington, D. C.: National Academy Press; 2000.
16
Chapter 4 - How children learn. How People Learn: Brain,
Mind, Experience, and School. National Research
Council, Washington, D. C.: National Academy Press; 2000.
17
Emunah R. Expression and expansion in adolescence: the
significance of creative arts therapy. The Arts in
Psychotherapy. 1990;17:101-107.
18
American Art Therapy Association, Inc. Educational
requirements. http://www.arttherapy.org/stedreq.html
1
19 Diehl DL and Eisenberg D. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM):
epidemiology and implications for research. In: Mayer EA, Saper CB, eds.
The Biological Basis for Mind Body Interactions. Vol 122. Amsterdam: Elsevier
Science B. V.; 2000:445-455.
20
Astin JA. Why patients use alternative medicine: results of a national study.
JAMA. 1998;279(19):1548-1553.
21
Goldstein MS. Alternative Health Care: Medicine, Miracle, or Mirage?
Philadelphia: Temple University Press; 1999.
22
Torrens PR. Historical evolution and overview of health services in the United
States. In Williams SJ and Torrens PR, eds. Introduction to Health Services.
New York: Delmar; 2002:2-17.
23
Rogers EM. Chapter 1 - The elements of diffusion. Diffusion of Innovations
(fourth edition). New York: The Free
Press; 1995:1-37.
24
Flay BR. Media linkages with school-based programs for drug abuse
prevention. Journal of School Health. 1986;56(9):402-406.
25
Petty RE, Caccioppo JT. Communication and Persuasion: Central and
Peripheral Routes to Attitude Change. New York: Springer-Verlag; 1986.
26
Prochaska JO, Redding CA, Evers KE. The Transtheoretical Model and Stages
of Change. In: Glanz K, Rimer BK, Lewis FM, eds. Health Behavior
and Health Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2002.
ArtisSpectrum 29
Valery Beljakov
R
ussian artist Valery Beljakov uses his oil paintings as a
means of dissecting the forces of energy that makeup a person. A
student of yoga and meditation, Beljakov seeks a balance of the
inner forces in his art. His work partly celebrates humanity’s life forces,
and partly seeks to explore them. Beljakov invokes references from a bevy
of other cultures to aid in his analysis of the human spirit. He borrows inspiration from Eastern
philosophy, and ancient
Greek and Egyptian mythology. His influence
of ancient pictograms is
also evident in his work.
He enjoys the use of a
basic palette, consisting
of simple, often primary
colors, in order to draw
out what‘s basic underneath the human form.
His use of contour has
a similar effect. He
incorporates a lot of
simple shapes, ovals
and circles, to convey
the same thing. Belja-
kov likes to strip his
subjects and then strip
their environment, in
order to better understand their core. Once
stripped, they reveal the truth that lies underneath, which to Beljakov, is a
raw and vital energy. -Daisy Carrington
Beljakov draws out
what’s basic underneath
the human form.
www.beljakov.com
Chloya (African Remix), oil on canvas, 14” x 29”
In his vivid, expressive paintings, real
characters coexist
with mythical figures
in a fantastical open
space.
fantastical open space. The uncanny
groups of otherworldly characters and
modern urban dwellers are depicted
as grotesque caricatures of themselves.
They inhabit a world where the familiar features of cities and landscapes
are transformed into a stage for apocalyptic events. Although full of religious allegory and mystical symbolism,
Kinigstein’s paintings are also imbued
with a strong sense of irony. Through
his use of the full palette, the artist
creates an awry atmosphere of a carnival, where life and beauty exist side
Professor Himmelright and his Patients, oil, 4 ft. x 5.4 ft
by side with vileness and death. Kinigstein satiates his canvases with
details that give his fantasy worlds a sense of authenticity. Born in
1923 in New York and trained as a painter and designer, Kinigstein
onah Kinigstein’s deeply imaginative art calls into has exhibited his works in such prominent museums as MoMA and the
question the saneness of the world around us. In his vivid, expres- Whitney Museum of American Art. -Sasha Vasilyuk
sive paintings, real characters coexist with mythical figures in a
Jonah Kinigstein
J
30 ArtisSpectrum
Zoë Sherwood
that in Sherwood’s paintings hidden meanings are suggested by the
unusual context in which the human figures are suspended.
Sherwood began her formal study of painting and drawing while
still in high school with Jean Charlot at Black Mountain College in
oë Sherwood’s soft, wistful oil paintings reveal
North Carolina. A graduate of Radcliffe College, she interrupted cola spirited sense of mystery and wonder. These dreamlike folk
lege work to study at the Brooklyn Museum Art School with Manfred
tales act as if mystical personal mythology. As a child Sherwood
Schwartz. After graduation she attended
taught herself to draw comic book characthe Art Student’s League, working under
ters–Flash Gordon on the Planet Mongo,
Reginald Marsh and Harry Sternberg, and
Prince Valiant in the days of King Arthur–
during the 50s attended lectures on art
and this sense of story narration remains
history at the Sorbonne while working at
a part of her work. She remembers, “one
the Atelier Libre on Blvd. Montparnasse.
day, wandering in a forest as a child, I
“Art parallels the real world, allied to it by
was suddenly attacked, and rescued. Since
shapes, colors, exciting our vision, movethen, forests and deserts and oceans have
ment, texture, touching our bodies; emobeen places of mystery and danger, and
tions, churning our viscera. Life makes art
they are also places I now enjoy. I’ll always
worth having. Life comes first.”
love painting the human figure in a natural
Her lines and brushstrokes reveal
surround.”
a compositional clarity befitting a career
Mysterious women running from purspent honing honesty in the artistic prosuers, Sumi wrestlers and beings swimming
Running Free, oil on linen, 18” x 24”
cess. Her visceral work, of peculiar women
through the sky, these are some of the indiand mystical, fantastical tales, has been presented widely in solo and
viduals who populate her pictorial world. “I want to show others the
group exhibitions throughout New York and held in numerous private
world I love. Making a picture is opening a window, a simple enough
collections. The work possesses a fluidity that acts upon the viewer’s
analogy. But the world seen through this window is no substitute for
emotions from the subconscious. -Douglas Singleton
the real world. I believe art parallels the real world, allying itself by
shapes, colors exciting our vision; by movement, texture affecting
www.art-mine.com
our bodies; by emotions churning our viscera.” Pat Cummings writes
Z
Leigh Rosenberg Earnest
L
eigh Rosenberg Earnest painting oeuvre is abstract
expressionist. These mixed-media rolling landscapes and
constrained interiors delineate a blurred line between
inside/outside spaces. The stark
use of bright, tonal colors fashion imagined, semi-abstract
worlds that are both room interiors and outside arenas into a
cosmic stratosphere.
“If canvas or material
is chosen, I often draw with
bleach and place it in the sun
to change the original color.”
Earnest says. “The subject
develops as the process progresses. Mixing media allows
me to develop a surface that is
out of the ordinary. The work
is designed to invite the viewer
to come closer and discover the
surface and find new ways of
mark making and describing a
space. An untraditional method
of solving artistic problems is
my intent.”
A frequent art jurist whose
work has been published in
book collections and bought
for private collections, Earnest
work possesses a compositional
clarity that is rich and spatially
engaging. -Douglas Singleton
www.art-mine.com
“An untraditional
method of solving
artistic problems
is my intent.”
A Long Yarn, mixed media, 43” x 58”
ArtisSpectrum 31
ARTISTS
IN RESIDENCE
Henri Desclez
“Mythic Origins”
Maxime Stamati
“Paradise Found”
Anton Hoger
“The Muse of Paradox”
Katrin Alvarez-Schluter
“Matrix of the Mind”
January 6 - April 11, 2006
Reception: Thursday January 12, 2006 6-8pm
Agora Gallery
32 ArtisSpectrum
530 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10001
212.226.4151 fax: 212.966.4300
www.agora-gallery.com
www.art-mine.com
Henri Desclez
T
he paintings of Henri Desclez pay tribute to a favorite form of
Surrealist painters: the egg. Desclez’s work is like a philosophical fairy tale in which
his ovoid characters reveal human emotions in their most basic forms. Desclez’s use
of the egg inscribes his work with metaphoric significance, as the egg symbolizes the source
of life. His egg-shaped creatures seem to be divined
from the recesses of the human psyche, enacting the
drama of birth and death, connection and entanglement, fear and joy. Desclez’s works are filled
with ironic whimsy and self-aware symbolism; he
engages our imaginations to juxtapose the absurdity
of existence with the necessity of creation.
Desclez’s muted color palette and monochrome color scheme strike a somber note that
contrasts with his lyrical subject. By using subtle
earth tones, Desclez seeks to draw the viewer’s
attention to the shape itself, rather than elicit
a reaction to color. When he does use color, as in his painting, “The Red Egg,” the
color itself becomes the medium to express representative meaning. In works such as
“Ovoid No. 3” color plays a minor role in the conceit of the painting and the viewer’s
eye instead is drawn to the repeating oval shapes of the egg-like creature, the infinite
repetition of the oval pattern implying the eternal occurrence of birth and re-birth.
Desclez, who has devoted his time exclusively to his art for the last six years,
received his degree from the Academie royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles and the
Academie des Beaux-Arts de Mons in Belgium. Before his residence at Agora Gallery,
Desclez exhibited his work in Montreal, Quebec. -Alison Rogers
www.henridesclez.com
www.art-mine.com
Desclez’s
work is like a
philosophical
fairy tale in
which his ovoid
characters reveal
human emotions
in their most
basic forms.
Harmony, mixed media, 30” x 40”
The Aggression, mixed media on wood, 30” x 40”
ArtisSpectrum 33
Erin Gleeson
E
rin Gleeson’s sexy ironic photogrpahs take the viewer
by surprise. At first glance we see a magazine-like glossy finish—
until we look closer and see the flaws, the decay, the imperfections
that appear in her photographs.
Gleeson uses rich, saturated colors
that immediately draw the viewer into
the picture. Her compositions are
elegant, even glamorous. Using the
language and tropes of contemporary
marketing, Gleeson presents her own
subversive perspective on the idea of
“perfection” and its ability to seduce
the viewer. Gleeson uses food in her photographs to play with the
idea of advertising aesthetic vs. reality. Unlike photographs of food
in actual advertising, Gleeson’s berries are shriveled, her frosting is
dripping and the whole composition is a little too close to real-life
for the viewer to feel enticed by the food. The photographs ask the
viewer to consider not only what we desire, but also how we desire.
Erin Gleeson has her B.A. in Studio Art from The University of
California, Santa Barbara. She studied photography at The Academy
of Fine Arts in Bologna, Italy and is currently working on her MFA
in Photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She
works as a freelance photographer in New York City. -Alison Rogers
Untitled 2005, C-print, 20” x 30”
34 ArtisSpectrum
www.eringleeson.com
The photographs
ask the viewer
to consider not
only what we
desire, but also
how we desire.
the digital art exhibition
Pixel Perfect
December 15, 2005 - January 10, 2006
Reception: December 15, 2005 6-8pm
Agora
Gallery
415 West Broadway, SoHo, New York, NY 10012
212.226.4151/ Fax: 212.966.4300
www.agora-gallery.com www.art-mine.com
Edward Michalec
Hewaida Osman Ramly
Jeff Derose
Michael Friedman
Richard Schneider
Richard Cutrona
T. Mikey
Vicky Brago-Mitchell
Virginia Marin Magan
ArtisSpectrum 35
Shandiz Zandi
S
HANDIZ ZANDI CREATES A WORLD OF emotional dimension rife with symbolism in her dynamic paintings. Her disjointed
images and collage-like compositions suggest a Surrealist influence. The mood of a piece is transmitted through unexpected landscapes,
scenes and figures, juxtaposed to each other in incongruous relationships.
These paintings depict intensely personal scenes, the subject often being
pure emotion itself. Zandi, a psychotherapist and a painter, is fascinated
by human emotions and the distinction between the mind and the brain.
Her paintings represent the artist’s struggle with questions about existence, death, religion, love, and suffering. Each raw emotion is rendered
unflinchingly through Zandi’s brush.
Her painting style lushly relates the
passion of her subject through abundant pigment and fluid lines. Zandi’s
paintings explore the theme of trauma.
Her work chronicles the cycles of
birth, death, life and womanhood.
She is interested in deconstructing the
body, exposing the inherent falsity of
appearances. She divorces the body
from the mind on her canvases, depicting the mind as far superior than the
physical. Her painting “Self-Portrait” is an example of the storytelling
at which the artist is particularly
adept, as she tells her viewer a
vivid story without words. The
subject of the painting is a glass
jar, in which a brain is being kept.
Super-imposed over the image of
the brain is a haunting view of the
artist’s face, she gazes out at the
viewer with an enigmatic stare.
Dashes of blood-red paint swirl
around the painting, a staircase
drenched in vermilion color leads
to a pair of headless bodies, floating at the top of this cage-like
psychic landscape. Through these
disjointed images, Zandi reveals a
moving vulnerability. Her style of
painting blends a realistic rendering of faces and bodies with a
surreal placement of these bodies
in space. The result is art that hits
the viewer on a visceral level. The
depth and texture of each canvas
gives full voice to the artist’s skill,
while the nuanced color and finely-wrought details of her subject
bring her work to a new level of
expression. Shandiz Zandi has
degrees in Architectural Design
and Psychology. She has worked
as the CEO of her international design firm, a Professor of
art history and currently, as a
psychotherapist. She has been
painting for over twenty years
and sites her work in psychology
as a tremendous inspiration, as
her work is “deeply influenced
by her knowledge of human
development and functioning.”
-Alison Rogers
Her style of
painting blends
a realistic
rendering
of faces and
bodies with a
surreal placement of these
bodies in space.
www.shandiz.com
Artist’s Self Portrait, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 48”
36 ArtisSpectrum
The frame is Frank Lloyd Wright’s
masterpiece of modern architecture.
The art inside includes a worldrenowned permanent collection of
works by artists such as Chagall,
Kandinsky, Picasso, Van Gogh, and
other modern masters.
Plus changing exhibitions that are
always significant and intriguing.
ArtisSpectrum
5th Ave at 89th St
Sat-Wed 10-5:45; Fri 10-8
Information 212 423 3500
www.guggenheim.com
ArtisSpectrum
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ArtisSpectrum 37
A Dedication
to New Orleans Jazz
By Donna L. Clovis
Book Art Project: “Jazz Beats”
by Donna L. Clovis 12 x 12 inch, Matisse-like
cut-outs celebrating New Orleans Culture and
Revitalization.
New Orleans is a city of Jazz.
Much of its music is tied to its culture, history, and
geography. New Orleans was crucial to the combining of
jazz’s unique sounds, a combination of French, Caribbean,
Spanish, and West African beats. Brass bands played
throughout the year. The majority of New Orleans musicians
stayed local, playing in small clubs as their only means of
income. But now, the future of jazz bands, bars, parades,
Mardi Gras, and jazz funerals looked bleak with the recent
hurricane damage and flooding from Katrina.
Donations of clothes, medicine, and money from others
poured within the catastrophic areas of the hurricane. Musicians
throughout the world raised money through concerts. Artist
Donna L. Clovis created a book art project of jazz and dance
images made of cut-outs of papyrus each day of the catastrophic
reporting of the hurricane for thirty days. The purpose of the
book art was to capture the love of New Orleans, its culture, its
people, and the city and somehow interpret the spirit of jazz in
an artistic form.
The art called, “Jazz Beats,” is a dedication to the influence
of New Orleans upon all American culture. The work was
donated to the city of New Orlean’s French Quarter, a way of
replacing some of the precious art that was lost.
Despite the severe damage to the city, Mayor C. Ray Nagin
recently opened the French quarter as a beginning of the city’s
revitalization. If you think of New Orleans like the theme of
the jazz funeral, know that New Orleans will rebound and rise
again. The jazz funeral responds to the concept of tragedy with
a joyful cry of triumph and revitalization, a powerful message to
its everlasting culture and future.
38 ArtisSpectrum
C ol l e c t i v e
E x h i b i t i o n
Agora Gallery
January 13 - February 3, 2006
Reception: Thursday, January 19th 6-8pm
Cornelia MacFadyen
Arthur Roskofsky
Mariano Cinat
Iwona Delinska
Tammy Duffy
Diane Detalle
Markus Wanger
Iva Milanova
415 West Broadway, SoHo, New York, NY 10012
212.226.4151/ Fax: 212.966.4300
www.agora-gallery.com www.art-mine.com
ArtisSpectrum 39
Felizitas Wermes
G
Sense of Fate, mixed media, 40” x 32”
The Window, mixed media, 32” x 24”
40 ArtisSpectrum
erman-born artist felizitas wermes
knows how to mesmerize her viewer. With
diaphanous, fluid lines and Impressionistic color
saturation, Wermes creates a trompe l’oeil effect in
her paintings that fascinates every viewer who seeks to
discern the “subject” of her canvas. Wermes’s paintings
incorporate the dream-like qualities of Surrealism with
the color improvisation of Abstract Expressionism. The
mood of her paintings is intense and immediate. Like
Dali, Wermes has the ability to transmit an affecting
emotional dimension to her work by her placement of
shapes and figures that seem to exist outside of time.
Her use of color, with its translucent, layered quality, is
reminiscent of Helen Frankenthaler. Wermes uses color
washes to saturate her canvas—the color becoming the
subject of the painting. The figure or landscape is a latent
feature of the work, while the mood of the piece is made
explicit by Wermes sensitive use of color variation.
Wermes painting “A Sense of Fate” is an example
of a work with a latent figure embedded in the canvas,
but an overt emotional tone. Using pinks, reds, blues
and whites, Wermes paints
what appears to be a heartshaped figure sailing on an
ocean. The atmosphere of
the painting is dramatic, but
the combination of warm
and cool colors creates a
balanced
composition.
There is a sense of joy in
the dynamic reds, a warmth
and purity to the delicate
pink and an ethereal peacefulness conveyed by the blues
and whites. Yet, there is also a dimension of foreboding in
the painting, the deep maroons suggesting blood or trauma
as the heart-figure sails along to it inevitable “fate.” The
artist achieves all of these impressions through her soft, suggestive painterly style and bold color groupings.
“The Window” offers a radically different tone
conveyed by this same method of color variation and
soft-focus subject. Using black, blue, gray and purple,
Wermes conjures a lonely night. In the foreground
of the painting is the suggestion of a bent flower. The
flower is shrouded in shadow, leaning so far over that
its petals touch the darkest area of the canvas to become
submerged into the night sky. Above the flower is a
small, dark window—the focal point of the painting. This
window seems to radiate darkness. Beyond the bent
flower, the viewer cannot know the shapes and figures
suggested by this nighttime landscape. Instead, Wermes
has granted the viewer a powerful sense of the great
potential contained in the unknown.
Wermes has studied painting, sculpture and printmaking for seven years. She has won numerous awards
for her work in both the U.S. and Mexico. She currently
lives and works in Mexico. -Alison Rogers
Wermes uses
color washes
to saturate
her canvas
–the color
becoming the
subject of the
painting.
www.art-mine.com
ArtisSpectrum Distribution Information
ArtisSpectrum is a biannual publication published in May and November. Magazines are
distributed to museums, galleries, magazine stores, art organizations, cultural institutions,
consulates, hotels, business establishments, and collectors and art enthusiasts who visit
Agora Gallery in SoHo and Chelsea.
Museums, Galleries, Cultural & Art Institutions & Societies, Consulates and Art Schools
are entitled to free copies. To receive copies of the upcoming issue please email
[email protected]
Partial National & International distribution list:
National Museums: Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Aldrich
Museum of Contemporary Art, American Folk Art Museum, Bates College
Museum of Art, Bruce Museum of Arts & Sciences, Denver Art Museum,
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Erie Art Museum, Everson Museum
of Art, George Eastman House, Hammer Museum - UCLA, Housatonic
Museum of Art, Kentucky Folk Art Center, Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
Museum, Los Angeles Museum of Art, Luckman Gallery - Cal State, L.A.,
Lyman Allyn Museum, Meadow Farm Museum, Minneapolis Institute
of the Arts, MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary - L.A., Museum of Art in
Balboa Park, Museum of Contemporary Art - Chicago, Museum of Fine
Arts - Mass, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Newhouse Center
for Contemporary Art, Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Rhode Island
School of Design Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa
Park, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, Stanford University Museum of Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Walker Art Center, Westport Arts Center
International Museums: Arte Moderno y Contemporaneo, Assessore all
Cultura, De Cordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Horsens Kunst Museum, La Maison du Boulager Centre Culturelle, Kunscenteret Silkeborgbad, Kunstmuseet Trapholt, Kunstnerforbundet, Louisiana Museum of
Modern Art, Malmo Konsthall, Malmo Konstmuseum, Ministarstvo Kulture, Moderna Museet, Musee d’art Moderne de la ville de Troyes, Musee
des Beaux-Arts, Reims, Musee National Picasso, 6034 Hood Museum
of Art, Museo Carillo Gill, Museo de arte Moderno, Museo Universitario
del Chopo, Museum of Contemporary Art - Australia, Muzej ZA Ujetnost I
Obrt, Statens Museum for Kunst, Tate Modern.
Cultural & Art Institutions & Societies: Alliance for the Arts, Art Students
League of NY, Asia Society, Austrian Cultural Forum, Broad Art Foundation, Cultural Services of the French Embassy, General Mills Foundation,
Greek Cultural Affairs, Folk Art Society of America, Foundation for Hellenic Culture, Hungarian Cultural Affairs Center, Int’l Art & Craft Expo 2005 Dubai, Int’l Society of the Performing Arts, Italian Cultural Institute, Japan
Society, Korean Cultural Service - Gallery Korea, Lyme Art Association,
National Arts Club, Povilas Visinskis County Library - Lithuania, Silvermine Guild Arts Center, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Spanish Institute,
Swiss Institute, The Arts Appreciation Group.
Consulates: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador,
France, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Spain,
Sweden, Turkey, Uruguay, Australian Consulate Trade Commission.
Art Schools: Art Center, College of Design, College of Staten Island, Columbia University- Visual Arts Division, Fashion Institute of Technology,
Hunter College - School of Arts & Sciences, Marymount Manhattan College - Div. Of Fine Arts, Merced College, New York School of Interior Design, New York Academy of Art, New York School of Visual Arts, Parsons
School of Design, Pratt Institute, Staten Island Institute of Art & Sciences,
Tisch School of the Arts.
National & International Galleries: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Aperature’s
Burden Gallery, Arken, Assunta Fox Gallery - Mexico, Australian Art Collector, Barry Thomas Fine Arts, Bruce Silverstein Gallery, CA Galleri, Cairns
Regional Gallery, Carnegie Art Gallery, Circa Gallery, Chase Gallery, Contemporary Art, Gallery 53, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Daniel Fine Arts, Dolly
Fitterman Fine Arts, Edward Carter Gallery, Everson Art Gallery, Fine Art
Gallery AG, Basel, Fisher Gallery - USC, Fondation Saner, Fondation Taylor, Frame Concepts, Fraser Gallery, Galleri Arctandria, Galleri 27 A/S,
Galleri Dobloug, Galleri LNM, Galleri Nordstrand, Galleri Ramfjord, Galeria Alberto Misrachi, Galeria Chapultepec, Galeria Juan Martin, Galeria
Lopez Quiroga, Galeria Mexicana de Diseno, Galeria OMR, Galeria Oscar
Roman, Galerie Asbaek, Galerie Bertrand Kass, Galerie Boehner, Galerie Carzaniga + Ueker, Galerie HILT AG Basel, Galerie Tony Wuethrich,
Galerija Ulupuh, Gallery R, Memorial Art Gallery - Univ. of Rochester, Gerald Peters Gallery, Giclee Print Net, Golden Ram Gallery, Grand e Jeunes
D’Aujourd’hui, Greenhut Galleries, Groveland Gallery, Gulden Kunstverk,
Herbert F. Johnson Gallery, Jack Rutberg Fine Art, Jean Stephen Galleries, Judy Rotenberg Gallery, Kelly Rae Thiess Gallery, Kickarts Galleri
Semmingsen, Malton Gallery, Marquette Gallery, Mayo GalleryMiller
Gallery, Nan Miller Gallery, Originalities, Pacific Design Center, Plastica
Juvenil, Portraits by Alicandro, Predsjednica Ulupuh, Sailor’s Valentine
Gallery, Simmons Gallery, Sindaco, SoHo Galleries, Sophieholm, Spheris
Gallery, Spruetzehuesli Oberwil, Stanislaus Gallery - Cal State University,
Sullivan Goss, The Kada Gallery, The Print Center, , Throckmorton Fine
Art, Torben Weirup, Bie & Vadstrup, Variant Gallery, Veksolund, Weston
Art Gallery, Yale University Art Gallery
ArtisSpectrum 41
2
0 0 6
Agora Gallery’s 21st Annual Juried Exhibition
42 ArtisSpectrum
The Chelsea
International
Fine Art
Competition
Agora
Gallery
212.226.4151 fax: 212.966.4300
www.agora-gallery.com
www.art-mine.com
Markus Wanger
M
arkus Wanger’s mysterious works traverse
the line between representational form and the psyche’s
intuitive embrace of abstraction. His early works revealed
a representational, expressionist quality, depicting architectural and
landscape vistas from both his native country of Liechtenstein and his
study journeys abroad. Non-representational abstract works followed,
color experiments that veered into abstract expressionism. Combined
with a solvent, the color pigments produced interesting effects that
were sometimes printed onto a second painting base, creating a mirror image of works. The technique allowed for different densities and
color saturation of the same image, producing intriguing contrasting
interpretation. Sometimes Wanger’s paintings embrace script elements, often veering into ancient Greek. Exploring the spaces between
darkness and light, the subconscious and reality, these gothic arenas
betray a gloomy, macabre sensuality where loneliness and contemplation expose colorful worlds of
mood, menace, and psycho-sensory contemplation.
Wanger’s most recent work
is devoted to his 3-D-structuralism technique, by which an effect
is achieved allowing a depicted
image to appear with increased
depth. Wanger feels that color and
representation gain a momentum
through 3-D-structuralism. It is
with a blending of color and structure by the observer that an overall
work becomes a
visual experience.
Since color and form are applied independently of one
another, the image can present both expressionistic
and an impressionistic effects. The choice of color is
particularly important for 3-D-structuralism: Based on
Goethe’s theory of color, the compositions of yellow-blue,
yellow-red as well as red-blue and the respective mixed
colors of these combinations are particularly suited to
this new painting technique. The three-dimensional effect
shows up not only in the original, but also as an image on
liquid crystal screens or on color transparencies. This is
spatula expressive, semi-representational imagery. Thus,
various possibilities of artistic expression result. Wanger
was granted a patent for the 3-D-structuralism technique
in Switzerland, the UK, USA, Hong Kong and other
states. However, as an open public license everyone is
encouraged to use the technique. New developments and
amendments necessitate free use as well.
Intensively engaged in art law as Senior Partner of
WANGER Advokatur, one of the largest commercial law
firms in Liechtenstein, the international protection and
transfer of works of art are areas Dr. Wanger specializes in. He advises
artists and collectors in all matters ranging from contracts with galleries
and museums to intellectual property rights. Proficient in a number of
artistic mediums including sculpture, hand drawing, graphics, lithography,
and design, Wanger has exhibited in New York, throughout Europe, and
recently at the Art Museum of the Academy of traditional Chinese Painting
and the Shanghai Spring Art Salon in China. He received the Prix du
Wanger’s most
recent work is
devoted to his
3-D-structuralism
technique
by which an
effect is achieved
allowing a
depicted image
to appear with
increased depth.
Consilium, oil on acrylic on canvas, 9” x 7”
Assembly, oil and mixed media on canvas, 24” x 32”
Jury a l`occasion du 28 éme at the Salon International in Revin, France.
Instinctive, threatening, otherworldly, and ecstatic, the vibrant worlds
Wanger crafts are explorations into light, darkness, and wonder.
-Douglas Singleton
www.wangerart.net
www.art-mine.com
ArtisSpectrum 43
US$ 3.95
CAN$ 5.95
44 ArtisSpectrum