Off the Wall: Satire in Contemporary American Art

Image: "Worry Wart" By Gordon Carlisle

Richard Boyd Gallery

For those of you who may be in or around Portland, Maine during the month of April I hope you'll come out to the gallery as we have a great exhibit opening next week. Subtle satire, protest and humor are some of the thoughts evoked by artworks in the new exhibit "Off The Wall: Satire in Contemporary American Art" opening April 5th at 10:00 AM. The exhibition explores social, political and environmental issues creating an exhibit that is meaningful, challenging and relevant. The multi-media exhibit features paintings, sculpture, collages and prints all united by the common theme of exploring contemporary issues through the use of satire. The works engage the viewer to discover the hidden truth or pause and reflect on the issue at hand. Works by Gordon Carlisle, Kenny Cole, Scott Minzy, Bud Swenson, Brandon Lutterman, William Hessian, Nancy Benner and Jay LaBrie are on exhibit through April 30. Artists reception Saturday April 6th from 12:00 noon to 2:00 PM. Visit the Richard Boyd Gallery online.

Links about the show: 

PR Log

Maine Arts Commission

The Arts Map

Maine Today

Richard Boyd Art Gallery Facebook Page

SNEAK PEEK
This is a sneak preview of my satirical miniatures. You can see my shoe at the bottom for scale. You will need to see the actual show to figure out the satirical portion of the work, I am challenging the effect of price in art. Taking the ferry from Portland to Peak's Island is something everyone should experience, and if you do stopping at the Richard Boyd Gallery is a must. If you can do it in April to see this show, it would be fantastic.

    The work in the show features some of my favorite artists from Maine including Kenny Cole. I am interviewing Kenny Cole on my blog in the next few months to discuss his artwork, his political focus and his work ethic. I am honored to be included in this show among a very talented group of artists.  The best part of this group of artists, is that it is clear they are willing to take chances with their art, I respect that.

MINIATURE ART
If you are a fan of miniature art you should check out my 100 miniatures post, a show I did in Jamestown North Dakota at the art center. Or you can also browse this blog for all of my free miniature art hunt projects, where I challenge different communities to find my hidden artwork and win prizes.

Painting with Grandma

Today, I spent the day in Jordan, Minnesota painting with my Grandma. My Grandma was a big influence on me as a child as she always encouraged my art. She use to buy me painting/drawing sets every year for Christmas. My brother and myself would often stay over at Grandma's and Grandpas, and she would pull out an art project and we would paint, draw, press leaves, color or some other creative project.

Often times my subject matter in art during my childhood would consist of sports, super heroes or video games characters. None of my work was very traditional. Grandma would insist that I draw birds, flowers or trees and when I made art around my Grandma I was glad to oblige and paint things she enjoyed to see. During our visit today I follow suit and decided to flex my inner Bob Ross for her again and painted her front yard.



Typically, I do not paint landscapes and shy away from traditional subject matter, but it is fun to paint a still life and a nature scenes every once in a while. My dad (who claims not to be artistically talented) came along and did a little watercolor, something he has only a few times before. My dad actually has a lot more skill than he is letting on, he just has not cultivated it yet. Check out one of his watercolor pages.



My Grandma, who does have a lot of artistic skill, painted an apple and this beautiful blue jay.



I also decided to try and paint this very interesting weaved wooden angel. This was a little bit more complicated of a painting than I had time to complete in one afternoon, but I finished it the best I could in the time we had.



Thanks to my Grandma.