V i s u a l A r t S t u d i o / 208 W. Broad St. / Richmond, VA
Visual Art Studio is an artist run Contemporary Fine Arts Gallery and Painting/Photography Studio representing Established and Emerging Local, Regional and National Artists. Rotating Exhibitions open with an Artist Talk followed by a showcase of Painting, Photography, Works on Paper, Sculpture, and Mixed Media. Museum Quality Pieces and Installations create something for everyone when combined with Exceptional Emerging Talent. The Gift Shop features a fun selection of Handmade Jewelry, Ceramics, Prints, Cards and Decorative Art. Consultations with Curatorial and Design Services, Drawing and Painting Classes, Portraits, Commissions, Scenic Art and Set Decorating can also be arranged with the gallery. Visual Art Studio, established in 1990, registered in 1996 and currently celebrating over eleven years on Broad Street, is located at 208 West Broad Street in Historic Downtown Richmond, VA proudly along the First Fridays Art Walk.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Friday,Noon-6p.m. Saturday Noon - 4 p.m.
First Friday 7-10PM
Appointments (804) 644-1368. Convenient Off-Street Parking.
Click on EXHIBITION and ARTWORK PAGES at the BOTTOM.
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Terrie Powers, Jessica Schipp, Peter Thaxton and Dan Belanger on display at Visual Art Studio November 7 - January 30, 2009. Please join us First Friday November 7th from 7-10PM for the opening of Artistic Gifts featuring Hang Ups, 60+ small paintings, photographs and sculpture plus even more ceramics and jewelry perfect for giving with guest artists above, jeweler Denise Bell, sculptor Orgia and art work hung up through an open call for artists.
Doors open at Noon. Klezmer, Yiddish and Gypsy Music graciously provided by My Son the Doctor.
Light refreshments to benefit the Equine Rescue League.
Free and open to the public.
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Softly September, oil by Cathyann L. Burgess and 3 Dimensional oil on panel by Michael Gettings with sculpture by Allen Jessee displayed Sept/Oct. 2007. There are still some great artworks available from this exhibition. Please visit the gallery or call 804.644.1368 for more information.
Michael Gettings - Artist Statement
I am striving to create a new method to visually express figurative storytelling. I combine this with a traditional approach to the figure in oils while using a Baroque sensibility. I am looking for the height of the drama, as the story begins to unfold. As part of this new method, my paintings also explore the discrete nature of human vision; how we focus on individual parts of a scene, while the brain filters the gestalt. This is expressed in the composition by using multiple panels and viewpoints. Thematically, my works focus on western myths, legends and biblical stories. Like many artists in the past, I aim to update these stories to conform to contemporary times and culture.
“History, myth, vision, and memory”
My inspirations are: Caravaggio for his reach into the viewer’s space, mastery of drama and light, and how stories were depicted as contemporary scenes. Frank Stella and Elizabeth Murray’s fracturing of the traditional pictorial space inspire the physical structure of my works. The “New Media” by constantly bombarding us with numerous images and messages through the use of multiple windows, scrolls and changing content.
Cathyann L. Burgess - Softly September from the River Watch Series
In the midst of turmoil, I am drawn to the river. Acknowledgements of life, constant yet ever-changing abound. The open skies and water invite contemplation of things greater than me. Today the water shimmers, a golden backdrop for the meeting of two indigo cormorants scoping their next dive perched on a giant river stone. Tomorrow, the morning hush will be presented in veils of Prussian blue. There before me is order in the chaos of my days. Timeless in its beauty, the river ordinary becomes a glorious song of joy which beckons me and heals. Wonder widens as the river, crowding out despair.
I live near the banks of the James River. I spend each day walking its course, driving over it at the golden hours and wanting to paint the moments in which I am most struck with awe. I have tried to be honest in my translations through oil paint of the world I presently inhabit. I hope it soothes the viewer and satisfies in some small way the craving for beauty and peace that seems to us all too elusive these days.
Cathyann L. Burgess - Artist Statement
One of art’s functions is to vivify the particular. Primarily, my art is figurative; exploring light and color through people or objects that interest me. It is all about the light. Most often it is the light that attracts me; how it plays on form, enlivening or defining shapes and colors. Most recently, I have come to love painting the natural world as much as portraiture and still life. Painting is delightfully magical. In this riverside series called River Watch, I wanted to depict the river’s significance to me. The titles also reflect either a direct description or the allusion to the feeling that comes over me as observer. If I can succeed in moving but one person through my efforts then my time would have been well spent. ________________________________________ Interviews & more Information available by calling Anne at (804) 644-1368 or visiting www.cathyannstudio113.com Cathyann L. Burgess, a Fulton Hill Studio artist, has taken a leap of faith with her exhibition, quitting her full time teaching position to pursue her artwork full time. She has artwork in the permanent collection of Media General and the Federal Reserve Bank. GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday - Friday, Noon - 6 P.M.
Sat. Noon - 4 P.M.
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Top: Original Sin by Florida artist Doug Sutherland on display September 5 - December 31, 2008 at Visual Art Studio. (directly above) XXXII Scindo Quattuor Igum ex Duo by Jack Reilly closed at Visual Art Studio October 31, 2008. During a twenty-year period as a professional artist, Professor Sutherland’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in numerous cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Jacksonville. Prior to joining University of Tampa, he instructed at Ventura College, California State University, and the Otis Art Institute, as well as other colleges and centers for art.
________________________________________________________ Editorial by Richard Burriesci I went into Anne's Visual Art Studio to see her on an associate matter. Whoa! a new piece entitled ORIGINAL SIN by Florida Artist Doug Sutherland struck my attention. I attended St. Sebastian's School in Woodside, Queens, L.I., New York so I immediately recognized the martyr on the right. I audibly affirmed "San Sebastian" even though Mr. Sutherland did not title his piece in honor of this pierced saint. The female counterpart would more than insinuate that it was not Sebastian. She too, was pierced with many arrows that protruded from the three-dimensional masterpiece duet. Sutherland says "I try to use subjects and images, sometimes from "Art History," that are archetypal and timeless and blend them with subjects and images that have personal meaning and personal value, with a little social satire thrown in sometimes. In essence I try to marry the personal and the universal, in an attempt to create works that hopefully are as interesting and relevant at the time they are made as they will be several hundred years from now." I was there again on FIRST FRIDAYS and overheard another gallery fan exclaim, "Oh look, honey, there's St. Sebastian!" Ergo, Mr. Sutherland, your art IS getting the attention it deserves and you so desire. Even though viewers may get the title of your work wrong they are none the less disappointed or less amazed. Richmonders can gather the family in their car or take the city bus to Anne's Visual Art Studio in historic downtown Richmond and see a gallery of delectable artworks by Doug Sutherland, Jack Reilly (who by the way, sold one of his artworks to the famous comedian Steve Martin) Dan Belanger, Ian Macleod and numerous other outstanding artists currently on view. http://www.thelincolnstudio.com/Anne_Visual_Art_Studio.html
Doug Sutherland
This digital work is based on the Renaissance painting depicting Saint Sebastian by Andrea Mantegna. Sebastian was punished for following his faith by being bond and shot with arrows. According to legend he survived the attempted execution because none of the arrows pierced his vital organs. He became the patron saint against infectious disease. In this work of mine there is also reference to William Tell archery and risk taking with the arrow through the apple. The title Original Sin was inspired by some information I was given in a lecture by a couple of sociologists in northern California many years ago. I have not been able to confirm the information myself, but the idea still fascinates me. They brought up the concept that the idea of sin in the Christian religions was appropriated from the sport of archery. The non-scoring outer area of the target allegedly is referred to as the sin and if you miss your target you have sinned. In my piece this idea is referenced by the presence of the archery target and arrows. Sebastian, archery William Tell, Renaissance painting, and digital computing technologies combine to try to make a statement about the relevance of tradition and masterpieces from the past in today’s complicated electronic driven society. I have chosen to make the figure of Sebastian interchangeable from male to female to bring up the idea of the changing role of gender in the world today. Many roles that were predominantly male until just a few decades ago are now shared almost equally by men and women. The scenery in the piece is a combination of background from the original painting and scenes in the Tampa Bay Florida area. I tried to maintain the layout of the original work while mixing old and new, historical and personal. - Doug Sutherland 2008
"Reilly has created quintessentialy postmodern work"
Nancy Ann Jones, ARTWEEK
"Reilly's work is clear, self possessed and has a visual seductiveness." William Wilson, LOS ANGELES TIMES
"Meticulously plotted designs become abstract, enormous works of art through out-there color paletted and almost sculpture-like presentation."
Aly Comingore, THESANTA BARBARA INDEPENDENT
Most well Know in California and New York, Visual Art Studio is honored to be able to bring the work of Jack Reilly to Richond. His paintings are owned by comedian Steve Martin, the Frederick Weisman Foundation and the Oakland Museum of Art to name a few. Each painting consists of thousands of brush strokes, painted in acrylic polymers and metallic pigments on a shaped canvas structure based on mathematical and random geometric designs. His color compositions are emotional, intuitive and theoretical systems arranged in linear formats that interact with the shape of the canvas. Reilly's use of color and unique brushwork has been compared to the visceral quality of Byzantine mosaics and Gothic stained glass. The rich viscosity of his paint mixture/concoction results in fluid, wet-looking, reflective surfaces. These pieces comment on evolving issues that originated in twentieth-century abstract painting and continue into today's contemporary genres. Ultimately, Reilly sees these paintings as poetic objects of contemplation and a continuation of his explorations into the sensuality of color, luster and surface, combined with the dynamic power of line and structure.
Jack Reilly received his M.F.A. in 1978 and débuted his abstract paintings in Los Angeles in 1979. By the early 1980s, his work was exhibited in museums and represented by galleries throughout the United States. Articles and reviews on Reilly’s work have been published in Arts Magazine, ArtWeek, the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine and in books including American Art Now and Inside the L.A. Artist. He is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant and numerous other awards. His work is included in numerous public and private collections. Be sure not to miss Painting in Shape, selected works on display at Visual Art Studio from the recent exhibition, Diamonds, at the Galerie Pavillion du Val de Grace, Paris American Academy, Paris France executed in acrylic polymers and metallic pigments on shaped canvases by World Renown California artist Jack Reilly on display through October 31, 2008. www.jackreilly.com
Great story about First Fridays in the Richmond Times-Dispatch June 6th: http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/entertainment/arts.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-06-06-0026.html ________________________________________________ Allen Jessee - Artist Biography/Statement
Richmond Sculptor Allen Jessee is featuring his nature-inspired wall hangings and sculpture through Friday, October 26, 2007 at Visual Art Studio. Jessee's works, known for incorporating flora and fauna, often with humorous and whimsical titles, are geared to the garden element, working mostly in aluminum and bronze, and creating timeless pieces such as garden gates, wall hangings, benches, screens and tabletop sculptures. His most recent commissions include a series of ten Egyptian-inspired bronze screens for the new Healing Garden at the Massey Cancer Center, and a limited series of James River-inspired tabletop sculptures titled "King of the James", for Virginia Commonwealth University. A native of Southwestern Virginia and graduate of VCU, Jessee spent his early years exploring the nature-laden banks of the Clinch River, where he developed a lifelong love of nature, and a deep reverence for its beauty. Most recently, he introduced "Walks of Art", taking his sculpture onto the ground in the form of custom designed, colored and textured concrete walkway art. Checkout more of Allen Jessee's work at http://www.mcsdesignandproduction.com/allenjessee/ BOOKS!
Richmond artist & author Michael Bollinger has created written apparitions of poetry and short stories in his new book currently available at Visual Art Studio.
Kathryn Starke's new book, "Amy's Travels" teaches lessons based on the Virginia Standards of Learning for kindergarten through 5th grade, including relative locations, cardinal directions, the seven continents, maps and varied world perspectives. For more information please call Anne at Visual Art Studio, 804.644.1368.
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Good Neighbor Village Desk Top 2009 Calendars are available through pre-order for a $25 donation to the art fund for the residents of GNV. Get yours at Visual Art Studio by calling Anne at 804.644.1368. In memory of my brother, Hunter Hart who lived at Good Neighbor Village in Founders Cottage for 12 years, Visual Art Studio proudly presents the premier Good Neighbor Village Desk Top Calendar 2008 created by the residents of Good Neighbor Village along with an amazing showcase of artwork from which it was created and was on display through November 30, 2007. In my Brother's Memory opened First Friday, November 2nd from 7-10pm with special thanks to Diane Inman, Judy Knauf and the Board of Good Neighbor Village for their help with coordinating this project and the Sponsors who made printing the calendar possible:
All About Family, Inc. www.allaboutfamilyinc.com
George Athy Upholstery, Inc. 214 W. Broad St. 804.648.8095
MCS Design & Production, Inc.
www.mcsdesignandproduction.com
Precious-Images Photography
www.precious-images.net
Visual Art Studio www.visualartstudio.org
Special thanks to Consignment Connection for donating their frames. Please visit them at 5517 Lakeside Ave. 804.261.3600
- Anne Hart Chay
The Good Neighbor Village Desk Top Calendar is $25 with 100% of the proceeds benefiting the art fund for the residents of GNV. This fund will pay for supplies, materials, visiting artists & future art related activities for the residents of GNV. www.goodneighborvillage.org
The residents of Good Neighbor Village enjoy living in a family like setting that allows them the pleasure of friends, activities, work and leisure. Art has always been a valuable tool to unlock hidden talent and emotional resources within people of all ages. These special individuals have eagerly met the challenge of creating art as they envision it; they paint using clay, pottery or pencil. They are truly artists because they have used the tools of art to transform the images in their minds into those that we can see, touch and enjoy. To learn more please visit www.goodneighborvillage.org
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Shellion, scenes cast with coastal creatures has closed with nearly half of the show selling. Please visit the gallery at Visual Art Studio to see more art work by this prolific and popular Chester artist. DAN RHETT has many artistic talents ranging from card game creator and painter to the cover artwork on the premier issue of CAVE WALL. See the issue and read poetry from it at www.cavewallpress.com.
RHETT primarily works in oils with figurative subject matter often working back and forth from sketchbooks and paintings to develop ideas. Most notably, he paints from his imagination rather than sketching from life or photographs. He earned a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from VCU in 1990. More of Rhett's artwork is available to view at: http://gallery.cafe64.net/ His work is represented in private collections throughout Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic Region.
Jumping Through Hoops April - May 2008
Richmond artist Karen Kain already paints with two hands, has already explored the space between two brushes, between two lines, however up to this moment, they have both been hers! For the First Friday May 2 reception of Jumping through Hoops, How I Slept my way to the Top, Kain gave an artist talk at 7pm discussing the new direction her work is taking as she begins to develop and show a new creative process and a new body of collaborative work. For the remainder of the evening, there will be a table set up with Asian brushes, sumi ink and rice paper, so you can try your hand at being one of the hands for a painting!
New artwork by participating artists is featured through Friday May 30th in Jumping through Hoops, How I Slept my way to the Top, tongue in cheek mixed media adventures by Anne Hart Chay with special guest artists Eric Garner (nonobjective painting), Karen Kain (works on paper and limited edition prints), Katherine Benner (fiber art) and Nick Sullivan (photography). Jumping through Hoops, How I Slept my way to the Top challenges our definitions of what is the "top," the struggle, the silence and the prayers with a humorous twist that explores universal feelings like the promises of tomorrow and the lies we tell ourselves as we continue to jump through all those hoops hoping to make it to the top.
Karen Kain – Artist Statement
As an artist I generally aim to capture what I dub the muscle of negative space. If negative space is the visual space between the outer edges of two bodies, then the muscle of negative space is the magnetic push or pull between these edges. The space which, as it increases or decreases, characterizes each moment in a relationship. These small yet surprisingly life size forces commonly slip away unnoticed, squandered, yet they are what engross me and implore me to paint. For years I have worked with two hands simultaneously to harness the power of that "force-field" between them, as illustrated in this show by the linoblock print: Then you wake, and your fingers fill with meanings and the painted digital print: What is hidden in our chests? Laughter (on display). Up to this point those two hands have generally been my own. That is about to change!
The Asian brush was developed and refined to leave the trace of the spirit of a man on paper. Not unlike the way a comet leaves a trail in the sky. Mightn’t it be equally capable of capturing the spirit of the relationship between two people? After all, why couldn't painting mirror directly something of the unique space that exists between two individuals at any given time? Is the negative space between two people made up of shared history, or simply merging energies of a moment? In this show I explored both:
VIRTUAL TWOS - Shared History: Three weeks ago with the theme Jumping through Hoops, How I slept my way to the Top in mind, I put out a letter to my twenty closest friends, relatives and lovers--the people who have gotten "under my skin" and made me who I am today--requesting the return of a postcard with a single line made thinking of a moment shared with me. The response was overwhelming, and the lines far more complex than anticipated. It became such a joy to collect the mail every day! In the end, I had barely time enough to compose them all together on one painted print Karma-Go-Round (on display) and then peer down upon them all in another: The Seed Market (on display). Several unlikely companions are found in Three Short Stories: Boy Meets Girl (on display) as well, all on display at Visual Art Studio- including the postcards.
REAL TIME TWOS – Energies Mingling: Next, I engaged three artists I already knew who could work with me directly in the studio, one with a shared history (20Yrs –above-right), one I had never met, and two friendly acquaintances. Up to four of us at a time simultaneously laid down ink lines on the receptive rice paper.
I have determined to cultivate the process that would allow a twosome to paint in harmony--yet true to themselves, each other and the composition. These encounters have helped me define the collaborative process that honors the best characteristics of the materials, the makers, and the moment. The joy of this process has given me a thirst for creating more work in this way which will be on display through May 30 at Visual Art Studio.
*Special Thanks to Anne Hart Chay for the invitation, I had HEAPS of fun playing in and around your theme! Also to the Artists who shared the sheets (of paper!) with me: Rosanna Lopez Haugh, Scott Haugh, Catherine Venable, and Tim Saukiavicus.
BIOGRAPHY
Captivated by the consciously awkward grace of Zen monks painting in the Zenga tradition, Kain rounded out her arts degrees from Brown University and the Art Institute of Chicago apprenticing with brush painter and noted Zen translator Kazuaki Tanahashi, culminating in a style and working method all her own. After a lengthy period of mental preparedness, Kain invents new calligraphic characters from live figure models in seconds. Ironically, while she wields ancient calligraphy brushes in both hands with spontaneous finesse, her nudes themselves remain vulnerably armless, giving form to the spaces within and between each of us, addressing questions of love and coupling and our ultimate aloneness. As well as having been selected to show at the Asian Cultural Center in New York City, her solo show in Perth, Australia last year means she can now claim to have exhibited both internationally and bi-hemispherically. Currently, when she is not in Australia painting, exhibiting and studying the powerful work of aboriginal painters, she still sleeps sandwiched contentedly between her cat and her dog in her Richmond Northside home. So far, her attempts to paint with these companions have not born productive results.
CLICK on EXHIBITION PAGE BELOW for IMAGES FROM PREVIOUS EXHIBITIONS: Images from "Visions by the Water," "Rosegill Barn" color photograph by Cloyde Wiley of Lynchburg, VA. and "Into the Mist" by Susan Singer, oil on canvas as well as images from NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2004 Exhibitions: "16 Moves for a Beach Ready Body" by Michigan artist Wade Eldean, "F.I.N.E. : Fiber in Nearly Everything" by D.C. area artists Ann Liddle, Julie Booth, Anne Buchal, Ann Citron, Maria Simonsson and The Naked Artist, Dodie Ortland are on the Ehibition page. Dodie Ortland currently has work on display in the gallery at Visual Art Studio, 208 W. Broad St. Richmond, VA. Gallery Hours: Tues. - Fri. Noon-6PM, Sat. Noon-4PM. After Hours by Appointment.
MEET SOME OF VISUAL ART STUDIO ARTISTS FIRST FRIDAYS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. VISUAL ART STUDIO IS OPEN THE FIRST FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH.
Please call Visual Art Studio at (804) 644-1368 with your inquiries.
Click on EXHIBITION and ARTWORK pages below.
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