In Which Photography Trumps Graphic Novels

Today I went to the Fitchburg Art Museum for the opening of their Graphic Novel exhibit, which I suspect is a fancy way of saying "comic book collection." I really enjoyed seeing the original artist sketches in blue pencil before getting inked, and I was glad that I recognized Captain America (even if it was because of the movie).

Technical talk about the opening: The artwork was either hung in frames or in glass display cases according to character or artist. I really appreciated that the museum had different musical talents throughout the building so that visitors were never without music. There was even a high school rock band that paraded around and stomped some cool rhythms before playing their electric set at the end of the show. They were rather eccentric, like the museum's new marketing director. The other musicians were much more classical, like the beautiful violinist in the front foyer. In the lobby was a snack table laden with cheese and crackers, grapes, and other finger foods while the drinks were set in a bucket of ice. I liked that an attendant stood at the drink table to serve visitors; I thought that was very classy. I don't believe any of the artists were present (not surprising since this is a large traveling show), or if they were I never saw them.

After the main events, I toured the museum's other galleries (European and American paintings (which are truly spectacular), Chinese and East Asian, Greek and Roman and Egyptian, among others). Another traveling exhibit was Aerial Photography by William Garnett. I'm very disappointed that this exhibit hasn't received more press because I found it FAR captivating than the graphic novels. It isn't even mentioned on their website! SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE, PEOPLE!* It seems to me that Garnett's photographs should be appreciated almost as much as those of Ansel Adams (and I loooooooooooooooove Ansel Adams). Do yourself a favor, people, and go see this exhibit. I think it will be up through January, but then again, I can't find out because it's not on the museum's website! GAH! Or you can visit William Garnett - An Aerial Aesthetic for a few samples of his work.


In a nutshell: graphic novels are OK (I certainly appreciate the skill required to draw characters in mass quantities), but unique aerial photographs that defy our perceptions of nature are AMAZING!

 



*Update 10/11/11: Garnett's exhibit at the Fitchburg Art Museum is mentioned in a slideshow on their homepage, and also under "press releases." But seriously, who's going to click a link to go read a press release?

Big Decisions...

So yesterday I spent the afternoon going through all of my artwork (or at least the pictures on my computer) trying to decide which pieces to include in my show. I know that I want a theme of some kind besides it being my work, so I've lumped the majority of them into the "nature" category (since they are mostly landscapes, scenic places and flowers). Unfortunately, this wasn't as much artwork as I thought it would be.

Landscapes - 12 (although 4 of them are very tiny)
Flower paintings - 1 (but hopefully 2 more to create a series)
Fruit/Veggies - 6
3-dimensional sculptures - 3 and a seashell necklace I may wear at the opening
Animals - 1 really awesome tiger ink wash that I want to include
Floral photographs - 12

I'm not sure if I should even attempt to complete the series I had in mind. That would include 1 colored pencil drawing, 2 flower oil paintings and 4 more fruit drawings. Who knows how long that would take me! Still, I'd like to. Just something to think about.

Insights Into Surface

So tonight I went to Fitchburg State University for the opening of Insights Into Surface, by Gregory Kitterle. Loooooooved it! Each piece became my new favorite as I walked down the hallway. If any of you mysterious readers are in the area, see if you can drop by the Sanders Administration building (the art gallery's temporary location since the rest of campus is under construction) before October 25th to see it!

Kitterle uses pencil, dry and wet pigment and Venetian plaster to create traditional frescos, but what caught my attention was his diverse and unusual textures and the high contrast shadows in most of his work. Unfortunately he doesn't have a website, but I found some of his work through google, including this one: http://lesley.edu/aib/portfolio/alumni/mfa_alumni/2008/kitterle_gregory.htm His scenes are vague, fantastical, and left open to interpretation as a result of irregularities in his plaster surfaces. According to his artist statement, the viewer's interpretation becomes as valid as his, the artist's.

General observations about the show: He, Kitterle, was dressed in a casual plaid collared shirt (not too serious) and walked around answering questions from viewers in the hallway. He wasn't very forward, but waited for others to approach him. I never heard him call attention to any specific paintings (unless a question was brought up about one) or thank anyone. He mainly talked about his creative process and inspiration. A question and answer session was held as opposed to a "gallery talk," which began exactly at 6:30 in a lecture hall separate from the art, which I wasn't crazy about. I noticed that I wasn't the only late-comer either; A few people also mentioned that they hadn't expected his talk to start right away. The Q&A lasted about 30 minutes, after which we were released to wander the hall while munching on some fruit with cheese and crackers. Yum! Actually I didn't eat anything, but I noted that the table and platters looked beautiful, thanks to the college, which is very good with those types of things. I signed the guest book and took his artist statement which, unfortunately, had several typos and was printed on half a sheet of printer paper. I believe the university was responsible for making and sending out the gallery cards (electronically through e-mail) because they were very well-designed and high quality; definitely not consistent with the artist-statement-half-sheet-of-paper. I never thought about sending invitations electronically, but I realize that it's very eco-friendly and very easy to click 'forward!'

I didn't stay very long, only about 30 minutes after his Q&A ended, but I really, really enjoyed it. I could honestly have spent an hour just staring at and enjoying each piece. You should check it out! No, really. Go.

As a side note, tomorrow I'm going to the Fitchburg Art Museum to help the new director of marketing, Jerry Beck, frame some artwork for the upcoming graphic novel exhibit which opens Sunday. Jerry is the powerhouse behind the Revolving Museum in Lowell, MA and for the revitalization of Lowell through its artistic community. I know he has big plans for Fitchburg and am excited to see the changes he brings about to the museum and the city.

PS. I am working on resizing photographs of my artwork to give people a sneak peek of my content. Check back at a later date and hopefully I'll have figured out how to do it!

On killing two birds with one stone (isn't there a better way to phrase that?)

Hello Internet blogosphere, pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Julie. I will be using you for the next 7 months.

For those of you mysterious readers who do not know, I am a college student majoring in Communication Media with a concentration in professional communication and an art minor. It's a mouthful, yes, but one that I am proud of.

This blog is the result of two academic assignments; first, I have a legit class in which I have to start a blog on any topic I could possibly imagine. Intimidating? Yes. Fun? Let's hope so. Second, I am conducting a senior "thesis" or "capstone project," and thought it would provide enough material for said blog, not to mention it would keep my devoted fan base up-do-date on my progress (that's right Grandma, Aunt Jo Ann. I know you're there!). 

SO! In order to combine my Communication Media major and art minor, I propose to plan, publicize, construct and host a gallery exhibit of my own art and design work. I do mostly landscapes and scenic images in a wide variety of media with some floral photographs. Although it seemingly focuses more on the art aspect, the bulk of the project has to do with critical analyses, networking and the production of professional caliber materials using my own text and images. These include an artist statement, gallery cards, posters, a press release and invitations, among other things. I will also be visiting exhibit openings and artist talks to observe other professionals in the field, and will post my experiences here for you all to enjoy :) In order to present my finished project at two undergraduate research conferences, I aim to have the show installed by March of 2012, so bookmark this blog for a fun and hectic few months (for me, anyway)!

Fun Fact: Did you know that it is more aesthetically pleasing to the reader when there is only one space after a period? Just learned that. And even though it goes against everything I was taught in school, I have to agree and am now working to break the habit.