Friday, September 14, 2012

Playground at the PRØVE and Infinity Down the Alley

Dylan in Profile at the PRØVE tonight.
Tonight once again three downtown galleries have coordinated their openings for a very special evening with plenty of variety and something for everyone. Yesterday I mentioned the photography exhibit that opens tonight at Washington Galleries. Simultaneously, the Ochre Ghost Gallery is celebrating its two year anniversary with a very special installation titled Infinity part 1: new installation work by Kathy McTavish and Jacob Swanson. Infinity part 1 is a collaborative multimedia and video installation that calls itself "a meditation on repetition, death, life and the correlation between the finite and the infinite." This event will run from 6:00 p.m. till ten. 

For those familiar with the downtown gallery scene, the two newest galleries are two blocks from one another and, along with the Washington Galleries, they've been coordinating quite a few of their monthly shows to coincide with the second Friday of each month. It's a great concept. With high gas prices you don't need to make three trips to town to hit three openings. There are plenty of eating places in the heart of town now as well, from Pizza Luce (with art on the walls) to Tycoon's (a work of art in itself) to Zeitgeist Cafe (with art on the walls) to Blackwater across the street (with Maxi Childs and band playing live jazz to tickle your bones.) And that's just scratching the surface.

The PRØVE Show Tonight

When I first saw the call go out for tonight's show, themed Playground, I did not connect it to its larger context, the commencement of the academic year. The theme carried with it a sense of playfulness, or whimsy. But unlike most of the other shows this past year, Playground will also include a storyteller hour from 8-9 p.m. Younger ones (i.e. kids) are encouraged to attend with several storytellers slated to entertain. The usual music by the Crunchy Bunch will also be on the docket before and after (show runs from 7 to 11) with beverages provided by Lake Superior Brewing Company.

Last night I checked out some of the work that we being placed on the walls and am certain you'll enjoy this show. Kate Renee's Hungry Hippo Series is fun and bright. But there's a lot more.

Here are three of my own pieces that were accepted and which will be on display.

Man with Hooked Nose
11”x 14” ~ $95
Faces seem to be a recurring theme in much of my work. I believe this fascination with faces is tied to something innate in our being human. This whimsical expression came from a deep place in the whirl within. Or maybe it was just scratched off the surface. Who knows. It seems to receive a lot of comments whenever I have shown it.

Dylan in Profile
24”x 36” ~ $495
This improbably piece was created in the most whimsical manner possible. At the end of an evening of painting in my studio, I took my pallet and flattened it into the center of an abstract background that had been sitting idle on one of my easels. When I pulled my pallet away, it seemed as if there was a profile of Dylan which I proceeded to enhance to create this which you now see. Sort of like finding a portrait of Lincoln inside a seashell. And even if it's not Dylan, it's colorful and was fun to see unfold. Many of my pieces begin with abstraction from which faces emerge. My Blue Van Gogh was created in a similar manner as this.

Lookin’ Out My Back Door 
13”x 10” ~ $95
Spring, summer and fall my garage studio gives me the space to work large and move about freely in a more expansive manner. My winter space in the basement is somewhat more restrictive and I usually work on a smaller scale. Several years ago I began painting with inks in the winter season, fascinated with the way the colors interact with the paper. Sometimes, coming up with titles is as fun as making the pictures themselves. “Lookin’ Out My Door” was the first title that came to mind when I lifted my brush from the surface on its completion.

The weather is going to be very nice this evening. Be sure to stop and say "Hi" if you're in the neighborhood. 

Getting Kate Renee's Hungry Hippo Series ready to hang.

1 comment:

Ed Newman said...

I went to the show last night and learned that Jason is on the move again. Here's the updated news:

Jason Huntzinger is an artist on the move. He is currently in transit to his new home in Seattle, Washington. He is best known for his personal and atmospheric images of the port town of Duluth, Minnesota, where he was born and resided for the first decade of the 21st century. He is also a long-time Utah resident, and spent a year in Shakopee.
2012 has been busy. He participated in exhibits at Minneapolis galleries Altered Esthetics and Cult Status and was in The Art of iPhone, part of Northern Spark, an event in downtown Minneapolis where his hipstamatic images where projected onto six-story grain silos. He self-published a book 'A Brief Encounter With New Orleans' from a trip this spring, and has a solo exhibit of the same name September 13- October 25 at the Duluth Art Institute. In October he will be part of an exhibit at internally acclaimed photographer Wing Young Huie's The Third Place Gallery in Minneapolis and best and last, will have an exhibition 'A Year Under Shakopee Skies' at Minnesota's smallest town, Mt. Holly, October 6th.

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