Second Friday Art Crawl Tonight in Downtown Duluth

A Remarkable Tale from the Land of Podd

It’s that time again, Second Friday Art Crawl. Get your walking shoes on.

Actually, you probably don’t even need shoes. The weather’s nice, it’s all downhill and you can pretty much get away with sandals. However you do it, the art scene comes alive on the second Friday each month here in Duluth and it’s an inexpensive destinations for a date, either with friends or that special friend.

Recommended route: Start at Washington Gallery on the corner of Positively Fourth Street and Lake Avenue, then make your way down to PRØVE and finish off at Double Dutch. All three are on Lake Avenue. You may want to drop in at Pizza Luce for a light meal along the way or take it to Tycoon’s a see if there’s also something going on at Ochre Ghost.

Euphoric Recall at Washington Gallery

Carla Hamilton’s Euphoric Recall is opening tonight from 6-9 p.m. She does mixed media abstract images based on people.

Duluth-born and raised, Hamilton spent nearly eighteen years in Stuttgart, Germany, where she studied classic art techniques at the Freie Kunstschule. She returned to Minnesota this past year and began work on her upcoming exhibit while making a new home for herself in the Washington Studios Artists Cooperative here.

Hamilton’s show will include new pieces “made from not only conventional mediums such as acrylics and canvas, but also discarded items such as broken bottles, cardboard and wire.” She says that her use of discarded materials and mixed media is an attempt to ‘get away’ from her years of classical training. I understand this motivation implicitly as we try to figure out “who made the rules” of what I can do in my own studio?

According to her pre-show publicity she is not defined by one style and is continuously evolving. The people around her play and important part in her life, and her work, in addition to being very personal is also politically and socially charged.

Euphoric Recall will be open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1-5pm, or by appointment, starting July 12 and showing through July 28. The Washington Gallery is located in the former Washington Junior High School at 315 North Lake Avenue in Duluth.

Extinct, Extant at the PRØVE

The PRØVE Collective’s new exhibition is a collection of works around the theme 'Extinct, Extant'. We all know what extinct means. (Think dinosaurs.) The word extant means the opposite: still living, not destroyed or lost. Still in existence.

The artists Ryuta Nakajima, Adam Swanson, Ian Welshons, and Eric Horn each explore different concepts rooted in biology, self, the past and present. Here are brief bios of the artists, provided by the gallery.

Ryuta Nakajima is a contemporary artist and Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth. His recent work has focused on the behavioral ecology of cephalopods particulary in the are of cuttlefish camouflage and body pattern.

Adam Swanson uses animals to explore the relationship between human beings and the rest of the natural world. Pairing threatened or extinct animals with those that are more successful survivors, Adam seeks to inspire thought about similarities and differences between extinct and extant beings.

The paintings by Adam Swanson are the result of an artist residency in Växjö, Sweden, made possible with funding provided by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008 and by The McKnight Foundation.

Ian Welshons is a recent graduate of the School of Fine Arts, University of Minnesota Duluth. Currently working as an illustrator for children's stories and freelance graphic design in Minneapolis, his recent illustrations of absurdity and caricature-like animals, create a caustic wit of interactions.

Eric Horn, graphic novelist (Chronicle Pt.1), illustrator, co-creator of Friends of Industry, and Duluth Steampunk local, creates raw futuristic pieces that transcend the frame. Sculpture, installations, and illustrations that reference the steam-powered turn into the industrial revolution.

The opening event will run from 7-11 PM on Friday, July 12th at Prøve Gallery, located at 21 N. Lake Ave. in Duluth. As always, The Crunchy Bunch DJ collective will provide vibes and entertainment, and refreshments will be provided by Lake Superior Brewing Co. Non-alcoholic beverages and snacks will also be available.

For what it’s worth, I first saw Ian Welshons work here at the PRØVE last fall and was so impressed by the young grads style that I asked him to illustrate a story I had written. The project is still moving forward. I look forward to seeing what else the young Stillwater illustrator/artist has up his sleeve. (top right)

Jay Whitcomb at Double Dutch

A half block down the hill from the PRØVE you’ll find an opening reception for Jay Whitcomb's artwork with music by Dr. Ohm & DJ Norby. Double Dutch, like the Ochre Ghost, is a small space, but they’ve been introducing us to some interesting new artists, Whitcomb being only the latest. See more of Whitcomb's work here.

If you’re downtown during Sidewalk Days during lunch hour today, be sure to watch AJ Atwater as she paints #12 in her Project 30/30 at Perry Framing. The exhibition will be at Zeitgeist on July 31st. Details later, but mark your calendars now.

See you on the scene.