June Twin Ports Art Scene Happenings As We Tiptoe Into Summer

One of the many thoughtful sayings at the
Clayton-Jackson-McGhie Memorial

Even if art openings have been cut to a minimum, Duluth has a LOT of wonderful public art. It's been wonderful seeing all the new murals added to many of our exterior walls these past few years. Also wonderful are the variety of sculptures, monuments and memorials. When the weather's nice, get out and do an outdoors art walkabout. There is much to see.

As for other arts activities, click on over to Esther Piszczek's Twin Ports Arts Blog. It is't really hers. She does this for you. Stay current with the art scene and let it speak to you. Here's the link for June Happenings:
https://twinportsart.blogspot.com/2020/05/art-in-june.html

If you're an artist who's been cooped in, I hope you're making connections for places to exhibit your work when the curtain lifts. I know many places are booked for months or even a year ahead. Get on the schedule. We want to see what you have been up to.

Clayton-Jackson-McGhie Memorial. Art matters.

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Local Art Seen: Fascination With Faces

From my earliest days I remember being fascinated with faces. Infants, even before they can form words, respond to faces, especially their mothers and fathers. Science has shown that this face recognition is innate.

Even when we're silent, our faces say much.

Various faces by Eric Horn

The other night I was at Goin' Postal and noticed a new piece that I hadn't seen before. (The wooden carving above.) Then I looked around and saw the variety of ways in which faces are displayed and portrayed. As many already know, the blog where I've been sharing my own art is called The Many Faces of Ennyman. Faces have been a lifelong theme for me. Even as a pre-school toddler I liked to draw faces.

According to research, our ability to recognize faces comes from neuron activity in the temporal lobe of our brains. Some people who get a head injury and damage their temporal lobe can lose their ability to recognize and identify familiar faces. This is called prosopagnosia.

Here's a small sampling of the variety of ways faces can be interpreted in various mediums, interspersed with a few Bob Dylan lyrics about faces, a word that appears more than 100 times in his songs.

* * * *

"Where the executioner's face is always well hidden..."
--Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall 

* * * *

"Face Value" by Linda Glisson

"Why does he look so righteous while your face is so changed"
--Won't You Please Crawl Out Your Window

 * * * *

"While she couldn't even recognize his face!"
--John Brown 

* * * *

"Then he moved into the corner, face down like the Jack of Hearts."
--Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts

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"Punched myself in the face with my fist."
--Million Dollar Bash 

* * * *

"One look at his face showed the hard road he'd come."
--Only A Hobo 

* * * *

"She studied the lines on my face."
--Tangled Up In Blue 

* * * *

"Darkness on the face of the deep"
--Spirit on the Water

 * * * *

Dylan Discovers a New Way of Seeing

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Related Links
My art blog, The Many Faces of Ennyman
My Flickr Gallery of Dylan Portraits
Nearly all is for sale, except what is sold already. 

Coolest Art Studio in Duluth? A Few Snapshots from Friday's Downtown Art Walk

#1 Studio Space in Duluth?

Friday night was the last Downtown Art Walk before Christmas. I made it to several places, caught some jazz piano by Sam Chandler at Duluth Fine Pianos (next to Starbucks on Superior Street) and had a host of interesting conversations with interesting people. Plenty of photos were taken, among them these shots from Alison Aune's studio and the HQ workspace of Jon Hinkel's Tight Squeek Press. A visit to Joseph Nease Gallery down the street is always an imperative.

A note regarding Sam Chandler: The high school senior is one of the students participating in the Duluth Armory's Music Resource Center at Sacred Heart. I was introduced to his music via a CD titled First Steps featuring the Sam Chandler Trio. Sam was playing serious music at age five and got turned on to jazz piano at age 14. I believe he was 15 when he produced the CD, and my expectations were low when I was gifted the CD. From the first track I was won over. In point of fact, this is a first class production, and you can find it here on CD Baby.

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Here are some scenes from DowntownArt Walk starting with Alison Aune's space. I love visiting artists' studio spaces. Wouldn't you love it if this were your office?

Alison Aune's studio is vibrant, alive with light and color.

It was the shortest day of the year, but the colors were still radiant.

Jon Hinkel shares bookbinding secrets with Dmitri & Ellen Sandbeck.

A few tools of the trade.

Duluth Fine Pianos has a new spacious home next door to Starbuck.

Sam Chandler had an opportunity to demonstrate his noteworthy skills.

There was more to see than this, and I wish I had.

As for the arts in Duluth... Visual Artists: be sure to renew your Duluth Art Institute membership and get you selection ready for the annual member show Jan 24. To submit work you must be a member and drop off your piece January 14-16. The exciting part of this show is that all work is new, created within the past year. 

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Engage it. 

Soft Launch of the Downtown Duluth Art Walk Is Accompanied By Perfect Weather, Good Spirits

Detail from the James Brinsfield Retrospective at Joseph Nease Gallery.

Kirsten Aune Textiles

Art nights and arts districts are nothing new. All across the country cities and towns have been incorporating the arts into their inner city communities. On the local front Superior had its Phantom Galleries for a spell, and for a few years a handful of galleries hosted a Second Friday Art Crawl, which expanded to incorporate additional spaces at times.

This spring I began to hear rumors of an emerging arts consortium that was striving to build on this tradition, and last night was the official soft launch. The scale of this event was much larger than I originally anticipated, 23 venues listed on the brochure and map. The consortium of galleries, venues, artist studios, bars and performance venues is called the Downtown Arts Collective.

The Downtown Arts Walk is the creation of The Downtown Duluth Arts Collective, representing more than 25 participating arts businesses/groups, individual artist studios and cultural centers. If you were doing a walkabout (and the weather was perfect for that) a map would have directed you to the following locations: 315 Gallery at the Washington Co-op, AICHO (Galleries, Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center, Indigenous First Art & Gifts) , Arola Architecture Studios, Art in the Alley, Blush, CF design ltd, Duluth Art Institute (DAI), Duluth Coffee Company, Mavis. Designer Showroom, Joseph Nease Gallery, Legacy Glassworks, Lizzard’s Gallery, the Nordic Center, Pineapple Arts Building: the Pineapple Arts store, UMD Faculty Studios, Alison Aune Studio, Kirsten Aune Textiles, Magic Smelt Ship Shop, The Tight Squeek Press Shop, Prøve, Rockingchair Studio, The Red Herring, Tischer Photographic Gallery, Wagner Zaun Architecture, and Zeitgeist Arts. As the saying goes, the red carpets were rolled out.

Bill Shipley's Sailboat Series is hanging at Red Herring now.

Someone asked if this was the same as the Art for Earth Day group of galleries. I noted that this particular effort is directed more specifically to the downtown arts corridor. I heard through the grapevine that Mayor Emily Larson was quite enthused by the effort. Most assuredly it has become an organized way to demonstrate how vibrant and diverse the arts scene is here.

I visited a little more than half the venues before chugging down to Wrenshall to catch friends and a few flicks at the Free Range Film Festival, possibly one of the more unusual such festivals in the country, if not the world. It takes place in a barn, and the films of various length flow into themes quite far from your traditional Hollywood fare. Kudos to former DAI director Annie Dugan and friends for what you have achieved.
EdNote: Film Festival CONTINUES TODAY. The Barn is located just the other side of Wrenshall at County Road 4.

Gunny sacks and a projector at the the Free Range Film Fest

The "theaters" were packed in Wrenshall last night.

And kudos to everyone involved in the Duluth Art Collective, for this collaborative effort to elevate the arts in our community. Their aim is to “unite, revitalize, and enrich the community through the arts.” My aim here is to help get the word out. Upcoming 2018 dates to mark on your calendar are July 27, August 31, September 28, October 26, November 30 and December 21 (in the event you need any last minute Christmas gifts.)

Drawings by Cameron Rose Conlon on display at Duluth Coffee Company

Lizzards represents a full range of artists whom I follow.
This month highlighted Urban Landscapes by Kathy Kollodge & Suzanne Smith.

Joellyn Rock's designs always give me a lift. Rockingchair Studio.

This is just a beginning. I'll share more soon.

Hopefully we'll see you on the scene next month. 

Art is going on all around you. Engage it.

Local Art Seen: MAAMAWI @ the AICHO (Part 2)

"Nanabozhoo and the Butterfly" -- Rabbett Strickland

As promised yesterday, here are some additional glimpses of Friday evening's exhibition at the AICHO. The variety, the craftsmanship, the exquisite detail, the themes all woven together create an impression that we have in our midst a rare gift. I am referring here to the artists themselves, who continue to pour themselves out, many of them sacrificially.  Yes, there are art communities everywhere, but this one here in the Northland has its own unique fingerprints. We should not take for granted what is happening here.

If you've ever taken photos of the Grand Canyon and returned home afterward only to discover that the photos fell significantly short of capturing the vastness of that fabulous vista... well, that's most assuredly how I feel about the images here. They provide a glimpse of the works displayed, but fall short of producing the emotional weight of the works themselves. Stand before a painting by Rabbett Strickland or  Leah Yellowbird and you're drawn in.

"Winona and Nanbozhoo" -- Rabbett Strickland

"Preserving Our Way of Life" -- Ivy Vainio

"Resistance" -- Steve Premo

"Namepin in April" -- Tashia Hart

 

"Zigwan Binesi--Spring Thunderbird" -- Michelle Defoe

"Protect Water" -- Ellen Sandbeck

"Still Life with Blueberry Butter-Weasel" -- Jonathan Thunder

Meantime, if at all able, try to visit the AICHO Gift Shop and purchase a 2018 calendar featuring the art of these local artists.  Support the community. You'll also find a range of other practical items in addition to wall art.. and maybe get inspired to do more with your own creative self as well. 

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Get into it.

Sneak Peek: Karen Lynne Burmeister, Part II

Tuesday I shared a sneak preview of the upcoming exhibition of Karen Burmeister's dramatic collage works that will be on display at the Duluth Art Institute this fall. Art critic Ann Klefstad purportedly said Karen's work, "made my hair stand on end." Since I have only the highest regard for Ann on all things art related I felt compelled to pay special attention to Burmeister's art.

After sharing those initial pieces, I learned that Karen was an exceedingly special person who touched many lives. This is a continuation of the story behind the work. What follows are insights into her life and work as presented by her husband Loren Martell.

Influences
Karen owned several art books and was always bringing home more through inter-library loan. She admired and studied the masters, from Raphael to Matisse. She was intrigued by some of German Dada artist Hannah Hoch’s photomontages. She had a print of Hoch’s “On With the Party” on her studio wall. Some of her more contemporary influences included Jess Collins and David Hockney. She loved Collins’ collage, “The Chariot: Tarot VII.” She savored the rich tapestry of Hockney’s early photomontages. “My Mother, Bolton Abbey” hung in her studio. Despite the negative critiques of some of Hockney’s later decorative landscape paintings, she liked “Winter Tunnel with Snow,” and also had a print of it hanging in her studio.


Early Work

I can’t recall every influence that drew Karen into collage, but she was drawn to it almost overnight. The medium seemed to have been made for her, first of all because she loved to search for beautiful, interesting, evocative images. She was always perusing second-hand stores and garage sales for old magazines and books. Combining and arranging these images to create something entirely new quickly became her chosen way to express herself artistically.

These early works show how she was experimenting with the art form--with color, image placement and space. Compare, for example, the dense mosaic of image #3 to the sparse use of space in image #2. Her use of the human figure in these early works resonates with a theme that prevailed in much of her work--the interface of human beings with other forms of life, with the world. So intimate is this intermingling, boundaries sometimes blur. Human forms morph and merge with other life forms, throughout her art.

These early works test boundaries and feel experimental. They are filled with Karen’s exuberance from discovering a new medium that worked for her. 　

Transitional Work
Three prevalent traits show an evolution of style in these works. One is the obvious reduction in physical size. Another is a more concentrated focus on composition. The smaller pieces seemed to coincide with a desire to create scenes more tightly knit and cohesive. Also, if you look closely, you can see an evolving creativity with space and form. I see these beautifully detailed scenes as setting the stage for the next, most-creative phase of Karen’s work.

Peak Work
This is when Karen was at the very peak of her creativity. I would describe her inventiveness of space and form during this period as brilliantly imaginative and deft. At times she was able to create a wonderful illusion of movement. The images seem to float on currents of air. Look at the row of bowls arcing across the base of image #6. Use of color is often striking--the reds and greens in image #11, for example. Bright, vivid colors are dominant in this artwork, yet a pocket of darkness lurks in the center. Children are juxtaposed with a more sinister figure--dark and hooded.

Elements of the human and natural world often compliment one another, at times merging throughout these compositions. They also often contrast, creating an effect that celebrates beauty, while simultaneously evoking the capricious, mysterious, dark and sometimes dangerous side of existence. A few of the last pieces were completed in early winter of ‘12/‘13, after Karen had been diagnosed, but was still strong. All these works are, without question, very fine art.

Post Peak
When we received the distressing news of Karen’s diagnosis, we both immediately thought of her art. We hoped immersion in what she loved would boost her strength. We hoped it would help cure her. Karen’s work changed as the winter of ‘12/‘13 progressed. These pieces were done late in the winter, when Karen was beginning to slip away. A cursory look at the work is all that’s required to see much of the fine control of detail she’d once possessed had been lost. The work focuses less on spatial relationships, and more on the elemental power of the images themselves. Reasons for this change are of course based solely on speculation, but the bottom line is that she was succumbing to a terrible disease. On top of increasing physical challenges, Karen’s condition obviously exerted physiological and emotional influence on her creative impulses. She often worked on several art pieces simultaneously; all the work from the winter of ‘12/‘13 were finished from pieces previously started. Some of the images--like the bay leaves strewn across the couch, in image #3--had been lying around in her studio for years.

The five works included in this category of the exhibit echo some of her early compositions, as though she was returning to her roots. It no longer achieves the same inspired, delicately ethereal flourishes of space and form as the art designated for this exhibition as Peak Work. It is not comparable in sheer artistry, but still has power. There is a clarity of composition, a still-vital spark of artistic passion. The last piece--image #5--stands out uniquely from anything else she ever did. I think of it as her last starburst of strong creative energy.

TO BE CONTINUED

* * * *
The opening reception for Karen Burmeister's Life of Beauty show will be Thursday, September 10 at the DAI in the Depot. This blog only shares a portion of what you will see on display at that time. The event is free and open to the public.

Burmeister's work has been scanned by CPL Imaging, a premier service agency for art reproductions and preservation. They will likely be available for purchase at some point in time.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Hope I see you at the opening.

Twin Ports Arts Scene: Tips for Staying in the Loop

River scene by Ken Marunowski

Over the years I've noticed that there is so much happening in the local arts scene, but no "single source" for staying connected to it all. When international sensations like Elton John or Dylan perform here in the Northland it's front page news and even has the broadcast media buzzing. But there are still so many other things happening in the visual, theatrical and film arts... how does one stay in the loop? How can people enjoy events and discover new artists when they aren't aware that there's been an opening or a show?

Well, here are a few places to look. It takes a little work, but like panning for gold in the Black Hills, if you know where to go and have the right tools, it really isn't that hard.

For years the first place I always looked in the past was in the Duluth News-Tribune's Wave section which can be found each week in their Thursday paper. It starts on the back page of the Sports section and is usually 2-3 pages of stories and "Best Bets." It tends to be strong on events by organizations that have a good PR system like the Duluth Playhouse, the Tweed and the Duluth Art Institute. It's weak when it comes to all those venues that don't have professional staff news-generators.

Tonight, for example, there will be a wonderful art experience at Trepanier Hall (202 W. Second Street, Duluth) with artists Duncan Konczak, Tom Konczak, Avery Makes Room and Mike Lemon and music by Jake Vainio (with possible surprise guests.) This is the American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO) facility that hosted Al Hunter's evocative Beautiful Razor reading earlier this year. You probably would not know this without help from our newest resource on the scene: Social Media.

Facebook, Twitter and blogging have really changed the face of our community arts scene. Across the country there are vibrant local writers groups and arts groups connecting with one another. I learned about Friday evening's Art-Music-Food event through a posting on Twin Ports Arts Align this week. TPAA is a great resource for keeping tabs on what's happening here in our region. There is so much to see and do that you would not hear about if you only relied on the paper. You don't have to participate in posting or be making art in order to just lurk and get updates on events and arts related discussions. Lots of great ideas out there... a lot of smart and talented people. It's a vibrant FB community.

Ken M and Carrie at Lake Ave Cafe

The only place I saw reference to Ken Marunowski's opening last night at the Lake Avenue Cafe/Restaurant was there at the Twin Ports Arts Align. Ken does plein air (open air) painting and is part of Lee Englund's circle in that regard. I had a beer with Lee and Rosie and learned that there's a huge event this weekend with 70 plein air artists from all over gathering at the artist colony in Grand Marais this weekend. Sounds awesome. (Word of mouth is another great way to find out what's going on.)

Lee said he met Ken at an extreme plein air painting event a couple years ago and they became fast friends. They no doubt have mutual respect for one another's skills and attitude. If you get a chance head over to the DeWitt Seitz Building and check out Ken's work which will be on display now for a while this fall. His paintings of this summer's tall ships are getting a lot of attention and appreciation. (The food is equally stellar, by the way.)

Englund described for me the extreme plein air event where he and Ken met. It's held mid-winter 40 miles up the Gunflint Trail. The painters must cross-country ski into the area pulling their equipment on a toboggan. One year temps were 20 below zero. If you think artists are sissies, you have another thing coming when you consider this breed.

Tall Ships by Marunowski

For those of you who follow things on Twitter, a good way to catch a few events is to look for the #duluthart hashtag. It's not comprehensive but will certainly bring you a few things you won't find elsewhere. And if you're doing art yourself here in the Twin Ports, start using the hashtag for your own posts so we can see what you're up to and share it elsewhere.

For what it's worth tonight at Washington Gallery there's a photography exhibition called Lake Effect featuring  images of our great lake by Brett Grandson and Samantha Pranger. The opening will be from 6-9 and is almost certain to offer up some breathtaking images.

As for other methods for staying in the loop, get into the habit of picking up The Transistor and The Reader. The Reader's "arts" section is now in the back, but not hard to find once you know where to look.

Meantime, tomorrow there's a North Central Windows Project First Harvest Festival to in Central Park at 717 6th Ave East in Superior, with music and more. Like many music and arts events these days it's a fund-raiser for a good cause.

To the artists of our region: thanks for making it happen!