Duluth Art Beat: AJ Atwater's One Day Fine Art Estate Sale Is April 12

Abstraction 30 -- 36"x 48"

IN TEN DAYS Duluth artist AJ Atwater will debut 130 New York City and Lake Superior original abstract acrylic paintings at the AJ Atwater Fine Art Estate Sale Saturday, April 12 from 11AM-4PM. AJ Atwater Art will be on display in six galleries at 4701 Cooke Street, Duluth. Atwater calls it "the cream of the cream" of her painting collection.

Here are a few of the pieces that will be on display. You can check out my interview with the artist here at the Duluth Reader website: AJ Atwater’s big canvas blowout: Duluth Meets Manhattan.

Fog -- 16"x 20"

Still Life with Oval -- 16"x 20"

Yellow Series 2 -- 24"x 30"

Red Series 6 -- 10"x 10"

Palisade Head -- 24"x 30"

The Artist: AJ Atwater

The more you engage, the more you see.

Sunshine and large windows make colors brght.

 

 “Lake Superior is my Manhattan” ~ AJ Atwater

Related Links

AJ Atwater and PROJECT 30/30 

Virtual Reality Meets Virtual Gallery: AJ Atwater's 400 Paintings

Sneak Preview: Kuth and Atwater's Affordable Fine Art Show

Virtual Reality Meets Virtual Gallery: AJ Atwater's 400 Paintings

"Behind the name is that which has no name..." ~ Borges

It's Almost Wordless Wednesday. To learn the backstory on AJ Atwater's virtual gallery, read the interview we did here. The event 400 Paintings ends Sunday evening at Midnight. May your imaginations be stirred to action.

Visit www.ajatwater.com to see the entire virtual exhibition.  

The gallery's virtual rooms are segregated by price.

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

AJ Atwater Talks About Her Upcoming Event: 400 Paintings

Discovering AJ Atwater initially felt like re-discovering an aspect of myself. Atwater is an abstract painter who has derived inspiration from the New York School. Perhaps it's a little like musical tastes in which one can still appreciate Motown or folk while being swept away by Dave Brubeck, or Beethoven.

I first saw her work at Duluth's Washington Galleries. Later in 2013 she conceived what she called Project 30/30 in which she publicly produced 30 paintings in 30 days at Perry Framing on the 200 block of Superior Street. The following year she produced a show called New York Paintings.And last year she collaborated with Elizabeth Kuth in a show called Affordable Fine Art, another fine show. Her latest endeavor is called 400 Paintings.

Atwater lives in two worlds that could not be more different, Manhattan and Duluth. The Big Apple is continuously abuzz with its big city energy. In contrast, Duluth is something akin to a seaside resort with beautiful vistas and plenty of open spaces to indulge the senses in a different way.

Though ambitious, 400 Paintings is the kind of thing I've come to expect from this energized, almost frenetic artist.

When I asked, "What's new with AJ Atwater?" She enthusiastically replied, "Life is incredible, amazing. I just got back from Manhattan again where I painted at the Art Students League of New York with Pat Lipske, a successful geometric hard-edged artist. It's always inspirational being in Manhattan, and influential... Manhattan is my Lake Superior."

As Atwater moves between these two worlds – Lake Superior and Manhattan – she's influenced by both.

"I'm now moving into large scale pieces," she explained. Her current project for 2016 is five panels that will end up 7 x 28 feet. "Working in scale, small and large, is pretty fascinating."

My own largest project in my college fine arts painting class was 8' x 12' and I found it exhilarating. When I shared my experience, he replied, "You're almost in it because it's bigger than you."

But every piece, no matter what scale, involves a push and pull, whether four by six inches or massive, she's observed. "It's interesting to move between sizes, just like different locations."

"There's really no difference," she explained. "There isn't a shift in mind. You have more real estate, but your thought process, composition, shapes, aesthetics... draw upon the same elements. Both call upon the same things whether big or small."

Atwater's upcoming show has an unusual twist to it. There will be a week of viewing where the work will be displayed online beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, August 12. And then the show goes live for purchasing, again online, beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, August 19, closing at midnight on Sunday evening, August 21.

"The largest pieces in 400 Paintings are three foot by four foot," she said. "A good size for a painting on a wall. I think about my clients/customers." The price includes free shipping to the lower 48 states in the U.S.

Atwater noted that the title of the show is literal and not figurative. There are 400 paintings in this show. "The idea came from a place where all good ideas come from. Having an online show where people could see a huge range of my work from 2009 to 2016, select pieces.... Range gives people a lot of opportunity to find different sizes that work for them.

She shared how some of the work involved "conversation between colors, the interaction between the colors... letting them have conversation on the canvas." That was an interesting concept.

The reason for this online show was due to the quantity. "I wanted to show a body of work by an artist in one spot... in their living room late at night while sipping wine... to browse at your leisure."

It makes sense that an artist would visualize the people enjoying her art. It also opens the exhibition up to a wider audience, not limited by geographic proximity.

Breakwater Two, 36x48. Painted in MN, 2015

I myself am occasionally concerned about the proper representation of the colors when I put my work online. Atwater stated that this is not a concern of hers. "I work really hard on that to make sure that the colors are close. Also, the lighting in everyone's home is different, because of lighting or the color of walls. But I work very hard to get the colors right."

On another topic, I commented, "I've heard it said that the New York School has been played out. Why are you still enjoying the possibilities of this kind of abstraction?"

"I completely disagree," she replied. "If you go to Art In America for example, you will see right up front (paintings by) Willem DeKooning, Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell... Those names still dominate the gallery shows and the auctions. I love that. I'm so happy to see that's still the case. They're the foundation of abstract art. It's still as strong and sought after as any art movement."

Because I've been doing a lot of reading about the future, I wanted to know her thoughts on the future of art.

"I think the future of art is going to continue as it is, and I don't think the appeal of the New York School is going to go away. But one thing I like is conceptual art and I think conceptual art is going to expand.... Why not have the big yellow duck floating down the river. I think art can and should become all kinds of things we don't really think about. I think the same for online, bringing things out into the world that people don't see.

The Two Of Us Nestled; 10x10 wood panel. Painted in MN, 2016

"I still think the sturdy foundation that comes from Picasso to Pop is still so influential. The future will build upon the past."

Morning Sky; 12x16 140 lb cold press. Painted at Art Students League, 2012

One thing that's apparent is the influence of technology on the art scene. "This show takes advantage of technology," she said. "Being able to sit in our living room at midnight and browse a show of this caliber online... People can look and ask themselves, 'What do I want? What kind of colors do I want to bring into my life?' The technology brings exposure to lots of people. Because it is online it isn't just for local audiences but for anyone who finds my website."

Awning Shell; 6"x8" canvas panel. Painted in MN, 2016. 

Here's where you can learn more: www.ajatwater.com

* * * *

Pricing on some of the paintings shown above:
Breakwater Two -- $1400
The Two of Us Nestled -- $400
Morning Sky -- $150
Awning Shell -- $50

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

Sneak Preview: Kuth and Atwater's Affordable Fine Art Show

This past week I had an opportunity to get a sneak preview of what promises to be one of this year's premiere art events, the Kuth and Atwater Affordable Fine Art Show. For one week, beginning August 21, AJ Atwater's Studio and Gallery in Lakeside will become a one-time museum with six galleries featuring over 300 original, affordably-priced fine art drawings and paintings.

Every house has a history as well as the signature of its current occupant. Artist AJ Atwater’s home was built in 1888 by one of Duluth’s influentials, Frank Crassweller, an attorney who was active in the city council, the library board, Commercial Club of Duluth, Duluth Curling and the Masonic order. With its Queen Ann-style roofline, the classic Northland home features wide baseboards and narrow hardwood floors. And beginning a week from Friday, the interior will be showcasing the contemporary possibilities of abstract art.

It should be emphasized here that although the word "affordable" was selected in the naming of this show it's really not a fire sale. The delightfully first-rate works have been priced at $300 or less for paintings on stretched canvas and $100 or less for unframed fine art on paper. The show opens Friday, August 21, 4pm-8pm with light refreshments and continues through August 28th, noon-3pm daily. Atwater's home/studio/gallery, located at 4701 Cooke Street, will also open by appointment for tours through the show.

I first became acquainted with Elizabeth Kuth's work through a piece hanging in the office of former Duluth Art Institute director Kat Eldred, a piece that totally enthralled me. Kat insisted that I make it a point to visit her studio and see more of her work, a follow up that took a couple years to get to, but the mental note had been securely fastened upon my interior list of future action items. My first awareness of AJ Atwater's work came through a show called Urban Nightscapes at the Washington Gallery in Duluth's Central Hillside.

What I quickly learned, despite their completely different approaches, was that each took their inspiration from the influential New York School of abstract painters that so dominated the 1950's and whom I myself found inspirational when I was a young art student. During my visit Wednesday evening the conversational flew down many different channels, but one recurring theme was the contrast between Atwater and Kuth in both their art and their lifestyles.

On the surface the paintings themselves are comprised of Atwater's bright colors versus Kuth's muted colors. In much of the work we also see simplicity versus complexity. But the contrasts go far beyond this and as we talked these emerged.

Kuth's enigmatic work draws its power from an interior life reflected in images; Atwater is taken up with the energy of exterior life, reflected prominently in bold colors. Kuth loves the quiet of the country; Atwater gets off on the energy of the city.

Their homes are also a study in contrasts. Atwater lives simply, yet in the city. The house has few furnishings and plenty of open space. Kuth's Island Lake residence and gallery is filled with art and furniture, almost crowded while remaining homey. Their lifestyles contrast accordingly. For Kuth, think Walden. For Atwater, think Broadway Boogie Woogie. Bright lights, big city.

For the show, six galleries have been set up. The Blue-Green Gallery is the first room on your left as you enter, a room full of light where Atwater usually has her studio and paints. Adjacent to this is the first Kuth gallery called Layering, Mark-Making and Ancestry. Most of these works on paper show graphic kinds of symbols that become forms.

They each have three galleries, with names for each. And even though there are 300 works of art, there's remarkably still enough space to not feel cramped or overwhelemed.

One thing interesting is the titles for the rooms. Atwater's galleries are titled:
Blue and Green Gallery
Red Orange and Yellow Gallery
White and Black Gallery

Kuth's gallery rooms are titled:
“Layering, Mark-Making and Ancestry”
“Rooted Expression”
“Interior Landscape”

Atwater expressed the aim of the show this way. "People who come will experience something in themselves," she said. "We want people to have an experience that will enrich their lives. It's not just something to do."

Kuth affirmed their hope that people will be "inspired to create, or to look at life in a different way. When exposed to fine art you have a real opportunity for inspiration to strike." The artists will be there to discuss the work and nurture that.

"If you go to an abstract art show you’re going to be challenged," Atwater added. "And questioning is OK. Art creates wonder almost more than anything."

Kuth pointed out that their contrasting styles add to "the possibility of finding something that could speak to you. We have a vehicle here to be able to offer that to people."

Atwater jumped on the word vehicle. "I like that word. Art as a vehicle between worlds. People will see different things, especially in abstract art. What do you see here? A beach house on a prairie? A supersonic structure? People who engage art see different things."

Elizabeth Kuth (L) and AJ Atwater

"It brings us to what we should be, like children, to experience that awe," said Kuth. "Awe is one of those things in life where you never know where you will find it. 'I don’t know what it is but something here really speaks to me.' We’re seeking awe even when we don’t know we are, and you never know where you’re going to find it.

This led Atwater to affirm two key things that are especially important in their work, ambiguity and authenticity. "I think what we each accomplish, even though through different means, is authenticity. The work has to be authentic. We each make an aesthetic call, and thru form, line and color, something ambiguous and authentic happens."

"If people come in and see the contrast between two styles, questioning is ok, ambiguity is ok, and it gives you a sense of wonder while posing questions," Atwater said. "Even if you don’t figure it out."

* * * *

Enter here.

I'll close by noting once again AJ Atwater Studio and Gallery is located at 4701 Cooke Street, in Duluth’s Lakeside neighborhood The artists themselves will be available for conversations about their art and its possibilities for gift giving and to affordably grace homes, cabins and offices in the Northland.

For what it's worth, you can gain five minutes of enjoyment by engaging a work of art in a gallery, or you can take it home and enjoy it for the rest of your life. The latter can be very rewarding.

Artist Interviews: Best of 2013 (Part 1)

From the magical world of Wendy Rouse.

I had the privilege of meeting a lot of exceedingly creative and interesting people again this year. People are endlessly fascinating, and artists especially so. Here is a list of the artists I interviewed in 2013 from January to June, most from our region but some from abroad. All of them with something to say worth sharing.

When asked if I have a favorite contemporary artist, by answer will probably always be the same: whoever's work I have most recently looked at. There are so many talented, innovative people doing such remarkable work today. It's a privilege to be associated with them.

Plein aire painter and charcoal artist Ken Marunowski

Painter Michael Soltis of Vancouver

Fiber artist and Superior arts advocate Erika Mock 

Illustrator Emily Wendlund

Multi-media artist Jacob Swanson

Vivid colorist Alison Price

Photographer/arts advocate Andrew Perfetti

Innovator and roller dame Laura Gapske

The dedicated, creative Ryan LaMahieu

Steampunk story teller Eric Horn

Painter Sarah Brokke 

The inventive Bridgett Riversmith 

Heroic painter and more, Anne Labovitz 

Renaissance-inspired painter Wendy Rouse 

Florida pastel-artist Maria Podrero

AJ Atwater and Project 30/30

Thank you for sharing yourselves here at Ennyman's Territory.

Local Art Scene: AJ Atwater at the Minnesota Wine Exchange

AJ Atwater, center of photo, discusses her new work with friends.

Saturday was a surprisingly nice day here in the North Country. The sun came out. It's been so long since we saw sun that numerous people made humorous comments about it on their Facebook pages. "What's that? Looks familiar." "Yes, I remember seeing something like that once a long time ago." There were even cartoons. All this to say it was a good day to get some outdoor work done before Jack Frost descends with his unrelenting seasonal resolve.

At the end of the afternoon I freshened up and headed to the Minnesota Wine Exchange to see A.J. Atwater's new show. I've already written much about A.J. and simply wanted to encourage a few of your to hightail it down there so you can see this new space that has opened within the past year. I've been told that their gallery space is booked now through February.

A familiar trio of local jazz musicians created the ambiance and the art itself fulfills its mission of making the place a gift to patrons of the business. And while sampling a flight of Minnesota wines upstairs a host of familiar friends and fans of AJ Atwater passed through.

Tweevenings 

Tomorrow evening will be the second Tweevenings event at the Tweed in which various pieces from the Tweed collection will be highlighted and discussed. On Tuesday from 6:30 to 7:30 two UMD students, Aron Welch and Cody Christian, will lead a discussion about the work South of Huoma by Warrington Colescott. Colescott is an American artist best known for his satirical etchings. The students are working with Ladona Tornabene, MCHES, Associate Professor in the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and Susan Hudec, Education Director at the Tweed Museum of Art to communicate the connections between health and art museums.

South of Huoma

She's Back! AJ Atwater Shows Her Stuff... Again

AJA w/ Sailboats on the Hudson, Battery Park

When I discovered AJ Atwater's work at the Washington Galleries earlier this spring I knew too well that I was late to the party. That is, others were well aware of the power of her work for quite some time. As I wrote in my review, "her abstract paintings energized the room." The show was called Urban Landscapes, a series that emerged from one of her two annual "painting retreats" to New York City each spring and fall. 

At summer's end, after giving the Duluth community Project 30/30, which was both performance and exhibition, she returned to the Big Apple for autumn inspiration and continuation of her studies/explorations there. Now, she's back and preparing to show featuring new paintings of Manhattan's Central Park and Duluth's Stoney Point at the Minnesota Win Exchange.

A Balcony, Amsterdam Avenue

If you follow the local art scene and you've not been to the MN Wine Exchange you are missing out on a very cool space. It is just off the corner of Duluth's busiest section, next to the Double Dutch on Superior Street. What a great hive of art activity this corner has become, with Jitters anchoring the other end of the block, Lizzard's in the middle and the PROVE up around the corner. Pizza Luce is always showcasing local art as well with Artist Kamikaze V currently on display there. But the MWE is our newest slot with walls downstairs and a fabulous gallery space up.

The opening for Atwater's show will be November 2, with music by Matt Mobley. I caught up with the artist as soon as I heard about this event.

EN: What was the biggest thing that got you jazzed during your most recent trip to the Big Apple?

From Lake & Boathouse Central Park Series

AJ: The Upper West Side. The neighborhood blossomed before my eyes the minute I stepped outside my apartment on West 71st and Broadway. I could see the subway station and feel the energy of the people at the mad-house intersection of Broadway, 71st and Amsterdam. Book vendors line parts of Amsterdam. I would stop by, pick up a book, chat, all the while listening to saxophone music drifting down the avenue. The deli on the corner. Trader Joe's across the street where it takes 13 minutes to get to the checkout on a busy day, people shopping as they move down the checkout line, grabbing bunches of fresh spinach, avocados, bags of onions. I call it shopping in line. Then, I'd grab the 1 train and in a flash be at Columbus Circle/Central Park. Two blocks away was my home away from home, the Art Students League on West 57th where I painted. What got me jazzed was the city itself. It's incredible good energy. The arts are present at every turn: Plays are preformed near the fountain in Columbus Circle, found sculptures appear out of nowhere, the Village does amazing food tours, hip-hoppers take over crowded subways. This results in a richly detailed, powerful life force.

Piece from the Stoney Point Series

EN: What new direction did your art take and why? What was the primary impetus for the work you produced this fall?

AJ: I'm working now more with edges...doubling up on edges, squiggling them, pushing them and defining them with thin black lines, giving them new dimensions. Also continuing to work with the idea of flat space, much like Japanese artists do. With planes. Learning how to see it all in space, yet on a 2D surface. The city itself, again, is responsible for what I produced, like my Central Park Series. As I painted Manhattan's most famous park, the horizon line so prevalent in Duluth was also present and transplanted into a small series of abstract landscapes titled Stoney Point. Both locations I live in influence my artwork through their sheer and really exciting differences.


Minnesota Wine Exchange is locally owned and dedicated to serving wine produced by Minnesota wineries buys local produce and uses sustainable products. Located in the heart of downtown Duluth, Minnesota Wine Exchange offers a simple, elegant menu served in the midst of work by artists. For more information visit minnesota-wine-exchange.net

Atwater paints at the Art Students League in Manhattan and operates a studio/gallery in Duluth’s Lakeside neighborhood. For more information visit ajatwater.com.

Local Art Seen: AJ Atwater at the Zeitgeist

It's rather astonishing how quickly an idea-seed can germinate and become a full flowered phenomenon. When I met painter AJ Atwater at her Urban Landscapes show at the Washington Gallery seven weeks back, PROJECT 30/30 did not yet exist, even as an idea. But when it flashed, Penny Perry of Perry Framing was there to help bring it to fruition. Whether impulsiveness or simply a lifetime of good instincts, the net result was a fabulous body of work which is now on display at the Zeitgeist Arts Cafe.

The concept in brief: PROJECT 30/30 was thirty days of live painting in a public space, the showroom window of Perry Framing on the 200 block of East Superior Street here in Duluth. Each painting itself was 30" x 30". People passing by on the street were invited, by signage on the window, to enter and to interact with Atwater. And ultimately, the individual pieces were given titles by random people who participated in this interaction.

Basket of Color (left) and #4.

Whereas all the titles were fun -- Stradishes, Meadow and Tulips, Yellow Leaf, Friends Forever -- the title on Day 29 made me laugh out loud: #4.

Stradishes, of course.

The work itself showed vigor and remarkable variety. Clearly the artist made the most of her vividly colorful pallet, which showed a marked contrast to the darker shades in her urban nightscapes. The very pleasing outcome has to reflect something of her perceptions of our Northland landscape-on-the-lake. Having been following along on Facebook, each day was like new present under the Christmas tree, emotionally exciting and visually stimulating.

Atwater (left) interacts with friends, guests and fans.

I'd like to say much more than this but it would sound like I'm gushing. The June show at Washington Gallery made me a fast fan of Atwater's work and PROJECT 30/30 only re-affirmed my initial impressions.

Recommendation: On Monday August 5 artist Martin DeWitt's August show will be opening in the Zeitgeist Atrium. I strongly encourage you to use that opportunity to see two really exceptional talents with strong Duluth connections here in the same building. Can't make it to the opening? The Zeitgeist food is exceptional, so take a lunch hour to savor both the visual and the culinary delights.

Thank you AJ for following your whim on this one, and to Penny Perry for curating such a fabulous offering.