Local Art Seen: Robert Pokorney at the PROVE

The artist against a backdrop titled Wisconsin Field (Highway 13), Evening.

Artist Bob Pokorney is back in Duluth. After studying painting at Colorado College, Pokorney has returned to his home town for a showing of large paintings at the PROVE Gallery downtown. The exhibition that opened last night will run through October 28 with gallery hours from Thursday to Saturday 4-7 p.m. each week. (Private showings can be arranged by appointment by contacting the gallery, info at provegallery.com.)

The title of the show is "New Large Paintings" and indeed these oils on masonite are suitably described thereby. The largest piece is 72" x 96" and a number of these paintings are six feet tall by four feet wide.

As you can see here Pokorney takes a traditional approach to the landscapes and cityscapes he describes with with the various pigments from his palette, from saturated hues to muted pastels. The paintings conveyed an early David Hockney feel to me. It's a show worth seeing.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Engage 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

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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.

A Visit with Artist Philosopher Dan Hansen

I'm not sure he would call himself a philosopher, but he's in that territory as an explorer of intellectual concepts. He would probably call it grazing, and certainly brings an enthusiasm that is unusual to everything he does.

Dan Hansen's current enthusiasm is preparing for his upcoming show at Benchmark Tattoo for the month of April. I first met Hansen in the fall of 2012 in a show at Duluth's PRØVE Gallery. I quickly discovered that the artist is as entertaining as his work.

Currently he is racing against the clock to get his work ready for the exhibition, with its opening reception slated for April 3.

EN: What are the themes in your upcoming art show? 

Dan Hansen: My upcoming show entitled 'Sofia' (Greek for wisdom) is a work of historical fiction that is presented as an archeological find of Pythagoras' lost writings. So the theme is very Indiana Jones for lack of a better description. The content is focused on the philosophy and creation myth of each number 1-10 in our base 10 number system. Pythagoras is most famous for being the originator of western mathematics and the Pythagorean Theorem, yet he was foremost a philosopher and mystic. All we know of him is what has been written from other Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. There's controversy as to whether Pythagoras existed or not. For me this does not detract from the fascinating idea that numbers comprise everything from nature to music to cosmology.

EN: How did you become interested in fractals?

DH: At first in high school I thought fractals were interesting from an aesthetic design perspective with its infinite complexity. A few years later they became more profound to me when I learned of the Fibonacci sequence and golden spirals. Whether it was fantasy or not I was convinced there was some kind of infinite resolution and pattern built into the fabric of reality. This pattern of reality I viewed in my minds eye as some kind of 4 dimensional fractal. This combined with the idea of hypercubes got me thinking maybe this is how movement is possible within a fixed infinite tapestry that is the fractal. It could all very well be a pseudo scientific fantasy playing in my head but it has a tendency to provide an entertaining context to the world around me. It also gives me that Game Genie feel from the NES era... let's get Mario to jump over the flag pole and see what's on the other side!

EN: How did you go about producing the work that will be displayed in this show? Run through the stages from concept to execution.

DH: It all started with a ton of research. I studied up on various Greek philosophers. Since so many Greek philosophers seemed to be heavily influenced by Pythagoras I decided to steal a bunch of their ideas and pawn them off as Pythagoras himself. Then I tried to write it in a Biblical/Shakespearean style. I'd use Illustrator to manipulate the text to make it look worn out and scrunch everything into neat tidy columns. Designing the images accompanying the text came after that. I went for a modest hand drawn look. I checked out some Greek writings from Euclid and his drawings were basic. I couldn't find Socrates writing. Plato was a bit more artistic and it seemed Aristotle was a lot more artistic. So considering Pythagoras came before all of them I went for an in between of Euclid and Plato look. After all that I ordered up 12 sheets of 24"x36" Egyptian papyrus from Egypt because I couldn't find a place in the US that sold sheets that big. That process was a fiasco, but I did finally get them 4 weeks later after getting my bank involved with the transaction dispute. Now I'm still waiting on the print shop to get their printer operational so I can experiment on the test print to artificially age the papyrus to give it that ancient feel. So it's down to the wire folks!

EN: You are a disabled artist. Has your disability influenced the premise of this exhibit?

DH: Great question, Ed. Yes it surely has. One of the most challenging things in my situation is staying interested in life without having access to thrill seeking activities such as parkour, free climbing, a career, hang gliding, women, wingsuit flying or base jumping. Many times I've fantasized about running down 21st Avenue with a hang glider just to see if I could clear the power lines and catch the biggest adrenaline rush known to Dazzle Town. That's all just that...fantasy. I have to dig way deeper than that to up my fantasy rush. That has been evolving the past decade which has arrived at investigating the nature of reality. Peeling back the veil like a kid taking apart his Blu Ray player to see what's inside. As a kid I'd be fascinated by that little projector window in the back of the movie theater. I'd look at it more than the movie and observe not one person even remotely concerned where this movie was coming from. Who is the mysterious projector guy running it? I think subconsciously I've always been trying to find this projectionist. He's never where anyone claims he is. It's a controversial task. People have their beliefs and I have miles of boredom to remedy. It could get ugly, it could be the best move I ever made. That's my disability, that's my art show, that's my new thrill!

EN: What is your favorite color and why?

DH: My favorite color is Yellow Brick Road. Because I'm a Wizard of Oz fan. I wish all my t-shirts were this color they really pop with my red headed dome. Unfortunately I can only find those awful canary yellow shirts with nothing clever written on them.

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You can see here why Dan Hansen is on my short list of most interesting people I've met through blogging about the arts. Thank you, Dan, for sharing your ideas here and in your upcoming show.

Benchmark Tattoo and Gallery is located at 1831 East 8th Street, kitty corner from Chester Creek Cafe/Sarah's Table.

Five Minutes with Duluth Illustrator Ashley Marnich

"Grip"

I can't seem to recall where I first noticed the work of Duluth illustrator Ashley Marnich. What I do know is that Marnich has developed the ability to transform the nebulous and ethereal into detailed imagery that makes an impact.

EN: What do you currently do for a living?
Ashley Marnich: I currently do freelance work out of my small home studio.

EN: How did you take an interest in drawing? Who were your early influences?
AM: I honestly can’t think of a time that I didn’t have an interest in drawing. Far back as I can remember some form of creativity occupied much my time. My mom likes to joke that I was born with pencil in my hand and ready to draw. Early influences came in the form of Old school Disney cartoons, Jim Henson movies, and the surrealistic concept art of Roger Dean and Syd Mead.

EN: A lot of your work is quite edgy. How did this line of illustration develop?
AM: My style and subject matter partly developed on its own over time. I can’t really explain why I tend to draw darker subject matter. In the past I tried to stick to lighter subjects but my imagination would gravitate back. I am not a dark person but I am an emotional person and it plays a large role in what I create. Life experiences both happy and sad have a place in my creative process which is very cathartic. The integration of anatomy in my art didn’t come until I took a ‘Human Anatomy for Artists’ course my sophomore year of college. I quickly fell in love with the great amount of skill used in anatomical illustrations and began experimenting with my own form of anatomical illustration. I’ve battled many illnesses throughout my life and undergone several joint surgeries. Being able to see the internal human form as a work of art has really helped me understand and work through obstacles within my own body.

"Morning Commute"

EN: Are you selling your work? Do you have a following locally or nationally?
AM: Prints of nearly all my work are available to purchase and I’m free to create custom art as well. I’m not quite sure about a following but it’s always a surprise when I find out how many people have viewed and appreciate my art. It’s not uncommon for me to receive an email or Facebook message in another language and the only words I understand are the titles of my art pieces. Unfortunately, my work hasn’t had many chances to be seen locally in Duluth given my subject matter but a few pieces from my BIKE series are on display at the Duluth International Airport. The Tangent Gallery in Detroit Michigan has been very kind to me and my artwork over the past six years. Every year the Tangent Gallery hosts The Damned and Corpus Illuminata, both are exhibits that cater and encourage edgy dark art. http://thatdamnedshow.com/ and http://www.corpusilluminata.org/

EN: What kind of formal training have you had?
AM: I graduated from the College for Creative Studies Detroit MI with a BFA in Illustration.

EN: Who are your favorite artists?
AM: I admire a really long list of artist but the top few are Greg Simkins, Chuck Tam, Ekundayo and Marco Mazzoni.

"Heavy"

EN: Where does your inspiration come from?
AM: I mostly find my inspiration everywhere and an idea for an art piece can come to me at any time. However I do find that when I am moving and active ideas flow much better. I also try to spend a lot of time with nature. Plants, animals, earth, water and rocks can be good teachers of how light and shadow play off each other to affect color and form. I also see a lot of human elements in nature and try to convey that. A twisted tree root can instantly make me think of twisted muscle and sticks might look like bone. I feel that we as people may all look different on the outside but are very much the same on the inside. We have hearts, brains, muscles and bones; everyone is connected in that way. My mind creates what it wants to create. Since I can remember, every successful art piece of mine was first laid out in my mind. It sounds a bit strange but I need to imagine an image fully finished before I even start sketching it out. As I work the image will sometimes change a bit from how I originally envisioned it but the concept remains the same.

EN: What are your favorite mediums to work with?
AM: The mediums I tend to gravitate toward and am most comfortable with are graphite, watercolor, ink, and Adobe Photoshop.

To see more work by Ashley Marnich visit http://marnich.daportfolio.com/

"Meeting"

From KC to Big Lake Country: Spotlight on Artist Karen Owsley Nease

In late summer of 1994, Karen Nease and her husband made their first trip to the North Country. As they crested Thomson Hill on I-35 and saw Lake Superior spread out before them in the setting sun, her life’s direction changed. She knew instantly that she had to live near the big lake.

EN: How did you become an artist? What kind of work do you do?

KN: To hear my mother tell it, I was born drawing and that need has continued to this day. Both my parents were very encouraging and kept me stocked in art supplies and provided me with painting lessons in grade school and junior high. My first two degrees were in Architectural Engineering and Environmental Design. I worked as an architect for eight years and became disappointed with how little of my creative energy was being used, so I went back to college at the Kansas City Art Institute where I earned my BFA in painting and printmaking. It was a wonderfully rigorous classical education in painting. Since then, my work and exhibitions have included painting, printmaking, drawing, and book arts. I also work with digital arts using both Photoshop and AutoCAD to create complex patterned collaged overlays. Most of my work is nature based and very process oriented. It varies from representational to abstract depending on the focus of that particular exploration. My major paintings have three threads right now. Water, trees and abstractions related to my digital work. When it warms up, I'm going to get my French easel out and start doing plein air paintings of the northland. My printmaking and drawing usually follows whatever I'm painting, and my book arts are just very personal exercises in craftsmanship.

EN: You had an art gallery in Kansas City. What was the name of your gallery and how long did you and your husband run it?

KN: Our art gallery was called Joseph Nease Gallery. My husband, Joe (day job: civil engineer) was the director/curator and I assisted. We showed contemporary art by Kansas City and regional artists. It was a "white box" NY style gallery in the Crossroads art district of Kansas City. Most of the art we showed tended to be more abstract expressionist or minimalist than work I’ve seen here. We had the space from 1998 - 2003. Our gallery was a critical success, but was not sustainable commercially. After we closed the gallery we both went full time into our respective day jobs of civil engineering and architecture. I continued to paint and exhibit some. I did less art for a few years because of work demands.

We have spent the past year moving our art collection and my studio along with our household. We are finally settled and are in the process of buying a building in west Duluth for my studio space and a likely exhibition space for Joe to ply his curatorial skills.

EN: How did you come to move to Duluth? 

KN: For my upcoming show at the Duluth Art Institute (Spring 2015), I am going to have a body of minimalist color studies dealing only with the horizon of Lake Superior. So as not be redundant with the description here I have attached my working artist's statement. My final artist statement will likely change - maybe a lot. The statement also tells a little about how we came to move to Duluth. We came for the outdoor lifestyle and discovered that it is a very civilized little city right up against the wilderness. We love that combination.

EN: You noted how process oriented some of your work seems to be. How did these processes develop over the years?

KN: I suspect it is because of my work in architecture, which is totally process oriented and I became comfortable with a particular way of working. In architecture, there is the idea, the programming, the drawing, and the construction, etc. Within each of those larger phases, there are preliminary through final phases, each with its own distinct considerations. I treat my art in the same way. I plan out what I want to accomplish with a body of work, such as the premise, the appearance, the media, the ground and so on. I narrow the parameters enough to stay on target, leaving enough flexibility just in case something serendipitous occurs - I can use it at the time or maybe it becomes a new direction for a later body of work. It is important to me to really explore an idea to see how far it can be taken. Sometimes an idea will really only support a few pieces in a series while other ideas I work on feel like they can continue to be mined for a long time. I have always worked in this way. I have refined my working process through the years in order to make the most efficient use of my studio time.

EN: Can you describe some of the details that have gone into your recent paisley series?

KN: The Mr. and Mrs. Paisley series are handmade digital collages. The "template" design and geometry is developed in AutoCAD, a commonly used drafting program in architecture. I set that aside, and then begin taking images or snippets of my own paintings, images from the internet, photos I've taken, fabric or things put on a scanner, whatever comes to mind. I take these small images, manipulate and combine them into a repeating pattern in Photoshop and print that out a large sheet. Using the templates I start cutting openings out of the patterned sheets. After I cut the first patterned sheet, I lay it over a different one lining up things to show through the openings of the first cut sheet, and so on. Most of these collages have 5-8 patterned sheets laid over one another. The choice of the patterns can be based on subject matter, color, scale of the pattern. I don't have a preconception of what the finished piece will look like. These works are very much influenced by various folk arts - Appalachian quilting, oriental rugs, Latin American Molas and Ukrainian Pysanky eggs. The Mr. and Mrs. Paisley series is autobiographical because I create patterns showing what my husband and I are interested in or doing at the time I worked on them.

EN: I'm fascinated with the book projects. What inspired you along these lines?

KN: I have always loved books. I am an avid reader. The art school I attended had a strong program in books as art, that is where I became interested in them as art objects. I often make books that are miniaturized versions of my larger paintings, prints and etchings. For me, one of the most important and unique aspects of books as art is how they draw the viewer into the same space and distance as the artist was when making it. Unlike how most paintings and sculptures are exhibited, the viewer holds the book or looks down upon it on a table. I like that. I like that close interaction.


EdNote: The Joseph Nease Gallery was thrice featured in Art In America. Portions of this interview originally appeared in The Reader.