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

* * * *

"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

* * * * 

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. 

Local Art Seen: New Work by Claudia Faith and Eric Horn

"So Sheep May Safely Graze" -- Claudia Faith

The Duluth Art Institute is preparing for their Fall Exhibitions now. Yesterday afternoon I slipped in to catch a preview and found the walls in the Morrison and Steffl Galleries are stripped bare, getting arranged for two new shows that will be presented here. In the corridor gallery there were five large canvases featuring paintings by Claudia Faith, all colorful and delightful, though her message is serious. 

The opening for these three shows will be mid-September. Look for announcements in all the usual places.

"Mothering in Pastel Light"

"The Chosen One"

"Flocking Toward Lovingkindness"

"Living the Lie"

While checking out Kathryn Lenz'z paintings at the Zeitgeist Cafe I spotted a pair of new paintings by Eric Horn in the Zeitgeist Atrium. Eric has been active in the Steampunk community in the past with large and bold concepts executed with passion Here are a pair of eye-catching images, emphatically extracted from pop culture. 

The late Stan Lee.

The Pop Icon formerly known as Prince

Related Links

Top Ten Things to See at the MN State Fair
Visit Twin Ports Art blog to see additional August Arts activities 

2013 Interview with Eric Horn

Info on tomorrow's Poets on the Water (see below)

Local Art Seen: Friday Night's Art Crawl

There is art to be seen at the MN Wine Exchange.

The weather was perfect and the art displayed fabulous. The "Second Friday" art openings made goin' to town worthwhile. And did I already say the weather was perfect?

Washington Gallery

Carla Hamilton

My evening started at Washington Gallery where Carla Hamilton's Euphoric Recall was displayed. Hamilton, who is back in Duluth after eighteen years in Germany, is producing work in a range of styles in a variety of media including wax, enamel, tempera and water color, acrylic, paper and newspaper fragments.  We spoke briefly about the work and she explained that she is working on a liberation of sorts, because a school can produce a fixed set of rules that constrain you from within.

A mixed media expression by Carla Hamilton.

As I returned to making art in recent years I, too, had to find who I was by breaking the rules I had at one time made for myself (or had imposed on me.) "What is art?" is a big question with no set answer, but it's a quest each of us wrestles with. The gallery is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1-5 p.m. if you are able to swing by. Hamilton's work will be on the walls through the end of the month.

It was interesting how the work was presented. The pieces were individually numbered in a discreet manner that provided minimal distract from the art. If I'd taken my time I would have looked at the work while reading their titles, some of which you may find shocking. Others were fun, like "Jacked Up Raggedy Ann", "Burn Barrel" and "Jelly Bean." The work is very reasonable priced and my only regret is that I did not take more time with some of the individual pieces.

Dunner Mann

One piece that I especially liked turned out to be by her son Emanuel Hamilton Eisele. Titled Dunner Mann, it is a painting on glass with the outline of man scraped clean away. Paul Klee came to mind, and maybe Modigliani's long necked women.

Minnesota Wine Exchange
This was a totally unexpected experience. I'd parked down on Superior Street across from Lizzard's Gallery and planned to walk up the hill instead of down. On my way to Double Dutch, where Jay Whitcomb's work is being displayed, I noticed this place I'd not seen before. Upon entering I noticed that there was art on the wall and I struck up a conversation with the proprietors Debbie Fellman and Brent Johanson. As it turns out they have a wonderful space with a fabulous art showroom upstairs. I'm not sure how long the current work will be up but the works of two local notables -- Philip C. Jones and the late John Peyton -- can be appreciated there for now.

Considering the quality of the work, and the wine, I was surprised no one was here on this Friday evening when so much was happening next door and around the corner. Over at the Double Dutch it was a packed house. You couldn't move in the compact space upstairs and the gallery/store space below was full as well. Jay Whitcomb's drawings and images continue to be striking and complicated. The work explores personal spaces that at times appears ghoulishly extracted from the underworld.

PRØVE Collective

Eric Horn and his mechanical hand.

There was much to see Friday evening at the PRØVE, something for everyone, all of it quite exciting beginning with Ryuta Nakajima's fascinating pictures featuring cuttlefish camouflage and related themes. Nakajima is both an artist and associate professor at UMD. The presentation was excellent, the imagery something that stopped you fast in a snappy sort of way.

I noticed, too, that the Crunchy Bunch was performing to the left side of the entrance as opposed to the right. A giant mechanical hand by steampunk artisan Eric Horn served to direct the crowd as it entered. At first you just presumed it was some form of gate or method of directing traffic until you turned and saw what it was. Assembling the big hand must have been no small feat.

A serious looking cat, Ian Welshons

The next section of wall displayed new work by Ian Welshons of Stillwater. I had high expectations after seeing his colorful, off-the-grid work in a group show here last fall. I was not disappointed and have been much impressed by his style and wit as an artist. Currently he is illustrating a story of mine which called A Remarkable Tale from the Land of Podd, which we had running as a slide show in near the hors d'oeurves.

Adam Swanson's work continues to be serious fun, much of it containing motifs he has returned to before like penguins and bicycles. A wonderful painting titled "I Will Write A Sequel" shows a short-haired woman releasing and receiving a pair of birds. Because of his interest in endangered species I am guessing the larger bird is a peregrine falcon. Swanson's paintings have rightfully been receiving a lot of attention. He's just returned froman artist residency in Växjö, Sweden funded in part by a patchwork of grants and miscellaneous connections.

There were works by another artist who was not present and whose name I failed to capture. But I loved his or her Elephant in the Room... something we all tend to dance around at times.

Words are always insufficient when it comes to talking about art. If we could say it with words would we need to make the pieces themselves? The image enters the eye and seeps into places words themselves can never reach. That's why I make the recommendation that you maintain a habit of noticing the art that is all about you here in the North Country.

Three more images from Friday night art crawl:

Elephant in the Room

I Will Write A Sequel

Detail from one of Carla Hamilton's faces.

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.

Steampunk Artist Eric Horn, Revisited

May 16 & 17 the Duluth Art Institute is celebrating the Second Annual Steampunk Spectacular featuring art, fashion, live entertainment and more for Midwest enthusiasts of the Steampunk genre and the creative people who make it happen. I first met Eric Horn at the world premiere of his graphic novel Chronicle (Part I) at a Friends of Industry event in the summer of 2011. Think Jules Verne. Think futuristic contraptions that might have been conceived 120 years ago. Think of a world where flight and travel and life is all steam-powered and imagination-driven. Eric Horn is a talented artist and illustrator who helps bring this world to life.

EN: What is it that gets you so jazzed about the upcoming Steampunk Spectacular?
Eric Horn: I'm excited for a few reasons. First, last year we only had a month to plan for the event and it turned out to be amazing. The second reason is that because we had more time to plan it is bigger, with more to do and see. For years now I’ve been wanting to have a Steampunk convention here in the Twin Ports. It would be fantastic seeing steampunks from all over swarming the streets of Duluth and Superior. We have so much to offer here that fits nicely into the genre and tends to be the type of things those who are Steampunk enthusiasts like to attend such as the Depot, William A Irving, Glensheen Mansion, and other such attractions. This is an opportunity that if done right will greatly benefit the community as a whole. It also gives people a chance to get dressed up and have some fun.

EN: How did you first take an interest in the Steampunk genre?
EH: I was originally introduced to it by a good friend, Erin Gunderson, who designed her own jewelry. She would make cool necklaces with nuts and bolts and gears. I was in my early twenties, around 2000. She’s now in Portland.

EN: Where did “Friends of Industry” come from?
EH: My involvement with Friends of Industry started with Gustave (Campanini) doing a piece for the Artist Kamikaze. He needed detail work done on this piece because he doesn’t do small detail well. I went to his studio and we came up with the idea of creating this show featuring my graphic novel. It was produced like a world premiere with live music and many of the guests wearing their Steampunk designs. Gustave wanted the show to be something with the word Friends in it. Eventually the space became an artist retreat and clubhouse after this show.

EN: What was the inspiration for your graphic Steampunk novel Chronicle?
EH: I’d been wanting to do a comic book for years. Every story line I came up I’d re-write and not like it. As I looked into Steampunk online I said, “Hey, it makes sense if I put my story in the steampunk world, a lot easier to do …. I kept trying to write a story for the modern day, but it wouldn’t work with the elements I wanted to have. But when I put it in Steampunk it could go anywhere. I started working on Chronicle about three years ago. I’d met Richard Rosvall at the Roller Derby and at Carmody’s but never really talked to him. Then I saw some of his work on Facebook and I sought him out to use some of his stuff in the comic.

EN: Can you explain the process?
EH: It begins with imagination. Then we create costumes and scenes and take photos which I then hand-draw based on images I’ve Photoshopped.

EN: How much time do you spend on your drawings? 
EH: Well, that all depends on the piece. Some of my pen and ink drawings have taken me months to do, putting in a couple of hours a day on them. Some I have cranked out in under two hours. As for my self-titled Over Art style (Over Art is when I take a photograph and then ink over it to give it an animated feel and look) I can do a piece in usually a day or three. The longest I have worked on something is years. I have one piece that I still have not finished because of the amount of ink involved, and I also lose focus on finishing it and put it away to work on something else.

EN: Where can people see some of your work? 
EH: People can find my work on my Facebook page. They can also follow the work I do in the studio and other group projects on our "Friends of Industry" Facebook page. I have also been doing Instagram for some time now which is a neat way to expose works to a large audience with ease. We’re currently trying to develop a website, but so far life gets in the way. I have works hanging up at Goin’ Postal in Superior including some new pieces which will be in our May 10 show during visual arts week.

EN: I'll be there. Thanks.

Top right: Photo by Andrew Perfetti

Ten Minutes with Steampunk Artist Eric Horn

I first met Eric Horn at the world premiere of Chronicle at the Friends of Industry event early last summer. Think of Jules Verne. Think of futuristic contraptions that might have been conceived 120 years ago. Think steampunk... a world where flight and travel and life is all steam-powered. And now meet a talented artist and illustrator who is bringing this world to life.

Ennyman: When did you first take an interest in artistic expression and who were your early influences?
Eric Horn: I have always been into drawing and being artistic. Ever since I was able to hold a pencil, crayon, or pen I have been drawing and sketching things. My parents encouraged me to keep at it. My father, Ran Horn, is in his own right a very good artist, who has his own Gallery in west Texas and his own website. He taught me a lot of what I know about drawing and painting. Although we have completely different styles I learned the basics from him. My other influences came from art teachers I had over the years. Two of those teachers had a big impact on me, Mr. Englund and Mr. John Salminen. They taught me that there is more than one way to draw, paint, or take a photo. They also taught me that criticism is not a bad thing, but a way to help improve yourself and your art.

EN: How did you become interested in Steampunk?
EH: Steampunk is something that I stumbled across only a couple of years ago. I fell in love with the look and feel of the genre. I also love the fact that it lends itself to interpretation. Although there are some hardcore steampunk enthusiasts out there, overall there are no real rules on how to be steampunk. As to my art it is very loosely steampunk or I should say it is my version of steampunk, which may or may not fall into what other people view as steampunk. I work with what I have available and the funds to do this, so I have limits on how exact to the genre I can be.

EN: Tell us about your current project, which you shared at the Friends of Industry event last spring.
EH: "Chronicle" is a graphic novel that I have been working on for over a year now. We came up with the idea of showing it as a slide show set to live music for the "Friends of Industry" show last June as a way of introducing the idea to people. It took me over 4 months to do all the art and get the layouts on a DVD. Because I was on a time limit I did not get everything that is going into the final graphic novel. I only had about half an hour for the "film" and had to pick and choose the scenes and shorten any narrative and dialog so the viewers would not be bored. But all said, I think I was able to tell most of the story to a point. This project has taken on a life of its own and I am currently working on continuing the story. I have taken my time getting back on the horse, so to speak, because over the 4 months I worked on the first part it took a lot of energy out of me, and once I get going again I know how much work I have to do. Part one is approximately 25 pages of a comic, give or take. And that is only a third of what we have written, and that third is only a third of what is in our basic outline of the story, not counting the 5 side stories I'm currently writing and story boarding or the re-shoot of the scenes I left out or was not happy with originally.

As to what "Chronicle" is about, it is a gothic, steampunk fairy tale that I have come up with. The bulk of the story takes place on an Air-ship in a world that would resemble the late 1800's. The story has all the good stuff, like action, drama, horror, with a dash of comedy. The story is amazing (if I do say so myself) and I am trying to make sure that all the art in the book is just as amazing. I want my future readers to enjoy the ride I give them and want them to engross themselves in just looking at the pictures of the story.

EN: Like many artists you have a regular job. What is your typical art regimen?
EH: Well in my real life I work at the casino as a Black Jack Dealer, and then I also work at the Renaissance Festival every year. Not sure about my typical art regimen. I usually go in spurts of working on different things. But even when I am not working on anything I do think of ideas of things I would like to do and try. Like I have a couple of ideas for coffee table books, more stories to tell, and paintings I should do. The trick is trying to find the time and motivation to do them....

EN: How much time do you spend on your drawings?
EH: Well, that all depends on the piece. Some of my pen and ink drawings have taken me months to do, putting in a couple of hours a day on them. Some I have cranked out in under two hours. As for my self-titled Over Art style (Over Art is when I take a photograph and then ink over it to give it an animated feel and look) I can do a piece in usually a day or three. The longest I have worked on something is years. I have one piece that I still have not finished because of the amount of ink involved, and I also lose focus on finishing it and put it away to work on something else.

EN: I heard someone say they had no idea you were doing all these fantastic pictures. Have you only recently begun showing? And were you surprised at the positive reactions to your work?
EH: I find that funny as I always have some kind of drawing tablet with me. And thought I was known as the artist in my friend circles. I have done a few shows around town in the past. I have done 4 or so at Jitters coffee house, and I am on the short list if an artist is a no show for the month. But because it is not a real art venue I have not had a lot of exposure. Now that I have been involved with "Friends of Industry" and a few other well advertised and attended shows people are seeing and being exposed to me and my art. I'm now taking every chance I can to get a fan base built for my yet to be published work. No, I am not surprised that people like my work. This sounds conceited, but I know my work is good. If I did not think so I would not be doing it. I have 2 sort of mottos 1) I am awesome! 2) Anything is possible. As long as I can believe in those two things I feel I will make it as an artist. Told you I am a very vain person.

EN: Where can people find examples of your art online?
EH: I mostly have examples of my work on Facebook, and a few of my old black and white ink drawings are on my dad's website VangoghTX.com. I have not had the time or money to build my own site yet, but that is a plan in the future.

EdNote: At last weekend's Goin' Postal show Eric should us some experiments he had been doing using coffee as a medium for creating backgrounds for illustrations. When I saw these I knew I was talking with a kindred spirit.