Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA)
1865  Broadway, 61st street    New York
Re-Cycle, Re-Create, Re-Imagine
An Exhibition by Vickie Frémont

The exhibition will be visible, non-stop, to pedestrians of all ages, ethnicities, sexes, and economic levels 24hours from June 18, through September 30, 2009.

The project, which is sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA), will combine a series of recycling workshops and an art exhibition of puppets representing each African country.

MOBIA is delighted to be the site of the exhibition and workshops. Since contemporary theological discourse touches upon the spiritual underpinnings of the ecological movement, namely that we, as stewards of God’s good creation, are morally bound to conserve and preserve our physical world in all its beauty much as we are bound to live reverently with one another, the RE… project is perfectly suited to MOBIA’s mission to explore the artistic and cultural heritage of the Bible in all its manifestations.
This series of events takes place as Africa celebrates fifty years of independence.  It aims at expanding knowledge about Africa and deepening the love we share for the continent.
We are  also celebrating the 15th anniversary of first all-race democratic elections. In mid-April of this year, South Africa will go to the polls for just the fourth time since the end of Apartheid to elect a new government – a momentous event that confronts both new possibilities and new difficulties for the country. It is the best of times, and yet the most challenging of times for this country , we should put light on South Africa.

Recently after a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I noticed as I was walking home a beautiful image on a scaffolding of a topless island woman. It turned out that the  image was an advertisement for the Adelson Gallery which is currently having an exhibition of new works by Stephen Scott Young.

Stephen Scott Young Jamaica, 2009 Drybrush watercolor on Twinrocker handmade tinted paper 14 3/8 x 16 1/2 inches

Rarely have I a seen such amazing work. I was completely mesmerized by the stunning light, tones and level of realism. Each piece resonated mastery, every line done with exquisite precision and love.

I was completely captivated by this remarkable exhibition of nudes, still lifes, landscapes and delicate ballerinas.

Mr Young is inspired by old masters, particularly Caravaggio and Vermeer, as well as  American Artist Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper, though it is clear he has developed his own unique style. Do not miss this wonderful opportunity to witness ” Great Art”! I have been back three times.

Adelson Gallery 19 East 82nd Street, Monday - Friday 9:30 - 5:30. 212-439-6800

My Favorites from the Exhibition:

Stephen Scott Young Stagelight, 2009

Stephen Scott Young Taking Aim, Eleuthera, 2008 Drybrush watercolor on Twinrocker handmade paper 22 x 31 inches

Stephen Scott Young Seabrook Morning, 2007-08 Drybrush watercolor on Twin rocker handmade paper 18 x 22 3/8 inches

Stephen Scott Young Old Charleston, 2007-08 Drybrush watercolor on Twinrocker handmade paper 31 1/4 x 22 1/2 inches

Stephen Scott Young Township Steeples, 2008 Drybrush watercolor on Twinrocker handmade paper 15 x 10 1/2 inches

Stephen Scott Young Emerald, 2009 Drybrush watercolor on Twinrocker handmade paper 18 x 31 3/4

Stephen Scott Young Study for Emerald, 2009 Graphite on Bristol paper 8 1/8 x 12 inches

Stephen Scott Young Ballerina, July 2008 Silverpoint on gessoed panel 24 x 24 inches

Stephen Scott Young Genesis , 2009 Drybrush watercolor on Fabriano Uno paper 21 3/8 x 27 1/2 inches

This morning I’ve been catching up on all my blog reading. I got laid off from my job about six weeks ago and I’ve been spending a lot of time on the internet either looking for a job or inspiration on the design blogs to add to my already huge file of interior design ideas when I ran across an art blog I have never seen before called Bearded Roman about art in the classical sense.

The current post is about the exhibition, Picasso: Challenging the Past, currently on show at the National Gallery in London, is a well-documented testament to the artist’s admiration for artists that he made posthumous collaborators in his work, among them Goya, Velázquez, Poussin, Ingres, and El Greco.

I enjoyed this blog because I’m a fan of classical art and the idea of being able to get inside  an exhibition in London and the artist/blogger’s thoughts on the show. If you can’t fly to London this is the next best thing. Also liked his selection of Recent Articles about Art Worth Reading.

READ ENTIRE POST HERE

My favorite art to collect is Ethnographic. I’m excited to share with you my most recent finds from  India, Gujarat, Village of Dhebaria of the Rabari people. All of the items are from the 19th century.The craftsmanship and  attention paid to detail on the embroidered  and carved pieces is stunning! Exclusively available through Box of Crayons, for inquiries contact 917-553-4212.

India, Gujarat, Kutch- Rabari People

The Rabari people are mysterious to outsiders; their life style seems totally different from any other tribe in the area. Nowadays many foreigners do research on the Rabari people. The Rabari can be nomadic or semi-nomadic. Most of the time, they wander with their herds. In Kutch, there are about 2500 to 3000 Rabari families; 70% of which are nomads.

The Rabari people are tribes of nomadic camel drivers who were settled in the state of Gujarat, the west of India near Pakistan. The Rabari women excel at the art of the embroidery. Some of the textiles (for example the camel blanket) required 6 months of work for 2 woman. It was during their spare time that the women embroidered and passed on their know-how to the girls. Many of the pieces were made by young girls (assisted by the women in their family) for their dowry; the greater the collection of embroidered textiles in the dowry the more valuable  the bride is considered. However, the textiles are a material expression of their unique culture.

All the items shown are authentic antique artifacts of the Rabari people made for their own use.

Rajasthan India :

“Woman’s blouse” (mushroom embroidery ). A cloth that allows silk to be used on the exterior and cotton on the interior of a garment- A technique developed for and by Muslim people. Made by Rajput People. Rajasthan, India
32.5″x12″
Beautiful framed.

"Kadla"-Pair of metal anklets with engraved designs. The "Kadla" are important ornament given to the bride by groom's family at engagement time. From the village of Dhebaria of the Rabari people. Kutch, Gujarat India Diameter 4.5"- Beautiful Framed!

Double form wood carved with floral motifs, used for making chapatis (Indian bread) during the religious ceremonies. Jain people, Gujarat, India end of the XIX century. 19.5" x H 4. Great displayed as decorative item on a table , shelves, or a console.

"Double sided stone" for ayurdevic medecine. Fron Kutch, Gujarat, India, 7.5"x3"5.7"-------

"Sari"-An ornamental set for cleaning the ears and theeth. Silver. Given to the bride by groom's family at engagement time. From the village of Dhebaria of the Rabari people. Kutch, Gujarat India Length 4.5" Beautiful stitched on velvet and framed!

“Kothali” “dowry sack, cotton cloth, cotton thread, tassels, appliqué, quilted.Hand-Embroided.From the village of Dhebaria of the Rabari people. Kutch, Gujarat India
20″x 13.5″
Beautiful Framed.

“Cushion for the head”- Cushion worn when women carry large vessels of water or grain on the head. Hand-Embroided with pieces of mirror. From the village of Dhebaria of the Rabari people. Kutch, Gujarat India
6.5″x 3″x 9″– Great displayed framed in a shadow box.

Detail of Camel Blanket

James Cohan Gallery is pleased to announce the exhibition of Gamboa, a dazzling new sculptural installation by Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes. Originally created for Prospect.1 New Orleans Biennial, Gamboa (2008) is chandelier-like mobile with suspended glittering ornaments. Recurring motifs from Milhazes’s well-known paintings populate the sculpture, reflecting the artist’s desire to celebrate the shared cultural traditions of Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans. As she explained in The New York Times, “New Orleans was always about the vitality, the dancing and the music. So I link it — the carnival in New Orleans with the Carnival in Rio. It will make this kind of dialogue between two cities.”

Milhazes has exhibited widely in museums around the world and represented Brazil at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003. She has participated in several other international biennial exhibitions, including the Shanghai Biennale, 2006; Bienal de São Paolo, 2006 and 1998; the 11th Biennale of Sydney, 1998 and the Carnegie International, 1995. Milhazes was born in 1960 in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, where she lives and works today.

A major solo exhibition of Milhazes’s work will open at the Cartier Foundation in Paris on April 4th, 2009 and will remain open until June 21. www.fondationcartier.com

To access articles and reviews for Beatriz Milhazes and bio and bibliographic information, please consult her artist page at www.jamescohan.com/artists/beatriz-milhazes

James Cohan Gallery
New York
533 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
T: 212.714.9500
F: 212.714.9510
Tuesday-Saturday 10am-6pm
info@jamescohan.com

For further information, please contact Jane Cohan at jane@jamescohan.com or telephone 212-714-9500.

Mastering Moulding Color Choices
The chances of finding just the right moulding to coordinate with a specific color in a piece of art are better than ever. However, with all the color choices we have at our fingertips comes the challenge of zeroing in on the perfect one. From time to time, art has such an unusual color palette that it’s difficult to find even one frame to flatter it. Thankfully, today, a more common problem is narrowing down the various color choices that do look good.

In my opinion, a successful frame design requires logic, strategizing and even a bit of psychology. When you’re successful, you will: enhance the art (logic); attractively display the art (strategizing); and satisfy your customer (psychology).

Frame colors don't always have to match colors int the art. In the above example, the orange frame blends because it is a cross between the deeper orange and yellow in the art and the lighter mat color surrounding it.

It’s best if the frame design components have a similar level of contrast. The contrast between the mat and frame should somewhat mimic the contrast within the art, and the overall frame design should contrast with the art to a similar degree. When a frame doesn’t offer enough contrast with high-contrast art, it probably won’t be visually strong enough to support the art. When the contrast of the framing is too strong for art with lower contrast, the frame will dominate. READ ARTICLE

New York Antiquarian Book Fair April 3 - 5, 2009

Sofa New York April 16th -19th

I found this artist recently through online social networking and was struck by the powerful images! The artist explores the inner and outer worlds of human existence.I loved the piece Titled: Call Center Girl.Enjoy!

ARTIST STATEMENT

Binary:The Schizophrenia of Existence
In my new series of work, Binary, I explore the tension between surface and self, between the invisible layers of thought and deed, and the multiplicity of voices that crowd our heads daily. Using the medium of the X Ray I travel deep inside – both literally and figuratively – the heads of my subject. The gradations between our thoughts and our expression of them are precisely the amorphous area I wish to delineate in my present series. For instance, a call center worker, stuck in postmodern India’s grey cubicle, is thrown into sharp relief with the flowers around her, which perhaps hint to the world she is denied or one in which she lives secretly, finding her rejuvenation in imagination’s most resplendent chamber. The work is not ironic, or satirical; rather, it approaches her life with ………

- Tushar Waghela

In this volatile economy, art collectors are looking for the next big thing.  Dan Chill, Founder of GINA Gallery of International Naïve Art in Tel Aviv and New York explains why the under appreciated, and, until now, under-exposed genre of Naïve art may be the new frontier.

What is Naivism?

For many, the term “naivism” or “naive art” conjures up the verdant valleys and happy hamlets of Anna Mary Robertson (”Grandma”) Moses, the luxuriant vegetation and exotic jungles of Henri Rousseau, and the balmy South Sea Isles and pristine Tahitian women of Paul Gauguin. Brazilians identify naive art with the fascinating figures of Ivonaldo; the colorful field workers of Ana Maria Dias; and the resplendent forests of Louis Ferreira. Eastern European naive art is associated with the powerful village scenes of Ivan Generalic and Martin Jonas, while, in Israel, we recall the rich Biblical scenes and Kabbalistic imagery of the Safed watchmaker Shalom Moscovitz, lovingly known as “Shalom of Z’fat,” and the anachronistic phantasmagoria of Gabriel Cohen.

Titled: Carpet Ride” by Sophia Kageropoulou from Greece

Defining the Genre

Naivism or naive art is characterized by a refreshing innocence and the charming use of bright colors, child-like perspective and idiosyncratic scale. It portrays simple, easily-understandable and often idealized scenes of everyday life. The naive artist - often self-taught - treats us to a uniquely literal, yet extremely personal and coherent, vision of what the world was, is or should be. It offers us, often in painstaking detail, a timeless and optimistic depiction of an ancient story or Biblical tale, an ordinary occurrence or current event, a special ceremony or daily activity. The naive painting bustles with color and “Magic excitement, brims with wry humor and candor, bubbles with unbridled empathy and love.

The Billiard Championship" by Eduardo Ungar from Argentina

The Appeal of Collecting Naive

The visitor to a naive art gallery or museum is struck by the genre’s mesmerizing nature and near-universal appeal, the timeless nature of the subject matter, reminding us of opportunities missed, of wondrous roads less traveled.   Naïve art is instantly heart-warming and easy to live with.  In addition to its adaptability to virtually all interiors, the typical Naïve artist has not yet neared the top of his or her price range.  Many of these artists are prolific and are continuously creating, but their inaccessibility (often living in remote villages) makes obtaining a piece an interesting study in supply and demand.  The investment potential of original, high quality Naive artworks is limitless.  Now is the time to explore this intriguing and profitable genre.

Naive Artists to watch

- Ivonaldo Veloso de Melo from Brazil has been painting for many years, has significant gallery representation abroad and a wide collector base.  His pieces routinely sell in the $10K-$40K range.  He is still actively painting and his prices will continue to increase

Ivonaldo Veloso de Melo "The Herdsman" (Brazil)

- Eduardo Ungar from Argentina also has been painting for many years and is relatively young so has many more years ahead of him.  His prices have steadily risen over the years and he has been collected and represented throughout Europe, Latin / Central America and the US.  His pieces currently range from about $5K - $20K but are moving up rapidly.

Eduardo Ungar /Titled: Chatting acrylic on canvas, 13 x 20.2 in, 2008

- Anne Strasberg originally from France, now splits her time in studios in Paris and mid-town Manhattan.  She paints in a style that is reminiscent of American folk art.  She has active collectors, especially in Asia here she has produced a calendar.  Her work is currently selling for between $2.5K - $8K

Anne StrasbergTitled: The Delaware River gesso on board, 9.8 x 19.7 in, 2001

- Cuca Romley moved from her homeland of Spain many years ago to the US and now works out of a studio in the Hamptons.  She is represented by a gallery in the Hamptons who also sells her etchings and prints, and by GINA Gallery in Manhattan where only her originals are exhibited.  Romley is gaining a devout follwing of fans who especially like her New York City scenes which range from $15K - $40K

Romley, Cuca Titled: The Joys of Skating oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in, 2003

To learn more about Naïve art from around the world, visit www.ginagallerynyc.com

Gina Gallery is currently exhibiting at the Bridge Art Fair 222 12th Avenue, March 5- 8 Booth 39. Ask for Ann Priftis.