Saturday, October 31, 2009

Where Do I Belong?



"Where Do I Belong?"


"offers visual artists and poets the opportunity to exhibit their art and to work in collaboration with another artist, each using their chosen medium and unique perspective to answer the question “Where Do I Belong.”

(located in an empty storefront on California
that may or may not
be the Bellavista gallery)

And above is Mary Qian's contribution
to a poem that begins:


I walk along the morning shore,
lost in a sea of thought.
A scatter of jellyfish dots the sand,
a string of aspic jewels.


.....................


I'm not sure about the poetry....
but admit that I'm attracted
by the desperate Romanticism of Mary's vision.

The heroic artist!
facing the dragon,
a tiny paintbrush
her only weapon.




(and obviously
Mary belongs
at the Palette and Chisel)



Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Exhibit: Helena Engle and her Converging Divergences




Thankfully, the last serious attempt
by the Palette and Chisel
to keep up with the perpetual avant garde
was back in 1915.

(and even then, it was mostly tongue in cheek)

But, let's face it,
there are 25 contemporary artists in Chicago
for every square foot of gallery space,
so why not let some of them show
their work at 1012 N. Dearborn?

This show was curated
by Helena Engle
(that's her piece above the fireplace)






Other artists include:


Anastasia Mak, Benton Lenz, Brad Pogatetz,
Deirdre Fox, and Peter Gray















Freedom of expression is a wonderful thing.


But I'm certainly glad
this kind of show
is the exception
rather than the rule
at the Palette and Chisel.
(which is, itself,
an exceptional institution,
and, hopefully,
will stay that way)





Sally Strand Workshop





On the way to the coach house sculpture workshop last Sunday,
I came across this charming scene
in the P&C garden











That's Ann McMurray
posing as
"Lady in bathrobe with bird-feeder"
to be used that day
by the students in Sally Strand's workshop





(and those are a few of the sculptors
in the background,
patiently waiting for our model)








Here's a scene of Sally doing a pastel demo,
kindly sent by Kathleen Newman


(I try to get photos of the completed demos
for these events,
but only sometimes am successful)

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Zhiwei Tu Paints Andy Chan



Here's the portrait
that Zhiwei Tu
painted of Andy Chan
at a demo
one Saturday last month.


There's so much energy
buzzing around,
he could be a Taoist saint.

Something like Pai Mei




BTW,
Zhiwei Tu
is the only
member of the Palette and Chisel,
past or present,
who, to my knowledge,
has a museum
dedicated to his work.


(no - wait - there's Albin Polasek museum
in Florida.)



Sunday, October 04, 2009

Exhibit: Richmond and Christine Jones

Richmond A. Jones






















Christine Osada Jones








































Saturday, October 03, 2009

J. Jeffrey Grant at Chicago Antiques Fair

Richard Norton Gallery
brought these
newly acquired scenes
by J. Jeffrey Grant
to the Fall Antiques Fair
at the Merchandise Mart
this year






with the special treat
being
these two.....






views of Galena