Exhibition: Ed Wentz and Jane Ellen Murray

O.P.A. - Eastern Regional

Tim Rees, "Roman Breakfast"





Zhiwei Tu, "Old Man Smoking his Pipe"








Mary Qian, "White II"








"Congratulations to Chicago's Mary Qian for winning the Silver Medal at the Oil Painters of America's Eastern Regional Exhibition currently being held at the Addison Art Gallery in Orleans, Massachusetts.

Ms. Qian's oil painting "White II" was one of just 86 paintings selected for the exhibition from over 600 artists across the eastern half of the United States and Canada.

As one of the top winners, Ms. Qian will receive $1,000 cash. The exhibit runs through October 15, 2011 and can be seen here


(and perhaps you recognize the model, as well as the chair)

Palette and Chisel at Re:Chicago

Carl Hoeckner "Cold Steel"



To celebrate the opening of it's facility,
(conveniently located so close to the Fullerton station
on the Red Line,
you can look through it's window from the platform),
the DePaul University Art Museum
is running a show called "Re:Chicago"
that



"shows work by 40 artists, each chosen by a member of the Chicago art world, and invites viewers to join in a conversation about who’s famous, who used to be, and who ought to be."





Of course,
as with all exhibitions,
that "conversation" is exclusively one-way,
but still
it's more engaging
than usual museum exhibits
where an anonymous voice
has posted authoritative text up on the wall.



With no attempt to cover
the prominent names and styles,
there are many significant omissions.
(not a single landscape is being shown!)


But happily,
Esther Sparks,
an experienced curator and art historian
who has worked at the A.I.C. and many
area universities in her 40 year career,
has picked one of our members,
Carl Hoeckner.

Hoeckner was one of the rebellious
P&C modernists
who stormed out in a huff around 1920.

But, contentious character that he was,
he never belonged to any organization
for a great length of time,
even if he founded them.




As Sparks wrote in the text
that accompanied the above print,
Hoeckner was
"Dedicated to the bitter truth"


***********

BTW, the above print
appears on several sites on the internet,
most curiously
on this one that features homoerotic art.

The Henry Maron Alphabet

Henry Maron cornered me at the Renaud Memorial last night
and said I had to see his new alphabet.


He was right.

It's as delightfully wacky as can be.







Doesn't it feel like it could have been used
for the stationary of the Vienna Secession
or some occult sect of Austrian mystics ?




The only problem,
though possibly insurmountable,
is finding a text worthy of this type face.

New Members: 2011

Alexandra Kowerko

As several recent memorials remind us,
our members are continuously being promoted
to the fourth floor studio.

So it's good to remember
that new members are always joining.

Posting the names and work of new members
should really be done on the Palette and Chisel's own website

But the office already has enough work to do,
and the membership committee no longer exist.




Laura Patterson
Tamera Beeker
Michael Valente
James Johnsen
Alexandra Kowerko (and more here)
Diane Sepielli
Judy Brody
Christie Stewart
Alexandra Levanthal
Michael Rubenstein
Monica J. Klein
Ting-Itoras Chung
Nelson Ghorbanian
Kimberly Beck
Drev Sine
Nancy Littman



(Note: I'd love to show more images and links - if the those listed would send them)

Phil Renaud Memorial Exibition

Quite a crowd gathered for this memorial event, unique, at least during my 20 years at the club.

As expected, there were family, students, and artists.

But what surprised me were all the neighbors who showed up.

Phil and Carol lived on a cul-du-sac that ran up against the Chicago River in Ravenswood Manor, such a pleasant little area that people got to know each other and never moved away.




Phil did this portrait when he was 16.
That's his Chicago home on the left.




I wish I could have shot the drawings close-up, but there was too much reflection. More of Phil's work can be seen here
























































Here's Phil's son, Bret, as a lifeguard. (he's now working on a much larger boat as a diver for the Chicago Fire Department)

grandson Phil

Here's an excerpt from a letter that was read. sent by a lifetime friend from Phil's hometown of Edmonton, Alberta:





Anybody that knew Phil knew that he was unflappable, a very laidback kind of guy A perfect example was the morning we were leaving our small city of 125,000 plus to the metropolis of Chicago.

I went to pick him up at the scheduled time of 8:00am. so that we could catch our ride with friends from Springfield who were returning home from visiting family.

When I arrived Phil was still in bed sound asleep! His mum & I got him up dressed, packed, fed & out the door just in time to catch our ride. He remained almost totally unfazed thru this whole process.

When Phil & I arrived in Chicago we set up house in a small, walk-up tenement apartment on the fourth floor with no view on State & Ohio.

We started our classes about one week late & walked into a nude life class in progress (a first for us) and proceeded to set up our drawing boards, all the while trying to maintain some semblance of cool.

Trying to concentrate on our task ahead of us, I nudged Renaud and said” Phil!, there’s a pretty girl looking at me, I think she likes me” Phil! glanced over and nonchalantly said “oh yah” and went back to his board.

As it turned out she wasn’t looking at me but at Phill!! That girl was Carol Cooper, Phil’s future wife, and the rest is history.




Here's his obituary in the Chicago Sun-Times.


Portrait by Mary Qian



(my New City review of the show is here )