Passages: Mark Cleveland, Sarah Kaiser, Joseph Taylor

 

Mark Cleveland

I suspect that only Palette N Chisel people 

saw the Chicago Cityscape Show 

which I mounted  last Fall.

But at least it had an effect!

Mark tells me that the above piece was inspired by the Roland Kulla piece

that was included in my show.

 *******

Joseph Taylor

These are some beautiful, and familiar, urban visions.

This is the Chicago I know and love 

while biking the alleys in the Loop

on my way to the Art Institute.

A perfectly placed figure on the right.

Something about the backside of the urban canyons

feels so much more real than the front.

Echoes of Chirico

I’m so glad Mark pulled these Evanston artists into our gallery.

Hopefully it will become an annual event.

******

Sarah Kaiser-Amaral

Could be a portrait of me 

(40 years ago)

Gold Medal Show - 2023

Ed Zawacki, Thinking of Home

My choice for the gold medal, 

this is more about how a 

comforting cup of coffee (with spoon handle) feels 

than how it looks.

A worthy update of  this old master painting

Stuart Fullerton, Arroyo Seco

I was about to quickly walk right past this one,

as I did most pieces in the show,

when I noticed that little green bush smack in center.

This piece is much more about organizing a painting than recording desert flora.

Muriel Christensen, Protocol 

I wish she had been kinder to Michelangelo's drawing,

but this piece has a wonderful sense of space, light, color, and character

in the crowd standing before it.

It buzzes and gleams with excitement.

Ed Traisman,  Shelby Garden

Cute, cute, cute.

But that’s OK — this is a celebration of recreational art

and that’s what the Palette is often about.

Del Hall, Mary Qian painting Jesse

This was out in the hall - not in the exhibit.

And it’s a photograph, not a painting.

But were it otherwise, I’d give it the gold medal.

A great shot of Mary doing a demo

(The heads of the onlookers are facing her at the bottom)

*******

Steve Puttrich, Winter in Blue and Gold

Here’s the piece that actually won the Gold Medal

as well as the People’s Choice.

It feels a bit soggy to me,

and I feel trapped in those woods.

Debra Balchen, Circe

This piece won Second Place.

It was on its way to being a nice head

but it got lost in all its crumpled accessories 

Pat Brutchin, Strength in the Face of Adversity

This piece won an Honorable Mention.

It feels Hellenistic

but not the kind I’d like to find in a museum.

It’s primary quality is narrative

and I like the idea of an old guys winning

despite the adversity of just being old.

Val Yachik, Red Ribbon

Another winner of Honorable Mention.

Definitely not the feel-good subject that mostly fills our galleries,

but not all that dark and scary either.

Just kind of depressing.

 

Instructors Show

Steven Assael

The bullet holes in the office wall prove that the Palette has been haunted for many years.

So it’s appropriate that this piece seems to be telling a ghost story

Michael Van Zeyl

a strong and  elegant, though not very psychological or painterly portrait.
The sitter appears to be a good wife, mother, and probably a businesswoman as well.

Helen OhHere’s to messy beds everywhere

Clayton Beck

Feels like a display of house wares in a department store.

Lawrence Paulsen

Debra BalchenThe only sculpture instructor who made any effort to put her work into this show.Presumably, the other instructors no more needed to show their work than their prospective students need to see it.  The beginning piano student does not need a Horowitz to teach the basics.

Michael Van Zeyl     More like a parody than a painting in its own right.But still quite entertaining.

Andrew Conklin. A self portrait displaying the courage required to be a traditional artist in a de-skilled artworld.