Down East

Posted on October 5, 2024 by Alan Singer

 


Panorama view from the summit of Mount Battie, Camden, Maine

My wife Anna and I share a love for the coast; especially in Maine and we wanted to visit the state to see the sites and take in some museums along the way.

The ride through New York and Massachusetts had fog and downpours of rain - so we didn't stop for long.  But we lucked out coming into Maine, the clouds parted and we took a rest,  then found a lovely cabin near the Camden harbor.


Fitz Henry Lane, oil painting with a view of Camden Hills

For years I have had the poster above hanging in my house of a painting by Fitz Henry Lane of the Camden Harbor and the hills beyond.  The summit of Mount Battie which you see in this painting is the highest point in the area and gives you the best views up and down the coast.  So we took the auto route to the top and had a wonderful panorama, which I highly recommend!

A bit further along in our trip on Route 1, we  decided to stop at Rockland to go into The Farnsworth Museum.  They have some classic seascapes like the painting above, but they also have contemporary art like this painting by Alex Katz that you see below:



Alex Katz "Sunset ll", 2008, oil on linen

Now in his 90s, Alex Katz is still working and he has a studio a little further up the coast in Lincolnville.
His  art looked strong and was staged  near a sculpture by Robert Indiana that spoke of the Pop culture that I grew up with.


LOVE by Robert Indiana

At The Farnsworth, they also featured an artist that I was not familiar with and her work was very interesting. Take a look at the paintings of Lynne Drexler ( 1928-1999 ).  She was overlooked during her years making artwork, and I can't remember ever seeing her name associated with other abstract artists from the mid-20th century. Here are a couple of standouts that were donated to the Farnsworth:



Lynne Drexler, oil on linen, 1965


Lynne Drexler, oil on linen


I was glad to see these paintings by Lynne Drexler, and I wonder why it took so long for her artwork to gain some recognition.  Many artists have their home in Maine, but I did not know that Louise Nevelson started out in Rockland before moving to New York City and establishing her international reputation. The Farnsworth Museum had a wonderful selection of her artwork including sculptures and paintings, many of which were new to me.


Portrait of Louise Nevelson


Nevelson Sculpture on view at The Farnsworth


Many of the Louise Nevelson sculptures on view I had seen before in New York City, including a very tall piece that is related to a large scale work she presented at the Museum of Modern Art ( MOMA ).



Louise Nevelson


The Farnsworth Museum also has a collection of works dedicated to the Wyeth family of artists, many of which were donated to the museum.  I remember that when I was making a painting on Mohegan Island off the coast of Maine,  I walked past a house owned by Jamie Wyeth, though he was not present .

N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, and Jamie Wyeth are represented in the museum and most of these paintings
explore various aspects of realism.

I was vey pleased to come across another realist painting by Rockwell Kent which you see below:


Painting by Rockwell Kent

Rockwell Kent prepared us for some of the scenes we would see along the coast, and we were looking forward to that.  We left Rockland and stopped in to see the Penobscot Marine Museum and found that collection which consists of paintings by artists like James Buttersworth of the mid 1800s, and many ship models made in the past.  We had a great time singing along with sea chanteys in a collection that they had at this Marine Museum.  We were in Searsport, where they built and launched many of the schooners that hauled great quantities of granite that came from quarries that dot the land.  This was industry in the past that helped build the cities we now know.



Searsport was a ship building capitol!

In my next post to "The Visual ArtWorker" I plan to write about our visit to The Clark, in western Massachusetts on our way back to the Rochester area.  All too brief, but we LOVED our time away!

 























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Nature Walk

Posted on September 14, 2024 by Alan Singer

 


Lumiere presents "Common/Ground"
The work of Jim Mott and Adam Smith 
thru September 27th, 2024

We have been going to see gallery shows and recently we feel a renewed energy from the creative community.

This month there are two new exhibitions that might stimulate your imagination and take you on a nature walk. One show is at Lumiere,  which is around the back at 100 College Avenue in Rochester.  "Common/Ground"  features the work by two close friends - Jim Mott who is a painter, and Adam Smith who is a photographer. They share a love of being outdoors, and they both exhibit a knowledge of and an engagement with our landscape.


Jim Mott  paintings at Lumiere

I have been following the progress of Jim Mott over the years, and I first wrote about his itinerant artist project back in 2002 for American Artist Magazine.  The editor at that time was Stephen Doherty who was himself a plain air painter, and he was interested in Jim's project.  Jim's style - a form of realism captures the time of day in clear color and composition.  He often paints outdoors on modest size panels which are featured in this present show.

Adam Smith and Jim have known each other for years.  Adam's photos have a dynamic which in the photo below is implied by a movement forward of the image.  Other compositions have a classic serenity.


Adam Smith photos are part of "Common/Ground"


Adam Smith at Lumiere, 100 College Avene, Rochester, NY

We are lucky to have so many gifted visual artists in our  area, and I urge you to go out and see what they have to offer.  Just  yesterday, we were at the opening of a show that is also devoted to nature, seen from a different perspective.  Gloria Betlem is the artist and the show is being presented in an exhibition space called the Williams Gallery in the First Unitarian Church of Rochester.

What makes this show unique is the attention to detail for an unlikely subject - and that is - portrayals of  lichens in each new composition.  Gloria said that she is interested in abstraction,  and she found this subject  for her recent series of pastel drawings when she was out on a hike in Florida.  She writes in her artist statement that she has been on the lookout for these beauties growing on trees, rocks, or on any surface they choose to live.


"Happy Rappi", pastel by Gloria Betlem in the Williams Gallery

The work that Gloria Betlem has created for this exhibition is a six - year long survey of different species of lichens which she see as her muse!  This  is a blend of art and science, and something that also requires great skill and tenacity to bring across as  a work of art.  She has a way of engaging the eye in each stroke of color from her pastels and  you will want to know more about how she finds such interesting subjects!


Gloria Betlem's pastels at First Unitarian Church, Rochester, NY







 



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Renewal

Posted on September 7, 2024 by Alan Singer

 


Lydia Boddie-Rice
at Joy Gallery, 498 1/2  West Main Street, Rochester, New York

Today, I write about "Renewal" as a stage in the life of an artist.  To renew oneself, is to spend time getting back to the basics, to feel more like oneself inside and out.  Part of this life as an artist is to be able to spend time in the studio creating new paintings and also be able to go out to galleries and look at what others have produced.  Our community, here in upstate New York, has great creative drive and there seems to be renewed energy since the pandemic, which finds a voice in recent exhibitions that have opened this week.

I am impressed by the artworks I found at the Joy Gallery on West Main Street in Rochester ( call for information at 585 436-5230 ).  Created by Lydia Boddie-Rice, in a solo exhibition she calls: " Rising on the Wind", one finds unique paintings and collage on view.  We parked outside and opened a door to a whole new experience of art that implied movement and character.  The motion considered by the artist is one of soaring into the sky, and many of the artworks on view  conform to the shape of a kite, but that's not all!

Lydia Boddie-Rice really understands her subject and I am reminded of the statement written  by Maya Angelou, "And Still I Rise".  Lydia's art is about uplifting the human spirit, and it is more than plain portraiture.  Somehow we engage in seeing into the personality of the people she portrays - starting with self-portraiture in her painting "Heliotrope 1".  She is at the center of our attention with her face in the middle of a giant sunflower.


Lydia Boddie-Rice in "Heliotrope 1" at Joy Gallery

In another self-portrait she is at work at two stages in life - one, as a youngster with a paintbrush riding the waves, and then as the older and wiser woman she has become.


Self Portriat , 2023

Many of the artworks in this show start out as collage, and she is also working with water based oil paints giving a different look to the original paintings.  She also makes prints of many of the works she creates and offers these for sale at the gallery as well.  In one of the kites she features my colleague, Luvon Sheppard , and she calls this work "Sanctuary".


"Sanctuary" by Lydia Boddie-Rice


The artist Lydia Boddie-Rice is well tuned to the efforts that artists must make to engage an audience and her online presences is well orchestrated, so take a look at her page on Instagram, or her website at:

boddieworkscreations.com
https://www.boddieworkscreations.com › ab                       
                                                                
Lydia Boddie-Rice at Joy Gallery,,  498 1/2 West Main Street,  Rochester, N.Y.








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Art Book

Posted on August 3, 2024 by Alan Singer


My new book " Wheelhouse" published by ArtVoices Books this month
Check it out!

Here is the cover my new art book, and I want to let you know that it is worth the work to put this volume together for my interested collectors and followers!  We hope you will enjoy the stories that are told inside along with over a hundred different works of art - paintings and works on paper and many new prints that I make in my studio.  Yes, there is a wide range of artwork here, and it follows my development as a fine artist which has gone through some real evolutions!

Even this book has evolved through paperback editions and now here is the new hardback which you can find on line for sale  at Amazon!  My new book traces the changes in my work from representational compositions like the one on the cover which I call "Summer Harbor", to  recent pieces like the one below which I call "Back Bay"


"Back Bay" , Transfer print on Fabriano paper

Earlier, in the 1980s my work took on an active kind of abstraction, influenced by expressionist artists, and I really got deeply involved in a kind of spontaneous composition, using wax and tempera ( they kind of repel one another!  ).  I thought of composition as a way of defining movement - like looking at a modern dance group and how they use the space they inhabit...   These early abstractions are reviewed in the new book - "WheelHouse" by Bill Zimmer who was a New York Times art critic that I met when I was living in The Big Apple.


"The Desert Comes Alive At Night", 1984, oil on linen by Alan Singer

I was lucky to have found a large studio on Union Street in Brooklyn.  I was on the ground floor of a building owned by the painter, Kendall Shaw who was also teaching in Manhattan.  In my world at the time there was a lot of interest in abstraction, and Ken Shaw did a kind of painting that used systems and a process of  building compositions out of little squares of color, which I found very interesting.

Now,  forty years later I find  a real connection to those paintings, and I put some of my energy into realizing new compositions that build on that experience, along with a new sense of where art and mathematics establish a visual dialog.  In my new book two writers - Anne Coon, and Rebecca Rafferty expand on this idea.  They contribute fine essays to my book and I am grateful to them for their insight!



"Blue Lake" , 2005, oil on linen in two parts, by Alan Singer

I think. of all the changes happening in the art world and beyond and we really are in a different scene today, especially after the Covid pandemic.  I still am engaged in my art and I look forward to showing new work when chances arrive, and I am really excited about having a new book to share, so take a look if you have an inclination!

 My new drawings and prints are included in this edition and the book is dedicated to my family, without whose support this would  be a really different experience!  Also the book is dedicated to the memory of the artist and printmaker Keith Howard who came to live with us in Rochester in the late 1990s,  and whose work as a writer and practitioner will indicate some radical shifts in the use of materials and techniques for his art form.


A work in progress - oil on panel and not featured in my new book!

Many of my new works have bright color and an underlying grid system.  I began to use visual cues from the efforts I make on my computer to understand how a composition can be developed using  geometry and  including concepts such as the formation of cellular automata on the two-dimensional plane of my canvas or board.  I am really excited about the possibilities!  This new work above really glows...

Finally, I did move my studio from the Hungerford Building in Rochester to a new cottage in Fairport where we now set up our home.  I get to do prints and paintings and look forward to new showings of  all this energy and attention!


"Tropicalia" , a transfer print made in 2016
Page 85 in my new book - WheelHouse









 


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Join the Print Club

Posted on June 30, 2024 by Alan Singer

 

The Print Club of Rochester

Annual Member Exhibition

at University Gallery, R.I.T.


Really nice turnout for the Artist's Reception on Saturday, June 29th in the University Gallery,  when I stopped in to see this show.  If you haven't been there, the University Gallery is at the Vignelli Center in Booth Building on the campus of Rochester Institute of "Technology.  There was a rare opportunity to buy prints from the Club's archive which goes way back, just as the members celebrate the 93rd anniversary.  A person can become a member - you don't have to be a working artist to do that, just someone who has a curiosity and willingness to support an arts organization.

Printmakers practice their form of art in many ways, and it goes way beyond the traditional woodcut, engraving or etching.  If you look at the selection of prints in this year's show, and take the time to read the labels, you will see that there are many kinds of prints in this show even one that requires a Lightbox ( see below ).  Denise Anderson wins a Juror's Award for her piece called "Wandering Amongst the Stars".


Denise Anderson's "Wandering Amongst The Stars"

Each year the Print Club mounts the Member's Exhibition, and this year the University Gallery hosted the show with wonderful light and open space.  A guest can really make some comparisons among the artwork on view now through July 20th.  You might even get a chance to speak with one of the artists whose work you might be interested in.  Here is Nick Ruth with his photogravure featuring the back of a signpost on the "Thruway".  This is a new method of making prints for Nick, and why not explore new avenues!  This print won a Juror's Choice award.



Nick Ruth and his photogravure "Thruway"

With so many methods of making a print, it takes some practice to create an image and then even make a small edition for people who may want to collect your artwork.  The nice thing about buying a print is that it usually is a lot less expensive than a painting or a sculpture, but it can truly represent the artist's  vision in a graphic sense.  If you become a member of the Print Club each year you can count on  getting a commissioned print as part of the reward for supporting this  organization.   I saw a print from Dan Welden in this show, and reading the label I see that he donated the work to the Print Club.


Print by Dan Welden as a donation to The Print Club

Out near Sag Harbor on Long Island, Dan Welden has been making prints for many years, in fact the first time I met him ( more than 40 years ago ) he was helping my father, Arthur Singer, to make a series of etchings of birds which were shown in galleries in New York City.  Below you will see one of the etchings that Dan Welden printed for my father all those years ago.  This is a traditional line etching made in a limited edition.  This print was Not in the show at R.I.T.,, but I include it here because this work was influential  for me because I later became a printmaker myself after seeing how the process unfolds.


Arthur Singer's Harpy Eagle printed by Dan Welden circa 1975

Some of the prints included in the Print Club show are actually mixed media where the printed piece is only part of the work.  I am thinking about the big work by Pamela Drix with its colorful fabric collage as well as other pieces in the exhibition that employ a variety of techniques.


Art by Pamela Drix


Print by Alan Singer

My own print in this exhibition I call "Tanager".  Tanager is a colorful bird and the wonderful thing about this print is that I use a kind of mathematical equation to arrive at the rendering of this creature.  This print is unique - I don't often make editions of my images, so this is one-of-a-kind.  I have been in practice as a printmaker for many years and have made probably a thousand images by now.
And in fact I was a teacher at Rochester Institute of Technology for more than 32 years and one class I enjoyed teaching was printmaking!


Print Exchange allows members to share with each other

I think there is something for everyone in this show and take the time to go out and  see the University Gallery at  R.I.T. , it is a wonderful space with excellent art on view now!














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Flexion, on Reflection

Posted on May 3, 2024 by Alan Singer

 


"Remembering a Dream", watercolor by Barbara Fox
at
Oxford Gallery, 267 Oxford Street
Rochester, NY 14607

My readers may understand that I write about art - not as an art critic but as an interested person who grew up with art and artists at home in New York.  I have been writing about the visual arts for over forty years, and I want to continue on this path.  I like to communicate about what I see and how I see it.  I really value the human connections and looking at art for me is a great way to get to know other folks and how they view their world!

"The Stuff of Dreams" is the theme of a new exhibition open now at the Oxford Gallery in Rochester, N.Y.

I stopped in to speak with Jim Hall the long-time owner and Director of the gallery and we spent some time looking at a few of the stand-outs in this show.  One work in the entry caught my attention by Barbara Fox, of a lady with an origami bird in her hand while other silhouettes of birds flock around the background.  Such a life-like quality in this painting on paper!

I should say right away, that I was pleased to be invited to be part of this group show, and I found the theme to be very engaging!  Did I try to make my art based on one of my dreams?  No, but I did make an artwork that has a dream-like quality.  And what is that quality?  Something that maybe words can't quite express!  In many cases this exhibition presents artworks which are unusual for the way they deviate from the norms.  My art seen below is made from a mathematical set of functions...



"an Enigma" print on paper by Alan Singer

Sometimes the artist just wants to have fun with a theme show.  "Pipe Dream" by Bill Keyser says it all.  His piece is a kind of reductive sculpture that grasps at a simple statement or a poetic visual that can make one smile.


Pipe Dream by William Keyser

Having an actual object become a character on a stage is what is happening here.  This is what I mean by deviate from the norms... Or maybe, it is the unusual approach from above that makes the painting by Jim Mott seem like the clouds are parting on a dream-like land down below!


"Ariel Dream" , oil on canvas by Jim Mott


A Theme - "The Stuff of Dreams", does this concept make you happy?  Here, is the success you always dreamed about!  If I think about my dreams, it is more like watching a crazy movie, some sort of action picture, and there is more than one scene flashing by that catches my attention.


"In My Dreams", oil on canvas by Paula Crawford


Another thing about dreams - that you can't dictate what happens in your dreams, though circumstances in your real day-to-day life can shape a dream.  I have a recurring dream of trying to drive my car from the back seat!  What is that about??  I think about the many times I walked around New York City when I was a teenager, and how that often comes back to me in my dreams...

Now back to the show at Oxford Gallery.  Please be sure that you call ahead ( 585 271-5885 ), because on the day I stopped in they were fixing the front steps of the building at  267 Oxford Street, and I almost left before I found out there is a side entrance!


"George's Dream", oil on linen by David Dorsey

So in many ways, painting is a kind of a dream exercise.  You often paint on a flat two dimensional surface but you make an attempt at an illusion of three-dimensional space.  It is eyesight and insight that you create.  And in the process the details can be very revealing - like the hovering figure in the upper left of David Dorsey's large painting in this exhibition.

Then there are also images that bring you closer to reality, even if it is FAR AWAY!  Power to the Peaceful is written on the walls of the wrecked images of real people's lives!  Go see it for yourself!




See "The Stuff Of Dreams" at Oxford Gallery, Rochester, New York











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Spring Spectrum

Posted on April 26, 2024 by Alan Singer


Welcoming guests, I give an introduction to "Our Nature" the art & design
of the Singer family - that is Arthur Singer, his wife Judy
and sons Paul and Alan Singer...


This is the Spring of 2024 and the season presents a spectrum of events and we are on a ROLL!  In March my art was featured in an online magazine that Renee Rose in Chicago produces, and I was very happy to participate in a video interview with her as we EXPLORE ART.  She introduces us to a whole realm of visual art that comes as a result of her active engagement with seeking out new art and artists from all over the globe.

A little later in the month I did a second interview with Seth Voorhees  and  this was a look at our exhibition in the Mascioli Gallery in the Central Library, Rundel Building in downtown Rochester, New York.  If you have not seen the interview - here is the link:

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2024/03/21/ghost-army-arthur-singer-

There is a segment about my father and his participation in the "Ghost Army" during World War II, and you can view a PBS  documentary on the Ghost Army coming to  your television on May 27th, 2024 on WXXI.  The documentary is written up in the new May issue of CITY, which has become a monthly magazine which I find for free at Wegman's or you can subscribe to the publication.  The PBS documentary was created by Rick Beyer - who was our guest speaker when "Our Nature" had the opening in mid - January of this year.


CITY writes up the Ghost Army and "Our Nature" in the new May issue!

The photo shows my brother Paul and his wife Janet sitting in the front row of the ceremony honoring the members of the Ghost Army in a celebration held in Washington, D.C.  At this very amazing meeting the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson in a very bi-partisan moment,  announced that the Ghost Army soldiers would receive the Congressional Gold Medal.  Three of these men were actually on hand ( they are all over 100 years old ) to receive the award, and that was very moving to hear from them...

Needless to say there were good vibrations coming from D.C. that day. in March!  When we arrived back home in the Rochester area, we knew we had  witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and even had a replica of the medal to show our neighbors!


Congressional Gold Medal award goes to The Ghost Army soldiers of World War II





And the neighbors did come out for our Totality party when the eclipse of the sun happened to roll over our area earlier this month....  Here I am with guests at the entrance to The Central Library in downtown Rochester, New York.




"An Enigma", print on paper by Alan Singer
Now at The Oxford Gallery, Rochester, New York

If you are in Rochester, The Oxford Gallery has a new show which I am glad to be a part of, and it is all about the stuff of dreams....  Jim Hall, the Gallery owner and director has selected artists for this show which has become an annual production.  I was glad to be able to have  this new work on view for the duration.  "An Enigma" is a transfer print I made on my etching press, and it is a beauty, if I can say so myself!  Go check it out!








 

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Talk & Walk

Posted on March 30, 2024 by Alan Singer

 


Anthony Mascioli Gallery
Rundel Library Building
115 South Ave.
Rochester, NY


Join us for a little walk through the exhibition now on in the Central Library, in downtown Rochester, New York.  The Talk & Walk in the Mascioli Gallery begins at 2 pm on April 20th, 2024.  Alan Singer will lead visitors through the exhibition called "Our Nature".  You can have a conversation with him and find out about the artists in the Singer Family.  There is a also a link here, if you want to view a short video that was broadcast by Spectrum News last week around the time that Arthur Singer was given a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal for his service in "The Ghost Army". here is the link:

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2024/03/21/ghost-army-arthur-singer-

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Your Attention, Please

Posted on March 24, 2024 by Alan Singer

 


Thursday, March 21, 2024 
at
The Capitol, Washington, D.C.

Our family and several hundred others arrived in the morning at The Capitol for a once-in-a-lifetime experience,  to witness the award ceremony for survivors and family members of The Ghost Army of World War II.  This day would be the culmination of years of work to lobby congress and get a bi-partisan bill to the desk of President Joe Biden for his signature. After the bill was signed it would still take many months of work to get the  time and place for the award ceremony, and on Thursday, March 21st we were on the guest list, ready to take our place and witness history being made.



Groups assemble on the Capitol Steps


It is a perfect day in Washington, D.C. - the cherry blossoms are in full bloom with a cloudless horizon while we walked and waited to secure our spot in the Visitor Center.  We are escorted down stairs overlooking a vast hall with hundreds of chairs and many statues of historical figures.  I have never seen such a gathering before - how lucky we are today!



Take in the scene, the ceremony will begin shortly....

The battalion of the Ghost Army, a little over a thousand men, conducted top secret maneuvers in Europe during World War II.  Their mission was to create deceptions on the battlefield using camouflage, sound systems, and decoys to distract the enemy - and it worked!  My father, Arthur Singer ( 1917-1990 ) was conscripted into this group based on his talents as a visual artist!  Arthur was not alone - there were theatre people, fashion designers, sound engineers, advertisers all working to deceive the enemy during the later part of the war effort.



Statue of Freedom
at The Capitol

My father, Arthur Singer, never spoke openly about what his role was during  World War II but he did leave many letters he wrote home when he was off duty.  He also found time to paint portraits of his fellow soldiers when he was not on duty.  My mom, sent him paper, paints, and brushes during the war and Arthur came home when the war ended with a visual record of what he had seen and where he had been - even if he wouldn't speak about it!



Statue of Frederick Douglass
in The Capitol

We took our seat opposite a statue of Frederick Douglass, which we felt was appropriate since we had just driven down from Rochester for this ceremony.  Frederick Douglass was known as a resident of Rochester too, back in the later 19th Century, and we so admire his contributions to our nation!

The ceremony was about to begin and soldiers marched in carrying our flag and that got everyone's attention.  A brass band played our national anthem, and we all stood up!



"Oh say can you see..."

We noticed Senator Chuck Grassley from Iowa sitting nearby and we also noticed loads of seats set out for members of congress who ultimately did not show.  Nancy Pelosi smiled at us as she walked by decked out all in purple!  The ceremony began with a benediction and an introduction with Louisiana Representative, and Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who welcomed us all and gave a big round of applause for the three soldiers here in the Capitol, who are still alive today, and who admirably served in the Ghost Army during World War II.



Soldiers and family would receive the Gold Medal
awarded by Congressional approval and signed by President Joe Biden.
The medal is produced by the Treasury Department and is about the size of a silver dollar.

The list of speakers including Mike Johnson, was impressive... I liked to hear from Senator Susan Collins of Maine, and also Representative Hakeem Jeffries.  We  felt proud to be in such company, and also that our friend Rick Beyer who wrote the book on the Ghost Army got a round of well-deserved applause.  We also were so moved by the fact that living members of the Ghost Army were present to receive their awards, and even had a chance to speak.  Here is Bernard Bluestein being interviewed by the news media...



Mr. Bluestein one of three surviving members of The Ghost Army
at the award ceremony
Washington, D.C.
March 21, 2024



We are so proud of our Armed Service Members, THANK YOU!

Here is a short video posted on Spectrum News that I recorded with reporter Seth Voorhees last week: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2024/03/21/ghost-army-arthur-singer-























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Finally Fine Art

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Alan Singer

 


Yayoi Kusama at The Memorial Art Gallery ( above and below )


University Avenue and Goodman Stree, Rochester, New York

Finally, I have some time to see some fine art, just before I head off to Washington, D.C. for the Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony on March 21st.  I  have been looking forward to seeing the Infinity Mirrored room by Yayoi Kusama now here at The MAG.  This mirrored room has been on view in many places for years and it is not the first time that I have seen it, but still, it is a great thing to behold!
Go and get your timed ticket today!


Infinity Mirrored Room by Yayoi Kusama

I have been a fan of her work for so many years!  I remember going to an opening of a show she did back in the mid- 1960s, and I was the only person aside from the artist who was there - so dots weren't such a draw back then!  I am glad to say that she is now one of the most famous artists on the planet.  
The mirror balls that suspend from the ceiling make an analogy to our universe - going off in all directions.

I am glad that The Memorial Art Gallery is making a real effort to showcase art by women who finally get some recognition. While I mention this, I should also say that we get to welcome Sarah Jesse who takes on the position of Director at The MAG, and I wish her well on her new position.  As we gradually pull out of the pandemic mind set, I am sure that institutions have to devise new strategy to bring in an audience.


Helen Frankenthaler at MAG

So you can go and see the well known artists like Helen Frankenthaler ( see above ) and then you can take a look at artists  who are just being recognized here maybe for the first time.  One artist I was not familiar with has a big work in glass that is quite complex.  Take some time to study Judith Schaechter's stain glass work now on view at The MAG.


Glass art by Judith Schaechter

Also great to see that my friend,  artist G. Peter Jemison has a new work  in the collection at The MAG.
He is a foundational figure in the arts and in the development of Ganondagan State Historic Site and Museum in Victor, NY.  His painting could be a logo for diversity in the arts.


Art by G. Peter Jemison

Thinking about diversity, I found a collection of images recently at The Rochester Contemporary Art Gallery that represents at the very least a diversity of performers and other artists caught by the illustrator David Cowles.  His show is called ROC Stars, and these are the portraits of people who have a unique connection to Rochester.  Many of them are well known performers like this image  I saw there of Cab Calloway.


David Cowles ROC Stars


Cab Calloway by David Cowles

And a funny thing is that this reminded me that my father, Arthur Singer made a similar portrait of Cab back in the early 1940s that really has a striking resemblance to what David Cowles did.  Take a look at my father's illustration used on this tee shirt:


Arthur B. Singer and a portrait of his friend, Cab Calloway circa 1940

While you have a chance, the paintings and sculptures at RoCo, are also very engaging, and one can wonder how Ronald Gonzalez makes all these small sculptures that look like they have been subject to extreme weather!  Cars and trucks in beds?  They are all the size of toys, but are not meant to be played with!


Sculpture by Ronald Gonzalez

My friend Cynthia Hawkins and her abstractions can engage the viewer and really have color and form on the move.  I certainly feel that this has been a great day to check out the arts in Rochester.  Very Rewarding!


Paintings by Cynthia Hawkins at RoCo
137 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14604

















 








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