It is February again, and Around the Coyote held its annual Winter Arts Festival, on February 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Around the Coyote, an organisation that promotes the fine arts in the Wicker Park area of Chicago Illinois, with a particular focus on emerging talent, has been around for about a decade.
As usual, Around the Coyote selects a group of artists for special recognition... their 'Curator's Choice' selectees, and as usual, I disagree with most of their choices, a matter that I will discuss in-depth later in my review. First, though I will present my own choices, for 'Best in Show', but before I do that, I will admit that I am a painter by profession, and therefore have my own strong prejudices, as to what is 'best'. Also, I am a terrible judge of photography, and other non-painting fields of endeavour, and so I have picked mostly painters... but then, I am not trying to be fair and impartial, I am only pointing to a few people who I feel deserve notice in this show, and whose work particularly impressed me.
As you can see from this fellow's work, he is a bit of a 'Mad Russian', with a good sense of humour, and the capacity to take his work and himself both seriously, and with a grain of salt, at the same time.
I found him and his work tucked away in room 330 of the Flatiron building. Most of the time, I do not like caricature work, but could not help myself in his case, because he demonstrates an uncanny level of skill and expressiveness in his work. The guy can do anything he wants, and probably will, before he is finished. I have an overall high degree of respect for the Russian and Eastern European artists that I have seen in increasing number, over the past decade. I think they are going to give American painters a serious run for their money... deservedly so. I have not seen any indications among the artists coming out of the former Soviet Union, of either the incompetencies that some Western artists have allowed to overtake their work, or of the snotty arrogance, that has become so much a hallmark of Western Post-Modern Art.
American Fine Arts can only benefit from the influence of painters like Vladimir. Sorry, no website or email address is available for Vladimir at this writing, but I am sure his name will continue to show up, in Chicago areas shows and galleries, in the future.
Marc McGowan is the only one of the 'Curator's Choice' picks, who I saw fit to also include in my choices. His work impressed me quite a bit. This piece, of a man hovering protectively / predatorily over an (apparently) female form as they study the map, on what looks like one of Chicago's 'L' trains, suggests all sorts of possibilities, in an otherwise mundane scene...something that I have seen many times in my travels, but never quite like this.
This is representational work at its eerie, expressionistic best. He doesn't over-use colour, which makes what colour he does use all the more effective. Some things are best said, when they are slightly out of focus. Clicking on Marc's name, above, will open a new window with his website in it, for further viewing.
I have been impressed with Byron's work ever since I first saw it, a few years ago. I like his simplified, uncluttered compositions. He also knows how to use powerful primary colours, like red, without blinding the viewer, or killing the painting. He doesn't mess around with stating a lot of unessential details in his work, but where he does have to state details, like in the girl's face, he does so excellently, and manages the transition for suggestion to explicit clarity, smoothly.
If you click on Byron's name, it will open an email addressed to him, so you can contact him directly, for more information on upcoming shows, etc. According to the card he gave me, his work is also on exhibit at ARC, 734 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL through February 23, 2002, and at Union Street Gallery, 1655 Union Ave, Chicago Heights, IL, beginning February 22, 2002, and continuing through April 5, 2002.
Anyone who has wandered around the hallways in the Flatiron building has probably had the experience at one time or another of becoming disoriented, and wandering around in circles. That was how I stumbled across Melanie Moore's work. I thought I had seen everything in the Flatiron, and was trying to find an exit, so I could go over and check out the Coyote Tower building, but I was having a little trouble locating that exit. I found myself wandering down a hall that I either completely overlooked, or had previously come down from the opposite direction, so that I missed the small group of what I will call 'Chicago Scene' paintings, for lack of a better name. Stylistically, they are not what one usually expects, when confronted with the term 'scene painting'.
It is as if Melanie grabbed up a whole bunch of stuff that she found interesting, and dropped it onto the canvas without any regard for gravity, or any of the other usual rules of physics, or everyday logic. The results are not without their own form of logic, however... it is just not an 'everyday' logic. The results are pretty... cool... for lack of a better word. Since I am an urban scene painter myself, I was really amazed to see this work, which is very unlike my own, but for which I have a good deal of respect. Very original work... excellent.
To email Melanie, click on her name, above.
I spotted this small terra-cotta statue by Susan Meyer in another narrow hallway in the Flatiron building. I like terra-cotta, and have produced several sculptures myself in the medium, in years past. I was impressed by the look and unfinished 'feel' of the statue, and also by its anatomical accuracy, accomplished without compromising the naturalness of the pose. I know from personal experience, how difficult this is to achieve.
This kind of work is on an entirely different level from most of the 'modern' work being produced today. First, one has to study three dimensional human anatomy, and drapery. Then, one has also to study how to construct such an object out of clay, so that it does not collapse from its own wet weight during construction, and also, so that it will be able to dry properly, and shrink down to its proper dry dimensions without distorting or cracking. Finally, it has to be fired without exploding or cracking in the kiln, and if it does crack, one has to know how to repair it. Now, all of this craftsmanship has to be mastered, and on top of that, the fine art finesse that the human figure demands, has to be maintained throughout.
Over the years I have seen many criticisms leveled against the precise rendering of the human face and form in the fine arts. Most such criticisms seem, in retrospect, disingenuous, having been leveled by people incapable of such precision, or unwilling to expend the effort to master it. Their usual claim is that mastering such a level of skill inhibits creativity. Heh. At the end of 100 years of modernism... we are left with the human face and form; still a most expressive means, to the end of expressing the human condition. Click on Susan's name above, to visit her website.
I was attracted to John's work immediately. At first, I though it was solid metal...copper or brass... and I was wondering how he had managed to hang several hundred pounds of metal to the flimsy sheetrock wall, On closer inspection, I discovered that it was made mostly of wood, with sheet metal glued to the surface. In addition to being a painter, I am also a computer programmer, and have been recently getting into writing some small programs that render graphic depictions of mathematical functions, called fractals. Since I had just finished working with one that produces results much like John's sculpture, I felt right at home viewing his work, and am still wondering to myself whether he uses math in any way, to formulate his designs.
Mr. Searles is also very skilled at the art of 'patination', the controlled application of surface colouration to (usually) metal surfaces. My photo cannot do justice to his work, in this respect. To see more of John Searle's work, visit his website, by clicking on his name, above.
My final pick is Zsofia Otvos, whose expressionistic portrait and figural works demonstrate a high degree of excellence. Her ability to portray human emotion is evident in her work at every level; facial expression, eyes, clenched hands, colour choices, brushwork, you name it. I like her work for the same reasons I have chosen all my other 'picks'... they know what they are doing, and are pursuing excellence, each in their own very individual way, without necessarily paying any homage to 'popular opinion'.
To email Zsofia, click on her name, above.
These are works that speak visually for themselves, executed by people who know how to use their heads, their hands, their tools, and their imaginations, all equally well. Here is art, that is not afraid of its craft, operating in the interface between intellect and emotion, that is home to the human condition. This... is the twenty-first century.
My thanks and applause go out to everyone involved in making the festival happen; Around the Coyote, all the volunteers, exhibitors, and of course, the many people who attended.
I did not get a chance to see how well attended the event was, or what sort of sales might have taken place, because I was only around for a few hours on Saturday afternoon, which is usually not as busy a time for ATC, as later in the day. It seemed that there were fewer artists showing their work, especially in the Coyote Tower building. I didn't count them, though, so my impression might have been inaccurate. It just seemed that some of the artists had a lot more wall space, than I remember being the case in the two previous winter shows.
Now for some criticisms:
It seemed to me, that the overall quality of work shown slipped somewhat. Things like this can really only be spoken of in terms of my overall impression, though. A year has passed, and my memory has faded. Also, my own criteria as to what is good have hopefully risen, as well, which might account somewhat for this impression. I missed seeing James Morton, the amazing painter of the nude female form, who is usually in attendance. I noticed that he was in the 'Curator's Choice' selection on the website, but that his work was not among the other 'Curator's Choice' selections at the silent auction, and I did not find him in any of the hallways, either. I suppose that the weather might have been responsible for his absence, unless he was there, in one of those hallways that I managed to miss.
Around the Coyote ought to take a little more care with their website. In preparing this article, I visited the site to compare my information with what might be on-site, and came across some problems with their 'Curator's Choice' images: Scott Olson's and Steve Lougheed's images are sideways, and Kathleen Brown's image is reversed, and incredibly dark. Hopefully ATC will get around to correcting these problems... heck, if they need better images and right-side-up, I could provide them with those free of charge... images I shot and refined in the process of writing this article, as source material. ATC get judged by its web presence, just as any other web entity does. Posting bad and mis-oriented photos of their 'Curator's Choice' selections is really putting a bad foot forward, where only a good one will do.
I am a long time supporter of Around the Coyote, but over the years I have taken exception to some of their practices. I have always been unhappily amazed at some of their selections for 'Curator's Choice', and have been outspoken on the matter in the past. This year, some of the work that should have been in that room, was not, and some of the work in that room, had no business being there. Yes, of course, this is only my own opinion, but it is a very well informed, studied opinion. I know that I am a highly biased and opinionated person, and in spite of that, I think this criticism is warranted. If individual artists who pursue excellence perceive that a show promotes mediocrity, then they will eventually abandon that show.