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  Contrail by Ryan Thompson |
New American Talent – The 19th Exhibition "New American
Talent – The 19th Exhibition" By Robi Polgar This annual showcase is now in its 19th year, and the premise is simple enough. Arthouse, formerly Texas Fine Arts Association, puts out a call to artists across the country to submit materials for a guest juror to peruse before he or she selects a few dozen works for display in this eclectic, free-to-the-public show. This year's juror was Jerry Saltz, senior art critic for The Village Voice, whose exhibition ideal is of "full shows, even brimming ones." So this year's "New American Talent" is just that: 85 artists have works on display, and as exhibitions go, this one is absolutely packed with variety, immediacy, and singular artistic visions. Saltz makes the case in the catalog's introductory essay that New York can no longer be considered the hub of modern artistic endeavors. There has been an explosion of creativity across the country. And as Arthouse generally supports or promotes Texas artists, it comes as no surprise that almost half of the artists on display have Texas connections. Among them is Houstonian Wendy Wagner, whose Miss Pretty in oil and acrylic catches the eye with a combination of innocence masking something more profound -- an adult consciousness in a child's drawing. In it, a simultaneously glovelike and octopus-ish shape stares with deep, dark, oval eyes past the viewer in a rarified mix of hopeful expectation and hopelessness. Partly sad, partly humorous, the simple, dolled-up shape betrays a mix of deeper emotions. A.J. Bocchino's NY Times Headlines (Feb 1, 1993-July 28, 2003) is exactly that: a digital drawing of headlines strung out in chronological order, colored variously. The work is about 31/2 feet tall and more than 7 feet long and is irresistible to anyone with even a passing interest in our nation's journey this past decade. Newspaper headlines swell in direct proportion to the current crisis, and scanning what those crises were, as interpreted by the leading American newspaper of our day, is a lesson in politics, memory, and relativity. Politics teem in many of the works, as artists are not content to just render their world without some distinct commentary. There are the overt anti-George Bush messages in the pop art Bush-Waxed, by Isabella Natale, and the ur-vacation photo, War Protest -- San Francisco, by Christopher Stark. There are the more subtle queries, too: of cultural expectation and its cost in Neil Bender's Attempted Corset, in which the artist creates a woman's corseted silhouette from a collage of photos of naked limbs; and again in Gush, by Aaron Johnson, which calls to mind the flow of blood -- upon closer inspection of the rather psychedelic work, though, tiny armored tanks can be spied rolling along the contours of the linen that bulges from the plane of the canvas under all that pigment. Even more than the political undercurrent of the art, the variety of media used by these artists is staggering. The unexpected reigns. There's tape – duct, strapping, masking – in the (relatively) two-dimensional Tape Deer, by Betsy Odom, as well as in the delightful sculpture Fucking Squirrels, by Rune Olsen. There's blood as ink in the intricate Thought Patterns, by Laura Splan. Or yarn, in April Sullivan's Tree. There's cardboard in a variety of forms, including the playful boxes arrayed in the middle of one of the gallery rooms in David Denosowicz's I Love You. Then there is Plateau, by Sumakshi Singh, a minute acrylic and clay sculpture that literally bursts from the gallery wall. This hardly scratches the surface of the imaginative and playful discoveries of this group of talented newcomers. Not all the art is groundbreaking -- probably none of it is, really -- but the energy and originality of vision of these artists, the criteria by which Saltz chose the lot, is evident throughout in works far-fetched and (relatively) easier to access. The exhibit merits a long lingering view, or better still, repeated visits, as patrons can make their own discoveries of new juxtapositions in this abundant collection of new works. |
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 Magnetic North by Beverly Penn |
D. Berman Fills Seasonal Gap By Erin Keever During Austin's version of seasonal change, our local art world goes through a transition of its own. Many summer shows are down and galleries are gearing up for the fall. D. Berman Gallery has bridged the gap nicely with an exhibition of work by artists Hillevi Baar and Beverly Penn. While nature abounds in both bodies of work, so does the tension between nature and technology, ephemerality and permanence, fragility and strength. Houston-based artist Hillevi Baar creates wall installations using Mylar, delicately cut into shapes and decorated by hand with colorful drawings and patterns. Sometimes pieces are trimmed into tiny cubes and mounted using pins. Other times petal shapes are strung together on thin steel rods. Baar's largest work, "Weeping Willow," is exquisite. At approximately 7 feet tall, it captures the elasticity of the real thing, as delicate leaves hang off bowed branches drooping towards the floor, swaying and casting shadows onto the wall. Baar's work is meticulously executed and possesses a sculptural presence as well as an ethereal quality. In contrast, Penn's sculpture is more stoic, yet equally investigative of the relationships between hard and soft, artificial and natural. Many works combine cast bronze botanicals with man-made objects. Small realistically rendered bronze flower clusters are mounted on aluminum dials while twig forms emerge from fabricated test tube-looking trunks. Using sturdy materials, she juxtaposes organic motifs with mundane mechanical elements, questioning our understanding of science, nature and temporality in a subtle albeit imaginative way. ("Hillevi Baar and Beverly Penn: New Work" continues noon to 5 p.m. (summer gallery hours) through Tuesday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (normal gallery hours) through Sept. 18 at D. Berman Gallery, 1701 Guadalupe St., 477-8877. There will be a gallery talk 1 p.m. Sept. 4.) |
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 Dr. James Housefield |
'22' Questions By Rachel Koper What happens when a Boston U. Ph.D. comes to Austin to be adjunct curator for the Austin Museum of Art? Well, for one thing, we all start getting excited about AMOA's next "22 to Watch" exhibit, slated for June 2005. That's one of several projects that Dr. James Housefield has been working on since joining the museum staff in June. More things you should know about Dana Friis-Hansen's new hire: He's interested in Andy Warhol, which should help him relate to Austin's poster-art culture. He's a widely published art historian who enjoys French Modernism. He's energetic, outgoing, and he seems to be enjoying working in Austin. Here are some more things he told the Chronicle. Austin Chronicle: Is the next exhibition going to be titled "18 to Watch"? Or "20 Under 40"? Is the show about young artists or underrepresented artists? James Housefield: I'm impressed by how interesting and effective the loose organizing principles of the original "22 to Watch" were. We're using it as the model, since it is a flexible and useful goal to show approximately 20 emerging artists. This type of show isn't necessarily about age, as Jerry Saltz knows – he included someone born in the 1930s in the 19th "New American Talent" show at Arthouse. Our goal is to bring attention to artists who are emergent and underrepresented, including those who have yet to have a major solo exhibition. AC: What kind of work are you considering for shows? Are you more of a color/technique guy or concept/cleverness guy? JH: In my own criteria, the quality of a work of art depends on surface and depth, on technique and content, although the balance may vary. I'm looking for artworks and artists that engage a viewer's mind and senses in ways that open lines of communication. Details count; the first "22 to Watch" set the precedent for the next 22 to meet and exceed. As an art historian, I spend much of my time thinking about far-flung places and epochs. This year is going to be an exciting time for me to increase my own understanding of what's happening here and now in art. I'm looking forward to meeting local artists at their openings, in their studios, and at our programs. AC: What do you like about the Austin artists you've seen so far? JH: One of the great aspects of the Austin art community is that it really seems to be a constellation of many different groups. I came to AMOA in the belief that the museum should play a major role as a place where these groups come together, a place where they can intersect with the other communities that make Austin an invigorating place to live. Across the spectrum, the exciting groups of artists I have seen all show a strong sense of creative energy and an eagerness to work in a variety of media. I'd like to see some of the adventurous qualities and diversity of new art in Austin communicated in "22 to Watch." |
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