Mystery Something (2011) Canola Oil Paint on Linen. 7 x 6.5 feet

The Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento will present the work of Aptos, California-based artist Enid Baxter Blader in the exhibition Signs from February 22 through March 20, 2011.  The exhibition will include her paintings and her short film, THE ORD, which documents the de-commissioned Fort Ord Army Base.

A pile of bloody birds lying on the ground, a crooked rainbow formed over a burnt landscape and cows making their way through a flood are other subjects found in Blader’s paintings.  There is no rationale for optimism and no proof that things will get better.  Yet, there is a hopeful surging forward, a “cutting against the grain” in the face of uncertainty.  Sense of place is central in much of Enid’s work, as is an emphasis on the connection of opposites.

A filmmaker, musician and painter, Enid’s work has been exhibited internationally including at the Smithsonian, Sundance, and as part of the Getty Museum’sretrospective of California Video, 1960-present. Enid is the chair of Teledramatic Arts at CSU Monterey Bay.

Reception:  March 12, 6-9 pm

Lecture*:  March 12, 3 pm

*Admission is free to current CCAS members and student; general admission is $5.00.  Seating is limited, and will be on a first-come first-served basis.

The Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, founded in 1989, is a nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization/museum that is dedicated to the advancement and appreciation of new and experimental art by international, national, and regional artists.

1519 19th Street
Sacramento, CA 95811

Each Thursday evening, the Crocker Art Museum presents Thursdays ‘til 9, and every second Thursday of the month, the Crocker presents Art Mix.  Art Mix is a night of fun for those who like to mix culture with cocktails,  local music talent and art.

This Thursday,  February 10 · 5:00pm – 9:00pm , in commemoration of Valentines Day check out the Crocker’s Art Mix: Love & Lust:

Celebrate all that’s hot in February. Write love letters and poems with the Sacramento Poetry Center, take the “couples in the collection” tour, hear from a panel of local artists about what “turns them on,” take in a performance from the Sacramento Sizzling Sirens Burlesque Experience, and enjoy all night beats from DJ Mike Colossal.

Check out Art Mix: Love & Lust on Facebook or learn more about Thursdays ’til 9: http://crockerartmuseum.org/learn-do/thursdays-til-9

I entered “My Art Is Your Art“, otherwise known as MAIYA Gallery this past saturday during Museum Day 2011. It was an amazingly sunny day, and despite the car problems that temporarily stranded me in midtown that day, I was put into an extremely good mood by this gallery!

MAIYA Gallery used to be a flower shop, which might explain the space’s “sunny demeanour”. It is spacious and well-lit as a gallery should be, but also holds a hidden space with an open front showing room that meanders into a slightly hidden back showing room.

The artists currently on show, showcase artist Andrew Walker Hindman, Sean Randall, and Shelley Hocknell Zentner show a greater variety in style and content and yet come together in one show quite nicely.

Hindman’s landscapes,  which use vibrant colors, were almost reminiscent of Rothko in the way the artist laid down immense, and yet never flat, fields of color.

Sean Randall’s works also explored color, but in a more visceral way, combining an exploration of color and texture to create works that are both photographic and almost expressionist at the same time.

Shelley Hocknell’s striking, Cézannesque landscapes are also worth the visit! To learn more about MAYIA gallery you can visit their website, or even their facebook page that also has some great images of the artists’ works!

Click to view slideshow.

Attention art lovers everywhere!

Well, you can! So I know that there are mixed feelings out there about Google, regarding our privacy and their plans to take over the world, but Google gets some kudo points for this one. With Google Street View-like technology, the Google Art Project explores some major museums and lets you get closer than you ever imagined.  So, here’s what Google has to say about the project:

So, what if your favorite museum isn’t included yet? This is likely, since there are currently 17 major museums included in the project. Apparently, there is news to come from Google on how users will eventually be able to recommend a museum. This doesn’t mean that you should cancel your long going plans to save up for that trip around Europe, but go ahead and virtually visit some great museums while you save!

Gretchen Skogerson lives in New York City and teaches at MassArt. Her video work has screened at the New York Film Festival and the International Film Festival Rotterdam, among other venues. Her piece DRIVE THRU, currently on view at CCAS, was included in the 2008 Whitney Biennial along with Not Yet Titled, an accompanying installation at the Park Avenue Armory. In 2010 she created an installation for the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh.

DRIVE THRU is a single channel high-definition video that looks at the impact of natural disaster on the man-made environment.  The piece, which was also presented at the Whitney Biennial and the New York Film Festival’s “Views from the Avant-Garde,” presents nighttime views of shattered illuminated commercial signage from the aftermath of 2004’s Hurricane Ivan in Miami.  Contemplating Skogerson’s solemn representation of the quiet but devastated streets, the viewer is struck by how the man-made environment affects and intersects with the natural one.

Where:
Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento
1519 19th Street

When:
February 10, 2011, 7pm

The Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, founded in 1989, is a nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization/museum that is dedicated to the advancement and appreciation of new and experimental art by international, national, and regional artists.

Where: Crocker Cafe

When: 7:00 pm

Reservations required so call the Cafe office at
(916) 808-1289 to make reservations for the next
dinner on February 24th

See photos on Facebook

Twenty-six greater Sacramento area museums will be offering free admission for the 13th Annual Sacramento Museum Day. This event is presented by the Sacramento Association of Museums (SAM), and supported by Umpqua Bank. Sacramento Museum Day takes place Saturday February 5, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Participating Museums:
Aerospace Museum of California
California Automobile Museum
California Foundry History Museum
The California Museum
California State Military Museum
California State Capitol Museum
California State Indian Museum
California State Railroad Museum
Crocker Art Museum
Discovery Museum Science and Space Center
The Don and June Salvatori California Pharmacy Museum
Fairytale Town
Folsom History Museum
Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park
Heidrick Ag History Center (Woodland)
Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park
Museum of Medical History
Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum
Old Sacramento State Historic Park
Sacramento Zoo
Sacramento Historic City Cemetery
Sacramento History Museum
Sojourner Truth Multicultural Arts Museum
Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park
Wells Fargo History Museum (Old Sacramento and Downtown locations)

For more information visit: http://www.sacmuseums.org/museumday.html

Australian –born sculptor Cybele Rowe

Check out the latest from the Art Foundry for February (including a Second Saturday Reception with BRONZE POURING).

Australian –born sculptor Cybele Rowe works in bronze, vitrified clay, and polymer media. Her show will be opening at the Foundry on February 2nd.

Read more at the Art Foundry upcoming events

Andy Cunningham’s studio, at the end of Elvas Avenue, on 4094 C Street (look for the unique orange door), is without a doubt a hidden treasure. The homey studio is showered in natural light and possesses the characteristic open space so important for working artists.

As soon as I step into the gallery I am greeted by Andy’s geometric-biomorphic works. The structurally surreal forms, working through layers and transitioning in space are all unique, while also characteristic of Cunningham’s style.

Cunningham said that he was doing California inspired landscapes and flowers when he returned to his native city, New York, to study for his MFA at Hunter College from 1993 to 1996, and then began his abstracts upon returning to California, inspired this time by the big city, from 1999-2010. The artist says that he’s “heading back to the landscape but bringing a bit of the abstraction with me.”

Looking at his latest experiments that are on their way to becoming finished pieces (although I would take some of them home as they are) it is exciting to see the artist moving into this new ground.

(The images do not do justice to the works as seen in person!)

Inspired, as artists are by both their contemporary artists and their predecessors, Cunningham has started a collaboration with Dürer, Rembrandt, and other notorious sketchers and etchers. The artist, working on large wooden panels, uses a light projector to project the sketches directly onto the canvas, infusing life into them in an entirely new way. Working with charcoal directly onto the wood panels, then using acrylic gel to set the charcoal, and lastly brilliant acrylic pigments, the artist quite literally takes these works through metamorphosis, barrowing from the masters while simultaneously creating something entirely new. An obvious enthusiast of color and line, naturalism and abstraction, and dynamic yet balanced movement, Cunningham manages to bring all these elements together in one work without overwhelming the composition.

A particular favorite is a work in progress, inspired by a Rembrandt drawing that had been reflected back onto itself to create two overarching trees and a mirrored landscape. This “traditional landscape” is, in reality, no such thing.  Closing in on the hills we see Cunningham’s geometric outcroppings, cross hatching, purposeful lines, and brilliant use of color. Cunningham reiterates that he is still working on the piece, and I am excited to think about where he will take it from here, clearly searching out a balance between the stylized and naturalized forms.

Going afterwards into Cunningham’s drawing studio, where he keeps his sketches and watercolors, I see more of the imagination that brings his works to life. Not preoccupied or bound by any one artistic style, Cunningham is primarily interested in the expression of form, line, color, space and movement which naturally filters through his own personal style.

See more of Andy’s work:

http://gallery.me.com/andycunningham1

www.andy-cunningham.net

Andy’s next show will be coming up at The Brickhouse in Oak Park this June (keep posted for the exact date).

To learn about making an appointment with the artist to see his works please contact: andyc@surewest.net

Click to view slideshow.

Visit the 2nd Saturday list of galleries or (if you’re directionally impaired like I am) look at the map! Or just  go where your friend’s work is showing. Have fun and stay warm!