FrameStore_Logo_01Framestore Loacations 2011

Hearts and Flowers by Lauren Marems

Love and Art for 2012

January Newsletter

 

Greetings!   

Happy New Year from FrameStore!
Acrylic layered painted heart
 
The Holidays have come and gone for another year, and 2011 has faded into the history books. A new year has begun and 2012 is still full of promise and excitement for all.
 
Valentine's Day is just a mere 3 weeks away, so it is certainly time now to start considering that perfect gift for that special someone. Don't let the clouds and rain get you down. Love is in the air, so don't wait until it is too late!
 
Despite the winter gloom and grey at this time of year, you can still see lots of color throughout SoCal in the art, people, and culture of our wonderful cities. Be sure to take the time to check out the many upcoming and current shows at the local galleries!
 
In the SoCal Art Happenings section, FrameStore brings you continuing coverage of the Pacific Standard Time exhibits and shows that everyone is talking about. Celebrate with FrameStore the era that continues to inspire the world!
 
This month we launch our first Local Artist Spotlight, featuring a SoCal resident making waves in the art scenes of Los Angeles and the world. We also continue our new Art World News section by bringing you non-exhibit art news from both around the Southland and around the world. And our In The Studio section sees the second installment of an Art Education series which will showcase information on various topics from Art Mediums to styles and history. So check out what is new below, and in the months ahead.
 
Take the time to enjoy and cherish those around you this Valentine season, and never forget the beauty that art brings to our world and our lives. Happy New Year from everyone here at FrameStore!
 
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Local Artist Spotlight:
 Audrey Kawasaki
Mayakashi by Audrey Kawasaki
Mayakashi
oil and graphite on wood panel 12"x12"
"The Next Generation" group show @ London Miles Gallery curated by Thinkspace Gallery
2010

 

  
Audrey Kawasaki is a Los Angeles-based painter, known for her distinctive, and sometimes erotically charged portrayals of young women. Her works are oil paintings painted directly onto wood panels, and her style has been described as a fusion of Art Nouveau and Japanese manga.

Kawasaki studied fine art painting for two years at the Pratt Institute in New York City, but left after two years without completing her degree. She cites the emphasis in the New York art scene on conceptual art, an approach at odds with her figurative, illustrative style, as among the reasons she left. Kawasaki is considered a rising star in the Los Angeles art scene.
  
From Audrey's Site:

 

"The themes in Audrey Kawasaki's work are contradictions within themselves. Her work is both innocent and erotic. Each subject is attractive yet disturbing. Audrey's precise technical style is at once influenced by both manga comics and Art Nouveau. Her sharp graphic imagery is combined with the natural grain of the wood panels she paints on, bringing an unexpected warmth to enigmatic subject matter. 

The figures she paints are seductive and contain an air of melancholy. They exist in their own sensually esoteric realm, yet at the same time present a sense of accessibility that draws the observer to them. These mysterious young women captivate with the direct stare of their bedroom eyes."
 
 
Read Audrey's Journal at:

 

 
And visit her website:

  

http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com



 

 

Art World News -

 

The Southland: 

 

LACMA Prepares for Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass:

  

LOS ANGELES - LACMA is deep into preparations for the transport and installation of artist Michael Heizer's ambitious Levitated Mass, which is destined for the Resnick North Lawn. But the relocation of the 350 ton granite boulder from Riverside to downtown LA is proving to be even more of an hurculean task than anticipated. Scott Tennant recently blogged an update:

 

"As you may have surmised from past blog posts or any of the news items already written about Levitated Mass, installing Michael Heizer's latest artwork is not quite the same as purchasing a painting, shipping it to the museum, and hanging it on the wall. In fact it feels a lot closer to making a building, what with all the construction workers employed both onsite at LACMA, digging the 456-foot-long slot in the earth north of the Resnick Pavilion, and the team from Emmert International building the transporter for the 340-ton megalith currently resting in a Riverside quarry. Just to give you an idea of how complex the project is and how many people are involved in making it happen, check out this video documenting recent progress at the quarry site."


"The transportation of the megalith, made possible by Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd., will happen almost entirely in the small hours of the night over many days. The boulder is scheduled to start moving... well, soon. Once it begins, we'll be tracking it on the Levitated Mass webpage as well as offering daily updates on Twitter so stay tuned for news of its movement." Read the LA Times Article here.
 

 
 

The World:

 

Works by Tomasz Rut Inducted into Vatican Collection:

 

VATICAN CITY, Rome - On Wednesday, October 12, 2011 during the artist's audience with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, attended by thousands of spectators from around the world at the St. Peter's square in the Vatican, two large paintings by Tomasz Rut entered the St. Peter's cathedral after being blessed by the Holy Father.


During his meeting with Pope Benedict, Tomasz presented him also with the book recently published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana featuring the third of his series of "Nolite Timere" paintings honoring Pope John Paul II and President Lech Walesa.


"I am deeply moved and still overwhelmed by the experience", humbly says Tomasz Rut, already considered as one of the most collectible contemporary artists: "To see my paintings in the company of Michelangelo, Rafael and all the other great names who have led, defined and inspired our culture for hundreds of years is the greatest honor and acknowledgment I could hope for."


The two original paintings owned by the Vatican and blessed by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, are being released as limited edition prints, signed and numbered by the Artist, and will be available directly from Tomasz Rut Studio. Read the Sun Sentinel Article here.

 

 

New Exhibition of Native American Art 

 

SALEM, MA -- This winter, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) presents, Shapeshifting, one of the largest Native American Art exhibitions to open in North America in more than 30 years. Nearly 80 works from public and private collections worldwide offer a far-reaching exploration of Native American art as a continuum, juxtaposing historic and contemporary artworks. Through constellations of objects created in a range of media - ­­­­sculpture, painting, ceramics, textiles, photography, drawing, film, video and monumental installation - visual and conceptual connections are drawn between generations of Native people, art traditions and cultures. The exhibition opens to the public on Saturday, January 14, 2012.

 

"Typically arranged chronologically, geographically, or by medium, exhibitions of Native Art have almost exclusively focused on either historical or contemporary works, with very little mixing of the two," says Karen Kramer Russell, exhibition curator and PEM's curator of Native American Art and Culture. "Shapeshifting will prompt visitors to see the links and continuities within the vast panorama of Native American art, and to consider it with fresh eyes. Our intention is to shift how Native Art is exhibited and discussed."

 

Spanning vast cultural, historical, intellectual, and aesthetic terrain, Shapeshifting offers a new approach to Native American art by exploring the conceptual underpinnings and artistic intent of contemporary and historic artworks alike.

 

"We have been especially fortunate to have the wise counsel, creativity, and expertise of a stellar group of advisors, authors, and artists from a wide range of disciplines and experiences, including many from Native American and other cultures," said Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, The James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes Chief Curator at PEM.

 

Shapeshifting is organized into four thematic sections: Changing, Knowing, Locating, and Voicing. Two monumental contemporary installations that compellingly address familiar icons and materials-Kent Monkman's 2007 Th��tre de Cristal and Brian Jungen's 2002 Cetology-begin and end visitors' journey through the exhibition. Read the Full Press Release Here.

 

SoCal Art Happenings -

 

Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery:

 Untitled by Lorser Feitelson 

Pacific Standard Time 

Civic Virtue:
The Impact of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and the Watts Towers Arts Center
 
December 15 - February 12, 2012

  

Civic Virtue: The Impact of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and the Watts Towers Arts Centerexplores the intertwined histories of two of Los Angeles's oldest and most diverse centers of artistic activity, both now operated by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

 

The Civic Virtue exhibition at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (LAMAG) is a chronological survey of the role of civic government in the development of the arts in Los Angeles, beginning in the early 1950s. The exhibition illustrates the history of the gallery through displays of significant artworks and artifacts including Frank Lloyd Wright's original sketches and drawings for the building; artwork and documentation from City Hall hearings related to charges that modern painting and sculpture were vehicles of Communist subversion; photographs documenting early citywide festivals celebrating diverse artists; images of the seminal experimental performances at LAMAG by Guy de Cointet and Robert Wilhite, Senga Nengudi, Marren Hassinger, and Ulysses Jenkins; and works from many of LAMAG's celebrated exhibitions, including works by Karl Benjamin, David Hammons, Lorser Feitelson, Julius Shulman, June Wayne, John Altoon, Llyn Foulkes, John Mason, Betye Saar and Patssi Valdez.

 

The Getty Center:

 Juliet With Mud Mask by Man Ray c1945
 

Pacific Standard Time

In Focus:
Los Angeles, 1945 - 1980
 
December 20, 2011 - May 6, 2012

 

In response to the Pacific Standard Time initiative, this exhibition presents 25 photographs from the Getty Museum's permanent collection that were made in Los Angeles from 1945 to 1980. As a part of the In Focus series of exhibitions at the Center for Photographs, the exhibition includes both iconic and lesser known works that were made by artists whose careers are defined by their association with the city of Los Angeles, who may have lived in the city for only a few but influential years, or whose visit inspired them to create memorable images. The photographs are loosely grouped around the themes of experimentation with the medium, street photography, architectural depictions, and the film and entertainment industry. Works by the following artists are included: Jo Ann Callis, Robert Cumming, Joe Deal, John Divola, Judy Fiskin, Anthony Friedkin, Robert Heinecken, Anthony Hernandez, Man Ray, Edmund Teske, William Wegman, Garry Winogrand, and Max Yavno.

 

Fisher Museum of Art, University of Southern California:

 Glove, Balloon, Shoehorn by Jo Ann Callis c1983

Pacific Standard Time

Sight Specific: 
LACPS and the Politics of Community
 
January 11 - April 7, 2012

 

Formed in 1974 'to encourage the growth and appreciation of photography as an art form', the Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies (LACPS) was the regional incarnation of a national phenomenon that saw artist-run photography organizations spring up in regions and major metropolitan areas across the country. Crucial for artists working with photo-based media in the Southern California region, LACPS became a hub from which they could explore new ideas, expand their knowledge and experience new work. The space became the site for innovative exhibitions; some that pushed the boundaries of photographic practice and others that reclaimed a history that had been overlooked. This exhibition, taking into account for the first time the history of LACPS and an examination of the national rise and decline of artist-run organizations and spaces in the 1960s and 70s, seeks to rectify the former and begin a dialog to understand the latter. Exploring the personalities, programs and impact of the Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies and reconstructing selections from the organization's exhibition program, this exhibition, curated by founding Executive Director of the No Strings Foundation, Tim B. Wride, will explore how the organization sought to come to terms with the history of photography in the region; how it attempted to frame the discussion of what were then contemporary issues surrounding photographic practice; and, ultimately, how it set the stage for the future of image making within and beyond regional boundaries.
 

 

Watts Towers Arts Center:

 Ancestral Roots by Nathan Bustion c1978
 

Pacific Standard Time

Civic Virtue: 
The Impact of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and the Watts Towers Arts Center
 
December 17, 2011 - February 12, 2012

 

 

The Civic Virtue exhibition at the Watts Towers Arts Center (WTAC) will survey the evolution of this important grass-roots arts space, from an entity created in the 1950s to preserve Sabato (Simon) Rodia's 17 major steel-and-mortar sculptures (which he created from 1921 to 1954 and called 'Nuestro Pueblo,' our town) into an internationally recognized community arts center under the auspices of the Department of Cultural Affairs. The exhibition includes creative responses to social conditions and historic events in Watts by a cross-section of artists engaged in community-building, such as Dale Davis, Charles Dickson, Willie Middlebrook, John Outterbridge, Judson Powell and Ruth Waddy; examples of works shown in exhibitions at the Center, by artists including Noah Purifoy, Harry Drinkwater, Sister Mary Corita Kent, Julius Shulman and Andy Warhol; and documentary photographs highlighting the multidisciplinary arts programming associated with WTAC, encompassing music, dance, theater and festivals.

 

Civic Virtue: The Impact of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and the Watts Towers Arts Center explores the intertwined histories of two of Los Angeles's oldest and most diverse centers of artistic activity, both now operated by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

 

 

 

 

 

In the Studio -

 

In the Studio:

Art Education

Madonna and Child by Duccio c 1284

Techniques and Mediums:  

Tempera
 

 

Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium (usually a glutinous material such as egg yolk or some other size).
 
Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the 1st centuries AD still exist. Egg tempera was a primary method of painting until after 1500 when it was superseded by the invention of oil painting.

History

Tempera painting has been found on early Egyptians sarcophagi decorations. Many of the Fayum mummy portraits use tempera, sometimes in combination with encaustic.

Related technique has been used also in ancient and early medieval paintings found in several caves and rock-cut temples of India. High quality art with the help of tempera was created in Bagh Caves between late 4th - 10th century AD and in 7th century AD in Ravan Chhaya rock shelter, Orissa.

The art technique was known from the classical world, where it appears to have taken over from encaustic painting and was the main medium used for panel painting and illuminated manuscripts in the Byzantine world and Medieval and Early renaissance Europe. Tempera painting was the primary panel painting medium for nearly every painter in the European Medieval and Early renaissance period up to 1500. Every surviving panel painting by Michelangelo is egg tempera.

Oil paint, which may have originated in Afghanistan between the 5th and 9th centuries and migrated westward in the Middle Ages eventually superseded tempera. Oil replaced tempera as the principal medium used for creating artworks during the 15th century in Early Netherlandish painting in northern Europe. Around 1500, oil paint replaced tempera in Italy. In the 19th and 20th centuries, there were intermittent revivals of tempera technique in Western art, among the Pre-Raphaelites, Social Realists, and others. Tempera painting continues to be used in Greece and Russia where it is the required medium for Orthodox icons.

 


Techniques
 
Tempera is traditionally created by hand-grinding dry powdered pigments into a binding agent or medium, such as egg, glue, honey, water, milk (in the form of casein) and a variety of plant gums.

Tempera painting starts with placing a small amount of the pigment paste onto a palette, dish or bowl and adding about an equal volume of the binder and mixing. Some pigments require slightly more binder, some require less. Distilled water is added.

Egg tempera

The most common form of classical tempera painting is "egg tempera". For this form most often only the contents of the egg yolk is used. The white of the egg and the membrane of the yolk are discarded (the membrane of the yolk is dangled over a receptacle and punctured to drain off the liquid inside).

The paint mixture has to be constantly adjusted to maintain a balance between a "greasy" and "watery" consistency by adjusting the amount of water and yolk. As tempera dries, the artist will add more water to preserve the consistency and to balance the thickening of the yolk on contact with air. Once prepared, the paint cannot be stored. Egg tempera is water resistant, but not water proof.

Different preparations use the egg white or the whole egg for different effect. Other additives such as oil and wax emulsions can modify the medium.

Tempera grassa

Adding oil in no more than a 1:1 ratio with the egg yolk by volume produces a water soluble medium with many of the color effects of oil paint, although it cannot be painted thickly.

Pigments

Some of the pigments used by medieval painters, such as Vermilion (made from cinnabar, a mercury ore), are highly toxic. Most artists today use modern synthetic pigments, which are less toxic but have similar color properties to the older pigments. Even so, many (if not most) modern pigments are still dangerous unless certain precautions are taken; these include keeping pigments wet in storage to avoid breathing their dust.

Application

Tempera paint dries rapidly. It is normally applied in thin, semi-opaque or transparent layers. Tempera painting allows for great precision when used with traditional techniques that require the application of numerous small brush strokes applied in a cross-hatching technique. When dry, it produces a smooth matte finish. Because it cannot be applied in thick layers as oil paints can, tempera paintings rarely have the deep color saturation that oil paintings can achieve. In this respect the colors of an unvarnished tempera painting resemble a pastel, although the color deepens if a varnish is applied. On the other hand, tempera colors do not change over time,
whereas oil paints darken, yellow, and become transparent with age.
Tempera adheres best to an absorbent ground that has a lower "oil" content than the tempera binder used (the traditional rule of thumb is "fat over lean", and never the other way around). The ground traditionally used is inflexible Italian gesso, and the substrate is usually rigid as well. Historically wood panels were used as the substrate, and more recently un-tempered masonite and modern composite boards have been employed. Heavy paper is also used.
 
Melisande by Marianne Stokes

Tempera Artists

Although tempera has been out of favor since the Late Renaissance and Baroque eras, it has been periodically rediscovered by such later artists such as William Blake, the Nazarenes, the Pre-Raphaelites, and Joseph Southall. The 20th century saw a significant revival of tempera. European painters who worked with tempera include Giorgio de Chirico, Otto Dix, Eliot Hodgkin, and Pyke Koch; and the medium was popular with American artists such as the Regionalist Thomas Hart Benton and his student Roger Medearis; Social Realists Isabel Bishop, Reginald Marsh, and Ben Shahn; Jacob Lawrence, Paul Cadmus, Jared French, Rudolph F. Zallinger, George Tooker, Robert Vickrey, Peter Hurd, Andrew Wyeth, and science fiction artist John Schoenherr, notable as the cover artist of Dune.

Other practicing tempera artists include, Philip Aziz, Ernst Fuchs, Antonio Roybal, George Huszar, Donald Jackson, Tim Lowly, Altoon Sultan, Gr�goire Michonze, Shaul Shats, Sandro Chia (e.g. Studio 1986), Jon Gernon, Fred Wessel, Michael Bergt, Tim Donovan (wildlife artist), Alex Colville, Beverley Bonner, Estefan Gargost, Elaine Drew, and Fred Wessel, Australian artist Jeremy Gordon, and Russian-American artists Scherer & Ouporov, Suzanne Scherer & Pavel Ouporov.

 

We here at FrameStore wish you all the best for a bright and wonderful new year, and hope that your 2012 will be filled with art, love, memories and lots of colour!

Sincerely,

Chuck Mitchell
FrameStore
January News
Artist Spotlight - Audrey Kawasaki
Art World News
Art Happenings - Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
Art Happenings - The Getty Center
Art Happenings - Fisher Museum of Art, USC
Art Happenings - Watts Towers Arts Center
In the Studio: Art Education - Tempera
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