Tag Archives: paintings

Women Artists at the SAM

Last year the Seattle Art Museum had an exhibit of women artists. People like Frieda Kahlo and Tamara de Lempicka. Of course photos weren’t allowed in the travelling exhibit. Fortunately SAM also curated a collection of women artists’ work from their permanent collection–and I took photos of those.

I wait for the day when artists are artists, regardless of gender and we don’t need a special event just to give women the opportunity to have their art seen. However, male artists still seem to dominate galleries and I was grateful for the chance to see so many talented women’s creations who would otherwise be in the shadow of their male peers.

Suzy Frelinghuysen

Suzy Frelinghuysen

Maude Irving Kerns

Maude Irving Kerns

Maude Irving Kerns

Another Maude Irving Kerns

Lee Krasner

Lee Krasner

Joan Mitchell

Joan Mitchell

Helen Frankenthaler

Helen Frankenthaler

Ghada Amer

Ghada Amer

Charmiond von Wiegand

Charmiond von Wiegand

Alice Trumbull Mason

Alice Trumbull Mason

Abie Loy Kamerre

Abie Loy Kamerre

To say that these artists are similar to Rothko, Klee, Kandinsky, Picasso, Gris, or others doesn’t serve these women. They are all amazing artists in their own right, regardless of their male counterparts.

Some, like Abie Loy Kamerra and Ghada Amer are working today. Others, like Suzy Frelinghuysen and Joan Mitchell, painted in the mid- to latter part of the 20th Century. They hail from France, America, Egypt, Australia and beyond. If some of these jump out at you, I encourage you to look up the artists online and learn more about them. There’s a treasure trove of great artists to discover!

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Filed under Art, Events, Feminism

Studio Museum in Harlem

One of the first things I did when I went to NYC last summer was head to West 125th Street to the Studio Museum in Harlem.

The museum is a contemporary art gallery focusing on African-American works. It offers an artist-in-residence program too, so it not only reflects and showcases art in the community (and for the community) but it gives artists a space to practice their craft.

In addition to an impressive permanent collection, there is a constant rotation of exhibits. Here’s what I saw.

Robert Pruitt’s exhibit Women featured a collection of large-scale conté-on-butcher-paper drawings of women. There are pop culture and political themes in the work, which feature models of women in Pruitt’s life. They’re embellished with gold leaf.

wall of Robert Pruitt's drawings

Robert Pruitt framed drawings

Robert Pruitt woman

Robert Pruitt drawing

I saw a high school photography exhibit featuring wonderful snippets of student life, from family and home scenarios to perspectives on high fashion. Here are just a couple of the 30 or so images from the collection.

I enjoyed Jennifer Packer’s work, which was varied in theme but related in its textures and painterly-ness.

Eric by Jennifer Packer

Jennifer Packer

Cullen Washington Jr.’s Untitled (Mondrian #6) echoes the geometric aspects of Piet Mondrian, only Washington’s are created entirely with found materials.

Jennifer Packer

Another geometric piece was nearby, this one by Steffani Jemison.

steffani jemison

Shooting without a flash indoors is limiting, but I did capture a few other pieces, including these from the Body Language exhibit.

The Studio Museum is a gem and I highly recommend visiting if you’re ever uptown.

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Filed under Art, Travel

Roq La Rue Group Show

A couple of days ago I dropped by Roq La Rue gallery with my friend Suzanne. She’d invited me to a group show called I’ll Love You ’til the End of the World. The gallery showcases pop art, surrealism, and underground contemporary works by a variety of artists. This exhibit focused on the theme of post-apocalypse (or rather post what-if-the-apocalypse-never-happens. Like it didn’t on December 12, 2012). It’s about continuing to live and what that means to the artists involved.

Some works that caught my eye:

Glory

Glory by Sarah Dolby

Forever Yours

Forever Yours by John Brophy

End of Her World

End of Her World by Laurie Lee Brom

Greg and Steve, On Vacation

Greg and Steve, On Vacation by Scott Musgrove

There are other great pieces too. Here’s the artist list: Camille Rose Garcia, Chris Berens, John Brophy, Martin Wittfooth, Nicola Verlato, Jean-Pierre Roy, Sarah Dolby, Eric Fortune, Jane Kenoyer, Sail, Laurie Lee Brom, Scott Musgrove, John Brosio, Travis Louie, and Marco Mazzoni.

group show

The exhibit runs through Feb 2, 2013 so hop on over if you’re in the Seattle area.

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Filed under Art, Events