Style Spotlight: Art on the Small Screen

January 2008 | BY admin | Issue 60 | NO COMMENTS

When discussing art, gallery owner Allan Stone said, “It’s soul food—you’re buying things that will enrich your life.” Whether or not you have the opportunity to buy, you may certainly want to watch and learn. We’ve found three compelling DVDs that tell the stories of two ceramists, a painter and a collector.

If you want to be tantalized by two celebrated ceramists, pick up the 10-minute movie “Spontaneous Dance.” Created to benefit the Harnack Lancaster Award through the nonprofit New Mexico Potters and Clay Artists, the DVD explores a brief history of Barbara Harnack and Michael Lancaster’s accomplishments and exposes you to their greenware and firing processes—it’s difficult not to be sucked into this tactile experience.

To obtain a copy, visit www.studio98b.com and make a donation to the award fund. A number of limited-edition, signed DVD covers will be released for donations greater than $15.

If you know the stories of artists like Wayne Thiebaud, Richard Estes and Andy Warhol, you should know the name Allan Stone. The hour-long documentary “The Collector” tells the story of the preeminent New York gallery owner and art collector through interviews with Stone and artists he represented.

Stone was a man who literally lived art, possessing what his colleagues simply referred to as “it”—an impeccable eye that zeroed in immediately to the best object in a room. To see clips from the video or to purchase a copy, visit www.thecollectorfilm.com.

Alice Neel struggled for decades to be recognized as a portrait artist in New York. When she was finally hailed as a symbol of the women’s movement in the 1970s, Neel had already lost two children, had a nervous breakdown and moved on to establish a new style of portrait painting. To learn more about the artist, view a trailer of the documentary “Alice Neel” and see portraits with verbal commentary, go to www.aliceneelfilm.com.

Style Spotlight: Artists Honored

January 2008 | BY Christine Kloostra | Issue 60 | NO COMMENTS

A portion of the quilt “Full of the Faith” by USA Fellow Gwendolyn Magee.

For the second consecutive year, United States Artists (USA) awarded 50 $50,000 unrestricted grants to artists of all disciplines from across the country in recognition of the caliber and impact of their work.

Among the recipients were five artists working in crafts and traditional arts: Tommy Joseph, a totem pole carver from Sitka, Alaska; Gwendolyn Magee, a quilter from Jackson, Miss.; Maggie Orth, an electronic textile designer from Seattle, Wash.; Virgil Ortiz, a potter from Santa Fe, N.M.; and Susie Silook, a sculptor and carver from Wasilla, Alaska.

The organization was established in 2006 with funding from the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Prudential Foundation and the Rasmuson Foundation. A complete list of 2007 USA Fellows can be found at www.unitedstatesartists.org.

Matthias Pliessnig, Wood Artist

January 2008 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 60 | 2 COMMENTS

“Bends,” created in 2006 of steam-bent oak.

Using everything from Legos to wood, Matthias Pliessnig has always found joy in building. A Rhode Island School of Design graduate, Pliessnig is currently finishing up a graduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Pliessnig’s most recent work “is becoming more and more about holding the body and making connections with historical context,” he says. His unique technique focuses on the process of steam-bending wood, which he learned while building a boat two summers ago. The wood is air-dried rather than kiln-dried, providing better flexibility while still maintaining enough moisture. Pliessnig then cuts the wood into strips and puts them inside a tube filled with steam. After about 10 minutes he pulls the strips out and bends them into his desired shape. The dried wood becomes very sturdy. His seats appear to cradle the body, magically bending but not breaking.

In the next few years, Pliessnig hopes to work with architects on interior and exterior spaces. “I imagine large snaking forms hugging walls, swooshing around corners and splitting around columns,” he says.

The innovative artist soon hopes to be making furniture in “batch production,” triggering lower retail prices. Although price range varies from piece to piece depending on time and materials used, small sculptures are $100, while larger seating runs around $4,000. To see more, go to www.matthias-studio.com.

Alain Belanger
Avner Zabari
David Finck
Don Green
Jack Larimore
Jonathan Maxwell
Kerry Vesper
Scott Grove
Victor DiNovi

Kerry Vesper – Wood Artist

January 2008 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Issue 60 | NO COMMENTS

Kerry Vesper’s “Kitchen Counter Chair” was created in 2006.

Watching “taffy being pulled, the flow of a large flag blowing in the wind, a twisted weathered tree trunk and cloud formations” are just a few of Kerry Vesper’s muses.

Woodworking was initially only a hobby for the now-established furniture artist. He pursued it while working as a clinical social worker and, with the encouragement of fellow artist and friend Dennis Jones, realized that it could be a profession.

Influenced by artist Wendell Castle’s stack laminating technique, Vesper uses similar elements to develop his own personal style of layering and shaping plywood with “exotic and domestic hardwoods.” He is remarkably able to capture a fluid movement in a medium as hard and definite as wood.

The Arizona native’s forms are inspired by those found in nature, often drawn from the Southwestern desert landscapes of his childhood. Vesper’s newest designs are wall sculptures and collaborations with glass artist Alisha Volotzky. “I like to create forms that capture the flow of molten glass that is frozen when it cools,” says Vesper.

The collection runs from $1,500 to $9,000 and can be seen at his studio in Scottsdale, Ariz. Visit www.kerryvesper.com for more information.

Alain Belanger
Avner Zabari
David Finck
Don Green
Jack Larimore
Jonathan Maxwell
Matthias Pliessnig
Scott Grove
Victor DiNovi