The Business of Art

Today, The Business of Art opens at The Art Gallery at UNE in Westbrook. Featuring works from 10 Portland galleries, the exhibition is an engaging survey of the wealth of art to be found right here in Portland.

More than just great art, the exhibition offers a unique glimpse into a side of the art world that many of us rarely see. Through a series of programs at the gallery, the gallery owners featured in the exhibition will have the opportunity to share their experiences with the public. From how they established names for themselves in the art scene, to how they are navigating the current troubled economic waters, the insight provided by these 10 luminaries should be fascinating.

The following galleries are included in the show:
A Fine Thing
Aucocisco Galleries
Elizabeth Moss Gallery
Greenhut Galleries
Jameson Gallery
June Fitzpatrick Galleries
Susan Maasch Fine Art
Sarajo
The Daniel Kany Gallery
Whitney Art Works

The show will be on view until September 2. FMI contact (207) 221-4499 or visit www.une.edu/artgallery.

I was able to take a sneak peek of the exhibition as it was being installed this weekend, and there are many exciting works to see, covering a range of styles, artists, and media. There are glass works, textiles, paintings, and prints. Definitely be sure to check it out!

Also, keep an eye out for an upcoming issue of The Maine Switch, for my review of the 8th Annual Sculpture Garden Invitational, at The Art Gallery at UNE.

A Belated First Friday Recap

So, I did indeed attend last week's First Friday Art Walk, as per usual. My lateness in blogging is due to last weekend's beautiful weather and the subsequent busy work week.

I'll begin with Taken Out of Context, on view until June 30 at Whitney Art Works. The exhibitions at Whitney always impress me, and this show is no exception. Aaron T. Stephan's works are at once universal and insular, mind-blowing in their conceptual scope.

As soon as I walked into the gallery, I was immediately drawn to an assemblage of tiny people atop a pedestal. These minute sculptures reminded me of myself and my fellow gallery-goers: a disparate group united by a single purpose, yet somehow still distant from each other. In a way, that sums up the work in Stephan's one-man show.

I am always delighted to see his painstakingly created serial drawings depicting famous masterworks. The likes of Rodin and Vermeer are included, but Stephan does not merely replicate the works. He creates entirely new pieces using those iconic images as intellectual catalyst. In his artist statement, Stephan writes: "Here, repeated images and dissected forms bring to mind a careful exploration of what art history means to an individual art practice."

The "reinterpretation of...iconic forms" is a major theme of the exhibition. "Flat World/Round Map" is a riff on a mapping structure designed by Buckminster Fuller, while stacked classical Greek columns provoke meditations on culture and architecture.

"The Burden Crates" is a profoundly interesting work. Standard wood packing crates take the shape of the two characters in Chris Burden's performance, "Shoot," in which he was shot in the arm in front of an audience. Accompanying the two massive crate figures are Stephan's serial drawings depicting the performance.

The exhibition is absolutely worth visiting, and certainly worth hours of contemplation. Simply stunning.

At June Fitzpatrick Gallery, the Charles Darwin inspired works of Dorothy Schwartz are on view. From her artist statement, Schwartz explains the exhibition: "The drawings and prints in this exhibition reflect our links to each other and to endlessly evolving forms." I was especially intrigued by the many fine-line pen drawings on canvas, which are "an adaptation of penschilderij, a technique originated by 17th century Dutch artists." The collection of tiny, shimmering circles on black canvas were mesmerizing depictions of biological forms.

On a slightly un-art related note, I also dined at Emilitsa on Art Walk night. I have been wanting to try this new Greek dining experience since it opened not too long ago, and I am glad I did! The food, service, and atmosphere are all lovely.

Until next time!