Love2learn exhibition to showcase creative talents of Bath College’s students

A four-day exhibition at 44AD Art Gallery is to showcase the creative talents of students studying part-time Love2learn courses at Bath College.

 Titled Palette, the exhibition is inspired by the broad ranges of courses on offer at the college and will include work from a wide variety of artistic disciplines.

The gallery, at Abbey Street Bath, will be filled with fine art paintings, photographs, jewellery, prints and sculptures from 29th March to 1st April.

Work on display will be available for sale, giving people an opportunity to purchase work from emerging and established artists.

Jo Sanders, Deputy Head of Art & Design is curating the exhibition and students from Bath College will be volunteering as guides over the four days.

She said: “There’s always a really high standard of work for the exhibition. Tutors have been collecting work from students over the past couple of months, so there’s a real sense of excitement about the opening.

“Our Love2learn art courses are very popular and there’s a really busy atmosphere in the evenings, with students coming in to learn and perfect their skills.

“We have a new photography intermediate course for students who completed our beginners course and our ceramics courses are booming – I think people have been inspired by the BBC’s Great Pottery Throw Down.

“Some people might not be aware of this side of the college, and it’s really nice for the students to come together to show their work.

“Katie O’Brien is the project director at 44AD and teaches on our curatorship and studio painting courses. We’re really pleased to be working with her to use 44AD as an exhibition space.”

For some students, the exhibition will be the first opportunity they’ve had to exhibit their work. Prizes will be handed out, including £100 worth of vouchers for the Love2learn student of the year.

An open evening will be held at 44AD on Friday 31st March from 6pm to 8pm and all are welcome to visit.

The exhibition will be open from Wednesday 29th March to Saturday 1st April between 11am to 4pm.

Resource  http://www.bathecho.co.uk/news/education/love2learn-exhibition-showcase-creative-talents-bath-colleges-students-71917/

Yelena Khanevskaya brings artistic talent learned in Russia to rural Nebraska

In the studio at the top story of her home in the Wildcat Hills, Yelena Khanevskaya has a quiet place where she can sit with her cats, create designs to decorate clothing and add dabs of color and mood to her paintings.

Overlooking the North Platte Valley, it’s a long way from Russia, where she spent her youthful summers on a farm in a rural village with her grandmother and the rest of the year with her parents in the city, learning art within the demanding discipline of the Soviet-era education system. Little in her upbringing suggested that her adult career would take her to a job teaching drawing and painting in a small community college half a world away. Art has been a continuous thread in her life.

“I’ve been doing every sort of art since early childhood, even in daycare,” said Khanevskaya, who’s a virtual one-woman art department at Western Nebraska Community College, teaching art history, drawing and painting. “We had a time allocated to arts and crafts.”

In addition to academics, students were encouraged to explore other interests — including, in her case, music, writing for the student newspaper, cross-country skiing and even sharpshooting.

“I explored a lot of things outside public school,” she said, including learning to play the domra, a four-stringed Russian instrument resembling a lute. Her parents encouraged her interest in art, she said, while her grandmother influenced her to overcome her shy disposition and emulate the elder woman’s determination and strength.

Teachers encouraged her during her teen years to enter art school, a formal training program designed to prepare students for college-level studies. She was accepted into the program and took on more than 10 hours per week in after-school study of drawing, painting, sculpture and related topics.

“You didn’t end up in those places if you weren’t serious, because it was a lot of work,” she said.

After graduation from high school she was accepted into a highly selective art program at the university in Oryol (which means “Eagle” in English), nearly 400 miles from Moscow and a ride of several hours by train. She was one of only 50 students admitted that year. Women in the program were encouraged to study teaching instead of pursuing a studio career.

Unlike elementary school, where she felt isolated by her interest in art, she found the university surrounded her with students of similar talents. During 11-hour days she advanced her study of art and academic subjects while continuing her shooting, sewing and knitting and joining fellow students in creating animated films using clay figures.

She married while attending the university and was widowed soon after when her husband was killed in an accident, leaving her with an infant daughter. Still, she was able to earn a master’s degree.

Initially, she worked in a factory that produced Russian folk art, and later in a studio setting painting on clothing and other fabrics.

“What we produced was sold, but not personally by me,” she said.

Khanevskaya later met and married a Nebraskan, now her ex-husband, and found herself without a job in Scottsbluff, a remote town in a remote American state. She taught art classes for children, which revived her interest in drawing and painting, while making new friends and improving the English skills she’d begun learning in school as a child.

“It was very liberating not to have an instructor standing over me and telling me what to do. Sometimes the instructors were kind of harsh,” she said. “I didn’t feel I had a special artistic vision.”

She enjoyed her first taste of real success as an artist when friends encouraged her efforts and she began to make sales and produce occasional exhibits. Eventually, she taught art in an adult education class at WNCC, and in 2000 she was hired as an interim instructor. In her classroom, students strive to produce images of flowers, plastic fruits, pots and other props in a colorful, paint-spattered environment of artworks, easels and whiteboards.

Part of Khanevskaya’s inspiration to return to the art world emerged from the sweeping skies and imposing bluffs of her new prairie environment.

“I came from a place where there were lots of trees and it was very green and humid,” she said. “This was a very alien landscape. The formations here — the monument — were so interesting to me. I painted a lot of sunsets and skies.

“Nebraska skies are very special. The colors and the cloud formations here are very unusual.”


She once ran half-marathons and did her training outdoors. She still does a lot of walking and hiking in the hills around her home, finding inspiration in the bluffs, pine forests, deer, turkeys and other birds. She has a favorite tree outside her window, which inspires her by the way it captures light during the changing seasons. She’s seen the tracks of passing mountain lions.

“We had a bobcat go through there,” she said. “It ran up on the ridge.”

Initially, Khanevskaya was influenced by impressionists, by well-known artists in her homeland and by Russian folk art, including icons, religious paintings and other works of art common in Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. She’s interested in painting human figures and, more recently, wildlife. She’s says being an artist herself makes it easier to teach art to others.

“I definitely think I’m a better teacher because I’m an artist. I believe that to become a good teacher you have to practice that craft and grow,” she said. “It helps me to see my painting in a different light.”

She worries less now about her skill level and devotes her energy to producing the images she can see in her mind.

“It’s liberating once you know the craft. That’s why I appreciate the education I got,” she said. “But every artist has to continue growing. I don’t know if I can say I’m there.”

To continue improving, she sometimes works on projects that are experimental, in order to develop a specific technique or recreate a moment of light.

“A lot of it is just practice. Not every painting is thoroughly planned,” she said. “I visualize a lot of things. Sometimes it feels great just to get it out.”

Even after two decades in western Nebraska, she remains inspired by its ever-changing subjects.

“When I first came here, the landscape seemed empty and rugged, so different from where I’m from,” she said. “I was used to the lush greenery and trees and forests. I’ve come to appreciate the different qualities of light. There’s a lot more wildlife around here than you first imagine.”

Resource  http://www.starherald.com/news/pride/people/yelena-khanevskaya-brings-artistic-talent-learned-in-russia-to-rural/article_46799452-30be-5bec-9981-513500d20e29.html

Our View: With public funding or without, we need art

Rochester's art scene has waged an uphill battle in recent years. Rising rent rates pushed SEMVA and the C4 Salon out of downtown. School budgets allocate less and less money for art programs each year. Zumbrota keeps getting cooler. Seriously, some would say Zumbrota's homegrown visual arts scene is more vibrant than Rochester's.

And to make matters worse, President Trump's proposed budget for 2018 gives zero dollars to the arts. It would obliterate the National Endowment for the Arts and defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That means no more NEA grants and no more Big Bird. Minnesota Public Radio and hundreds of other nonprofit, public broadcasters nationwide say the loss of federal money threatens their quality and mission.

Art doesn't need the government or newspaper editorials to survive. But we need it. Art gives voice to the unnameable experiences we all go through. It makes visible what's impossible to see. It lets our minds wander the vast expanses of human potential.

There are many bright spots and people in Rochester's art scene. Art4Trails. The Art Center and its RACtivists. 535 Gallery. Forager and Cafe Steam. C. Anthony Huber. Carley McHenry. Simon Huelsbeck. Joshua Schroeder. Seamus Kolb. Wendy Westlake. Nick Sinclair. Patricia Dunn-Walker. Miriam Knuth. Bill Peterson. Mary Beth Magyar. Zine-O-Cide. We don't want to stop there, but the list is long enough to take up the rest of this page.

We'd like to tell you about a bright spot that needs a bit of support: Gallery 24 Artist Cooperative, which exists to provide area artists with opportunities to exhibit, exchange ideas, and grow. You've probably seen something touched by the group. The wall space at Forager Brewery is run by the co-op, and Gallery 24 artists are a regular feature on 507 Magazine's Art Out of Context page.

Now, the co-op wants to raise $10,000 to move into a permanent home. A home with rentable studio stalls, gallery space for exhibits, a market area to sell work, and a classroom space.

"So many times, people wait, and they wait, and they wait and they are hoping that the government is going to step up to the plate and do those things, but I am, personally, I'm kind of just sick of waiting," said Cassandra Buck, founder of Gallery 24. "We just need to do this. I think Rochester needs it and it's not fair to the public and to the artists if we just sit and wait and twiddle our fingers when we can try to get something going."

So where did they turn when they tired of waiting?

To you, to us, to everyone. Their fundraising effort went live on GoFundMe early this week. You can check it out at gofundme.com/GALLERY24FINDSAHOME. A chunk of the donations will go to construction costs, the other will go to rent for the first three months. The reward? A space where artists can exhibit, create, and connect.

Art must exist independently of government; an arts scene that relies on government funding as a life-or-death matter isn't much of a scene at all.

A scene that relies on its participants and audience, though? That's as it should be. We want to encourage people to donate, not just to this one organization, but to all the arts, as you're able.

We believe the city needs to continuously replenish its artistic wells. Rochester is rife with talent; we want to see our artists' shine to the horizons, not move away because people didn't pay attention.

Resource :http://www.postbulletin.com/opinion/our_view/our-view-with-public-funding-or-without-we-need-art/article_ee23637e-2c09-5ccd-8bb2-d4bbf5d9512d.html

This artist uses human ‘skin’ for her painting

At first glance, this Cairo art installation appears to be a mural in red and purple hues, of three people at a table. Their eyes are blinking, and that’s when you realise they are actually real.

The installation, called After Dinner, was Cairo-based artist Chanel Arif’s latest venture into living, breathing art.

Arif uses humans and their surroundings as her canvas, creating what at first appear to be two-dimensional paintings using fluid brush strokes and playing with light and shadows.

The artist says there’s not much difference to drawing on paper.

“It’s not that difficult because I apply the same techniques as I would a 2D painting, you know, like a sketchbook. It’s the same thing but on a bigger scale, and so you know when you look at the person or the model, you’re not looking at them as a three-dimensional person. But I look at them like, literally, they are a canvas and applying the same fine arts technique that I would on a canvas or paper,” Arif said.

The child of Saudi and Iranian immigrants to the United States, Arif first signed up to study make-up and body art in Los Angeles last year.

Cairo-based artist Chanel Arif painting on her human canvas.

After returning to Egypt, she relied on friends, who offered their bodies and time, to experiment with.

“It’s crazy to be able to create that optical illusion from 3D to 2D. Also, it affects people differently. I mean when you do body painting, or when you create something with the human body, people are affected more by it. There’s something, like, intimate about it,” said Arif.

“It feels nice to be painted on. You’re just like a canvas for someone’s vision and even just to be concentrating to keep a certain mood is really meditative. Everything about it is cool,” said May Mansour, a model.

Arif usually starts with a sketch, inspired by an emotion or mood that dictates the palette. In each work, Arif strives to create something that invites the viewer to forget the space they’re physically in.

Inspired by American artist Alexa Meade, the concept is new in Egypt’s contemporary art scene, where artists can struggle to engage conservative audiences.

“The installation is a new idea and I like that it’s bringing art to life. Instead of taking pictures of people and observing them while it’s lifeless, we now see the painting alive by people. This idea is new and I think it can revolutionise art. It’s the first time I see this in Egypt and I’m impressed by the work and the material used. It’s surreal and I really like it,” said Salma Barakat, a visitor at the exhibition.

Arif created the installation over a period of six days, giving a boost to Egypt’s creative scene. – Reuters

Resource :www.star2.com/culture/arts/2017/03/14/this-artist-uses-human-skin-for-her-painting/

Zim artist puts Rooibos on the global art stage

Jeanne-Marie Webb bedazzled art-lovers from far-flung places with her delicate paintings on none other than rooibos teabags. 

JOHANNESBURG – Zimbabwean-born artist Jeanne-Marie Webb has put rooibos on the global art centre stage.

The concept behind her year-long 'One Face a Day' project, which was recently exhibited in the Cape Town, started a few years ago when she searched tirelessly for the perfect miniature substrate for her paintings.

“I happened to stumble upon a tattered old rooibos teabag one night while rummaging through one of my old paper boxes, and I thought, why not? It proved to be the perfect canvas for what I had in mind and I absolutely love the concept of creating unique pieces of art on a teabag,” says Webb.

She bedazzled art-lovers from far-flung places with her delicate paintings on none other than rooibos teabags.

Through the years, she’s tested various teabags, but it’s the red residue on rooibos teabags, when mixed with a primer, that results in the perfect skin-tone for her portraits.

Webb has also been invited to visit the US later this year to share her process of painting on rooibos teabags with various studios.

Resource :http://ewn.co.za/2017/03/08/zim-artist-puts-rooibos-on-the-global-art-stage

The man who became art himself

For a man who was designated as a genius by someone like M F Hussain, a life of obscurity and silence may come as a surprise to many. But Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde preferred the silence over a conversation and his passion for art over all the delicacies of life.

One of India's biggest contributions to the world of art was born to a family from Bicholim in 1924 in Nagpur. In their quest to change their fortunes, the family moved to Bombay in the late '20s. Gai, as he was popularly called by his friends, was more inclined towards using the paint brush than pen to craft his career and, despite his father's disdain, indulged in painting. In 1948, Gaitonde received his diploma from the prestigious J J School of Art. By then, he had already become a member of the Progressive Artists Group, which included the likes of M F Hussain, Francis Newton Souza, and S H Raza.

The group participated in several exhibitions through which art lovers got the first impressions of Gaitonde's works. He travelled to eastern Europe in 1956 during the Indian art exhibition, and received the first prize at the Young Asian Artists Exhibition, Tokyo, in 1957. His work was part of exhibitions held at the Graham Art Gallery, New York, in 1959 and 1964, following which he received the Rockefeller Fellowship that year. The government of India conferred a Padma Shri on him in 1971.

The decorated artist meandered from his initial figurative style to ultimately projecting his ideas on canvas in an abstract form. People who follow Gaitonde's work closely attribute it to the influence of Swiss painter, Paul Klee. The figurative art started getting replaced during the '60s by a more abstract art form, but the painter himself never liked the title of abstractionist.


"If a viewer 'understands' my painting, then that understanding is his own, not mine," Gaitonde had once famously said, thus giving an insight into his idea of being abstract. Gaitonde believed in clarity and calmness of the mind before putting onto canvas, and thus chose to be a man of few words. He never married.


"Everything starts from silence. The silence of the brush. The silence of the canvas. The silence of the painting knife," he once said in an interview. To achieve his level of calmness, Gaitonde absorbed the teaching of the Zen school of Mahayana Buddhism. He attributed the teaching of Zen to his work as well, stating that it helped him in understanding nature, which formed the main component of his masterpieces. He also took inspiration from the teaching of J Krishnamurti, the famous philosopher.


His quest for silence transcended into his decision to stop painting in 1988. Thus, a career spanning almost four decades and 41 art pieces concluded. The paintings were Gaitonde's way of expressing himself, and he shared with his friends that he has said all that he wanted to.


The painter spent his final years at a small place in Nizamudin East, in New Delhi. He had met with an accident in 1984, which troubled him for the remainder of his life. Gaitonde died in 2001, but his work made him immortal years after his mortal remains were vanquished. "To me, he is one of the best and greatest artists of India," says Hanuman Kambli, the renowned Goan artist.


Four years after his death, he became the first Indian contemporary painter whose work was sold for more than 85 lakh at the Osians art auction in Mumbai. Another of his untitled painting shattered the record of the most expensive art piece by an Indian artist, when it was auctioned for more than 22 crore at the Christie's debut auction in India in 2013. The announcement made waves across the globe, even forcing the nation to take a look at his work. Many of his artworks, which were till then lying in warehouses in Nagpur, were carefully restored and are today showcased at some of the most prestigious houses of art like the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, among others.

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Resource :http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/the-man-who-became-art-himself/articleshow/57471506.cms

Facebook bans nude Women Lovers painting by acclaimed artist

An Australian auction house has blasted Facebook for ‘censoring’ a nude painting by acclaimed artist Charles Blackman.

Melbourne auctioneer Mossgreen says Facebook stopped them from advertising a video featuring Blackman’s oil painting Women Lovers of two nude figures on a bed next to a black cat.

The auction house said it wanted to promote the video ahead of an upcoming auction on March 7, but was told it violated guidelines as it was advertising “adult products or services”.

Mossgreen chief executive Paul Summer told the BBC it was like “going back to the 1950s”.

“This is a very beautiful image that is not overtly sexual in any shape or form,” he said.

“It’s like going back to the 1950s. It’s ridiculous to censor this sort of thing.”

He added: “Nobody said a single thing until Facebook suddenly decided it was going to offend somebody.

“I don’t know who they’re protecting because I have two teenage daughters myself and if I said to them that this painting has been banned I think they would have laughed at me.”

Mossgreen said it was told by Facebook: “The advert wasn’t boosted because it violates ad guidelines by advertising adult products or services including toys, videos or sexualising enhancement products.”

“Such ads lead to negative user sentiment and we have zero tolerance towards such advertisements.”  

Art collector Sylvia Lowenstein revealed in the video: “I have had this painting over our bed for 20 years, I particularly love it. I like the subject matter, it’s interesting, and Charles Blackman had a great affinity with women.

“Sometimes you cannot fully explain why you like something, but it speaks to me.”

A Facebook spokesperson said: “We have reviewed the ad again and have approved it.”

Resource : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/03/01/facebook-bans-nude-women-lovers-painting-acclaimed-artist/