Fogle Fine Art: Blog

Female Artists Featured For 2010

2009-12-18T21:28:14Z

Photo: Christie Holechek

Photo: Rob Carter, Photographer

For years female artists have battled to exhibit their artwork among male artists. Hard to believe as we near the end of 2009, that some of the most noteworthy female artists of the 20th and 21st Century have works hidden in the most grandiose inventories of museums all over the US. It is true! What sets us apart from our male colleagues today? As an artist and critic, I don't believe one can look at a work of art and determine its gender. Take my work for instance, I was told by a colleague that my technique appeared too aggressive for a woman, and if he didn't know me, he'd assume a male had made the abstracted, large-scale charcoal drawing! What? Is it true that one would believe a 5’3” woman couldn’t draw two 4’ x 12’ charcoal drawings? If this is the case, please look up Katharina Grosse. If a fellow art colleague sees my work as masculine because it is aggressive, bold and full of energy. What is he basing this judgment from? Today, most of the artwork I come across is riding the line between genders. I can't tell if a man or a woman is behind a work of art because men don't just make edgy, sharp objects, and women don't just doodle soft, pretty lines... Look around! See for yourself! Anyways…since some of the greatest collections of women artists lies behind the closed doors of our national musuems, I am very excited to hear that 2010 will mark a revelation and exhibition opportunity of some of the best of the best....women artists. Be sure to read the latest article in the December issue of ARTnews to stay up on 2010's powerful, women's shows!!

http://www.artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2800&current=True

Leave a Comment

Yinka Shonibare—A Cool Contemporary Cat!

2009-11-22T04:22:45Z

Photo: Yinka Shinobare

Photo: Shinobare

The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) recently profiled one of my **new** favorite international artists by the name of Yinka Shonibare who is currently showing 21 pieces of his work at the National Museum of African Art, in addition to showing on over 2 floors of The Smithsonian.

Shonibare was born in London to Nigerian parents. He was raised in Africa before returning to London to study at the Byam Shaw School for Art where he dabbled in a myriad of mediums exploring class and racial issues through sculpture, photography, and painting. He rose to stardom with his most well-know works which depict headless mannequins dressed in beautiful Dutch wax clothing engaged in various forms of daily living. He also produces films and photographs of famous British literary works and casts himself as the central, black character, which has drawn critiques and praise. I find it comical! On a side note, I love the colorful, explosive Dutch Wax fabrics which are the traditional fabrics people of and in Africa wear, but are actually produced in The Netherlands and based on Indonesian batik patterns. I think these beautiful fabrics are truly art in themselves, and was quite surprised to learn that what we Westerners and (possibly) Europeans believe is traditional African fashion, is actually produced in Europe…mostly by a humble company in a small town in Holland, which highly guards it’s production method of producing only the finest batik cloth available. Having lived in The Netherlands and recently spent time in Indonesia browsing batik cloth, myself, I am utterly fascinated with this. But I digress…

So, Shonibare considers himself bicultural, having had strong upbringing in Europe and Africa and his work is like one man’s struggle to discover his roots in some ways. You’ll see references to African colonialism and European Aristocracy which is fascinating to me as an art history major having studied the arts in these various periods. He’s partially paralyzed due to a rare viral infection from his past, so counts on students and his understudies to stage his life-sized works that are what you would see at his shows. He’s won awards and continues to produce works to this day, at the age of 47. Today’s entry is not so much a call for commentary about Shinobare’s work, but is rather an invitation to learn about this artist, if you’re not already familiar. He’s a cool, contemporary cat, and I love his work!

Leave a Comment

SLINKACHU; A Talented Vandal?

2009-10-20T03:17:21Z

Photo: Unknown

If you’re a fan of the American TV show series, CSI, more specifically the CSI: Las Vegas series, you may be familiar with the story line of the villain who would anonymously mail Grisham miniature crime scenes—of crimes about to happen or those just committed. The little scenes were comprised of miniature homes or rooms or places containing miniature figures of people who died or were involved in the crime. Intriguing stuff as the scenes were uncanny, and correct, and spared no minute detail. Of course, they ultimately provided clues which led to the solving of the crime at the end of the hour (thank goodness!).

Interestingly, not too long ago, I came across a British artist by the name of Slinkachu. Have you seen his work or heard about him? Similar to the miniature scenes in the CSI show, he orchestrates miniature “exhibits” of his works through the streets of London and elsewhere, photographs them, and then leave the little guys to fend for themselves in this great big bad world of ours until a delighted (or sometimes irritated) passerby discovers them. And I think they’re really fun!

His work is sometimes called “pavement art”. Some have criticized his work for being nothing more than street vandalism or a form of graffiti (which I happen to love). Whatever you believe art “should be”, I think Slinkachu’s creativity is utterly fascinating. His scenes of his little people taking on the world we live in are comical, thought-provoking, entertaining, and sometimes, beautiful. His street series entitled “Whatever Happened to the Men of Tomorrow”, is cool, too. Would love to know what others think of his work…do you think it’s art in any way or just wacky, British creativity?

Check out his book, “Little People in the City: The Street Art of Slinkachu”, and his website is www.slinkachu.com.

2 Comments

Speaking a Language of Observation with Enthusiam

2009-10-19T02:44:58Z

Photo: David Hockney’s Long Road Home

As a teacher of Introductory Art courses, I often find myself speaking a language of observation foreign to many of my students, yet so familiar to me today. Partially this is due to the decade I have over them studying and making art, in addition to an intentional effort and daily self-prescribed job to stop and see this world more closely for many years now. I've been told I take too much time, and I'm never fast at anything. I have to admit I'm isolating moments in time to see the details. Maybe I'm too attentive, too excited about the subtle qualities of everything. Maybe I have the "shiny" syndrome like a child who sees and touches every ounce of newness for the first time. However, little by little I've noticed my students catching on, and after a week or two of hearing my ongoing, broken record of spoken thoughts and observations pointing out the details in the land, the sky and the individual unique qualities of natural forms, they as well begin to see more closely, as if they were seeing through the eyes of a child. When this moment arrives I know exactly why I teach and how the significant role as an artist defines how I exist in this world. In the New York Times, David Hockney, at age 72, continues to explore his world with this enthusiasm. Maybe Hockney too has always had a case of the "shiny" syndrome, at the very least; he continues to see the details and shares his observations with great enthusiasm! In a brief quote you can hear the wonderment of Hockney."Watch! The ash tree now comes in — look at the shape of it! And now then on the right, another tree. There’s a point where each one stands on its own. There. Now. It’s surrounded by sky. Now the next one, and it stands on its own. You see?

Connect to the link for the full New York TImes article. http://http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/arts/design/18kino.html?_r=1

Leave a Comment

Nashville/Jacksonville Film Connection

2009-09-30T04:28:05Z

Photo: Red Carpet at the Bellcourt

Photo: Karaoke with The Dude

Photo: The Sunbears! in Nashville

Photo: Jon Shepard and The Dude

If you aren't familiar with The Doorpost Film Project, you can learn more about this annual online film contest by visiting thedoorpost.com. For the past two years, their creative department has been headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida while their board of directors has been located in Nashville. Last week Doorpost showed the ten finalist films from their 2009 competition at the historic Bellcourt Theatre in Nashville. Although most of the films are worth a watch, I especially suggest The Resurrection of Officer Rollins.

The festivities in Nashville involved the screening of the ten short film finalists, a series of lectures from Hollywood insiders, and a red carpet event where the winners of the contest were announced. The creative team at Doorpost partnered with Fogle by presenting films at the Emergence events earlier in the year. That team put together the event in Nashville, then parted ways with Doorpost to venture out on their own endeavor; Jacksonville's own Indigenous Media.

Some of the Hollywood insiders that Doorpost filmmakers got to hang out with include Dean Batali (writer for The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Exec Producer of That 70s Show), Jeff "The Dude" Dowd (Hollywood producer and the basis for the Coen brother's character The Dude in the Big Lebowski), Dan "The King of Indie Film" Ireland and Marketing wiz Mickey Cotrell, among others.

Check out some of the amazing films they helped produce for the 2009 contest on the Doorpost website, and then look for these talented folks to be doing some amazing things with film in the River City in the near future.

If you want to see the short film The Resurrection of Officer Rollins, it will be playing as part of the short film series at the 5 Points Theatre's Halloween event on Sunday (10/25) at 5pm.

The fact that Doorpost and Fogle both have Jacksonville/Nashville connections seems to simply be a coincidence, but the number of strange coincidences between Nashville and Jacksonville is interesting. Do you know of any others?

Leave a Comment

Art Alive in Asia!

2009-09-21T06:37:33Z

Shanghai is Art-Alive this September with the opening of the ShContemporary Art Fair and the Shanghai Art Fair in their 3^rd year and 13^th years, respectively. In addition, numerous other galleries and art spaces around town have answered the call and opened their doors for new openings, exhibits, performances and more wine and cheese events than one person can possibly attend! And if the numbers of art sales last year from the Shanghai Art Fair are any indication of what’s to come from the fair this year (upwards of USD10million in 4 days), the trend of financially-flush Asians around the country snapping up artworks from the buzzing scene, doesn’t seem to be tapering in the least! The event hosted galleries and artists primarily from China, however it was terrific to see representation from France, Russia, Argentina, and Germany, to name a few. The ol’ USA even had a couple of galleries present, as well, and I loved that.

Visiting the ShanghaiMart Expo Center for this city’s oldest Art Fair was spectacular for a lot of reasons, and unique for one specific one; the shocking amount of cameras present with their owners photographing as much art as they could elbow their way close to.

It struck me as incredibly odd that a country that is all-to-well known for being masters in the “art” of knock-off manufacturing would allow virtually every attendee of the Art Fair to bring-in their camera and let them photograph as many pieces of art as they could. Or maybe I’m in awe, rather, that the gallery representatives and the artists, themselves, would allow them to do so? I can’t ever remember attending an art show or opening that has attendees snapping away the way these folks were going at it, short of the PR photo, or the artist posing with the gallery host…I’m thinking it’s cultural. Still, I wonder about great original art being copied and distributed without the original artist’s permission and endorsement….you seem to hear about artists who are surprised their work shows up on web and ecommerce websites that has clearly been duplicated. I highly doubt that there are truly ulterior motives at work by those in attendance at the huge show, but one never knows...any artists out there care to share their thoughts on this?

Art Fairs are such a great way to see a lot of fantastic work in a short time. If you’re searching for that perfect piece, try to attend the opening night party or the first day of the show to be sure to have first dibs on the best pieces! I’ve included a list of just a few Art Fairs being held throughout the world, for the remainder of 2009. Now, go buy some art!

October 2009 Art Fairs

· Atlanta Celebrates Photography (Atlanta, GA)
Month of October 2009

· St. James Court Art Show (Louisville, KY)
October 2 - 4, 2009

· The International Art + Design Fair (New York)
October 2 - 7, 2009

· Hong Kong International Arts and Antiques Fair 2009 (Hong Kong)
October 3 - 6, 2009

· Art Singapore 2009 (Singapore)
October 8 - 12, 2009

· Bayou City Art Festival (Houston, TX)
October 10 - 11, 2009

· Frieze Art Fair (London)
October 15- 18, 2009

· The International Fine Art & Antique Dealers Show (New York)
October 16 - 22, 2009

· Kentucky Festival of the Arts (Northport, AL)
October 17 - 18, 2009

· Art Toronto 2009
October 22 - 26, 2009

November 2009 Art Fairs

· 2009 IFPDA Print Fair (New York)
November 5 - 8, 2009

· Dallas International Art, Antique & Jewelry Show (Dallas)
November 5 - 9, 2009

· Boston International Fine Art Show (Boston)
November 12 - 15, 2009

· Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show (Philly)
November 12 - 15, 2009

· Modernism + Art20 (New York)
November 13 - 16, 2009

· Los Angeles Asian & Tribal Art Show (LA)
November 14 - 15, 2009

December 2009 Art Fairs

· Red Dot Miami (Miami)
December 1 - 6, 2009

· Art Basel Miami Beach (Miami Beach)
December 2 - 6, 2009

· Art Miami (Miami)
December 2 - 6, 2009

· artASIA (Miami)
December 2 - 6, 2009

· PULSE Miami (Miami)
December 2 - 6, 2009

· Scope Miami (Miami)

December 2 - 6, 2009

· NADA ART FAIR MIAMI (Miami)
December 3 - 6, 2009

· One of a Kind Show and Sale® Chicago (Chicago)
December 3 - 6, 2009

· One of a Kind Show and Sale® NY (NYC)

December 10 - 13, 2009

Leave a Comment

Drawing Today-Exploding Present or Distant Past?

2009-09-13T13:05:47Z

Photo: Guo-Qiang, Dynamite Drawing Example

Photo: Ritchie Painting Installation

Photo: Grzymala Gallery Installation

Photo: Weiss Drawing Performance

Photo: Long Walking Line

Drawing Today-How has this tangible medium and process changed throughout history? Is it an intimate timeline of mankind revealing captured experiences in time—a trace or record of existence—or is it merely an overshadowed forgotten medium overlooked against today’s oversaturated world of digital media? Perhaps it is buried within these new interactive systems, and only a select few will experience the intimacy it can offer to an individual once it is discovered in it’s raw, physical form. Has the concept of drawing in today’s world become an opportunity for the artist to engage the viewer on a deeper level of interaction through the intimate moments of translation between the artist hand and the viewer’s observation? So, how is drawing defined today? Many say that drawing is out, becoming extinct, boring, flat and has nothing to do with today’s contemporary art methods. However, you would be surprised just what drawing has become over the last 30 years; not only is it still embedded in the history and design of traditional art processes, it has in fact moved into a contemporary application of experiential site-specificity. Today’s art viewer must engage a drawing through the physical and mental actions of their bodies, specifically their eyes and movement within a space. Today the artist who develops their work from a foundation of drawing aims to position the viewer into their intimate and exaggerated drawing world of gestural, haptic techniques and processes of rich line installations and performances, pushing against the boundaries of the everyday perceptions of what drawing use to be. These conceptual methods and techniques embedding the artist’s hand into a surface such as cutting a line or mark through the natural landscape, or performing a fluid improvisational interpretation of body, process and movement on a physical surface expands the physicality and unity an artist feels towards the media and the application of a process steeped in leaving a trace of their hand and their human experience behind into and onto a space or place that may retain the mark forever or merely contain it for a few moments in time. Let’s look at how drawing is perceived within this post-post modern art movement that we find ourselves in today. Take for example, Matthew Ritchie, Cai Guo-Qiang, Richard Long, Monica Weiss and Monika Grzymala. Now tell me what you think…

3 Comments

Art Walk Comeback

2009-09-13T05:33:25Z

Photo: Jacksonville Art Walk

Photo: After the Bomb Baby

Photo: Ian Chase Art Installation

Jacksonville artist Ian Chase always makes the most of an opportunity. When MOCA did their artists studio tour, only Ian Chase turned his studio into an interactive gallery, one that allowed visitors to step into the frame and walk among his array of motors and lights and sounds. He brought his brand of magic to the Art Walk in September.

The fear long been that the fad would die and Art Walks, just as mysteriously as they boomed, pulling thousands of people from every corner of Jacksonville into the urban core to celebrate art and culture, would suddenly vanish. No one knew what the catalyst was going to be, the release of Beatles Guitar Hero, terrorist attacks on vacant buildings in low-level cities, city councilpersons getting a wild hair, but everyone that has long carried the banner of downtown and outsider art in this city knows that the shoe must eventually drop. Where did all of these people come from? How has this event been such a success.

But that shoe may not be dropping. perhaps Jacksonville is turning into a real city. There are many names that can be put on the credits of Art Walk's success, but Ian Chase has certainly put etched his name onto hat wall with his recent installation at Art Walk. The Haydon Burns building, also known as the old library, has become an institution of Art Walk over the past couple of years. Making the most of at least three floors in its prime, this structure has become more relevant to artists and art enthusiasts as a venue at Art Walk than it was for most of those same people when it was our downtown library. But since renovations have begun on the interior of the building, preparing it for its new life as a mixed-use facility and condominiums, the art has had to move outside. Fortunately, one of the amenities of the Haydon Burns is the covered loading bays on the side of the building, between it and the 11E building. This urban alleyway has an industrial feel to it that makes the space seem just a little artsier than Jacksonville should. And Ian chase took this space and turned a chunk of sidewalk that was to be used as a stage and turned it into an electric light installation complete with projected abstract film sequences and even an exhibition he called his drum machine.

After the Bomb Baby is a local band with many members. They perform a sort of post-apocalyptic funk. Their wild, cacophonous dance songs were lit by Chase's neon wave, a curving net of neon lights, looming like a cresting wave over the band, lighting the drifting bubbles being made by an machine somewhere in the trough of the neon wave. When you add wild projections, neon lights, and post-apocalyptic funk, you get some kids to dance in an alleyway like it was the local nightclub.

A friend was in town visiting, he had been traveling in Amsterdam the week prior, and Jacksonville's Art Walk reminded him of the vibe of that town, whose art scene is of international repute for sure. What will it take to keep Art Walk a success and evolve that success into future viability in our urban core? More artists like Ian Chase getting outside of galleries and museums to bring art to the people, more involvement by the city, shutting down some streets and allowing the people to really own the city that night, or maybe more corporate sponsorships and participation from our art institutions that reaches outside of the walls of MOCA?

3 Comments

Is Graffiti Vandalism or Art?

2009-09-07T01:53:08Z

Photo: Fogle Gets Tagged

Tag: Fogle's It

Is Graffiti Vandalism or Art?

This is far from a new question for any civilization, much less our urbanized culture in modern America, but it is a question that becomes particularly nuanced to some property owners. It is an especially interesting quandary for a gallery owner like Leigh Fogle.

Leigh owns Fogle Fine Art & Consulting, the leading Jacksonville art gallery according to the last few Book of Lists released by the Jacksonville Business Journal. The Gallery at Fogle, in the sometimes troubled historic neighborhood of St. Nicholas (on Beach Boulevard just south of San Marco), was recently the victim of graffiti. Someone climbed onto the restored facade of Leigh's gallery and "tagged" it with a random assortment of spray-painted letters and phrases, such as "Take over the world."

It hardly looked artistic.

However, Leigh Fogle is not only a gallery owner, she also sat on a board in Jacksonville that curates and procures public art. So when her gallery was vandalized, as any business owner would think of it, she took a second look at what "public art" really means.

Graffiti is often thought of as gang-related, but ask any local art school student and you'll discover how much of the work is made by young, artistic kids with no gang affiliations. Nevertheless, sometimes it is gang-related and associated with violence. Is it right to allow gangs pieces of public property to state their "territory" to one another through encrypted murals rich with secret messages? At the same time, would this sort of solution reduce the occurrences of private businesses getting defaced and costing them money?

Bristol, in the United Kingdom, has developed a democratic system through which the community can vote on graffiti murals that they think are public treasures, versus reckless vandalism.

"The plan states that 'where people tell us that murals or artworks make a positive contribution to the local environment and where the property owner has raised no objection' the council will not remove the graffiti." According to The Telegraph, a United Kingdom publication, the struggle of the city government was to remove "tagging" and vandalism, but keep works of merit, pieces the community enjoys looking at. So they have a website where city workers upload images of the work, and it is put to a vote. All of this was brought about by a mural done by a world-renowned graffiti artists known as "Banksy" did in Bristol.

"Bristol City Council have faced embarrassment after workers removed a Banksy worth £100,000 in March 2007. Workers painted over the 10-year-old mural across a row of garages with black paint, prompting outrage. The council had ordered all Banksy works to be preserved."

Consider also, the word "graffiti" comes from the Italian word "graffito" which means "an ancient drawing or writing scratched on a wall or other surface." (Examiner).

There is a mythic, ancient quality to the act of writing on the wall. Sometimes the people will not be silenced. Sometimes their only voice is one grabbed during the anarchy of the night. But even in Jacksonville there is a culture that believes and endorses street art, without condoning vandalism.

If you've driven through downtown Jacksonville during the day in the past year, you may have noticed wheat-pasted images of couple walking, punk rockers leaning against walls, and other visages of everyday life. These were part of an urban art installation written about in the local blog Urbismus.

"THIS IS NOT VANDALISM! Wheatpasting is a form of street art, or poster art. It is not permanent and does not cause property damage. Each figure is placed on an abandoned, neglected and forgotten building. Who's a bigger VANDAL than the property owners, allowed by the city to neglect our landmarks and let them disintegrate? They are effectively preventing life from happening! They are the vandals!" proclaims urbismus.blogspot.com.

Another local blog dedicated to the "urban environment" is Urban Art Warfare, who states their mission as:

"To Infiltrate the 'Urban Environment' in search of artists contributing to the movements consisting of: Graffiti, Stenciling, Wheat Pasting, Music, Skateboarding, Surfing, Photography, Fine Art, Apparel, Graphic, Web, Interior, and Industrial Design, as well as all other forms of creative-driven industry with the intentions of providing a worldwide platform for exposure and recognition to the visual and non-visual audiences."

Well that just sounds like what every artist wants. It sounds like what Leigh Fogle wants for the artists she represents. And when you think about budget cuts in public art programs while there are inspired artists out there on the streets with spray-paint cans in hand, isn't there an answer there?

While it's obvious that whoever tagged up The Gallery at Fogle is no artist, it does bring up some interesting questions.

Where is the line between art and defacement?

Links in this article:

Examiner - http://www.examiner.com/x-13937-Urban-Arts-Examiner~y2009m7d16-Urban-Art-101-Is-Graffiti-Art

Telegraph, Bristol - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6116779/Is-graffiti-art-Public-to-decide.html

Urban Art Warfare - http://urbanartwarfare.com

Leave a Comment

Nude Model Arrested for Photo Shoot at NYC Art Museum

2009-09-01T18:53:36Z

Photographer Zach Hyman, known for his series featuring nude models in front of New York City landmarks, had the 26-year-old Neill quickly strip and pose in front of the Arms and Armour exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Police busted up the shoot and charged Neill with public lewdness.

"It's not pornography," Hyman told NBC New York, "It's a study on the human form." What do you think?

You can read the full article at USA Today.

Leave a Comment

Under the Skin of Jacksonville’s Art Scene

2009-08-29T15:30:35Z

Photo: Jon

Jacksonville, like any metropolitan area I suppose, is filled with more culture than any amount of galleries or museums could depict. Sure, there are many trained, skilled painters and sculptors, and there are even more amateur artists that are willing and eager to show their work at events such as the monthly Art Walk or the weekly Riverside Arts Market, and certainly all of these artists out there expressing themselves are a major component of Jacksonville culture, and I will be writing about what these under-the-radar artists are up to from time to time on this blog. However my sincere pursuit in these pages is to expose some of the less obvious artwork.

In Riverside there is a guy who crafts revisionist soundtracks to his favorite films, but never shows these projects to anyone that isn't willing to come sit next to him on his couch and watch them on his television, which is almost hidden behind a horizon of beer and liquor bottles, homemade bongs, and random other items stacked on his coffee table. In Julington Creek there is a famous author and activist who makes bizarre creatures from driftwood. In Springfield there is a collective of artists starting a local art movement outside of the traditional art presentation forums, and they aren't just kids full of piss and vinegar, but some of Jacksonville's most accomplished and creative artists.

Jacksonville is expressing itself in ways that even the most avid art enthusiasts may be unaware. From avant-garde films to performance art and found-object sculptures, the thing about humans is our tendency to create. Whether you are someone that has waiting tables down to an art form or a professional artist that regularly shows work, you have a place in our indigenous culture, you are a part of what makes this city different from any other place in the world. That is the art I hope to bring to light in this blog.

If you engage in any sort of understated medium, secret art project, or underexposed craft - let me know. I'm always trying to peek under the skin to see what unique creations are thriving here in our midst.

Leave a Comment

Welcome to ‘the blog”...sounds ominous? shouldn’t be!

2009-08-28T21:20:14Z

Photo: Leigh Fogle

I can't tell you how excited I am! We have been working for months to launch the new Fogle Web site and here it tis...I know we'll be doing lots of tweaking, adding, and blogging so be sure to mark us as a favorite and come back often (and tell your friends to as well!) I am excited for this format to share with you what is happening with Fogle as well as lots of interesting posts about what's happening in the art world regionally, nationally, and internationally.

To help with the blogs, we've enlisted a few past Fogle-ites...Dru Jensen Jones who worked with me a few years ago before moving to Amsterdam (her husbands career transferred them there...I could have died as I loved working with Dru every day!). After a few years in Amsterdam, Dru is now in Shanghai, China. Her background as an Art History major combined with her extensive travels will be sure to enlighten us on what's happening outside our nations boundaries...I'm looking forward to hearing what she's seeing.

Christie Holochek recently rejoined Fogle (after leaving to complete her Masters in Fine Arts at the College of Maine in Portland). She will be heading up what's happening in the art scene across the United States. Christie is also teaching a few art courses at local universities which I'm sure will influence some of her perspectives.

Jon Bosworth, former Marketing Director for Fogle, will be discussing what's happening in the Jacksonville arts scene. Jon was a former editor of EU Magazine and is now a freelance writer....he offers a unique perspective on regional happenings and has his finger on the pulse of our emerging artists community.

I will be commenting on what's happening in the excited world of Art in the Healthcare environment. Art and Healing have become an important discussion amongst healthcare administrators, architects and designers as evidence is being gathered on the healing nature of art. I am thrilled that my career has evolved to work so heavily in this field as I have always been drawn to the field of Art Therapy. I was Psychology Minor in college and am excited to be reading research papers about two of my loves - art and psychology.

I ask for your input, good, bad - help us to get some discussions going - tell us what you think, like, dislike and what you'd like to see more of. We have grown our company over the years because of the support of our patrons and our artists - you are what makes us, it is a community. I look forward to seeing what evolves!

2 Comments

ART and ZEN

2009-08-28T07:03:26Z

I visited the most interesting art opening in North Shanghai, recently; a beautiful show by a unique artist named Daniel Chieh. A designer friend of mine introduced him to me, as she has been overwhelmed with his art, and him, as a person, due to his impressive accomplishments in the world of academia, commerce, and art.

Daniel Chieh; an amazing gentle, gentleman of a certain age was dressed in a vibrant Polo shirt, khaki pants, an ascot, a simple beard, and a long, grey ponytail when I met him. I loved him instantly! After obtaining a Princeton degree, and after a successful career in the high-tech business world, Daniel decided to leave it all behind to follow his passions; travel and art. Daniel was never allowed to study art as a child, as his parents wouldn't allow it....was sadly looked upon as a profession not honorable growing up in his strict Chinese culture.

Daniel is a self-taught artist with an incredible artistic sensibility that enables him to explore innovative and provocative subject matter as creative as he is. Although Daniel paints numerous subject matters, the exhibit on this particular evening was on Zen Buddhist religious figures; beautiful, colorful, peaceful deities that are worshiped in the Zen Buddhist religion. This show was additionally fascinating in that all his work was painted on black or white velvet, using special French oil paints. I hadn't seen velvet art in years, and my recollection of anything of the sort were the glow-in-the-dark Elvis paintings that you could buy at Spencer's Gifts in the Mall....do you think they still sell them?? I digress....when I asked Daniel why he chose velvet for this collection, he told me it was because his mother used to secretly tear off pieces of her dress and give them to him to use as canvas for his art when he was a child. He learned to paint on fabric and discovered that the richness in the contrast of the paints against the dark velvet was interesting to him....and it worked. As I worked my way around the candle-lit show, I was awestruck with each piece. Daniel's ability to create such richness, depth, and unbelievable light sources against such a unique canvas was truly beautiful. I loved them all. Seeing these gods of Buddhism got me thinking about our Western perception of the Buddhist "religion" and the concept of "Zen" in particular.

Zen has become a commonly-used expression and is often described as a design concept--meant to represent a clean, uncluttered space. My friend mentioned that design clients come to her and tell her they're looking to create a Zen sense of space in their home or office, and that this can mean many things to many people. I get it that people equate Zen with Simplicity from a design standpoint, but does using the concept for design elements really fit?

Zen Buddhism asserts that enlightenment can be attained through self contemplation, meditation, and intuition, rather than through faith and devotion that is so prevalent in religious thought in the Western world. The concept of practicing Zen is to practice living fully and authentically in the present moment---that dwelling on the past and the future is futile. One must live presently in order to truly live. People of Western religion ideals dismiss Zen Buddhism as a religion, as it doesn't seem to "fit" what organized religious movements, such as the Catholic or Baptist religions deem as the only way to believe. But as my friend and I pondered; Is Zen so far-fetched and difficult to be interpreted than the concept of the practices generally agreed upon by a group of people, which we call religion? Is religion's moral code, which governs the conduct of humanity and affairs, not present in Zen? And if you believe and practice Zen, does it automatically imply you are a lefty in regards to your religious inclination? Or that you can be labeled an Atheist?

Dru Jensen-Jones; Shanghai, China

2 Comments

Hitler Watercolours under the Hammer in Germany

2009-08-26T05:29:38Z

Photo: Hitler Watercolors

A German auction house intends to sell three watercolour paintings attributed to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler at the start of next month. Read Full Article on Yahoo UK.

Leave a Comment

Pamela Viola, DC Shutterbug Interview

2009-08-03T19:24:17Z

Welcome photographer Pamela Viola all the way from Alexandria, Virginia to Fogle Gallery! Pamela's blend of archival photography is full of interpretive layers of imagery generated by experimental processes, including transfer techniques. Just recently, Pamela interviewed with DC Shutterbugs, as their August Photographer. Connect to the link for the full interview. http://tinyurl.com/nn43o8

2 Comments