52nd City: Galleries & Museums

Children's Art

One of the most inspirational art experiences I’ve had was a visit to Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California, which serves physically, mentally and developmentally disabled adult artists. My friend Rebecca was an instructor and I got to meet the artists, see their work, and hear them talk about it. I’ve been around plenty of working artists, but the passion, sincerity, and lack of bullshit from these artists was refreshing, to say the least. It was a remarkable day. My “when I win the lottery” dream includes opening a similar art center in the area.

In a somewhat similar vein, on Friday, April 18th, The Sheldon Art Galleries hosts a free opening reception from 5-7 p.m. for the exhibition Things That Matter: Art by Children with Autism. The exhibit features art created by children with autism from St. Louis and the surrounding region. Coordinated by Bevin Early and Nancy Pierson, artists and educators who work with children with autism, the mission of this exhibition project is to offer children with ASD an opportunity to show their work publicly, develop identities as artists and educate the general community about autism.

I am really excited about this show, which runs through September 13, 2008. I encourage you to attend the opening reception, and support a real friend of 52nd City, Bevin Early. Visit the Sheldon’s website for more information.

Pulitzer's New Exhibition: Friday

The Pulitzer is launching a new exhibition this Friday night, Dan Flavin's "Constructed Light." You can find all the info here:

http://www.pulitzerarts.org/exhibitions/

Check out the front page for some video features, as well.

Famous Ficitonal: Mad Art 2Nite

Like that little 2Nite in the title? How cute!

Okay, I know about everyone in this show and half of them have handed me a flyer. And, yet, the day of the event, there's still no post-up at America's favorite website. For shame.

So:

--------

Famous Fictional: Portraits from Comics, Television and Movies
January 4 to January 28
Opening reception January 4, 7 pm to 11 pm

Mad Art Gallery is proud to present Famous Fictional featuring portraits from comics, television and movies. Work will include paintings, illustrations, and sculptures of some of the most famous, or infamous, characters from comics, television, and movies. This exhibit opens on January 4, 2008, and runs through January 28, 2008.

Famous Fictional includes work from Brian Hurtt, Matt Kindt, Luby, Dan Zettwoch, Jason Robards, Anchovy, Dan Wilson, Brian Yap, Nathan Poetzscher, Jon Reed, Sacha Mardou, Sharlene Kindt, Matt Reedy, Jenny Cimino, Ron Weaver and more.

This exhibit assembles an accomplished group of artists. Dan Zettwoch is an independent comic creator and operates the website USS Catastrophe, often cited as one of top locations for alternative comics readers on the Internet. The site features several original works and sneak previews by the cartoonists, and hosts the first of a new generation of on-line mini-comics stores. Zettwoch's work is often featured in the Riverfront Times. Matt Kindt self-publishes the comic PISTOLWHIP, along with many others. His online comic Super-Spy has been recognized by several industry publications.

A free, opening reception will be held on Friday, January 4, 2008, from 7:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. Cash bar available.

Snowflake: Opening on Friday

If it's happening at Snowflake, we're fans:

-----------------------

Selected prints from Magaly Ponce's "Remains" series
will be on display through December 8.

OPENING RECEPTION Friday November, 16. 7-10pm.

Magaly Ponce has been exhibited widely in her home country Chile and the U.S., as well as Portugal, Denmark, and Korea. She uses metaphoric language to convey the complexity of the subject matter, something explicitness cannot convey. Her work gravitates from the Poetic to the Political while maintaining a love for audio and crafted imagery.

SNOWFLAKE/CITYSTOCK
contemporary art mid century furniture modern design
3156 Cherokee Street
St. Louis, Missouri, 63118
www.snowflakecitystock.com

More for Friday: Cherokee & Jason W.T.

Our pals at Snowflake send along word of a Jason Wallace Triefenbach joint taking place at both Snowflake and Fort Gondo this Friday night. If nothing else - and we'd not suggesting there's not already plenty to see and hear - any JWT project brings out the most intriguing, interesting, edgy crowd in town. Throw in the usual funky vibes of the Cherokee strip and you've got the makings of something fun to start the weekend.

Thanks to David Early fort the following note:

----------------------------------------------------

FRIDAY, August 10th
6-10 pm

FREE CHURCH INTERNATIONAL presents...

Two exhibitions by Jason Wallace Triefenbach occuring across Cherokee Street from one another. The two separate yet parallel bodies of work offer a complex web of personal and social philosophical meanderings which raise more questions than they answer. The viewer is invited to complete the equation for herself.

DREAM WARFARE 3
Snowflake/Citystock
3156 Cherokee at Compton

This exhibit is comprised of 32 drawings in five thematic groups which partially delineate a harsh and chaotic yet magical world bearing striking resemblance to our own. The drawings set the stage for a challenging 40 minute video piece, DREAM WARFARE 3, to be shown in the gallery at 9pm.

This exhibition will run through the end of August.
Gallery hours are Saturdays 10-2pm.

RELICS, RIMJOBS, ROBBERY, RESONANCE:
More Techniques of Natural Magick
Fort Gondo Compound For the Arts
3156 Cherokee Street

Featuring sculptures, paintings, drawings, photos, found objects, stolen things, and more, this exhibition fills the gallery space with raucous belligerence. Separate works mingle and fuse in a deliberately haphazard fashion, exploring themes of confusion scarcity/abundance, control, media saturation, social infrastructure, and the compulsive, ever-shifting layout of the urban landscape.

Fast Times @ White Flags

Will be outta town for the opening, but I've been enjoying stopping through White Flags during their normal (albeit short) open hours on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. Here's what up at WFP this weekend:

WHITE FLAG PROJECTS invites you to join us for the opening reception of our final exhibition of the season:

FAST TIMES AT WHITE FLAG PROJECTS

OPENS FROM 7-10 PM
THIS SATURDAY NIGHT JUNE 2

FEATURING:
Daniel Axe, Kevin Curry, Cameron Fuller, Trey Gossett, David Linneweh, Sarah Paulsen, and Brain Priest.

SELECTED BY:
Paul Ha, Director, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.
Katrina Hallowell, Bearden Fellow, St. Louis Art Museum.
Olivia Lahs-Gonzales, Director and curator, Sheldon Galleries.
Erik Spehn, Artist.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

WHITE FLAG PROJECTS
4568 MANCHESTER AVE
ST. LOUIS, MO 63110
www.whiteflagprojects.org

Jenna Bauer & Cindy Tower at Bruno David Tonight

Opening tonight at Bruno David Gallery: Jenna Bauer's "Thunder Fields" - a large-scale abstract work on canvas, and Cindy Tower's "Workplace Series," which is hung in the project room. I've watched Jenna's show take shape over the months but haven't seen it whole, but the pieces I've seen make me excited to see it hung up in a room ... and I've talked to Cindy about her work but haven't seen it in person yet. She's been driving to Brooklyn, Il. to paint the warehouses and empty buildings there. Follow the link for some images to get a taste of what's in store - good stuff! Bruno David is on Washington, straight across the street from the Contemporary. If you can't make it tonight, the gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and by appointment.

Group Show @ Hoffman LaChance, Friday

Some great names on this one:

Group Show
Nov 17 - Jan 14
Opening Night
Nov 17 | 6pm - 10pm
Hoffman LaChance Contemporary
3100 Sutton Boulevard
Maplewood, MO 63143
http://www.hoffmanlachancefineart.com/

New Paintings and Sculpture from:
Alicia LaChance, Amy Bautz, Charlie Houska, Christopher Gustave, Dana Smith, Doug Kassabaum, Elizabeth LaChance, Jake Lee Cruzen, Janice Wallace, Jeff Lockhead, Jeremy Rabus, Ji Woong Yoon, Jon Cournoyer, John Linton, Julie Malone, Justin Tolentino, Michael Hoffman, Rachael Hayes, Sarah Giannobile, Tara McCarthy, Tim Meehan and William LaChance

At White Flag

Stopped by the White FlagsProjects space on Manchester at Kingshighway today, my first visit to the much discussed new space. Ran into Matthew Strauss, the WFP founder and signed him on for an appearance on The Wire this coming Monday evening at 7:30 p.m.

Below is the text of an announcement on the current show, which ends this Saturday.

TOMMORROW IS THE SECOND-TO-LAST DAY TO SEE "BILL SMITH: STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS" AT WHITE FLAG PROJECTS !!! 12-7 WEDNESDAY ...

"Bill Smith's kinetic sculptures are marvelous. The apparent gossamer products of a team of fairies, they shimmer and shake and charge the atmosphere. The artist has created a play land for adults and children alike... There's another good word for Smith's work: astonishing. The show is on view only two more afternoons. I urge anyone interested in contemporary art to see it."
-David Bonetti, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"It's occasionally maddening to see something that looks interesting on my screen to be 1,000 miles away."
-Tyler Green, Modern Art Notes

"Once seduced, you are transfixed, trapped and sentenced to sit or stand and
attend carefully to Smith's visual music. Whirring, moving, constantly in
motion, surprising, at once fragile and structurally vigorous, Smith's art
speaks credibly and hypnotically of genius."
-Robert Duffy, The Riverfront Times

If you haven't seen this show, or only saw it in the crowded circumstances of the opening reception or lecture, I urge you to find the time toexperience a truly remarkable exhibit before it ends this Saturday October 21. Spread the word, urge your art-loving friends, this show is a genuine do-not-miss.

WHITE FLAG PROJECTS
4568 Manchester Ave (near Kingshighway)
St. Louis, MO 63110
314.531.3442

WEDNESDAY 12-7
SATURDAY 12-5

Snowflake

David Early, proprietor of Radio Cherokee, has officially opened his new shop, Snowflake, across from Fort Gondo. They'll be open on Saturdays 'til two, and during art opening nights for Gondo, Beverly and Art Parts. I found out too late to stop in today but plan on stopping in as soon as I'm able.

Also excellent: the Rock & Roll Crafts Show. If you didn't make it today definitely stop by tomorrow, especially if you have a birthday, baby shower or graduation present to pick up. I was happy to find a little baby gift for a friend of mine who became a mama on Friday, utterly relieved I didn't have to go into the diabolical Babies 'R' Us, with all the tiny Real Tree-patterened sun hats and Baby Einstein tapes and boppies and $1,000 strollers ...

Ruff Stuff

I don’t like dogs. Never have. Never will. Period. At least four of my neighbors own Labrador Retrievers. Some so full of love for the breed, they have two. If you live on a farm or have something that needs to be retrieved, owning a Labrador might make sense. But if you go to an office all day and leave your dog outside to bark at every passing leaf that blows or car horn that toots, maybe not. Every time I go outside to garden, get the mail, or take out trash, the Labs become a choral madness of barking that seemingly never ends. It is the single most annoying thing about living in the city. Not being able to enjoy my own yard is extremely depressing. Ultimately, the owners are to blame—but that doesn’t mean I forgive the dogs. Stop barking already.

With that said, Stray Rescue and Mad Art present the second annual Mad Arf event this Friday, April 7, 2006 from 7-11pm. If you enjoy dogs and art, don't miss this benefit for the organization whose sole purpose is to rescue stray animals in need of medical attention, restore them to health, and place them in loving adoptive homes. Over 30 local and national artists (my curmudgeon self included) have donated one-of-a-kind pieces of art using Stray Rescue dogs as their inspiration. The works will be displayed in the gallery for two weeks and will be for sale through silent auction bidding. Admission is free. Last year was packed, which just goes to prove (again) I’m in the minority.

Urbis Orbis Redux (Kinda)

Okay, Gallery Urbis Orbis - a big supporter of us at 52nd City, by the way - is gone, but the sharp space continues to house the occasional art show. Since the departure of the GUO, just before New Year's Eve, developer Craig Heller has been renting out the space on a temporary basis to local artists and arts groups, at a rate quite a bit less than that eventually charged for a retail tenant.

On April 7, from 6-10 p.m., another in a series of small exhibitions will be held at the 419 No. 10th Street space, featuring wood and stone sculptor Wes Fordyce and painter/current arts "it girl" Lyndsey Scott. The work will hang throughout the month of April, with appointments available after the reception, via 314-496-4228.

(52nd City Magazine is coming soon, April 12, supported, in part, by Hartford Coffee Company, the Royale and Fred Hessel of Edward L. Bakewell Realtors.)

Woods, Woods Everywhere

Is there a hotter artist in St. Louis right now than Eric Woods? Seems that every week, we run across a new flyer, postcard or poster either designed by his Firecracker Press or promoting a new show by Woods, himself. (Mind you, this isn't a trend we're knocking or wish to see pass anytime soon.) So it was yesterday, when we found a postcard for a new show at Philip Slein Gallery, which'll open this Friday, Dec. 2, from 6-9 p.m. at the Downtown space.

In addition to work by Woods, there'll be tattoo art at this exhibit, showcasing a topic-slash-genre that seems to be visited by just about everyone these days. The "Marked Men" portion of the Slein opening will includes "the art of six influential tattoo artists, featuring: Don Ed Hardy, Nick Bubash, Scott Harrison, Thom de Vita, Mike Malone and John Wyatt."

Oh, sure, tattoos are hot. Just watch cable TV. But for us at 52nd City, we'd rather buy shares in Eric Woods, Incorporated. His stock is hot, hot, hot!

More Chantry

Though there are details to be worked out, looks like Art Chantry - recently featured with a large, retrospective show at Philip Slein Gallery - will be back on an area venue's walls in the near future. Clayton's Hoffman LaChance Fine Art is looking to secure a new Chantry show for January or February, with another selection of works from the iconoclastic rock'n'roll poster/album cover designer.

We'll post details as they become available and hope to even grab a word with the enigmatic design star. We'll see, we'll see.

Greatest.Idea.Evah.

In a high-school-loving town like a St. Louis, an idea for an underground art show cheekily mocking prep traditions is just perfect. Perfect, we say! This Friday night, an 11-member team of artists are putting together a one-night show dedicated to celebrating the 10-year reunion of Kimmswick High School's art club.

Now, canny observers will note that Kimmswick High doesn't exist.

That's not stopping this group from getting together and royally messing with traditions. For example, the show's dedicated to the fictional "Randy Muggs," who passed before the group's graduation; after what high school didn't have one student perish during any four-year stretch? And the school's mascot is the Fighting Mile High Pie, a curious one even in a town with Gorloks, Statesmen and Billikens.

Artists include: Barbara Cliffe, H. Lindsy Donahue, Mark Early, Alice McCullen, David Miller, Amanda Mueller, Cassie Simon, Laura Stair, Ron Weaver, Clarie Williams and Anchovy. All will show works inspired by high school, as well as their own work from days gone past.

The event will take place on Friday, October 21, from 6:30-11:00 p.m., at Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts, 3151 Cherokee. Live music from the Macro Meltdowns and The Fires is featured from 9:00-10:30.

The guess here is that Galen Gondolfi is going to move into major flip-out mode by the time this one's over. St. Louis and high schools? A group show with 11 artists? A night with gallery openings all over town, earlier in the evening, where free wine will be consumed, sending artsy revelers out in search of a bigger party? Says here that you'd best stop in early for maximum elbow room. This is going to be one of the gigs that people will talking about for some months to come. Book it.

Bruno David to Open on Friday

Over at KDHX, Amanda Doyle and I have always been treated to one constant. Arriving at the station on Mondays, we'll often find a note in our mailbox from Bruno David, formerly with Elliot Smith Contemporary Art and now striking out on his own, with a self-named gallery in Grand Center. We appreciate the diligent approach to getting the word out, not always taken by those in the arts. Here's some info on the new gallery, which is opening this weekend. (And might we note, there's no small amount of possible activities happening around town this Friday and Saturday.)

"The group exhibition Inaugural Exhibition will highlight the gallery's future exhibition programs, which will focus on contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, and new media, presenting the work of emerging and mid-career artists. The exhibition includes important works by Jenna Bauer, Elaine Blatt, Jill Downen, Yvette Drury Dubinsky, Joan Hall, Takashi Horisaki, Kim Humphries, Kelley Johnson, Chris Kahler, Bill Kohn, Katharine Kuharic, Leslie Laskey, Peter Marcus, Moses, Daniel Raedeke, Christina Shmigel, Tom Sleet, Matt Strauss, Jason W. Triefenbach, Ernest Trova, and Ken Worley. The exhibition is in view through November 13, 2005.

"The gallery is located at 3721 Washington Boulevard in the heart of Grand Center, directly opposite The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and in close proximity to the Sheldon Memorial Art Galleries, The Fox Theatre, and Powell Symphony Hall. The gallery is open free to the public and the hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, Thursday 10 am to 7 pm, and Sunday 11 am to 4 pm and by appointment."

The artwork of Moses? Hmm.

Sub-Radar: Soldiers Memorial

Though I've been to two Strassenfests, I've never been seen the doors of the Soldiers Memorial open during that weekend. But they opened the doors this year, and what a strange treat it was to step inside. From what I gather from born-and-bred St. Louisians, the museum is a bit of a sleeper; but the interior is as intact a St. Louis time capsule as you're liable to find. There's a lot here for history and architecture lovers, both outside (the stylized ornamental pylons on the building's facade, terazzo mosaic inside the loggia) and inside (Moderne-style walls made with stone inlay, Deco display cabinets).

I will admit that it felt odd to be looking at knives, grenades and a melted beer bottle that survived Hiroshima knowing that outside the walls, kids were riding the Ferris Wheel and Father Time was doing the polka with a long line of sexy grandmas. I am far from being a military history buff, but I still found this little museum strangely compelling, especially the dioramas (including one that uses a wisp of angel hair glued to the mouth of a cannon to simulate smoke; when was the last time you saw angel hair?). There's also a case dedicated to art made in wartime, including metal vases created by prisoners of war from empty munitions shells. Also notable are several photos of early 20th-century St. Louis that you probably won't see elsewhere.

Of course, as I write this, the Memorial is on the brink of shedding its sleeperdom status: on August 27 (the day after the 52nd City Trivia Night!) Sauce Magazine is throwing its "Sauce in the City" party on the premises. It will be interesting to see how they work with the space, and whether the event will spark some interest in the building and the museum. Whether or not you go to the Sauce party, the spot is well worth a solo trip during a downtown lunch hour.