The Art Scene: 06.14.12
Markus at Ille
Ille Arts in Amagansett will present Liz Markus, a New York City artist, in “11,” opening on Saturday evening at 6. For those who know the cult classic “This Is Spinal Tap,” the title indeed refers to the number the amplifiers go to. Just as in the movie, the paintings are intended to be “one louder.” There is little subtlety in the confident brush-strokes and saturated colors on unprimed canvases.
According to the artist, “In May my father became ill and passed away. I spent three weeks in Buffalo in the house I grew up in and I was thinking a lot about growing up in the late ’70s and having too much free time in the summer, hanging out with my brother, listening to music, and watching TV. From that, I ended making paintings that look like they might be doodles out of some bored, metal-head, high school kid’s history book.”
The paintings allude to her family, punk bands, Willem de Kooning, and a host of other personal and cultural references. The show is on view through July 11.
New Seminar by Jane Martin
Jane Martin will present a four-part series of courses to help artists navigate the business end of their work, beginning tomorrow at 5 p.m. The seminar is being presented through the community arts project of the Springs Presbyterian Church. Each session will cost $40, cash or check only.
This week’s session, “The Professional Artist,” will address consignments and contracts with galleries, how to invoice clients, and the tax advantages of selling art. Janet Goleas, an independent curator, writer, and artist, will be the guest speaker.
On Friday, June 22, there will be a discussion of pricing and organizing artwork, the benefits of Web sites, and catalogs, grants, and other resources available to artists. Classes on June 29 and July 10 will look at promotion and other ways to sell and market art.
Ms. Martin, a painter, photographer, videographer, and ex-filmmaker, has exhibited both in this country and internationally. She can be reached for more information at [email protected].
Pop-Up Gallery in Wainscott
This weekend only, the Mad Gallery, a side venture of Keyes Art Projects, will open at 39 Industrial Road in Wainscott for viewing today through Sunday. The show will include work by Fab 5 Freddy, Evan Yee, Tammy Smith, and Wyatt Neumann.
Julie Keyes said she is attempting a contrast “to the usual Hamptons landscape art scene,” aiming instead for a more urban sensibility. “The people who buy landscapes and beach scenes already know where they’re going . . . we don’t sell that kind of work,” she said in a release.
Mr. Neumann is a photographer with “a raw and intense view of the American experience.” Mr. Yee, who spends time in Sag Harbor, takes shots from erotic film and incorporates them into sculptures and collage. Fab 5 Freddy was an early pioneer in the street-art scene. Ms. Smith’s works are described as visceral, playful, and introspective.
Hours are noon to 4 p.m. except on Sunday, when the gallery will close at 3.
Naive Work at Kramoris
The Romany Kramoris Gallery in Sag Harbor is featuring the work of Paul “Pol” Mayer, who died in 1997, along with Randy Smith, through June 28. A reception will be held on Saturday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Proceeds from the exhibit will benefit the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation.
The gallery describes Mr. Mayer’s paintings as “witty and sometimes humorously absurd,” including subjects such as “penguins in babushkas on ice skates.” It adds, though, that “he was a dedicated and serious painter his entire life, even though his family pressured him into full-time business.” Mr. Mayer, who was born in France and has a naive style that is popular there, arrived on the South Fork just after World War II. His daughter is Sony Schotland of Sagaponack.
Mr. Smith is a plein-air painter who expresses himself in a form of neo-Impressionism. He lives in Sag Harbor.
Pearlman at Water Mill Museum
The Water Mill Museum will present the work of Jonathan Pearlman from today through July 9. It is the East Quogue artist’s second showing at the museum, and for it he has designed a sculpture so as to display his smaller and whimsical pieces.
The artist has worked in film and television and is the author of “Two to Tango,” a novel published by Simon and Schuster.
Hamada Included in Book
Hiroyuki Hamada, an East Hampton 4sculptor, has been included in a new book, “Raw + Material = Art” by Tristan Manco, published by Thames and Hudson.
According to the artist, the book is the author’s first attempt to survey contemporary fine art after a career documenting street art. While the author’s aim was to look at the role of found materials in their work, the book also features 38 artists who actively use the Internet to share their work.
Spanierman
The Spanierman Gallery in Manhattan is presenting three shows this month dedicated to the art and artists of the East End. One exhibition focuses on John Little (1907-1984) and another on Edith Mitchell Prellwitz (1864-1944) and Henry Prellwitz (1865-1940), her husband.
John Little came to the East End at the invitation of Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock, via Alabama and Buffalo. He was a student of George Grosz and Hans Hofmann. Like most artists of his era, he was influenced by both Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. His house in Springs, Duck Creek Farm, has been preserved by the town of East Hampton. The show will include works from the 1940s up to 1980.
The Prellwitzes were early visitors to Peconic, on the North Fork. They painted seasonal, Impressionist-inspired landscapes, figural images, and allegorical works influenced by their many years of academic training, according to the gallery.
In addition, a group show, “Artists of the East End: Past and Present,” will be on view through July 7. It features artists from the mid-20th century to the present, such as Mary Abbott, Perle Fine, Charlotte Park, Gertrude and Balcomb Greene, David Budd, Syd Solomon, Dan Christensen, Frank Wimberley, Carol Hunt, Immi Storrs, Fulvio Massi, Susan Vecsey, Neil Williams, and Betty Parsons.
19 at Ashawagh
“For the Love of Art,” a show of 19 artists, will be on view at Ashawagh Hall from Saturday to June 24. The exhibition focuses on the East End’s unique relationship to art making through the work of contemporary artists.
They include Abby Abrams, Mary Antczak, Zoe Breen, Rosalind Brenner, Linda Butti, Hector deCordova, Phoebe Fisher-Wolters, Suzzane Fokine, Trish Franey, Phyllis Hammond, Anne Holton, Mary Laspia, Cynthia Loewen, Setha Low, Deborah Palmer, Alyce Peifer, Pamela Vossen, Kris Warrenburg, and Evan Z.
A reception will be held on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m.
New Studio on the Rock
A newly opened studio on Shelter Island, Handwerklab, is dedicated to the work of artists who are producing “intelligent handmade work,” according to John Pagliaro, its owner. He is presenting his own art at its inaugural exhibit, called “Memories Underfoot: Remnants of the Crystal Point People.”
His large framed photographs reflect the many times when, while fishing at some of his favorite spots, he has discovered ancient Native American stone artifacts. The beauty of those moments was enhanced by the “otherworldly light of the East End,” Mr. Pagliaro said. He identifies with those who used the tools thousands of years ago to provide food for themselves and their community. Over the winter, the nature-loving Islander added over 300 of the tools to his personal collection, which is also on display.
Mr. Pagliaro’s photographs, a departure from his ceramic creations, which can be seen in several national museums, will be on view at 36 North Ferry Road from Thursday through Sunday, 10 to 5 p.m., or by appointment, through this month.