Long Lineage

Kurt Moyer at Axom Gallery

Rochester, New York

Maybe it is the stress of the current political climate that calls out for some stability, but I look to gather strengths from the foundations of painting, and from a long and storied history in the visual arts to bolster my constitution.  My integrity is found by looking towards positive actions in the world and in my art, and that path has been followed and stood the test, and I know that I am not alone in sensing this.  We learn from our mentors, and as an artist my education started at home, where I watched as my mother and father both engaged in their art forms, as well as my brother who is four years older than me and is a pretty good painter when he can spend the time with his materials. We all liked Corot and the French masters.

J. B. Corot and his painting "Bridge at Narni ' in the Louvre

Outside of my family, I searched for teachers from whom I could benefit and took classes from a very early age in painting and drawing.  By the time I was a teenager I was registered to take classes at The Art Students League in Manhattan and I started a class with the noted painter, Edwin Dickinson ( 1891-1978 ).  Dickinson had a real following and his artwork has since been recognized by many museums and he has found a place in art history.

Edwin Dickinson's painting "Gonzalez Studio", 1950

As an artist, Dickinson worked often in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and he influenced a group of younger painters who came to learn so much from his example.  I think there is a thread that ran from Courbet and Corot through the landscapes and portraits of Edwin Dickinson.  What I have not mentioned though was the fact that Dickinson's brand of representation was coming at the apogee of Abstract Expressionism, so this factor meant that his contribution was over-shadowed by this art world trend.

Paul Resika's painting of Provincetown Pier, 1988

Later, when I entered college at The Cooper Union, I found encouragement from Paul Resika, an artist who knew Dickinson, and Paul Resika practiced his own brand of painting "en plain air".

Paul Resika is not as well known as Dickinson, but he has been an influence on me, and he has had a very long career starting before he was a student of Hans Hofmann in the late 1940's.  In Resika's class at Cooper Union I encountered ideas that blended representation with relationships to structure in a way that seemed very contemporary, but here once again, what Resika was doing went against current trends which happened to be at that time called "Pop Art".  Paul Resika had great respect for old masters, and his paintings reflected that  grounding.

Paul Resika

When I moved to Brooklyn after doing my graduate work in painting at Cornell, one of my neighbors was the artist Lennart Anderson.  I had known Lennart Anderson for many years through his paintings, and now I got to know him and interview him for an article I was writing for "The Prospect Press".  Lennart had also studied Edwin Dickinson's methods, and even owned a very nice Dickinson painting that hung in his living room.  Both Paul Resika and Lennart Anderson represented a tradition in fine art that deserves more recognition today.

Lennart Anderson's Idyll ( 1977-2002 )

Lennart Anderson passed away at age 87 in his home in Park Slope in 2015.  He was known to work on paintings for many years in a row, until they achieved what he had envisioned.  He could also work quickly when he wanted and he produced some of his most interesting paintings at a time when the art world was held in thrall by minimalism and conceptual art.  Needless to say, Lennart Anderson wasn't a trend setter, but he did have his influence.

 Kurt Moyer, his new show is called:

" In The Forest"

at the Axom Gallery, 176 Anderson Avenue, Rochester, New York

Which brings me to the paintings that I saw this week at Axom Gallery, here in Rochester.

"In The Forest" is a selection of paintings by Kurt Moyer, who was a neighbor of mine in The Hungerford Building. 

 Kurt carries on  his artwork in a similar track that spans many generations and his classical approach to art has a real value and a tactile presence.  Looking at the surface of these paintings you can get into a physical relationship with the many layers of paint, and you can consider the decisions made for such an approach to an almost three-dimensional aspect to his canvases.

His show represents new efforts in a response to nature, and he adds his name to a very long lineage.

Image Masters

First Friday Evening at The Hungerford

Rochester, New York

I stepped out of my studio on a First Friday to go and catch up with some artists who have mastered their medium.  In the present climate there are many reasons to go and find the art on view and lucky for us the painting and drawing is of a high quality and a rewarding experience awaits a viewer.  There was a good turnout at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center.  In February we celebrate Black History Month and what could be more in step than the new show of mural size paintings by artist Meleko Mokgosi.

Meleko Mokgosi is an artist originally from Botswana in Africa, but now living and working in New York City.  He brings to Rochester, these large scale paintings which are part of a visual novel which we get to view in several chapters which were recently trucked here from Los Angeles where they were on view.  This show is shared by the Memorial Art Gallery where the rest of the show will reside during the late winter.

Part of "Pax Kaffraria"by Meleko Mokgosi

at 

Rochester Contemporary Art Center

This upscale art is a blend of styles played out with a variety of scenes that mix history, sociology, and a complex culture that looks like it was ripped right out of the news headlines coming out of Africa.  The mastery of the image mixes realism with large blocks of abstract color.  there is a long story being told on a slightly acute angle giving the viewer some flex points to look at: a choir, the crowning of a leader, and the society that surrounds them ( some even upside down ).

Meleko Mokgosi

at Rochester Contemporary

Dogs and goats and other familiar animals stand still for a moment while the artist paints their portrait and then they melt back into the scenery.  As noted in the literature for the exhibition, these paintings are allegorical; they have a visual poetry that is grounded in realism with themes that achieve a resonance today.

Michael Harris with his recent works on paper

Before I left RoCo, I had a chat with Michael Harris who is also presenting recent works on paper at RoCo in the Lab Space.  His works resemble those of Jasper Johns in the framing and use of the mixed media, and also the profiles of faces and figures.  This series has image transfers and restrained color and they are strong pieces that have a very open attitude towards symbol and representation. 

Luvon Sheppard presents his "Forms of Contemplation"

at The Geisel Gallery

I looked in on the show that my office mate Luvon Sheppard has prepared for the Geisel Gallery which will be open through March, so if you have not had a chance to look at his new, more abstract works, these will certainly be a surprise.  Luvon's artwork has taken on a more ethereal presence, seemingly filled with some of the clouds I saw when I left my studio building in search of fine art.

It seems as though the artist has opened a new chapter in his work, and it seems to distill the images from Psalms and places that in the firmament of his compositions.  Luvon indeed does bring his devotion to social and religious calling into his art, creating a moving atmosphere in which we can pick out a human presence here and there.  The painting at the end of the hall can sum it up in way that is very direct.

Luvon Sheppard

mixed media for " Ramoth Gilead "

Elizabeth Murray

Elizabeth Murray

visits Rochester Institute of Technology

2002

Photo by Sue Weisler

I have been reading about the artist Elizabeth Murray ( 1940-2007 ) in newsletters and in the New York Times.  There have been some new shows of her work ( currently on view is a show of her drawings in NYC ) as well as a documentary film about her life ( Everybody Knows...Elizabeth Murray ).  So, this flurry of interest in her work brings me back ten years when I was reading about her death from cancer just prior to her 67th birthday.

Elizabeth Murray in the 1980's

Elizabeth Murray was one of the artists whose work I followed closely in the 1980's when I lived in New York City, and since I was a painter, I was interested and challenged by what she had accomplished and I tried to do the same in my own artwork.  Elizabeth Murray had children and her daughter was in the same graduating class as my nephew David Singer, so after the graduation ceremony near Lincoln Center, I walked up to Elizabeth Murray and invited her to come upstate to speak with my students at R.I.T., and she graciously accepted.

Elizabeth Murray created art for the NYC subway 59th Street

Before Elizabeth Murray came to speak about her artwork, and also look at my student's work, I arranged for her to give a talk at The Memorial Art Gallery, a fine museum here in Rochester, New York. At that stage I did not know yet that the Museum of Modern Art was planning a career survey for her that would take place in 2006 in New York City.

Elizabeth Murray print in 2000

Talking with Elizabeth on the phone to make her plane reservation, she was in the middle of jury duty, so she had some time to plan ahead.  She told me of some prints she had worked on that revolved around a hospital stay.  When I saw the print she was talking about I bought a copy ( see above ) and I have it in my office to this day.  It does reference blood vessels, and I didn't make the connection that maybe she was experiencing some questions about her own mortality.

Elizabeth Murray visits the School of Art at R.I.T.

Fall, 2002

When Elizabeth landed in Rochester, I picked her up at the airport and we spent a busy day at R.I.T. working with my students, after giving them a short talk about her own paintings.  Later, she drew a large crowd at the Memorial Art Gallery, and she told her story about her life in the art world.  The audience had the chance to see her develop as an artist and witness the energy that her artwork exudes.

Elizabeth Murray , "The Lowdown "

oil on canvas, 2001

Now, reading about the news of her shows and the films made about her life, I can reflect on that short time we spent together 15 years ago.  We took her out to dinner, and she stayed at my house - she was right at home.  When I took her back to the airport for her flight home, I gave her a big hug, and I realized at the time that she was thin and maybe a bit exhausted.

I was glad that she had the chance to plan and see her own retrospective, and to take a well deserved moment in the spotlight.  It was a time I am sure that she could take pride in all that she accomplished, and provided a marker for where she still had the urge to go with her art, even if it was within the quiet realm of her studio, alone with her paints and brushes.

Elizabeth Murray talks with my student Lila 

at R.I.T. in 2002

Medium Media

"A Future View",  

Transfer mono print by

Alan Singer

I think I want to start our new year of 2017 with a hopeful sign against a backdrop of political turmoil.  The election cycle in this country was a big disappointment, and I was amazed that there seemed to be little in the way of substantive debate about the issues that surround us.  For me, the studio is a place I can go to do what I do best, which is communication through image making.  I know also, through practice, that once I have created prints and paintings, I have to get them out and around so people can see them.  There are a variety of media that help me do this, and here I am talking about the WEB - the internet has really given me a helping hand in this regard.

Crystal Monument

Transfer mono print by

Alan Singer

Last fall I had a print ( above - "Future View" ) in an exhibition in London,England  that I would have never been aware of had it not been for the WEB ( Thank You, Artist Marketing Services! ).  Likewise, I would not have had another work ( above - "Crystal Monument" ) circulating in Europe, had it not been for the selection process announced by the Center for Contemporary Printmaking over the internet.

Artists have ample opportunity to submit their works through the online exchange of information from prospective galleries, but all this comes with a fee attached ( for administrative purposes ).  If you don't live in a place that has a bustling art market, you can always send the work to a place that does.  This assumes that you will have the funds to send the artwork across the pond if the need arises.

Transfer mono print by Alan Singer

at JMM in Atlanta, in January

Looking forward to the new year, I have already sent out prints to a show and conference for mathematicians in Atlanta, Georgia.  My interest in breaking new ground through the visualization of mathematical functions  ( Thank you Cinderella 2 ) has opened up a new audience for my artwork, and I hope that my art will be accepted and purchased along the way by this new audience.

In case anyone reading this wants to follow along, there will be another selection process for BRIDGES - a conference between math and art that will convene this summer near Toronto, and I hope to be part of that coming show - where art and math get together.  This is all part of my interest in STEAM ( Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics ).

ARTVOICES

9th Anniversary issue out now

I was happy to be selected for an interview in the new 9th Anniversary issue of ARTVOICES, that is published both online and in print ( visit them online: http://www.artvoicesmagazine.com ) and there I have a cover story by City Newspaper's Rebecca Rafferty, and she details the how and why of what I create in the studio.  From my perspective, I am glad that people in the media see my artwork, and have selected it for publication.  Along with ARTVOICES, my prints were featured in another new publication called: CREATE Magazine, and I am in the inaugural issue  ( visit CREATE here: https://createmagazine.net ).

CREATE Magazine, the inaugural issue

out now...

So, talking about the medium of print, I am happy to report that a book I have co-authored with my brother Paul Singer, will be published this year by RIT Press, and I will let my readers know when it  arrives.  We write an illustrated biography of our father, Arthur Singer, who as I mentioned in my last post was a wildlife artist.  We are hoping that this book finds a wide readership.

So the medium is the media.  The art part is a challenge, but so is getting your work seen by your audience.  There is so much competition for attention, but thanks to the WEB we have more opportunity than in the past, don't you think?

Reading List

"You, Talking to Me"

Lessons from over a hundred interviews

by: Lawrence Grobel

Snuggle up with a good book this season.  Or at least open an intelligent magazine, and don't forget to read my blog!  Then, what are you going to do about the thousand or so e-mails on the desktop?  Don't get distracted by all those letters begging for some big buckaroos... and what about all those holiday cards you were supposed to write?  Do you have time for all this information overload?

Well, if you are like me, I seem to have a few good minutes before I go to sleep, and I have been reading some materials that I want to recommend.  These are books with stories to tell.  One book that has almost as many names as War and Peace comes from the interviewer's interviewer - and that is Lawrence Grobel's new work titled: "You, Talking to Me" published recently by HMH Press.

Arthur Singer

1961

on the set of the "Today Show" on NBC

Larry Grobel has had interviews with all kinds of celebrities and has even included a few pages in his new book about my father, Arthur Singer, in a short chapter called: " Know Your Props".  Mr. Grobel was a neighbor of ours on Long Island,  I have been following his writings over many years and I guess from reading the section about my dad, it seems that Larry was introduced to the freelance life through exposure to the Singer household of artists.

You will enjoy the lessons he has learned in the process of conversations he has held with people you have heard of like Zsa Zsa Gabor ( who just passed away this week ) and Marlon Brando; people who you might enjoy talking with like Tony Bennett or Joyce Carol Oates, and the list goes on with the likes of Luciano Pavarotti and Robert DeNiro and over a hundred others.

Painter David Salle in his new book:

"How to See"

I followed reading the celebrity interviews with the writings of painter, David Salle who has recently published his new book "How to See" with W.W. Norton.  When  I was living in New York City, I would go out to David Salle's shows with Mary Boone to check out the progress he made during the art boom of the early 1980's.  Painting was having an enormous impact then, so it was interesting to read what this artist had to say about his transition from California art student to seasoned pro in Manhattan.  In this new book, he chronicles a postmodernist's career negotiating the art world by just being at the table with the trendsetters and he writes fluently about his friends and acquaintances in that uber world of Soho in boomtime.

David Salle is a little younger than I am and the people he writes about are folks whose work I have followed for years, and also some of the painters I have met in studios that I have visited.  His short chapters give the reader a definite point of view that is not too technical  by giving you a practical guide to what is being accomplished by figures such as Alex Katz, Dana Schutz and Jeff Koons.

It is really not a "how to" book but more a series of essays, and a set of insights into the mind of the artist, and we get David Salle's takeaway from all his experiences in visual art.  He doesn't write much in this book about his own progress except to stop in one place and compare his painting to that of Andy Warhol.  Salle has created a good book for people who have followed the art scene, and also for educators who may want to scan this book for clues and kernels of wisdom found to be applied to the visual arts in the 21st century.

Biography of dealer Richard Bellamy

by Judith E. Stein

Further down my reading list we get a biography of an art dealer - in this case a reluctant one - in the figure of Richard Bellamy, and the book is called: "Eye of the Sixties" by Judith E. Stein.  Here, I read with much enthusiasm about a person that I met years ago, and this person really had a strong handle on a portion of the New York City art world.

I regularly went up to see the shows he would present, and I always found interesting art on view whether it was the Hansa Gallery, the Green Gallery, or Oil and Steel on Chambers Street.  Richard Bellamy was also involved with the Barbara Flynn Gallery on Crosby Street, and that was one of my favorites of the early SoHo spaces I visited.

You will enjoy reading this personal story that Judith E. Stein has researched about the art dealer's perspective.  Richard Bellamy was deeply involved in the art he presented and as Judith Stein writes - he really transformed modern art in the 1960's and beyond.  Read this book and you will see - how and why... CHEERS!

STEAM Ahead

"Pose Please"

Transfer monoprint on paper, 2016 

by

Alan Singer, 

Rochester, New York

By now everyone has heard of STEM educational goals ( in Science, Engineering, Technology, and Math ), but I am here to advocate for STEAM.  We must add Arts to STEM programs for the good of our children, and our country.  One of my neighbors in my studio building has a sign that reads: "EARTH Without Art is just EH", and I couldn't agree more.

Artists have to be more inclusive and look down the road to include STEAM programs in their thinking too.  We have to support each other, but also the significance of the STEAM goals will prepare us for the coming years and decades which may prove to be a real test under our new administration.  All of us have to be ready to stand up for our rights as citizens, and for artists of all stripes - we want to be included in the debates to come ( in an out of the media ).  As artists, we have to sharpen our reasoning and not get trampled in the give and take that is sure to be on the menu.

"Spinner"

Transfer monoprint on paper, 2015

by

Alan Singer

In my own artwork, I see the possibilities that are meant to open new avenues of conversation especially where the STEAM goals are relevant.  My new art (above) demonstrates the facts that an artist needs an open mind when it comes to the significance of science, math, and engineering - even if we don't practice these skills everyday for ourselves.

Maybe my background provides a unique window into incorporating STEAM subjects that have often been overlooked by many when it comes to creating art.  For many years in New York City I managed a livelihood creating images for publishers on assignment based on science.  I created the illustrations for textbooks on biology, on geology, and also a very popular book on growing houseplants.  Both of my parents were artists, and my brother, Paul is a graphic designer.  My family encouraged my pursuits in art and I in turn worked with each of them on projects that were eventually published.  I am doing that again by being co-author with my brother on a forthcoming book about my father, Arthur Singer, the master wildlife artist.

9th Anniversary Issue with my cover story

written by Rebecca Rafferty

I turned to paintings and prints that celebrate the possibilities that are open to an artist using software to create imagery that renders mathematical constructs in a visual way.  This story is told in a recent interview by Rebecca Rafferty published in the new, 9th Anniversary issue of ARTVOICES, published by Terrence Sanders in Los Angeles.  If you want to read the interview, check out this link:http://www.artvoicesmagazine.com

For the past ten years or so my artwork has incorporated imagery rendered in part by using programs such as Cinderella, 3D-Xplormath, and K- 3D-Surf.  What these programs do for the artists like myself is to suggest ways of constructing geometry that can be used in printmaking and painting ( and probably so much more..).  What I like about these programs ( aside from the fact that you download them for free ) is that they allow you to construct forms that you want using measurements and functions like sine and cosine, like square root and tangent and  you can provide detailed parameters to make the image that you have in your imagination.

Transfer monoprint on paper, 2016, 

 by 

Alan Singer

At this stage I have created hundreds, maybe thousands of images using mathematical functions and these forms have populated my art, and I continue to find this method very engaging.

The readers of this blog should know that there are other artists like me who incorporate mathematical concepts in their artwork.  I myself have been influenced by Sol Lewitt and I also found the exhibition that just opened here on M.C. Escher to be very relevant to my subject and plea for STREAM as an education model.

Membership

Co-Lab thru December 18th at Gallery r

100 College Avenue

Rochester, New York

Just being an artist doesn't necessarily mean that you belong to a group.  Today, the art world is fragmented, and there is no overpowering ism to pay attention to like there was fifty years ago with abstract expressionism or a hundred and thirty years ago when there was impressionism.  Still, there are benefits today for an aggregation of artists - they can collaborate on ideas, grow into an artist's cooperative, and then blossom as a movement.

As with other membership organizations there are dues to pay, and that can mean many years in the trenches keeping up your practice, and if you can afford it - finding ways to pay for all those art materials and a studio rent.  Sometimes artists may form a group to make a statement and maybe that group can take off and have broad impact like Wall Therapy does - here in Rochester.

"Nothing is Something" includes work by

Leena Sonbuol

Xinhao Yang

Fatma Bamashmous

Reema Aldossari

We can see the start of something like this in the show at Gallery r called: " Co-Lab" where students from the College of Imaging Arts & Sciences at R.I.T. gather their forces to make interesting imagery.  In the main room we have installations including "Nothing is Something" and its various parts reiterate the title in funny ways.  How often do you go into a gallery and see an empty picture frame, or a chair with the seat part taken out, and a book with the center of its pages cut away?

Co-Lab at Gallery r

In the next darkened room are dramatic projections on the wall and some real three dimensional forms that stop me in my tracks.  The projectors cast images that are part animation, part computer art, seen in conjunction with real sculptural aspects  ( an axe in a tree-trunk for example ).  Across the room there is a projection on an form that looks like a sharp tooth powered by a computer with a little keyboard that allows the visitor to change the imagery - very user friendly.

"Projecto Concerto"

by

Andrea Montealere

and 

Sabrina Nichols

Staying engaged as a larger group, through membership - is part of what keeps alive the arts organizations and it is necessary to support institutions like Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Visual Studies Workshop and The Memorial Art Gallery.  This weekend, RoCo celebrated this partnership with local artists with the opening of its 26th Annual Members Exhibition, and I was there and the place was  PACKED!

Opening  night for the 26th Annual Members Exhibition 

at

Rochester Contemporary Art Center

137 East Avenue

Rochester, New York

It is great to see the community come out to support the arts, visitors to this big show can choose their favorite work on view and give it a yellow dot.  Discoveries are made, and sometimes a sale can be made on the spot.  This is the kind of show that you have to go back and see when the crowd has thinned out - so you can actually look at the artwork ( although I do love the social aspect of the opening ).

A dialog with visual art

"Driver and Mechanic"

at RoCo

Considering the craft traditions in western New York - I am surprised to not see much in this present gathering.  Sculptural works are often relegated to a table top, and they don't always work well together.  I did see a couple of funny vehicles parked inside the new show - is this a trend?  If you want to hear more about the art from the artists and makers there is a series of back-to-back artist talks at the gallery, so for more information call them at (585) 461-2222.

Painting by Tarrant Clements

The walls at RoCo are jammed with art of all kinds and styles.  Facing me as I walked in was a fine little painting by Tarrant Clements with her usual inventive abstraction whose characters talk a kind of sign language.  There are other funny pieces in the show including a droll photographic statement about toilet paper.  Whatever floats your boat - go see the show and enjoy!