Education of an Artist

 

Alan Singer,  November, 2022 speaks of his realm as an artist

and author of this blog post

As we enter our holiday season, I like to think of my education as an artist.  I had to prepare a talk to give at MuCCC in conjunction with a show of my recent work that hangs in the theatre atrium.  As many of my readers may know I am just retired from teaching after 32 years at Rochester Institute of Technology.  Teaching is something I embraced and I can't tell you how many dreams I have had about interacting with my students, it really enriched my life and I hope I have helped their performance!

My parents Judy and Arthur Singer circa 1970

Simply put, it all comes back to my parents who were both artists having met in art school at The Cooper Union in New York City.  When I was little my father kept a studio in the attic and my mom liked to garden and paint outdoors.  My dad would take me on the subway uptown to his office in the penthouse of the Plaza Hotel where he had a partnership with Ben Sackheim to form an advertising agency.  For my father's clients he would produce illustrations that were very realistic..see an example below:

Arthur Singer illustration for an advertisement circa 1953

My mom spent some of her time illustrating books and she teamed up with Sonia Bleeker who was working in anthropology along with her husband Herbert Zim.  Later on my mom  also put her gardening experience into her art and produced the illustrations for her book called: Bulbs for the Home Gardener.

In our home there were always projects underway and my father's interest in the birds and animals that he knew from many trips to The Bronx Zoo and beyond  really paid off over a lifetime.  My father mastered the art of portraying birds and animals and made a living producing illustrations published by Golden Books ( Birds of the World, and Birds of North America being among the most notable ).  I learned a lot by watching my parents do their thing!

Arthur Singer's illustrated "Birds of the World" for Golden Books in 1960s

In writing about books and art I should mention that part of my education as an artist comes from reading art history and criticism and I have built up quite a library.  For example I just finished reading Jerry Saltz's book "Art Is Life" and you may know his writings from his work at The Village Voice, and also for New York magazine.  He writes short essays on shows he has seen and also throws in some autobiographical takes on his life and interest  in making his own artwork.  He has a closing chapter on his  meeting Jasper Johns and the impact that John's painting has had worldwide.

Jerry Saltz is a writer and critic on visual art and this is his new book!

Well I met Jasper Johns once also, and was introduced to him by my painting teacher Wolf Kahn.

Johns artwork certainly has been interesting to watch as he is a force in contemporary art and is still going strong in his 90s!

Another book comes to mind before I sign off and that is the one I just read from Peter Schjeldahl which I found very poetic and really engrossing.  Here he is writing about a variety of artists and I should also say that Peter has recently passed away from cancer...and his work as the art critic for the New Yorker will certainly be missed!

Peter Schjeldahl was critic for The New Yorker magazine and this is one of his best books!

Out Front

 

Alan Singer delivers his Artist Talk

at

MuCCC, 142 Atlantic Avenue

Rochester, New York

My readers will note that I have a new exhibition open at MuCCC,  here in Rochester, and on Saturday, November 12th there was an audience for my artist talk.  Kevin Indovino set up a large screen and I proceeded with my comments in a Power Point presentation.  You can listen to the talk now posted to You Tube, and here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV4jA_5eUwY&t=30s

My show runs through to the end of December, and if you have not had a chance to see it in person, just know that this exhibit is of my recent abstractions which tend toward the geometric and are very colorful!

This is a select group of paintings that reflects my interests in composition, and also in the use of applied mathematics created on my laptop.  There are also several references to landscape and also to figuration especially in my painting that I call: "Dear Theo".  Actually, that painting came to me after reading the letters of Vincent Van Gogh and considering the strength of his portraiture, and so I tried to make a version using geometry and composition in oil paint.

After my talk there are some very astute questions coming from the audience members and I try my best to answer and reflect on my process.  In my talk I do spend a bit of time going over features in my background which includes work I have done as an illustrator and I  show some samples of books I have published, and talk a bit about how they were done and under what circumstances.  Most of all before I came to Rochester to teach at R.I.T. I was an artist in New York City and publishing was my gig.  I still am interested in books and have always  enjoyed the creative storytelling methods which probably leads me to once again thank you all for taking the time to read my posts!

State Of Mind

 

Alan Singer: "Recent Artwork" with

Kevin Indovino at MuCCC

Multi-use Community Cultural Center

142 Atlantic Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607

Back from our short trip to New York City, I am now prepared to walk into an art gallery and enter into a dialogue.  Because of the pandemic we had a long period where we did not socialize and I tried to protect myself and my loved ones as best I could.  But I missed the impact that art can have on my psyche!  I really enjoy the times when I am moved by what I see and hear!

"Who On Earth" oil on canvas

by Alan Singer

I am willing to provide some of that inspiration, and so I have mounted a small show of brand new artwork that I have created - mostly paintings made since I retired from teaching at Rochester Institute of Technology.  I was invited to join forces with the folks at MuCCC ( Multi-use Community Cultural Center ) located at 142 Atlantic Avenue in Rochester, NY.

Kevin Indovino is the gallery manager there ( as well as being a multi-dimensional player at WXXI ) and you see him at the top of the blog post helping me hang the show.  My exhibit was made with geometry in mind and bright color that I hope is pleasing this season!  Coming on Saturday, November 12th at 4pm in the afternoon I will be giving an artist's talk about the development of the work on view. Check out their website: https://www.muccc.org 

As the season turns from Fall to Winter it think it is time to go out and see something that will stimulate the soul and I can recommend shows being held downtown including one at the R.I.T. City ArtSpace near the Liberty Pole in Rochester.  This show is called: "Elemental" featuring films made by the artist Ana Mendieta.  Ana Mendieta is present in the films you see projected on the gallery walls making this show quite unique.

John Aasp gallery director introduces Raquel Cecilia at

RIT City ArtSpace

I was lucky to have heard a talk given by Raquel Cecilia who is a film-maker and relative of Ana Mendieta.  Raquel is in charge of the Mendieta Estate and she is also responsible for taking great care of the films that Ana Mendieta made during her career.  I was aware of the artist Ana Mendieta during the 1970s and 1980s but recently it has been difficult to find her work and if you see these films you can begin to understand why this has happened.

Ana Mendieta ( 1948-1985 )  in "Elemental" at RIT City ArtSpace

260 East Main Street, Rochester, NY

Ana Mendieta is known for her sculpture and she would call her artwork "an experience".  Mendieta was a multi-media artist

and I would say that her artwork takes me back to a time when artists invited an audience to "a happening".  At this kind of event visual art becomes very involved with theatre and the feeling that will arouse the viewer is hard to qualify or quantify.  Ana Mendieta's art goes towards the elemental ( hence the title of the show ) and she is engaged in making dimensional art that involves her body, heart and mind.

https://www.muccc.org

State of the City, at RoCo

I am a member of RoCo and part of the contemporary art scene, and now they have a show that reaches out to an audience who want to know more about this city of Rochester.  Emiliano Diaz has strong architectural paintings of buildings that you might recognize, and along the long wall there is a work in progress including portrait drawings, but the things I was most moved by are the stories that accompany photos of the murals that have been going up in the city for the past decade. 

Emiliano Diaz at RoCo

Wall/Therapy is a project that has been fostered by many artists who have made  Rochester a real destination.  These images have a real impact.  Go see "State of the City" and let it stimulate you too!  I think this part of the exhibition stimulates a very valuable dialogue, and gets you to think about how visual art can play a major role in our lives; even as we walk down city streets!......

Mural by Bones and Erich Lehman expresses himself.... at RoCo

Early Inspiration

 

Fall colors greet me in the morning

I am up early in the morning to fetch the newspaper ( Yes! I still read a newspaper! ).  Across the street there is a blazing show of colors and I can't help but take a photo of it since it won't be long until the trees are bare. Today, we are also going down the road to the Big Apple to deliver some of my artwork that sold recently.  This presents a nice opportunity to run over to the Whitney Museum and see a brand new exhibition that opened last week.

Sunset on the Hudson River

We are going down to the old "meat market" on the west side of Manhattan.  This section of the city is undergoing a radical shift from groceries to artificial intelligence, but there is still a place for a fine collection of visual art at The Whitney.  They have a spectacular space to view contemporary art and the place was packed, so buy your tickets early and online!

Edward Hopper's New York at The Whitney Museum

We went in to see the new show of Edward Hopper's paintings, prints and drawings that engage with this city and the people involved in their daily pursuits.  Hopper was born in Nyack, New York on the Hudson but he spent most of his adult life in New York City ( with a place also on Cape Cod ).  Along with the artists in my family, my early inspiration was Hopper and his style of realism which has a bit of theatre in it as you may observe in this exhibition.

I wasn't more than a teenager when I found his address in a telephone book and went down to Washington Square north and knocked on Hopper's door.  The man who answered the door was not  Hopper but rather a much younger painter who I later found out was actually Paul Resika.  Paul later on became  my teacher at Cooper Union, but that is a whole other story!  I never did get to shake the hand of Edward Hopper and thank him for all his paintings and prints that I so treasured!

Hopper oil painting portrays a scene of city life

Seeing the Hopper painting of an office at night ( above )  reminds me that when I was living in New York City that you might see a scene like that through city windows after dark.  In fact,  I know that Edward Hopper often portrayed a realistic portrait of a New York City that he probably walked by every day.  Such as the block of storefronts below, and the pharmacy which was still intact when I was a student at The Cooper Union.

Early Sunday Morning, oil on canvas, 1930

Realistic portrayals in oil by Edward Hopper at The Whitney Museum

The effect of seeing these paintings and many others in this new Whitney Museum show brought me back to ideas I had when I was first getting into painting and printmaking.  Another thing that I found at this exhibition was a  large factor in the development of Hopper's life work was that when he was younger he contributed illustrations to many magazine covers and  in these formative years he  really developed an ability to tell stories through painting.  There also was a sustained interest in theatre and scenic development - and in fact Hopper created sets with the help of his wife who had been his model for many of the later paintings whose focus was on a lone figure sitting in the late afternoon sun.

Edward Hopper's New York at The Whitney Museum

Perhaps this show might act as a catalyst that can inspire a new generation of visual artists to take notice of their surroundings and document the city of today.  I know that  there are scenes which effect us if we are observant, and that they won't last forever, and maybe they can become the subject of your next drawing, painting, or print.  

Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks"

Just as we were leaving we wondered why we had not seen the most famous painting Edward Hopper ever made...and we stopped to ask one of the guides.   Our question was answered:  The Chicago Museum which has the painting would not let it travel!  So if you are looking forward to seeing this iconic work, you will have to get a ticket to Chi Town!

                        

Good Impression

 

Alan Singer is drawing the Hibiscus at home now....

I am celebrating the end of a season as we usher in the fall.  I painted portraits of flowers on cool days just enjoying working outdoors studying nature.  This is peaceful and meaningful for me and it is good practice!  I have been painting flowers it seems for over 30 years and I never tire of the challenge to make them come alive on my paper.

Swirls of thunderstorms in our area and a dramatic sky settles down for the evening after we drove home from the Central Library in downtown Rochester, New York.  We all went to view an exhibition called: "The Art of the Book & Paper" which is the 11th Annual Juried International show of artist's books.  What is an artist book you ask?  I found out years ago when I signed up for a class given by Nina Tovish at the Visual Studies Workshop established years ago by Nathan Lyons on University Avenue.

Artist Books at the Central Library, Rochester, New York

Artist Books are often created through the impulse to do something different, maybe something unique. In my case I was printing, stitching and binding my own book from pages of hand made paper in the printmaking studio using a method called cyanotype - which gives you a kind of blueprint.  Cyanotype is a darkroom process related to making photographic prints from negatives that you might have done many years ago.  I had a one-of-a-kind  result which I have kept to this day!

At the Anthony Mascioli Gallery in the Central Public Library we found a display of award winning artist's books  which represents the work of a number of highly creative people from here and abroad.  The books and works of sculpted paper were made using a variety of techniques.

Barbara Page and her Artist book won Best of Show

The printed Book Marks by Barbara Page

Barbara Page, our friend from graduate school days at Cornell University has won Best of Show for her interesting "Book Marks" project which takes an old-fashioned catalog box filled with cards for  memorable books  - each one inscribed by Barbara with her art and all of them are compiled in a printed book as well.  So you can read what she has to say and look at the images she makes,  and it is just  a fun and mighty big project to take in.

Barbara Page is also an aviator as well as a visual artist and she has made many paintings that resemble maps of the territory she has flown over.  Here in Rochester, I have seen the work she has completed at The Oxford Gallery.

 

Ben Rubin's layout for a publication

I had a chat with Ben Rubin at the exhibition and I was pleased to see his work on display at The Library.  Ben had been a student at R.I.T. when we first met and this was years ago when he was starting  in on creating his own Zines.  I like his roaming intellect and the sketches he incorporates for each page.

Opus by Kristine Bouyoucos

Other artists from our area include Kristine Bouyoucos who is showing her Opus,which includes colorful prints in an accordion style book open in a display case.  In this gallery there are also a number of dimensional works that are engaging in a different way - you don't read them

so much as just experience them!  This is a cabinet of wonders as you go through the exhibit you can be deeply engaged ( but don't touch the art! ).  Below is IMan by Robert Marvin in what is a kind of graphic novel...

Iman, by Robert Marvin

The judges must have had a lot of time to go over all the entries, and pick out the winners.  In the Central Library there is a bit of information about each of the judges for this International.  You have to thank Gerald Mead, Diane Bond and Rachael Gootnick.  Rachael was there is a dress covered in book images and she has a studio in the Hungerford Building.  #Just Terrific

3 Judges for Artist Books

Like No Other

 

Paul Garland's "Intuitive Progression"

at

The Memorial Art Gallery

Rochester, New York

It should come as no surprise that we are tired of this Covid Pandemic, and it has kept people across the globe down and taken the lives of many.  In our family we have lost a cousin to the virus, and my family has been careful but we have not been spared.  As a result I haven't written as much as I would like to and certainly my dilemma has been about going to art openings and gallery affairs.  I just don't feel I can jeopardize my future!  Still, I miss the art scene, and I am taking precautions....

I am happy to report that this week I did get to see some exhibits at The Memorial Art Gallery.  On a bright sunny day in August I went to look at art from the Ubuhle Women to the paintings of Paul Garland and it is worth the time and effort to get there.  

Beadwork by Ubuhle Women straight from Africa to you in Rochester, New York

I can't imagine the kind of patience you would need to do the beadwork on view now at The MAG!  This show is like no other that I have seen here, and it is so refreshing to find a branch of the art world that  has escaped notice locally ( until now! ).  Are these compositions planned out in advance or are they made up as they go along?  Trying to do something like this big bull would be impossible if you didn't think it through and plan on how to make the image come together.

Zondlile Zondo, The Red Bull - glass beads sewn onto fabric

I read in the descriptive wall text that Ubuhle means "beauty" in the Xhosa and Zulu language of Southern Africa.  There the women have a long tradition of bead art and here we can see some wonderful examples.

"Flowers for the Gods", 2012 

Glass beads sewn onto fabric

Zondolile Zondo, glass bead work for "My Mother's Peach Tree"

Down the hall at The Memorial Art Gallery a new show has been mounted  for the artist Paul Garland called: "Intuitive Progression".  I knew of his paintings early on in my career here in Rochester because the paintings were presented in the gallery that Rochester Institute of Technology had opened downtown and this was many years ago!  As you will see if you visit this museum, Paul Garland has had over 50 years of experience to build on as a painter and fine artist who has also been a teacher in Oswego.

Paul Garland at The Memorial Art Gallery

Since that early show I have seen many more of Paul Garland's paintings  most recently at the Axom Gallery before they moved into their new location in the South Wedge.  From that experience I realized that Paul Garland and I share many  interests.  I found  the current show "Intuitive Progression" to be well chosen to represent his work, and I thought that this is important for the MAG staff to present this work of a local art professional.  We need to see this and support their efforts.

There is a wonderful painting that Paul built called "Open Borders" which stands out to me in that it is a kind of sculptural take on what paintings can do, and it has a freedom and intelligent point of view that can inspire the visitor. 

Paul Garland's "Open Borders", 2020 acrylic on MDF

So on my way out of the main gallery I stopped  to look at a wonderful little portrait that you see below:

Unique Fair-Smith at 

The Memorial Art Gallery

I am proud to say that Mr. Fair Smith was one of my students at R.I.T. and his portrait here stands out for the color and detail, but also because the fellow he portrays comes alive for the viewer.  It is a fine experience to see this artist do his thing so successfully here - just a few years after graduation..  There is a lot to look forward to, and these shows at The MAG have brought me a new sense of hope and joy!

Joy To Behold

 

Iris portrait by Alan Singer in watercolor , June 2022

Our jet plane landed safely after the quickest, smoothest flight from San Francisco and then we came into  Newark, New Jersey on the way to our last stop closer to home in Rochester, New York.  The flight was PACKED and so was the airport in New Jersey. But we had quality time with our family in Oakland, and now we are back on home turf.  Amazing how much our garden has changed over our short trip to California!

I got right down to work the day after painting portraits of the iris flowers in our garden on the most glorious days due to cool weather temperatures and lots of sunshine.  At first I was a bit rusty but I did work up some fine watercolors that I am satisfied with.

This violet iris presents a problem because the paints I use aren't as vibrant as the flowers in front of me!  There are cool blue violets here and warm red violets in these flowers which can create the sense of dimension that is a challenge to articulate.  So,  I give it a chance and make three or four good ones I can keep.

Kerina Mangiaracina at JOY GALLERY

West Main Street, Rochester, New York

After my painting session at home I travel to downtown Rochester to find the Joy Gallery on West Main Street.  My colleague, Luvon Sheppard has opened his gallery for a showing by Kerina Mangiaracina.  She was one of our students a few years back at Rochester Institute of Technology and we are proud of the fact that she has many new works on display in this solo show.

Kerina calls her show "Connections" and this is her print at Joy Gallery - see it this weekend!

Kerina had studied figure drawing with me back at R.I.T. but there are few figures in her new work and in fact most of the large scale paintings have an abstract quality that hits you first and some have a rigorous geometry which I later found out relates to the grid of city blocks in New York City.  There are works which have a set of whirling circles she calls: ""Dirty Dishes".  Paintings on canvas express a great deal of energy and vitality,  while the title takes a cue from the ever present duties of being a parent who has to clean up after the kids.

"Dirty Dishes", oil on canvas

Ms. Mangiaracina writes an artist statement that gives the viewer her perspective on how art and life can co-exist, especially when you would like to be painting or printmaking but you have to take care of the kids and be able to pay the rent.   In her show she has a big broom and a pile of dishes on the floor as an installation that comments on the fragility of common household items and the fragile state of affairs that can accompany the life of an artist.

Installation by Karina Magiaracina

at

JOY GALLERY

498 West Main Street, Rochester, New York

You will enjoy the variety of artworks she has produced, and they make you think a while about the symbols she employs and the various materials she uses to get your reaction.  Go take a look for yourself and see what you think!