AmesNews: No. 30, Fall 2011

GALLERY NEWS

Hold Everything, a varied and extensive selection of artful containers

We have filled the gallery with every sort of vessel. From bowls to boxes and from pitchers to pots, all are part of our current exhibit: more than 100 assorted containers have been put on view. They range in size from a 1-1/2" x 7" x 1" writing box from Africa to a 25" x 47" x 19" painted storage chest.
Included are containers made of wood, wire, porcelain, glass, wicker, tin, copper, brass, hollowed gourds, bottle caps and “indurated fiber,” a composite material that was patented in the late 1800s.

A number of the items in this exhibit have been repaired, but the mend is not the focus of this show. (We plan to devote a later exhibition to our growing collection of mended items.) Some of the containers were designed for a distinct purpose: teapots, cups and pitchers are examples; while others, e.g. bowls, boxes and baskets are multi-purpose, and could be used to contain a wide range of items with many uses, from functional to decorative, for work or for leisure.

Amidst the more familiar vessels, such as the reed baskets and the wooden boxes, are a number of surprises – a bucket made from a hollowed out dried gourd, a large bottle cap basket, and a miniature set of drawers made from cream cheese boxes.
Our display offers a myriad of containers made for a wide range of purposes. All together they make an exhibit that is intriguing in its variety.

Folk Art Museum

I feel compelled to make some comment on the news that the American Museum of Folk Art in New York is in serious trouble. Most of my friends and followers will have already have heard the news that the Museum building has been sold to its neighbor, MOMA. For the time being, the museum will continue to operate out of its smaller facility across from Lincoln Center.

The Museum’s problems are not new. From my perspective (and I know many would agree), the changes for the worse followed the death of Bob Bishop in 1991. His charismatic style embraced both members and donors. He was the museum’s greatest asset. During Bob’s tenure as Director, and in collaboration with artist Alex Maldonado, we arranged that 20% of the sale price of Alex’s work (and 40% following his nephew’s death) would go to the museum, a potential gift of more than a million dollars. At the time, Maldonado’s work was enthusiastically collected by Bob, museum founder Bert Hemphill, and other members, as well as the general public.

After Bob’s death, museum patrons were offered no opportunities to see the Maldonado works that are in the museum’s collection. In spite of the fact that paintings in the collection would have been significant and appropriate inclusions to planned exhibits, they were omitted.

I regret that so little has been accomplished by this gift, but I remain hopeful. Even though we’ve had our “helping hand” slapped, we willingly extend it again.

Insider / Outside

This exhibition at the Bedford Gallery contains the work of 105 artists gathered from five Bay Area collections. Carrie Lederer, Bedford’s Curator of Exhibitions, along with preparator Erik Mortensen, worked tirelessly to assemble and install the show. Arning, Coins, Dawson, Finster, Gordon, Lieberman, Mackintosh, Maldonado, Rizzoli, Serl, Suddeth and Tolliver are just some of the artists represented.

As Carrie Lederer has summarized, “[seeing these] drawings, paintings, sculpture, wood relief, tin cut outs, textile, collage and photography, viewers get a glimpse of five unique local collections, some modest and highly personal, and others that span over 30 years cataloguing hundreds of works.”

If you live in (or are visiting) the greater Bay Area, this exciting exhibit is definitely worth seeing.

Pacific Chamber Jazz

You might have noticed that at two of the events listed in our calendar, music is provided by Pacific Chamber Jazz, which is my husband Sy’s group.

PCJ, in varying configurations (from two to five musicians), has performed at numerous celebrations, most commonly opening night parties for antiques and art shows in the greater Bay Area, as well as Southern California, Santa Fe, Chicago and Phoenix. For the past 12 years their quiet style has also made them popular as background music for house parties, fund-raisers and large association dinners.

For further information contact Sy at pacificchamberjazz@comcast.net

Dennis Filling

It’s with the greatest pleasure that we introduce the astounding drawings of Dennis Filling. His extraordinarily detailed abstract images show organic forms, some of which resemble microscopic views of bacteria. Much of his work is distinguished by his use of many thousands of tiny black ink dots and swirling lines that fill the entire paper. This aversion to blank space, known as “horror vacui,” is a manic compulsion to fill every inch of available paper or canvas.

On the reverse side of many of Filling’s drawings, there are meticulously detailed notes that record minutes and hours spent in completing his images, and on occasion, a philosophical essay offering insight into his thinking.

These drawings, very limited in number, were made between the mid ‘60s and mid ‘70s. Unfortunately Filling has not continued his artistic pursuits.

For the latest news on events
At the Gallery or Out and About,
visit CALENDAR OF EVENTS

GALLERY NOTES

It’s hard for me to believe that a whole year has slipped by since our last newsletter. As always, I’ve been kept busy with shows here at the gallery, in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the new SOFA/Intuit show in Santa Fe that was held at the beginning of August.

We note that re-use and recycling were especially popular in 2011. In addition to Twice Upon a Time, our creative re-use show here at the gallery, we lent about a dozen pieces to the San Francisco Airport Museum’s Second Chances: Folk Art Made from Recycled Remnants, and another 50 or so items to the Monterey Peninsula Airport’s exhibit, Trash to Treasures: New Perspectives on Surplus of the Past. (The Monterey show continues through December 31st.) And at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, their Scrap Art exhibit runs through October 16th.

In a similar vein, we’ve managed to get a start on the book we’ve been planning, Mends. I’m working with designer Kit Hinrichs and photographer Terry Heffernan, who collaborated on the “wave” of flag books that were released between 1987 and 2008.

Recent press has been filled with the problems of the American Museum of Folk Art. We offer a few words on that sad situation. (see page 3).

Our schedule includes the Bedford Gallery show in Walnut Creek (see page 5), the San Francisco Fall Antique Show (see Calendar), our annual Holiday Sale, and the Outsider Art Fair which, although it had moved to a new location, has thankfully returned to the original opening date at the end of January, sharing the weekend with all the other antique and art shows in New York City. (Please check our Calendar so you will know where to find us.)

We look forward to seeing our old and new friends at one of the upcoming shows or at the gallery.

--Bonnie Grossman, Director