An abundance of multi-colored tulips and an exuberant Bubble Fairy welcomed a large crowd to the CWE’s Gallery Night on Saturday, April 12. The event featured openings in four neighborhood art venues, Duane Reed, Philip Slein, Houska Galleries, all on McPherson, as well as Square One Gallery around the corner on Washington Ave. Local restaurants, including Dressel’s, Evangeline’s, and Cocina Latina, provided appetizers for the openings, and artists, shown below, and the Landolfi Quartet provided entertainment.
Artist Tiélere Cheatam was painting alongside Philip Slein Gallery,
and, artist Alicia Nicole Jackson is shown outside Duane Reed Gallery.
At Philip Slein Gallery, Dollhouse Dreams:
Artist Jamie Adams latest body of work is titled Dollhouse Dreams. He’s photographed alongside Dollhouse Dancer, oil on linen, 84 x 96 inches. Adams in on the faculty of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at WashU.
Adams’ Porch Play, oil on linen, 60 x 72 inches.
A collection of Adams’ smaller oil on linen paintings, approximately 14 x 11 inches, include titles such as Delacroix’s Pose and Goldie Big Hair.
Philip Slein Gallery, 4735 McPherson, open Thursday through Saturday 11 to 4, or by appt. Dollhouse Dreams closes May 24.
Houska Gallery’s current exhibition features works from Yelena Petroukhina, Barb Ferrari, and Mark Travers.
Artist Charlie Houska, above left, is photographed welcoming visitors to his gallery.
A snapshot of Yelena Petroukhina’s work taken after the opening through the gallery’s window. Petroukhina is a Russian-born contemporary ceramic artist who lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.
From left, above, I Can No Longer Hear the Grass, Memory in Red and White, and second row right, Memory in White and Red.
Artist Barb Ferrari standing near her oil on canvas, Inserting Oneself, 49 x 49 inches. According to her bio, “Ferrari was part of the burgeoning 1980’s downtown art scene in NYC. Her involvement consisted of doing performance art, street art as well as curating guerrilla art shows.”
Mark Travers earned a BFA in sculpture and painting from WashU, and a MFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. After 30 years in the advertising world, Travers returned to creating his art in 2010.
Travers is photographed alongside one of his carved and painted Red Flag, Commentaries on America series. From the artist’s statement: “The red flag is a warning signal, and each piece in the series represents one or more problems facing America today.”
Houska Gallery, 4728 McPherson, open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 t0 4. Current exhibition remains on view until May 17.
At Duane Reed Gallery: Works by Rick Griggs, Andrew Casto, Vivian Chiu, and Rob Strati.
Rick Griggs, above, in front of Radio City, acrylic on canvas, 74 x 54.25 x 2.5 inches. The St. Louis-based artist, who was at one time a pastry chef, is a painter, wood worker, and sculptor. According to the artist statement, Griggs’ work is influenced by industrial fabrication and product design.
Ceramicist Andrew Casto is photographed alongside Molluski, porcelain and gold, 20 x 11 x 6 inches, close-up photo follows. Casto is Associate Professor and Program Head of Ceramics at the University of Iowa.
Vivian Chiu’s current work consists of wood vessels constructed from Wing on Wo & Co. crates previously used to ship porcelain to and from the oldest shop in Chinatown, NY. On view are from left, Willow Leaf Vase II, Pomegranate Vase I, and Huluping Vase I.
Chiu was born in L.A. and emigrated to Hong Kong when she was 3. From the website: “Chiu pays homage to the unseen labor and resources of the arts, giving a pedestal to the vessels proud to show their scars from travel.”
photography courtesy of Duane Reed Gallery
Also on view, 3 works by Rob Strati including, Sailing Ships on Broken Waves, broken ceramics, ink on paper, 40 x 38 x 2.5 inches. Strati, an illustrator and sculptor, “builds his art around shattered porcelain plates…” Devised as “a method to preserve an accidentally shattered gift from his mother-in-law…he’s transitioned the fragments from calamity to creation.”
Duane Reed Gallery, 4729 McPherson. The current exhibition closes May 27.
At Square One Gallery: Two exhibits, The World of Yum and Friends and Home Cooking were in their waning days when Gallery Night took place. A new exhibition opens this Friday (more on that at end of this post). Here are a few photos from that April 12 event.
Paintings from Japanese artist Yosuke Toda’s The World of Yum and Friends are shown on the wall, above and below. The artist is renowned for his “captivating paintings that bridge the realms of contemporary art, Japanese culture, and pop art. At the core of his artistic universe is the black-and-white character Yum.”
In the foreground are sculptures by nomadic sculptor Austyn Taylor. in front, Jerry, and, in back, Good Idea. “Taylor’s sculpture illustrate the absurdist humor one has when trying to hold both realism and optimism as one’s values.”
Toda’s Yum Pom on the Hanging Chair.
Detroit-based artist and painter Davariz Broaden is photographed alongside “Would’ve Thought We Were Twins,” a painting depicting the artist and his brother. Broaden’s (b. 1999) paintings “distill a soft essence and highlight the importance of love and beauty within the Black community, as well as nostalgic events in the Black experience.”
From left: Square One’s Max Berman with Davariz Broaden, and Square One’s Tanner Steslow.
Opening at Square One Gallery, 4814 Washington, this Friday, April 24, from 6 to 9 p.m., are Sage Barnes’ Frame of Mind and Erika Lee Sears’ Lemons to Olives. Barnes was the first artist the gallery exhibited when they opened in the CWE a year ago.
Judging from the large number of people who were on the sidewalks and in the galleries on Gallery Night, the event was a huge success. Thanks to Executive Director Kate Haher and Nina Emerson, Marketing & Communications Specialist of the CWE North Community Improvement District for putting organizing such a fantastic evening.