Alive and Well

 After a three-month hiatus, galleries in the Arts District are reopening and the traditional First Saturday Art Walk has become a day-long event to accommodate the rules of distancing with a predictable outcome: more time to contemplate, less time to socialize.
My first visit was at Octavia Art Gallery where four artists are featured for the exhibition Conceptual Creations: Collage and Assemblage. The bold red color from the objects on display in the window was an irresistible invitation to walk-in. Why Red from Robert Tannen, a gathering of his latest works, is by itself a show within the exhibition. Microwave, laptop, typewriter, rotary telephone, ..., all candidates for the dumpster, are instead preserved for eternity, embalmed in a bright red monochrome spray paint. Red for love here is for danger, emergency, an alarm about pollution, global warming and the threats they represent to the planet. Recycling is part of the solution, cloth hangers become wall sculptures or get a second life as supports for calligraphic meditative drawings. Also reflecting a Far Eastern influence, Regina Scully's compositions acquire a third dimension with  unknown pieces of objects embedded in her poetical landscapes. The Three Fates, 2020, a sculptural narrative scene, reconnects with a variety of media the artist explored in the past.
Assemblage and collage for Scott Andresen result in dreamy abstract pieces, so perfect they make us forget the industrious processes they underwent, including delicate mending with gold and silver leaf, a technique borrowed from Kintsugi the Japanese art of repairing ceramics applied to sandpaper, Andresen's medium of choice. James Henderson's works are a reflection about passing time with his selection of old photographs and pictures from vintage magazines. The mixed media layering builds a thick texture alluding at the accumulation of memories over the years.
Further on Julia Street, the visit at Callan Contemporary felt like stepping in an enchanted world. The monochrome installations from the ceramic artist Bradley Sabin recreate the magic of nature with swirls of flowers invading the gallery. The lively display keeps changing as the visitor walks back and forth, each unique flower anonymous among the flock.
Art in Doom which opened in March at Jonathan Ferrara Gallery was reviewed in "Premonitory", a post published earlier.
At Arthur Roger Gallery, the animals photographed by David Yarrow appear to awake from a long sleep. Walking by close-up shots of bear, gorilla, lion, confirms that gallery visits are indispensable to connect with the photographer's subjects. With more than a dozen mesmerizing new works, Troy Dugas's show offers another kind of adventure. More than a purely visual experience, his mandalas provide a meditative place to pause and reflect. When I look at Kris Wenschuh's compositions, I always wonder why the value of a painting is related to its size. The classically trained artist keeps producing small surrealist landscapes featuring icebergs, clouds, floating in blue skies, catching a certain light that evokes luminism. Twice Upon a Time, the title of the exhibition is perfectly fitting for a show which includes works from Leslie Staub known for her children's books illustrations.
July is supposed to be a slow month for the galleries... not this year!

photographs by the author:

Robert Tannen "Wood Burning Furnace with Logs", 2020
Kris Wenschuh "Trail of Light", 2020
Bradley Sabin "Coral Flower Wall Installation", 2020

Spring at the Saint-Claude Arts District

The installation "Catalpa, Reality, Resurrection, Revolution and Sir Joshua Reynolds" by Robert Tannen at the Homespace Gallery sends a message of hope with pieces of a dying catalpa tree supporting thin wooden sticks even a fishing rod, spread like fans in the air. From these dead pieces of wood, life springs again. The contrast between the old wood, wrinkled by the years and the elements and the thin wooden sticks, vigorous but fragile gives the message: regeneration, life, transformation. From the abandonned wood, the artist grows a forest and creates a space for reflection in the tradition of the Japanese gardens. Life never ends, death is just a transformation. The photographs and drawings of the gigantic tree along the installation are also the testimony of nature's resilience as I witnessed near the bayou after the hurricane. The salt water had wiped out all the tall trees, gray replaced green. The trees are back, more vigorous. The installation is a celebration of life and in tune with the season.

Farther down the road, The Good Children Gallery is also opened. It seems that some painters invent their own colors. Jessica Bizer is one of these artists. Her technique creates surreal works, glowing with a light she must have caught looking directly at the sun.

Across the street, The Front presents several artists with very different messages, among them Dick Keaveny, his series of Piggies, grotesque caricatures remind us that greed and I guess gluttony (considering the fleshy faces) are on the list of the seven deadly sins! Caricature is a tradition among artists, Leonardo da Vinci found his subjects in the streets.
The Saint-Claude Arts District is alive and well with an opening every second Saturday of the month.
photograph by the author
"Hope It's True", Jessica Bizer, 2012