1708 Gallery

1708 Gallery Board Member – Brad Birchett-
will be giving a Gallery Walk-Talk
at Project Space at Plant Zero Art Center.

Monday, October 2nd, 11:45 – 12:45pm.

Matter of Time
by Brad T. Birchett

Plant Zero Art Center
0 E. 4th Street
just off Hull in Manchester
across the river from Shockoe Slip
Richmond, VA 23224
804.564.4998

1708 GALLERY HONORS LOCAL ART EDUCATORS
September 28, 2006 5-7pm

1708 Gallery is pleased to host its second annual Teacher¹s Evening Out on September 28, beginning at 5pm. The Teacher¹s Evening Out is a celebration of art education, honoring local primary and secondary art teachers. These incredible educators rarely receive the appreciation they deserve and 1708 Gallery seeks to recognize their efforts by inviting them to this special evening. Sue Papa, one of two artists whose work is currently on exhibit as part of the gallery¹s September Symbiosis show, will discuss her work

1708 Gallery invites teachers to use the gallery as a living classroom resource. Monthly exhibitions are educational resources that can serve as tools for students to study traditional and innovative art techniques and issues. The exhibitions can also foster cross-discipline discussions – using art as a springboard into conversations about other important topics and general curriculum concepts.
The Teacher¹s Evening Out provides an opportunity for local educators to collectively experience the gallery and share a common passion for creativity.

Organized by Pam Fox of 1708 Gallery¹s Education and Outreach Committee, this event is made possible by the support of Capital One, Main Art Supply and Framing, and The Community Foundation Serving Richmond & Central Virginia and the Garland & Agnes Taylor Gray Foundation.
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Matter of Time

Brad T. Birchett

New Works Documenting the Visual, Ritual, and Physical Experience of the Art Making Process

September 22- October 24th, 2006
Opening reception Friday, September 22, 6-9pm
Project Space at Plant Zero Art Center

“He wants his art to rot, fall apart, change, and ultimately disappear” – Pete Humes, All that Remains, Brick Weekly, September 21st edition.

In “Matter of Time” Birchett pushes traditional boundaries of contemporary art practices by taking the audience on a journey through time and space, introducing viewers to “the experience that is art,” rather than simply focusing on the art object itself. Influenced by minimalist art forms and earth-artists such as Robert Smithson, Anna Mendietta, Richard Long, and Robert Morris, Brad explores a variety of art-making approaches including painting, photography, installation, audio, bio-art, and environmental intervention.

“Maybe the logical end of this artist’s journey doesn’t include a physical work of art at all.” – Pete Humes, All that Remains, Brick Weekly, September 21st edition.

For more information, please contact:
Meredith Timberlake, Gallery Director
Plant Zero Art Center / Project Space
0 East 4th Street
Richmond, VA 23224
mtimberlake@plantzero.com
804.564.4998

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Visit Plant Zero on the Web: http://www.plantzero.com

Paula Owens’ new paintings are featured in Symbiosis, currently on view at 1708 Gallery. Formerly from Richmond, Paula now lives in San Antonio, Texas and is the president and CEO of the Southwest School of Art and Craft. In a recent phone conversation, we talked about her paintings, chaos theory and making things fit, even when they don’t want to.

Symbiosis comprises work by Owen and Sue Papa, a ceramic sculptor. Owen and Papa picked the word ‘symbiosis’ to title their show, because it describes the meeting of disparate elements in their work, the forced and the fused. Paint is Owens’ primary medium, but she began her art career in ceramics and uses many techniques such as sgraffito, inlay and layering of materials that she learned while working with clay.

Owen is very interested in chaos theory, which describes the complex and elegant patterns that emerge from non-linear dynamic system. She is mesmerized by chaos theory’s “strange attractors” that govern the movements of everything from flocks of birds and schools of fish to ripples in water and the formation of sand dunes. The small carved and painted marks in her work reference an integration of what Owen describes as “the pixilated world” we live in and the interior world of the mind. She is compelled to examine the sequence of events that unfold as she paints, ponder the relation of her body and mind and the identities that define different aspects of her life.

The question Owen most often hears in regard to her work is “Why do you work with a two-panel format?” After 20 years of working with multiple panels, she says that the panels allow her to examine the incoherent parts of people’s lives, the parts they try to get to fit together but can’t. They also refer to the inner and outer realms of her life, her multiple identities and reflect how humans try to put the disparate parts together. She tries to make the elements in the paintings not fit together in such a way that they are visually compelling and pleasurable, but ambiguous, because she believes that they best represent intangible reality.

Symbiosis is on view until September 29^th, 2006.

1708 Gallery board member Gordon Stettinius’s show of photography opens at the Robin Rice Gallery in NYC next Wednesday. You can see more of his work online at www.eyecaramba.com. Congratulations Gordon!

Robin Rice Gallery
325 West 11th Street
between Greenwich and Washington Streets New York, NY 10014 212-366-6660
Opening Reception, Wed. Sept. 20th 5:30-8:30p.m.
Show runs from Sept. 20th through October 29, 2006.

Don’t miss your last chance to see Paper View(s), recent work on paper by Gregg Carbo, Don Crow and Amie Oliver, who all have long time affiations with 1708 Gallery as artist members and exhibiting artists. “Paper View(s)” will close at 6pm on Wednesday, September 20. Please visit Plant Zero’s website for more information on the Project Space Gallery.

Gregg Carbo, Don Crow and Amie Oliver maintain their practice as “makers” regardless of where they are working or whatever else is going on in their life. This exhibition reveals ideas in progress, in process and in between. It’s a little like looking backward and forward between their various solo exhibitions. No manifestos here- but a glimpse into the process of making and thinking about where their work is going and why.

All three artists use paper as part of their creative process regardless of the materials used in the completion of a work. Don’s collage “pictures” likely grew from his habit of making small postcard-sized pieces that were the seed of Crow’s larger oil paintings. Gregg’s work, whether on or off paper or utilizing other materials synthesizes an austere beauty with the an unlikely response to found objects, textures and surfaces that is often worked out on paper
prior.

Amie finds her inspiration from timeless icons of art history that she visits in museums then takes into her studio as welcomed friends. They create a resonance in her life that is always open to new materials, periods or styles. She may work on linen, styrofoam or panel, but paper is always part of her process of discovery.

Amie arrived in Richmond a few days prior to “Paper View(s)” scheduled opening and remarked: “Everyone associated with this exhibition did a beautiful job. I think the resulting show is an interesting exploration of how we three approach the materiality of paper and even
though I have known Gregg and Don’s work for more years than I am willing to say, I am still discovering similarities and differences in our approach that I did not realize before. I guess that’s what keeps me interested.” -HEK

After visiting Paper View(s) please note that on September 22 (two short days later!) Brad Birchett’s “Matter of Time” will completely transform the Project Space at Plant Zero. For more information please read the following post. Hope to see you there!

Last Call!

The blog Thinking About Art, has a series called Artists Interview Artists that is really wonderful and thought provoking. All artists out there should think about doing this. J.T. Kirkland, who runs the blog, has put out a final call for interviewers/interviewees. I participated recently and had a great time thinking about what I’d like to ask another artist, as well as answering the questions posed to me.

I cut and pasted the following from Thinking About Art, Friday, September 15, 2006:

“The Artists Interview Artists Project has, in my opinion, been a huge success. The first interview was posted on June 7, 2005 and in total thus far there have been 81 interviews. A few months ago I posted an almost last call for participants in the project and the response was great. This is a real last call announcement. If you want to participate in the Artists Interview Artists Project, please send me an email, jtkirkland.gmail.com.

I am hoping that we can get the total number of interviews up to 100.

There are no restrictions on this project… you can live anywhere in the world and you can make any type of art.

My last project was published in book form (The One Word Project) and I hope to have more exciting news about it soon. With luck and a little bit of support, I hope the the AIA Project has even more success after its Web incarnation.

Wanna participate? Email J.T. ! Last chance!”

If you haven’t attended Wearable Art before these images illustrate a lively event full of surprises and creative expression.
A few familiar faces from Wearable Art 1999, clockwise -
a. Model Niabi Caldwell backstage
b. Is Barbi wearing the red wig or the red wig wearing many Barbis?
c. WART judge Jocelyn Senn, Master of Ceremonies Harry Kollatz, Jr and guest Tess Cummins
d. Backstage with the beauty professionals
e. Pam Fox and Joan Gaustad present for the pre-event sponsor’s cocktail party
f. A model waiting for her cue

FYI:
Let’s talk about arts: Give your thoughts on our A&E; coverage

Richmond Times-Dispatch Arts and entertainment coverage in The Times-Dispatch will be the topic of a News Roundtable from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 12.

Readers are invited to make comments and pose questions to a panel of Times-Dispatch writers and editors. The program will take place in the first-floor conference room of the newspaper’s downtown office building at 300 E. Franklin St. Seating is limited to 150 people. Free parking is available in the newspaper’s secured parking deck, whose entrance is on Third Street.
Times-Dispatch Vice President and Executive Editor Glenn Proctor will moderate the roundtable. The arts and entertainment roundtable is part of a series of discussions between Times-Dispatch journalists and readers on how the newspaper gathers and reports the news.
For details, call Beverly Foreman at (804) 649-6264.