Inside: Raleigh on Film; Bethune on Theatre; Behrens on Music; Seckel on the Cultural Scene; Hendler on the Long Island Art Scene; Wersal ‘Speaks Out’ on the Art vs. Craft Question; New Art Books; Short Fiction & Poetry; Extensive Calendar of Events…and more! ART TIMES Vol. 26 No. 4 January/February 2010 The Museum at Guild Hall & The Heckscher Museum of Art By GinGEr LEE HEndLEr who have a connection to our re- paints directly at the If yOu Have ever wandered gion.” The work newly acquired for seaside, recording through a gallery or museum wonder- this exhibit spans a variety of media the shifting of light ing about the behind the scenes pres- including paintings, prints, collage and atmosphere on ence — how the show was collected, and photographs. Some prominent surfaces she metic- mounted, spaced out, lighted, etc, you artists included in this show are ulously builds up may be thinking of the way an exhibit Robert Motherwell, fairfield Porter, with layers of gesso, is curated. and Jim Dine. Others, perhaps not as metallic pigments, How does a curator integrate well known, join the ranks of a highly encaustics and oils. so many disparate forms, genres, respected community. They will now The results border dimensions, and media into one be part of the collection that includes on the symphonic, cohesive exhibit? It occurs to me earlier east end residents, such as involving sky, sea, that every time I see a group show Thomas Moran and Childe Hassam. sun, clouds and ho- encompassing multiple artists and a Looking at the cast of characters rizon line without myriad of genres, I find myself won- we may initially be attracted to the the slightest trace dering about the curator’s intention. stars, but even the supporting roles of land, in passages How do they go about selecting the are played by some of the country’s that range from se- work, determining the placement most celebrated painters, photogra- rene to explosive.” and integrating each piece into an phers, sculptors, and graphic art- Knott is a resident environment? In essence, it is about ists. of eastern Long Is- setting the stage, as in a theatrical upon entering the first gallery land and expresses performance. of this beautiful museum I was a love for the beaches at Guild Hall in east Hampton, taken with Cynthia Knott’s paint- and shores near her the exhibit “ac.qui.si.tions” features ing, “Shoal I”, oil, encaustic and home over 35 artists whose work has been metallic on linen. This work is a large To the right of recently acquired by the Museum monochromatic seascape beautifully the entrance is John as part of its permanent collection. cast in hues of green. In a recent Hardy’s “Bathers”, Paton Miller Boy with Trumpet Watercolor according to Ruth appelhof, the Ny Times review of her show at DC oil on wood. There (Photo Courtesy of Guild Hall) museum’s executive director, “Guild Moore Gallery, Grace Glueck writes, is a quality about Hall’s mission is to promote artists ”Braving the stiffest of weather, she his work that drew me towards it by Ingeborg ten Haeff incorporates and I kept returning to take another circular rhythmical shapes that find look. figures seem to disappear their way amidst predominantly into an overly blue ocean, leaving monolithic planes. vertical planes an impression of surreal existence. collide, sometimes cutting each other Hardy’s “unorthodox seascapes focus off. This is a huge canvas with domi- the viewer on the beauty and power nant grays and black and a hint of the of nature and how it plays on the palest orange. With all its intensity way people view themselves in that it has been beautifully placed among context.” the diverse work surrounding it. “Overshadowings”, oil on canvas Continued on Page 5 CSS Publications, Inc. Support the Arts; PO Box 730 Enrich your Life Mt. Marion, NY 12456-0730 www.arttimesjournal.com 845-246-6944 Subscribe to ART TIMES John Hardy Bathers, 1998, Oil on Wood, (Photo Courtesy of Guild Hall) ART-LITERATURE-DANCE-MUSIC-EXHIBITIONS-THEATRE-FILM-ART-LITERATURE-DANCE-MUSIC Jan/ feb 2010 ART TIMES page 2 Peeks and Piques! ART TIMES Commentary and Resource for the Fine & Performing Arts a COuPLe Of issues back, in my nius’ that it was most evident in those otherwise — through pictures. When aRT TIMeS (ISSN 0891-9070) is published bi- “Peeks & Piques!” editorial, I wrote artists who had the “…capacity for art merely reflects our society, it tells monthly by CSS Publications, Inc. with copies about beauty and its distressing ab- productive reaction to one’s training.” us nothing that we cannot learn from distributed along the Northeast Corridor primarily throughout the Metropolitan and Hudson valley sence in so much of today’s art and, This is a pretty weighty statement newspapers or television. It takes Regions, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New in doing so, invoked the memory of — one that Coleridge might agree “genius” to lead a viewer toward Jersey each month. Copies are also available by mail to subscribers and arts organizations through- Bernard Berenson with his belief that is “loaded with ore”. at first blush, some answer, some respite from the out the uS and abroad. Copyright © 2010, CSS art ought to be “life enhancing.” I also it appears to justify the modernist message. It takes Art. any hack can Publications, Inc. suggested that what made art tran- manifesto to jettison all traces of past “break the rules” and wield a brush, Publisher: Cornelia Seckel scend the time and place in which it academicism, past training. But Be- strum a guitar, write a story, string editor: Raymond J. Steiner was created was the ability of the art- renson specifically says “productive” some words on a page that resemble Contributing Writers: Henry P. Raleigh Robert W. Bethune ist to imbue his or her work with a uni- reaction — not “negative” reaction, or poetry. They offer no evidence of “ge- Ina Cole Dawn Lille versal element that made it possible even, simply, “reaction”. What, how- nius”, however, since they are stating frank Behrens francine L. Trevens Ginger Lee Hendler for human observers from any age and ever, did he mean by “productive”? I the obvious and bring nothing from Subscription Rates: from any culture to experience and submit that one could only come to past teachings. They must re-live uSa: $18 /1 year $34 /2years appreciate it. In the past, it was usu- a reasonable definition by reading it the history of empty art since, by re- foreign: $35 /1 year $45 /2 years ally felt that such ideal principals as in the context of Berenson’s greater acting so totally against traditional Contact for Print and Online advertising Rates: the Truth, the Good, or the Beautiful aesthetic philosophy. assuming that teaching, they know no history. a CSS Publications, Inc., PO Box 730, Mt. Marion, Ny, 12456. Phone or fax (845) 246-6944; were what served artists in search of the “training” Berenson is referring total break needs an entirely new set email: [email protected] a less transitory superficiality in their to (against which “genius” ought to of eyes…usually in the form of some Web site: www.arttimesjournal.com work — whether it be the features of productively react) is that which had bombastic manifesto such as, in fact, Deadline for advertising is June 15 for Jul/aug; a famous countenance, the sweep of been hammered out and refined dur- those that accompanied many modern aug 15 for Sep/Oct; Oct 15 for Nov/Dec; Dec 15 for Jan/feb; feb 15 for Mar/apr; apr 15 for May/Jun. a natural vista, or the cunning ar- ing the Italian Renaissance and held excesses (nowadays, most do not even Items for inclusion in the Calendar and Oppor- rangement of objects in an engaging sway in academies until well into bother with the intellectual rigors of tunities section must be emailed, mailed or faxed to th the aRT TIMeS office by the 12th of the preceding interior. If artistic motifs partook of the 19 -century, one has to wonder concocting a manifesto, merely hiring publication month. email for guidelines. beauty, or the truth, or the good — in to what degree a “reaction” had to a glib wordsmith to hype the empty ar- aRT TIMeS solicits short fiction and poetry — see spite of their local subject matter or manifest itself in order to qualify as tifact). However, when we must resort our listing in Writer’s Market, fiction Writer’s Market, Poet’s Market and other trade magazines interpretation in different ages and “genius” — and not merely as a break to the written word to help explain or send a legal-sized Self addressed Stamped cultures — then the commonality of from routine for the sake of ‘being what stands before our eyes then we envelope (SaSe) for Guidelines. Guest articles on all mankind might be touched, spoken different’. In that Berenson made are no longer talking about the same the arts are also considered but must be preceded by a written Query. Our “Speak Out” section is a to, moved — in short, “enhanced”. So his mark in a milieu surrounded by thing, viz. “art”, but a new “product”, forum for reader’s relevant opinions on art-related integral, in fact, was the inclusion of masterpieces of art — in particular, a new phenomenon. If, for example, I matters; viewpoints expressed in the “Speak Out” section are not to be construed as positions held beauty that it was once believed that works from and which grew out of the design and make a chair that resists by the publisher, editor or staff of this publication.