500 MAIN Winter 2016 Newsletter DAVID AYLSWORTH: Either/And December 10, 2016 to February 26, 2017 Opening Reception: Friday, December 16, 6 - 8 p.m. Featured Speakers: Artist David Aylsworth with Dr. Sandra Zalman, Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Houston Houston artist David Aylsworth is well-known within Texas art circles for his stunning abstract paintings celebrating his facility with the brush, sophisticated understanding of color, and harmonious spatial relationships between form and shape. He is inspired by images around him, in both a mental and physical sense, and paints intersecting lines and shapes with luscious strokes, giving his works a sense of energy and movement. Aylsworth’s titles often reference songs and show tunes, at times giving his highly David Aylsworth, Each Sun to Each Moon, 2015, oil on canvas, abstract, non-objective style, a 12 x 14 inches, Collection of Kathleen Packlick and Daniel Murphy sort of verbal and lyrical foundation. Born in Tiffin, Ohio, Aylsworth graduated in 1989 with his BFA from Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, and was an artist in residence in the Core Program at the Glassell School of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, from 1989-91. Recent exhibitions include solo shows at Inman Gallery (2016), Morgan Lehman in New York (2014) and Holly Johnson Gallery (2013). His paintings are found in numerous private and permanent collections, including the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Dallas Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi. A full color catalogue was published with this exhibition and includes an artist statement by Aylsworth, a critical essay by Dr. Sandra Zalman, Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Houston, exhibition images, checklist and an artist biography. The exhibition will travel to the Galveston Arts Center (on view March 4 – April 16, 2017) following its debut at AMSET. This exhibition is generously funded, in part, by Paul Hester of Hester + Hardaway Photographers, Fayetteville, Texas, Leslie and Brad Bucher, Glen Gonzalez and Steve Summers, Linda and George Kelly, Bob Ackerley, Jim F. Avant, Bob Black and Gary Tucker, Sissy and Denny Kempner, Kevin and Avril Schofield, Emily and Dr. Alton Steiner, Anonymous, Yvette and Scott Hill, the City of Beaumont, the Wesley W. Washburn, M.D. and Lulu L. Smith, M.D. Endowment Fund, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the C. Homer and Edith Fuller Chambers Charitable Foundation. STEVE MURPHY: It’s All Come Down to This December 10, 2016 to February 26, 2017 Opening Reception: Friday, December 16, 6 - 8 p.m. Featured Speaker: Artist Steve Murphy Southeast Texas native Steve Murphy is best known for his poetically titled, minimal steel sculptures. Murphy attended Lamar University in Beaumont, followed by the University of Houston, where he received his B.A. in 1975. During his early years, Murphy focused on painting, but eventually experimented with sculpture; he is fascinated by the reduction of the essential elements of art – such as line, shape, color, form, space, texture and value – to Steve Murphy, Under the Influence, 2015, oxidized steel, 47 1/2 x 71 1/2 basic, geometric forms, x 19 inches, Loan Courtesy of the Artist elegant in their simplicity and visual presence. He often works in series, allowing the design of sculptures to build on each other, exploring the creative possibilities of a form and the energy developed by a slight alteration in angle or line, allowing a piece to grow and mature in the series. This exhibition will feature recent sculptures by Murphy, created in his Houston home and studio, including a new large scale sculpture by the artist created specifically for his exhibition at AMSET entitled, Always Drink Upstream From The Herd. A gallery guide is available in conjunction with this exhibition, that includes an interview between Murphy and AMSET curator, Sarah Beth Wilson. This exhibition is generously funded, in part, by the City of Beaumont, the Wesley W. Washburn, M.D. and Lulu L. Smith, M.D. Endowment Fund, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the C. Homer and Edith Fuller Chambers Charitable Foundation. Café Arts LANA PORTNER: Feathers, Wings and Earthbound Treasures January 19 to March 26, 2017 Opening Reception: Sunday, January 22, 2 - 4 p.m. Lana Portner was born in Houston, Texas and moved to Beaumont in 2000. She graduated from the University of Houston with a B.A. in Psychology and several years later began taking drawing classes at Lamar University in Beaumont. Portner became interested in painting and drawing in middle school, but more recently, she has focused on magazine collage. She is a member of the Beaumont Art League, where she frequently submits work for exhibition. Portner also donates her artwork to numerous charities. Lana Portner, Bird Spotting, 2015, magazine collage, 24 x 36 “I am inspired by the beauty of inches, Loan Courtesy of the Artist nature and its ability to thrive. To me, nature is spiritual. It is a salve for me. I have an incredible amount of respect for the creatures that survive in the wild. I believe that people are intrinsically connected to nature, and I literally express this idea in some of my drawings by combining people with trees. Nature is a recurring theme in my work. Inspiration often comes to me while travelling, or from an image I see in a magazine or television show. My media varies from charcoal on paper to acrylic on canvas, and most recently magazine collage. When creating a collage, I peruse dozens of magazines to find the colors that I am envisioning then tear or cut them into pieces and compile them to form the image in my mind. During this process, I imagine that I am putting something that is broken back together again. It is very satisfying upon completion.” – Lana Portner *UPCOMING EXHIBITION* JOSE ARPA: A Spanish Impressionist in Texas March 11 - May 28, 2017 Opening Reception: Friday, March 17, 6 - 8 p.m. Featured Speaker: Michael Grauer, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, Art and Western Heritage at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, Texas Jose Arpa y Perea (1858-1952) opened a studio in San Antonio around 1901 and became an important part of the San Antonio school. Born in Car mona, the son of a cobbler, Arpa began studying part-time at the Academia des Bellas Artes (Academy of Fine Arts) in Seville, Spain, in 1868. He became a full-time student by 1876 and from 1882 to 1886 painted in Rome. Returning to Jose Arpa, Galveston Dry Dock, c. 1924, oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches, Spain in 1886, Arpa sent Collection of Linda and William Reaves paintings as part of the Spanish contingent for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, where Impressionism was all the rage. He traveled to San Antonio, Texas, in 1899, and exhibited in the San Antonio International Fair in 1900. Arpa met Robert and Julian Onderdonk and divided his time between Mexico, Spain, and San Antonio until 1923, when he founded a painting school in San Antonio. Arpa continued to exhibit frequently at museums and galleries throughout Texas as well as New York and Spain. He won the “Texas Prize” at the Texas Wildflower Exhibition in 1927, and exhibited in the remaining two “Davis Competitions” in 1928 and 1929. Arpa permanently returned to Spain in 1931. This exhibition will be the first major Arpa exhibition since 1998, and is organized by the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, Texas. A full color catalogue published by the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum will be available for sale in the AMSET gift shop. Michael Grauer, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, Art and Western Heritage at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, will deliver a gallery talk at the opening reception on Friday, March 17, 2017. This exhibition is generously funded, in part, by the City of Beaumont – Beaumont CVB, the City of Beaumont, the Wesley W. Washburn, M.D. and Lulu L. Smith, M.D. Endowment Fund, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the C. Homer and Edith Fuller Chambers Charitable Foundation. Get Ready for a Mardi pARTy at AMSET! Friday, February 24, 2017 The Art Museum of Southeast Texas will be celebrating Mardi Gras this year with its first ever Mardi pARTy on Friday, February 24. Chaired by Camille and Kit Ohmstede, this “pARTy” will laissez les bon temps roulez (let the good times roll) in with the New Year and Fat Tuesday before we hunker down for Lent. The Mardi pARTy will feature the best of the best Cajun cuisine and fantastic music by the hot band J.A.G. Please watch the AMSET website for further details in the coming weeks at www.amset.org. SAVE THE DATE FOR THIS BRAND NEW FUNDRAISER!!! Friday, February 24, 2017 6:30 p.m. Go For the Gold 2017: Olympic AMSETTA Thursday, March 30, 2017, 6:30 p.m. Go for the Gold will be held at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, March 30, 2017, at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas. Have you ever won an AMSETTA Olympic gold medal? This might be your chance! Chaired by Margi and Rocky Chase, Go for the Gold – Olympic AMSETTA will feature the best reverse race drawing in Beaumont on Thursday, March 30. You will have the chance to win $10,000 in gold coins if your ticket is the last ticket drawn for the night from the Olympic torch hopper. Race down to AMSET and buy your ticket now, because each $100 ticket gets two people in the door for a fabulous training dinner and power drinks during the big event.