Talus at 707 Penn Gallery until June 30th

Paintings by Lindsay Merrill & Paul Rouphail 

Talus - noun - a sloping mass of rock fragments at the foot of a cliff. 

Images from Art All Night Lawrenceville 2013. There were some repeats from last years show, familiar faces and work, plus a lot more interactive activities. 

Concept Art Gallery Fine Art & Modern Design Auction 3.23.13 

On March 15th the August Wilson Center of African American Culture most recent Show, “Solo Exhibits,” opened featuring 3 Pittsburgh based women artists: Leslie Ansley, Tina Brewer and Jo-Anne Bates. We were lucky enough to meet with Cecile Shellman, the curator, for a walk through. 

The show was inspired by a trip to Africa taken by Jo-Anne Bates and has been in the works for two years. One of the major challenges of this exhibition was finding funding for the interior walls of the space. If you were able to see any of the August Wilson Center’s previous shows you will notice that the gallery space has taken many different forms over the last year including a complete renovation. 

Cecile has a master’s from Havard in museum studies and is an artist herself. What she appreciates about curating is that it allows her to explore new ways of viewing through exhibit design. An interesting thing to note about this exhibition is the use of unique and vibrant didactic labels which reflect what it means to be African American.

The beautiful networkings of Tina Brewer’s cloth maps carefully mirror the whimsical paintings by Leslie Ansley continuing a theme of storytelling as one visually flips through the pages of the gallery walls ending with the work of Jo-Anne Bates. Since women and African American artists are often under-represented, Cecile set forth to create a space for these artists to share pieces of their artistic journey. 

ML

Last but not least, for those of you who love the classics. Here’s a lovely set of portrait paintings from The Westmoreland Museum of American Art.  

Remember, artwork always looks better when viewed in person! 

Aaronel deRoy Gruber: Art(ist) in Motion is on view at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art until June 2nd.

It is always a pleasure to be introduced to a new artist through a strong one-woman show. We made the journey out to Greensburg just for this exhibition and we were, not surprisingly, delighted.

Aaron deRroy Gruber (1918-2011) was a prolific Pittsburgh artist who began as an abstract expressionist painter, evolved into sculpture at the urging of fellow artist David Smith and in her later years also took up photography. She created for over six decades, an astonishing accomplishment!

The exhibition is laid out in a maze like fashion, taking the viewer on a mesmerizing walking tour. I couldn’t help but feel a certain connection with her Plexiglas and Chrome sculptures, many motorized and slow moving. To me they exude a bit of Southern California cool with their bright colors, sexy translucence and calming nature. A bit reminiscent of David Hockney’s relaxed Los Angeles scapes or the Hard-Edge painting movement. Regardless of whether this was the artists intention, the pieces are a testament to 1960’s/70’s culture.

Also included are examples of the fantastic jewelry she made as well as a few paintings, photographs and videos. Pictures of the artist are also on view which give an intriguing look into the cool, kind and fashionable woman she seemed to be.

If you haven’t made it out to Greensburg yet, this is the reason that you’ve been waiting for to show up.

CS

*Images are compliments of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art

Part 1: The Artist

Name: Oreen Cohen
Age: 27

Where are you from?
Originally, Rochester, NY along with two older sisters and one younger brother. Oreen is the first in her family to be born in America. Her family is from Israel and besides her immediate kin, they all still live there. Lucky for her, having family ties overseas allowed her to spend summers in Israel as well time during the school year while growing up.   

Where do you live? Lawrenceville

What mediums do you practice in?
Installation, urban intervention (massive pop-up sculptures appearing both w/ and w/out permission-we like a thrill too), sculpture, video performance work (as she did in Barcelona), audio, and painting.  

What inspires your work?
Rust, decay, beaten down things, machinery and the way it works, how the human body is a tool, how we use it and the similarities between machines and how we mimic them.  Construction, agriculture, anything can inspire as long as she looks at it in the right way.  

What artists do you admire?
First and foremost - Oreen “bows down” to Anselm Kiefer! Also Doug Aiken, Diana Al Hadid, and El Anastsui.

Your work in a few sentences or words?
Intuitive, physical, labor intensive, re-envisioning/mining a space, bringing consciousness to a space or people who are affected/blinded by gentrification, specifically in industrial cities.

Do you have any pieces permanently installed?
While all of Oreen’s work is site-specific she points out her guiding goal is not to gather a long list of collectors or permanent installations. Beyond one lasting relic, her work is not meant to last forever. She conceptualizes the idea, the piece comes to life and then shortly thereafter it comes down and the pieces are hauled back to the dump or wherever they belong.  

How many hours a week are you in your studio?
10am to midnight. At this point its just the studio and teaching on Tuesdays.  

When did you learn to weld?
During her Junior year of undergrad. Now, she is hooked!

Favorite/secret spots in PGH? Carrie Furnace, although she is still looking for a way into it (shoot her an email if you have any top secrets).