Blog | Art: Talking Walls Online

ArtHamptons brings its fourth international art fair to Bridgehampton this weekend. It launches tonight with an Opening Preview Party from 6 to 9 p.m. The fair continues through July 10, 2011. Daily admission is $15 or $25 for a three-day pass. Tickets for the Opening Party are $95 and include 3-day admission.

This year’s fair presents 77 galleries from 10 countries, according to ArtHamptons. There will be 4,000 artworks made by 500 artists in the temporary building housing the sprawling art fair. The international galleries are based in Japan, Greece, Spain, Finland, China, Israel, Canada, Korea and the U.K. The fair building—constructed specifically to house the fair—stretches 50,000 square feet.

Artwork is modern or contemporary and made by established artists. Prices range from $1,000 to several million, according to ArtHamptons. Mediums presented include paintings, drawings, photography, art glass and sculpture.

Visitors pass through a sculpture garden before entering the fair. This year, sculptors include Thomas Ramey, Kevin Barrett, Gino Miles, Dennis Leri, Hans Van de Bovenkamp, Steve Zaluski, Nova and others. Each work is presented through a gallery.

New is a focus on fine art photography. Presented at photoHamptons, photography galleries are located throughout the fair. Tours highlighting fine art photography with an eye on how to invest and collect will be held Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.  They are led by Ruben Natal-San Miguel, president of Natal-San Miguel Fine Art Photography Consulting Svcs.

Another focus this year is artwork from the U.K., said Rick Friedman, founder of ArtHamptons and the Hamptons Expo Group. Eleven galleries are participating in this year’s fair—doubling the number from last year.

Fair highlights include artist book signings and meeting ArtHamptons award winners. The abstract expressionism painter Mary Abbott receives this year’s ArtHamptons Lifetime Achievement Award. She will sign catalogues in the Collector’s Lounge on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m.

The first Art Patrons of the Year Award goes to Russell Simmons and Danny Simmons. The pair co-founded the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation in 1995, along with their brother, Joseph (Rev. Run) Simmons of RUN-DMC hip hop fame. Russell Simmons and Danny Simmons continue to lead the non-profit organization. Danny Simmons is a visual artist in his own right. Russell Simmons is a media and fashion mogul. His accomplishments include contributions to the hip-hop label Def Jam.

The brothers will be on hand on Saturday from 5 to 6 p.m. to receive the award and sign books.

Another highlight are screenings of the short film, “Full Circle: Before they Were Famous.” The movie features Andy Warhol stars Ultra Violet and Taylor Mead. Screenings will be held on Friday and Sunday at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. A panel discussions and signing follow the screenings.

Bay Street Theatre presents a cast party for its current play, “Betty’s Summer Vacaction” on Sunday from 4 to 5 p.m. A silent auction for a 1981 John Chamberlain screen print to benefit the theater is part of the fun.
A full line-up of special events and galleries exhibiting at the fair can be found at http://www.arthamptons.com.

In a pop culture twist, a fictionalized opening party for ArtHamptons will be part of an episode of the television show, Royal Pains. The USA Network expects to broadcast the episode on August 17 at 9 p.m. ArtHamptons founder Rick Friedman has a cameo in the episode, he said.

Ultimately, ArtHamptons has become an integral part of the summer art season on the East End, Friedman said.

“Hamptonites and art lovers have come to appreciate and look forward to experiencing the selection of fine art in the dynamic global art marketplace that we create for four days,” he stated.

ArtHamptons will be held from July 7 to 10, 2011 at Sayre Park, 154 Snake Hollow Road, Bridgehampton. The fair opens daily at 11 a.m. It closes at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 6 p.m. on Sunday.

For information, visit http://www.arthamptons.com.

If desire was a color, what would it be? Red? Black? For artist Jeff Muhs, the color of desire is a palette culled from the bloom of spring.

Muhs’s new series explores flower’s forms and colors. His oil paintings are abstractions of flora and botanical forms found in the gardens sprawling around his home and studio.

A solo exhibition of these works is on view from June 17 to June 30 at RVS Fine Art in Southampton. An artist reception for The Color of Desire takes place on June 18 from 6 to 8 p.m.

The opening coincides with the opening of Dorothea Rockburne: In My Mind’s Eye at the Parrish Art Museum. The museum is across the street from RVS Fine Art. The opening is also held from 6 to 8 p.m.

Muhs’s new series depart from the vivid and chromatic abstracted landscapes he is known. In The Color of Desire, the artist opted for the softer glow of spring’s first blush. Muhs was inspired to channel nature in a new way after becoming engrossed in the construction and creation of separate gardens that link across property he owns with his wife and art dealer, Beth McNeill of the McNeill Art Group.

The arrival of the fair weather, the planting season and the blooming of trees, plants and flowers into a visual symphony proved too compelling to discard, Muhs said.

“I find it hard to leave the gardens,” Muhs said. “So I brought them inside my studio.”

The paintings include works that feature the suggested shape of flora and fauna. Other paintings are abstracted further and put colors on stage. Fields of colors vibrate and the art evoke the sensation of witnessing spring’s first blooms on a perfect sunny day. 

The Color of Desire—a solo show by Jeff Muhs—will be on view from June 17 to June 30 at RVS Fine Art, 20 Jobs Lane, Southampton. The gallery is open from Thursday through Monday from noon to 5 p.m. and by appointment. For information, call 631-283-8546.

Jeff Muhs’s art can be viewed at http://www.jeffmuhsstudio.com. His work includes paintings and sculpture.

Muhs’s sculpture, “Decommissioned Chair,” recently won Best Sculpture at Guild Hall’s 73rd Artist Members Exhibition in East Hampton. The show remains on view through June 11. Muhs’s furniture designs are exhibited in Manhattan and Milan, Italy.

Destruction is a force to be reckoned with. Destruction and life examined through art could be the themes of two complimentary exhibitions held at The South Street Gallery in Greenport through May 30.

Taking center stage is a solo show by Janet Culbertson of Shelter Island. The exhibition, Vital Signs, is a mini-retrospective of sorts. The show spans two rooms and decades of work. 

Culbertson’s art portrays environment destruction in the extreme: earth is decimated and only vestiges of human life remain. Clues of a civilization lost can include solitary billboards, cracked highways, oil-soaked bird carcasses, a field of tree stumps and oil rig skeletons.

The subject is harsh and the cautionary message dire but Culbertson’s art still strikes at beauty.

Paintings glitter from their pavement-dominated or lava-hardened landscapes. Vivid colors resulting from chemical accidents are eye-pleasing. Bucolic scenes from life before destruction provide an arresting contrast between Culbertson’s imagined then and now. 

The shimmering surfaces can be created through layers of iridescent pigment and coarsely-textured surfaces, according to Culbertson. Mixed media paintings can include shards of glass, tar, Japanese beetles, toy snakes and more. Other artworks use paint alone. 

Artwork in Vital Signs pulls from several series (Industrial Park, Billboards, Overview and others). The show includes a piece from Culbertson latest focus: the rash of international violence erupting in response to oppression of the political kind.

Acting as a compliment to Culbertson’s solo show is a group show featuring art by nine artists. The exhibition explores life and destruction in a diverse offering of painting, installation, sculpture and mixed media works.

The painting, “THEY are killing our children” by Anna Jurinich, depicts a world where innocence ebbs as children move from the start of life into one of dangerous choices and accidents, Jurinich said.

Two sculptures by Gina Gilmour feature rice-lathered pedestals that exalt a single gun. The pieces examine the choice of sustaining life (rice) or destroying it (gun), said Gilmour. 

The group show includes a mixed media wall piece by Maureen Palmieri made of plastic, tar, dirt, plants and other materials (“Parts of the Circle (detritus)”). Also, an understated interactive installation of a single butterfly by Joseph A. Esser (“Ephemeral 2.0”).

Vital Signs: A solo exhibition by Janet Culbertson is on view at The South Street Gallery, 18 South Street, Greenport through May 30. For information, visit http://www.thesouthstreetgallery.com. 

In a bold move, the Sands Point Preserve is including an exhibition of nude figurative paintings as part of its annual evening fundraiser.

Those attending tomorrow’s event will witness the Hempstead House’s transformation into the Wild Wild West—complete with live “foot and fiddle” music, a saloon, brothel and gambling hall. At the top of the sweeping grand staircase, visitors will find plenty of art featuring nudes created in a contemporary realism style.

The exhibition, Bordello Nudes, is an unflinching presentation of the body beautiful. The shy and the timid need not apply.

Bordello Nudes is curated by painter Victoria Selbach of Port Washington. It is a separate event held within the Sands Point Preserve’s annual fundraiser. Selbach is a contemporary realism painter who focuses on the nude and also includes the clothed. 

“As a painter whose work focuses on larger-than-life-size nudes, I couldn’t resist the chance to curate a show pulling in exceptional nudes from an assortment of artists to create Bordello Nudes,” Selbach explained. “Each painter has a unique eye and a highly skilled approach to executing their vision.”

Exhibiting artists include Selbach, Fedele Spadafora, John Wellington, Daehyuk Sim, Daniel Maidman, Joe Ongie and Michael Selbach.  The artists are from Long Island, Brooklyn and NYC. The show features paintings, drawings and prints.

A portion of art sales will be donated to the Friends of the Sands Point Preserve. “The Wild Wild West” is third annual fundraiser designed to help preserve, protect and promote Sands Point Preserve (a Guggenheim estate) as a living museum, according to the event invitation. Funds raised support education development, garden restoration and plantings and the opening of the Nature Exploration Building and more, according to event invitation information.

After Bordello Nudes is a memory, Selbach will continue curating. Curatorial plans are underway for two separate exhibition projects in NYC. At least one exhibition is set for this fall.

“There is a wonderful creative aspect to bringing together amazing works from various artists to form a vibrant group,” Selbach commented. “Artists working and showing together create a community where passions and inspiration can catch fire and spread.”

The Wild Wild West will be held May 7, 2011 at the Hempstead House, Sands Point. Tickets are $175. For information on the event or Sands Point Preserve, visit http://thesandspointpreserve.com.

Here’s a few more chances to exhibition your art on the East End and beyond. Most have a fee to submit artwork.

Islip Art Museum – Islip – Flag Day Group Exhibition
Artwork image via email due by May 15. No fee to apply. The open call is for the themed group show, Flag Day. Curated by Janet Goleas. Only one artwork accepted per invited artist. Artwork drop-offs from June 1 to June 4. The exhibition will be held from June 15 to Sept. 4, 2011. See http://www.islipartmuseum.org/open.call.html  for details.

Parrish Art Museum –Southampton – Artists Choose Artists
Entries due by May 1. Exhibition highlights artists of the East End. Open to artists who live in zip codes beginning with 119. Fee - $20. Jurors are Alice Aycock, Ross Bleckner, Dan Rizzie, Matthew Satz, Garry Simmons, Agathe Snow and Frank Wimberley. Each juror selects two artists. Exhibition features artwork of invitees shown alongside the artist juror who selected them. The show runs from August 21 to October 9. See http://www.parrishart.org for details.

Ashawagh Hall – East Hampton – 27th Annual Springs Improvement Society’s Members Show
Artwork submission due by May 7. Open to all members of the Springs Improvement Society (membership is $20 for individual or $30 for family). Paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture and photograph accepted. The exhibition is a fundraiser for the Springs Improvement Society which maintains Ashawagh Hall, a long-standing venue for art exhibitions whose history reaches back to Jackson Pollack.  Show runs from May 27 to May 30. For application and information, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Southampton Cultural Center – Southampton – Arts Harvest Southampton Juried Art Exhibition
Entries due by June 15. $25 fee for up to three artworks. Juried art show with 40 artists selected. Juror is Christina Mossaides Strassfield, the museum director and chief curator for Guild Hall in East Hampton. One artist will receive a solo show at the Levitas Center for the Arts at the Southampton Cultural Center in 2012. The exhibition runs from Sept. 14 to Oct. 22. See http://www.southamptonculturalcenter.org for details.