The Russians are Coming

Russian musicians to visit SIUC School of Music, March 6 & 7, to perform Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 with the Southern Illinois Symphony Orchestra at two venues: Shryock and The First United Methodist Church.

Lucky 13 in Mt. Vernon

Reported in FLIPSIDE Online: Thirteen Carbondale artists will display their work in the Mitchell Museum's main gallery at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mt. Vernon, beginning this Saturday, Feb. 24 through May 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.

The exhibit features the art of Andrea Buckvold, Luca Cruzat, Harris Deller, Ann Dodge, Cheonae Kim, L. Brent Kington, Jiyong Lee, Alex Lopez, Michael Onken, De Sande R, Rick Smith, Jason Urban and Chris Wildrick. Their works include photography, acrylic, ceramics and oil paint.

Juried student art exhibition on display this week

Juried student art exhibition on display this week:

"The Graduate Sculpture Student Organization at Southern Illinois University Carbondale presents the first SIUC Juried Student Art Exhibition. The exhibit will be in the Surplus Gallery in the Glove Factory, on the corner of East College and South Washington streets in Carbondale. First, second and third place winners will receive $100, $50 and $25, respectively.

The exhibit will be open Thursday, Feb. 22, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday, Feb. 23, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The reception and awards presentation are set for Friday, Feb. 23, from 6 to 9 p.m. The events are free and open to the public.

Mel Watkin, the director of the photography gallery at the Public Policy Research Center of University of Missouri, St. Louis, will jury this inaugural exhibition."

Strange statues around the world

One of Art Lovers favorite artists and dear friend, Christa Barnell, has moved to colder, but greener, pastures in Michigan, from where she sends this link to strange statues around the world posted on haha.nu - a lifestyle blogzine.

Which gives Art Lovers an idea..... How about an imaginative statue in Town Square?

One man's urinal, is another man's art

Yahoo! News reports in France: Court upholds urinal attack conviction:

"The self-proclaimed performance artist who attacked a urinal symbolic of the anarchic Dada movement with a hammer had his three-month suspended sentence upheld by a French court Friday.

Known as 'Fountain' and first exhibited by surrealist artist Marcel Duchamp in 1917, the ceramic urinal was slightly cracked by Pierre Pinoncelli's attack in January 2006.

'It was a nod to Dadaism, I wanted to pay homage to the spirit of Dada,' said Pinoncelli, 78, who complained about the 'non-recognition of his artistic act.'"

Sand Painting DVD

The long-awaited documentary on the Art and History of Sand Painting with Victor DeGraff can be ordered through the Sands of Time web site.

The Sound of Sand

The sand painting documentary Art Lovers is co-producing with Victor DeGraff is nearly completed, now that he and editor Dylan D. (.jpg) have completed the section of American Indian sand painting. Running approximately 40 minutes long, with the addition of original music and sound by Shadi Frick (pictured here with Victor), the next step is for Art Lovers' own Dan Johnson to finalize the DVD's and burn a few for the premiere on February 2, the First Friday of the month.

High School art high quality

Students art in Marion:

"The artwork presently on display in the Little Egypt Arts Centre in downtown Marion is a mix of prints, drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures. And although all of the pieces were created by high school students, the art is anything but juvenile."

Art shows art at Wal Mart

Yahoo! News: Painting of Jolie draws notice: "A North Carolina artist intrigued by the public obsession with celebrity has found herself feeding that obsession with a painting of actress Angelina Jolie as the Virgin Mary hovering over a Wal-Mart check-out line.

Kate Kretz has painted for 20 years but none of her previous work has garnered the attention given 'Blessed Art Thou,' showing ... at Art Miami, an annual exposition of modern and contemporary art."

The painting — acrylic and oil on linen — depicts an angelic Jolie in the clouds, holding her newborn daughter, Shiloh, with children Maddox and Zahara at her legs. Below them is a Wal-Mart checkout line. The painting is for sale for $50,000 through Chelsea Galleria in Miami, which represents Kretz.

On her blog, Kretz, 43, said the painting addresses "the celebrity worship cycle." She said she chose Jolie for the subject "because of her unavoidable presence in the media, the worldwide anticipation of her child, her 'unattainable' beauty and the good that she is doing in the world through her example, which adds another layer to the already complicated questions surrounding her status."

Art for Mart's sake

Beginning Jan. 2 Art Lovers will selling its fine art online exclusively through Boundless Gallery a Carbondale-based virtual art gallery that attracts thousands of online shoppers monthly, with convenient search features like choosing by color, and seeing how a painting will look in a room.

The Art Lovers gallery looks great. More paintings by local artists Kathleen Shaffner, Christa Barnell, Victor DeGraff, Deborah Brees, Steve Fessler and others weekly.

Associated Artists Gallery closing, New ones opening

Photographer Bob Hageman and Dick Lawson try to explain why Associated Artists Gallery is closing in January: as the Southern Illinoisan reports: "[It] voted itself out of existence at its December meeting. . . .The gallery was formed in 1983 as the Carbondale Artists Cooperative . . . located on South Illinois Avenue next to the Kaleidoscope gift shop. . . ," but never recovered from the move to The Island, where it became more of gift shop.

". . . [A]rtists . . . intend to go on with their work and find new venues - maybe even a new association and new gallery -- including a symbiotic relationship . . . between Southern Illinois wineries and Southern Illinois artists."

Newly-found Rockwell sets record

Yahoo! News: Rockwell found behind wall sets record: "One of Norman Rockwell's most famous paintings, discovered hidden behind a fake wall in its owner's Vermont home, has sold for $15.4 million.

'Breaking Home Ties,' which 'Henry' comic strip illustrator Donald Trachte Sr. purchased from Rockwell when the two were neighbors in Arlington, Vt., was sold to an anonymous telephone bidder, Sotheby's auction house said Thursday."

Art Over Easy

Premiere Art Auction & Gala
Dec. 1, 2006
7-9:30 p.m.
Surplus Gallery @ The Glove Factory

Damaged Picasso repair

Wynn's damaged Picasso being repaired - Yahoo! News: "Casino mogul Steve Wynn lost $139 million, but got to keep one of his favorite paintings when he poked a hole in a Picasso last month. . . . Now it will cost Wynn $85,000 to repair the damage to the art work, if not his pride.

Honored ceramist to show works at SIUC

Honored ceramist to show works at SIUC: "A celebrated ceramist will showcase his work at Southern Illinois University Carbondale next week as part of the Visiting Artists program at the University's School of Art and Design, part of the College of Liberal Arts.

David Furman, professor of ceramics at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., will present a slide lecture and a demonstration on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 5 p.m. in room 161 of Lawson Hall. The event is free and open to the public. The fine arts activity fee funds the Visiting Artists program.

'Furman's visit will give SIUC students and faculty a unique opportunity to learn from this great artist,' said Jiyong Lee, assistant professor of glass and chair of the Visiting Artists committee."

Exhibit showcases young artists' creations

Exhibit showcases young artists' creations: "Creations by young artists will be on display at Southern Illinois University Carbondale's School of Art and Design from 10 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28, in room 102 of the Allyn Building. This event is free and open to the public.

The exhibit will showcase artwork produced during the 'Saturday Young Artists Workshop,' an eight-week series offered by the School of Art and Design's art education department. The school is part of the College of Liberal Arts."

Pokes Picasso Painting

U.S. casino magnate gives Picasso's dream the elbow: "Picasso's famed 'Dream' painting turned into a nightmare for Las Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn when he accidentally gave the multimillion dollar canvas an elbow.

Wynn had just finalized a $139 million sale to another collector of his painting, called 'Le Reve' (The Dream), when he poked a finger-sized hole in the artwork while showing it to friends at his Las Vegas office a couple of weeks ago.

Director and screenwriter Nora Ephron, who witnessed and related the incident in her blog on the Huffington Post Web site (www.huffingtonpost.com), said Wynn had raised his hand to show the group something about Picasso's 1932 portrait of his mistress Marie-Therese Walter."

Fess Up

Making preparations for artist Steve Fessler's show The Shape of Things, at Art Lovers Trading Company gallery tonight. There was a nice photo/write-up in Flipside, the best online entertainment weekly in the region.

Art Biz Blog: Well Done Artist's Blog

Art Biz Blog: Well Done Artist's Blog

Fine Art Photography Organization's Innovative Marketing Makes Them a Top Google Find

Press Release: Fine Art Photography Organization's Innovative Marketing Makes Them a Top Google Find:

The Center for Fine Art Photography, occupying the third floor of the Museum of Contemporary Art in historic Old Town, Fort Collins, Colorado, this unique international organization and its gallery is best known on the world wide web than around its own state. According to Google statistics, with 61,000,000 returns, the Center’s website is ranked in the top fifteen for "fine art photography" searches. An incredible accomplishment in just over two years.