RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES: Sometimes art feels as contemporary as a news Web site. That's the way I felt when I walked into Corridor 2122 last week to look at its current group members' show and saw a charcoal drawing by Stephen Dent hanging on the wall.
Titled "Aircraft Study," the work is sketched over a printed world map -- the colorful, cheap kind that you'd find in a National Geographic or hanging in a school classroom. Dent has sketched out the blunt outline of an airplane.
The fuselage is mostly depicted with darker charcoal strokes. He's left part of the original map uncovered in a use of negative space that helps define the shape of the airplane and what could be a runway. Here's the weird thing: the one unadulterated part of the original map just happens to be the stretch of ocean between South America and Europe into which Air France Flight 447 plunged last week. Up until that air crash, I'd only heard vaguely about the perilous "Horse Latitudes," but with the news story being so fresh in my mind, I immediately made the leap. To me, the thick scrawl of the charcoal seemed ominous, and I could imagine the plane going down.
Turns out that Dent made the work before the crash, and the geography that he wound up highlighting was purely coincidental. But for me, the drawing really connected in a visceral way. I found myself staring at it intently, and a flash went through my mind of what it must have been like for the people aboard that doomed plane. I don't consider myself scared of flying, and in fact often make a point to remind people how safe air travel is, but even I -- conditioned by days of endless headlines about the crash -- felt on edge. I thought it was an interesting example of how we all bring personal experiences to art, and sometimes events totally out of an artist's control can take front-and-center attention.
By the way, Dent reports that I'm not the only one who saw the work and immediately thought of Air France. He writes: "Our conversation was the first of many that I had that night on air travel and plane crashes (disappearances). Seems that it's on a lot of peoples' minds lately..."
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HONORING A SPECIAL ARTIST: I can't think of a more fitting memorial for Polly Victor, who died in March, than the retrospective of her work currently on display at Gallery 25. I had the pleasure of interviewing her in 2007, when she was 86, for what must have been one of the last published accounts of her work.
By the time I met her she had shifted her focus from the big, bruising, industrial-strength sculptures she loved -- she certainly knew her way around power tools -- to a style less physical. "My body started telling me I was too old," she said. But she was determined to keep making art. She developed a new style, a variation using pastel shavings and a chamois -- almost a type of finger painting -- that allowed a great sense of tactile satisfaction in her work.
I write hundreds of stories and blog posts a year for The Bee, so it's easy to lose track of them, but the piece I wrote on Victor has stuck with me. I'm proud of it. I like to think that in some small way I captured a sliver of her essence as a person and as an artist. From my column:
When you look at her paintings, they at first appear subtle and soft. Perhaps even tentative. Tall and lean, lined up like posts on a fence, they are snippets and swirls of color. But on closer examination, you begin to sense movement. There is coming and going. Ebbing and flowing. You can sense Victor's hands -- working, rubbing, blending with the chamois -- on the thick watercolor paper ...
When she speaks, her voice is gentle and her eyes bright. She sounds like the grandmother she is. And yet there is something in her voice that is strong and tenacious, whether she's expounding on her views on the military-industrial complex (she is a flame-hot liberal who came from a coolly conservative family) or talking about trends in art. This is not a lace-and-doilies voice but one with steel in it, like her big sculptures.
Fresno will miss you, Polly. I'm thankful that your life was so long and fruitful.
On a related note: Victor's family has made available to the public selected pastel drawings and a few sculptures through a silent bidding process with bids starting at a very reasonable price. Part of the proceeds will benefit Gallery 25.
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CALL TO ARTISTS: David Hoffman of Sierra Art Trails wrote to let me know that he's looking for photographic entries:
"Artists Revealed" is a juried exhibit featuring portraits of artists by photographers. The exhibit is open to photographers working worldwide. Images may be of any artist, working in any discipline, including but not limited to...visual artists, writers, musicians, film makers, animators, actors, dancers and poets.
The idea for the show grew from photographer David Hoffman and others shooting portraits of artists participating in the annual Sierra Art Trails Open Studio Tour and blossomed into an exhibit focused on celebrating the importance of the creative arts in all disciplines. It is our hope that the exhibit will encourage collaboration and interaction between photographers and their subjects, resulting in a show that celebrates the art of photography and the creative spirit.
For submission guidelines, application, model release, general information go to www.stellargallery.com, call 559 658-8844, or stop by Stellar Gallery or Williams Gallery West in Gallery Row in Oakhurst to pick up an application for the exhibit.
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ANOTHER CALL, THIS ONE FOR STUDENTS: The Fresno County Board of Supervisors and the Fresno Arts Council invites all Fresno County High School students to submit two-dimensional visual artwork for display. All entries will be considered and selected by the Fresno Arts Council. The art selected will be unveiled and displayed downtown Fresno in the entrance of the historic Hall of Records. From the county:
The Board of Supervisors will issue a certificate of achievement for the selected artwork. The original piece of visual art will hang for six months at which time the paintings will be returned to the Fresno Arts Council for return to the artist. The art will be requested on a bi-annual basis and selected for display every 6 months.
All entries considered for selection must be 2 dimensional and fit into an 18x24 inch frame and presented in a horizontal format. Entries can be watercolor, acrylic, photographic, etc. The County would like to display two pieces of original art from each of the five supervisorial Districts. Contact Luis Chavez at (559) 824-5458 for more information about registration and entry or email lchavez@co.fresno.ca.us Fresno Arts Council (559) 237-9741 or www.fresnoartscouncil.org.
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BIG BREAK FOR FIREBAUGH ARTIST: In Friday's 7 section I write about a young artist named Daniel J. Keys, who got the biggest break so far of his career when one of his still-life paintings was selected for the July-August cover of American Artist magazine. Here's the cover:
Keys brings a fascinating background to his art. As a home-schooled student, the now 23-year-old basically taught himself out of books and magazines. He's had a couple of small shows at ArtHop, but for most people in the arts community, he's an unknown quantity. I have a feeling we'll be hearing more about him in the future.
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FAREWELL TO YARBROUGH: This is old news by now, but the Fresno State creative writing program has said goodbye to one of its big names, Steve Yarbrough. From the university:
Yarbrough is leaving Fresno State this summer for a position in the Department of Writing, Literature and Publishing at Emerson College in Boston.
Yarbrough came to Fresno State in 1988 after earning bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Mississippi and an MFA from the University of Arkansas. He established a reputation for short stories before first novel, "The Oxygen Man," was published in 1999. It was followed by "Visible Spirits" in 2001, "Prisoners of War" in 2004 and "The End of California" in 2006. His most recent novel is set in Fresno and Mississippi.
On his last day at Fresno State, Yarbrough learned that he'll be winning the The Richard Wright Literary Excellence Award for 2010. Winning the Wright Award puts Yarbrough in distinguished company of previous honorees whose work includes "a strong Mississippi connection" such as Eudora Welty, Willie Morris, Beth Henley, Shelby Foote, Richard Ford, John Grisham, Margaret Walker Alexander and William Raspberry.
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