Archive for March, 2009
J.H. Muse Gallery in the Abstract
The Jackson Hole Muse Gallery’s spring show, “Taking What’s Abstract Out of Abstract Art,” features new works by five artists: Carrie Geraci, Gregory Gummersall, Bernd Haussmann, Whitney Nye and Valerie Stuart. The show is up and remains on exhibit through until May 1.
The show’s title suggests the gallery believes that, to most locals, abstract art is a tiny bit out of bounds. Muse wants you to get friendly with abstractions. You should. You should get friendly with any art that speaks to you, and any art can. For those of us living in a verdant mountain valley, under ridiculously blue skies, alongside sparkling rivers and the fluttering ellipses of lemon-yellow aspen leaves, the vibrant colors and compositions in this show are eagerly taken in.
Earlier this week arts writer Todd Wilkinson spoke on the topic of art’s great 
context. It was a treat to hear that recognition expressed so ardently; we deny this great truth, I fear, and we fight against one another. Sometimes it seems a great chasm divides what we think of as traditional representational painting and the contemporary. But there is no chasm, only a path. What we create today has its roots in earlier creativity. As Todd reminded us, Rothko’s distilled tones are present in a flower’s petal, or a stone or a snowfield.
In this show, artists tumble color kaleidoscopically, imagine corals, bubbling water and swirling ink. Shapes are panoramic, shapes are nature’s microcosms. Light permeates, pierces and refracts. Maybe you’ll catch a little glimpse of Klimt.
The J.H. Muse Gallery is located at 62 S. Glenwood Street, in Jackson. Telephone 307-733-0555. Email: info@jhmusegallery.com.
The Buffalo Bill Historical Center (BBHC ) in Cody will receive $190,000 to study and digitize William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s personal papers. The earmark, part of the 2009 Federal Budget Bill, also known as the Omnibus Bill, was introduced by then Representative Barbara Cubin. Cubin left office in January.
Lee Haines, BBHC’s Director of Public Relations, says it will most likely take several months to receive the funds. Once received, the money will be used to create three new jobs: an editorial assistant and two researchers.
“We anticipate that the entire project will be completed within three years,” says Haines. “That said, we don’t plan to wait three years before we begin to share what we have found and make information available online.”
What shape the information will take as it is presented to the public is unclear, but Haines says it will probably be organized much like chapters in a book.
Why is a bill sponsored by an out-of-office representative still alive?
Federal budgets are planned two years in advance. Budgets are combed over and passed on to the Administration, which then submits it to Congress. The idea is to get it ironed out before the fiscal year the money is to be spent. It all bounces around, is adjusted, and moves from agency to Congress to the Administration and back before being signed.
“Museums everywhere are trying to realize such projects so that people can have access to information,” says National Museum of Wildlife Art CEO Jim McNutt. “We have our collection online, and any such project is worthy no matter where the funding comes from. I can’t comment on the BBHC’s process, but I’m very much in favor of such projects.”
The earmark has been widely questioned. “Taxpayers for Common Sense,” a watchdog group, singled out the BBHC funding, gaining the project national attention. Critics, including Republican Senator John McCain, tagged it as typical wasteful pork barrel spending. Proponents argue Bill Cody’s papers are a national treasure and should be preserved via federal funding.
In other fundraising efforts, the BBHC has secured $310,000 from private donors and $300,000 from the Wyoming State Legislature.
In a February 25 statement, House Representative Cynthia Lummis said, “Congressional leaders are turning a blind eye to the plight of millions of Americans by passing this bloated pork-laden spending bill.”
The BBHC takes issue. “This funding request is a normal part of the process that museums and many other institutions go through to secure funding, not only for particular projects, but for general operating support,” Bruce Eldredge, Buffalo Bill Historical Center Executive Director and CEO, said. “This request will provide additional support for what we consider to be important scholarly work. It’s unfortunate that some people appear to regard scholarship as unnecessary.”
End.
Ginny Newsom’s call-to-action letter begins like this:
“Dear Valley Creatives – Teton Valley Community Recycling’s (TVCR) almost Annual “Trash Bash Meets Project Runway” is coming up in five weeks!”
April 25 is the day TVCR’s art n’ trash extravaganza happens, and it will be the area’s closing event celebrating Earth Week.
Newsom and TVCR are asking you to create something great this year, and that something can be a Trash n’ Show or Silent Auction item.
“Everyone knows our event has the coolest stuff in the Valley,” says Newsom. The kitchen sink and everything from fashion accessories to pet wares, bikinis, dresses, prom dresses, mini dresses, and bling is welcome.
You can bring or make Bird Houses, Bat Houses, Dog Houses, whirlygigs, flags, banners, balloon art…all kinds of heART.
Items that save resources are especially welcome–make something from salvaged and found materials!
The bottom line: Let TVCR know if you are IN or OUT, because they’re making their list and want you to be on it. Get the publicity, man!
Newsom says:
- Shauna Crandall is this year’s Runway MC. An event in itself.
- Gretchen..sorry, don’t have Gretchen’s last name–is providing a GIANT EARTH FLAG made from trampoline fabric. ( An idea with a certain bounce to it. )
- Newsom is “rebuilding Mother Earth.”
- Jan Tice is heading up a mural project–group mural making is a gas, guys. Photographer will be present to catch you on digital.
- Many artists and other clever types are cooking up creative fun.
Minimum bids will be strictly enforced. If an item does not reach its reserved bid amount, the item will be retained and auctioned on eBay. No talent and time will be undersold.
For more-better details, contact Ginny Newsom this way: 208-354-8107/208-201-3097 cell/ or gnewsom@tetontel.com. TVCR’s website is www.tetonrecycling.org.
(This post originally appeared March 21 and has been updated today, March 23. See bottom of article. T.C.)
Dig it.
A 9-foot long complete dryosaurus skeleton, excavated in 1993 in southern Wyoming, is the most important item up for bid at a New York City auction this weekend. The 150 million-year-old Jurassic Era dinosaur is expected to fetch up to a $500,000 hammer price.
The I.M. Chait Gallery will auction the skeleton, which is being sold by a Utah-based research and excavation group, Western Paleontological Laboratories. The lab excavates dinosaur remains for research and puts others up for sale. Tough economic times are prompting the sale.
The dryosaurus skeleton is very rare because it is completely intact. Dryosaurus was a smaller dinosaur, often hunted and eaten by much bigger Jurassic creatures. It’s more common to find dryosaurus bones scattered about. This skeleton also possesses a fully intact skull.
Who buys dinosaur bones? I’m thinking Michael Jackson, but the Utah laboratory says it hopes the Wyoming dryosaurus will find a home at a museum, where research on the skeleton’s history can continue.
UPDATE: CNN has reported that the Wyoming dryosaurus was a no-sale item at this weekend’s NYC auction. Two museums are reportedly interested in the ancient dinosaur, but bidding did not meet reserves. A teenage Siberian woolly mammoth took top prize.
What ARE the consequences of an exquisite corpse?
Consequences of the Exquisite Corpse: An Invitational Art Game, curated by local artist and photographer Bronwyn Minton, is her own twist on an old parlour game by the same name. The game also has something in common with Mad Libs. Pieces of an unknown story are put together by more than one person, and only one person knows the story theme. When random words are inserted into the story, crazy shenanigans and laughter ensue.
It’s a great game for long car rides.
“Consequences” is very Surrealist, in that an element of surprise is present…a little philosophy, too. I’m going to throw in “macabre,” and “Day of the Dead” as connotations. This stuff is a little creepy! Fun creepy. It’s also totemic. A story with symbols.
Minton has assembled a collection of images created by artists and other members of Jackson’s community. Each complete work is numbered; each work has a top, central, and bottom image. Minton assigned each contributor an image; each knew they had to create a head, a torso, or a bottom half. All did this individually, not knowing how their image would fit together with others. That was up to Minton, and this exhibition is the result. The result is a surprise to everyone, including the artists.
Minton’s work is always mysterious, always very innovative. Imp! For this annual Art Association invitational she invites community participation, and the collective rules of “Consequence” become an actual artistic process. She needs to put her projects in book form, don’t you think? Book, book!
Consequences of the Exquisite Corpse is on exhibit until May 1, at ArtSpace. A very nice show, “Photography to an Exhibit,” is upstairs in the Loft Gallery. www.artassociation.org
