FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Diane Thodos – Lyrics and Elegy
Expressionist Paintings and Prints

Chicago – In the exhibition Lyric and Elegy, Diane Thodos will be presenting new paintings and prints at the Thomas Masters Gallery opening on May 18, 2012 from 5 – 8pm. Exhibition continues through June 14, 2012.

Her work reflects an ecstatic Abstract Expressionist sense of movement and color that at times combines with dark and expressionist intensity. It is significant how the graphic power of the many woodblock and etching prints which will be on view inform the compositional dynamic of her painted works.

As a Pollock-Krasner Grant recipient in 2002 Diane Thodos’s art embodies influences from historical movements of both American Abstract Expressionism and German Expressionism. Diane was a student of Jackson Pollack’s Abstract Expressionist print making teacher Stanley William Hayter, who taught her the use of automatist line and gesture. This combined with her enduring interest in the powerful graphic techniques of German Expressionist print making (1906 – 1924) when she was experienced art in the collection of Marcia and Granvil Specks and at the Milwaukee Art Museum over a twenty year period. Her work is represented on an international basis by the Kouros Gallery in New York city, The Alex Rivault Gallery in Paris, the Traeger/Pinto Gallery in Mexico City and the Thomas Masters Gallery in Chicago. Her work is in the collections of the Milwaukee Art Museum, the State of Illinois Museum in Chicago, the National Hellenic Museum, the Smart Museum of Art in Chicago, the Block Museum in Evanston, the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie, the Koehnline Museum in Des Plaines and the Strake-Jesuit Museum in Houston, Texas among many others. At the opening Diane’s twin sister Melissa Thodos will have members of her company Thodos Dance Chicago perform new site-specific work inspired by her sister’s art.

Top
1. Constellation, monoprint etching, 13 1/2 x 10 1/2″
2. White Wave, oil on paper, 25” x 21

www.web.me.com/dianethodos/Site/Home_page.html
www.thomasmastersgallery.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

“Trouble” shapes unconventional perspective on vintage erotica. Artist Nicholas Sistler plumbs the depths of the Kinsey Institute and brings old photos to a new light.

Chicago – “Trouble,” an exhibition of meticulously created small-scale paintings and prints, opens Friday, April 27, at Firecat Projects, 2124 N. Damen Avenue and continues through May 19, 2012. In each moodily suggestive piece, artist Nicholas Sistler incorporates vintage photo images gathered from the collection of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. An accompanying installation is designed to enhance the seductive nature of the artwork, which exposes power relationships as expressed through sexual situations. The artist will be present for the opening reception, Friday, April 27, 7-10 p.m.

For “Trouble,” Sistler has brought together some of the more unusual demonstrations of fetish and sexual experimentation, and positioned each in a psychological environment inspired by film noir. “I’m fascinated by optical illusions and how visual information can be ambiguous, first appearing one way, then morphing into something entirely different,” says Sistler. “I spent hours and hours poring through the Kinsey photo archives at Indiana University and was inspired by the multiple readings many photos could afford. In each painting and print, I tell my own dark story beyond the borders of the photographs.”

Sistler treats his miniature images (most would fit on a postcard) like advertising, captivating his audience with brilliant colors and meticulous detail, leading them into compositions of room interiors. The artist’s manipulation of the viewer reflects the domination played out in the vintage photos he uses as source material. The intimate scale redefines one’s relationship to the image, posing questions of supremacy between the spectator and the art object.

About the Artist
Nicholas Sistler received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute in 1980. He practiced performance art from 1977 to 1985, receiving critical acclaim both locally and nationally. He has received several grants from the Illinois Arts Council, including an Artist’s Fellowship Award and four residencies from the Ragdale Foundation. His work has been published as book cover illustrations and greeting cards. His works have appeared in more than 100 exhibitions, including 24 solo shows. He is represented in Chicago at Printworks Gallery. His work is in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois State Museum, Rockford Art Museum, Block Museum at Northwestern University, DePaul University Art Museum, Otterbein University, and Benedictine University, as well as numerous private collections coast to coast.

www.nicholassistler.com
www.firecatprojects.org

Matthew Ballou is an artist and writer living in Columbia, Missouri with his wife and daughter. He earned his BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his MFA from Indiana University. He is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Painting and Drawing in the Art Department of The University of Missouri, where he has taught since 2007.

Neoteric Art: Regarding your new book, “Nine Texts”, what was your favorite subject or topic to write about?

Matthew Ballou: I always love writing about the processes of thinking about art and the methods of actually creating it. These two avenues come together in terms of experience itself, and that’s perhaps the most deeply rooted interest that I have. I think these things – process, method, and experience – unite most of the writing I’ve done over the years.

That’s why, for example, my short piece Thoughts on Loving Diebenkorn’s Work is closely tied to other essays like Art and Submission or On Intuition and Analysis. Though these two longer pieces seem to be more abstract and deal with art in slightly more lofty language, they’re really very much about the background that brings me to my appreciation of Diebenkorn or any other artist. I find myself able to look into other artists’ work – and my own – with much more rigor and determination after writing texts such as those. Writing like this is able to, as I describe in On Intuition and Analysis, help me integrate my analytical consideration with my intuitive experience (and vice versa). Constantly working on that balance feels appropriate.

Another subject that flows naturally from dealing with thought processes, working method, and reflecting upon experience is that of teaching. In some sense all of my writing is about how I’ve been taught, how I’ve learned to challenge myself, and how I’ve grown in my ability to bring this life of art to students. A piece of writing such as Subjectivity and Robert Henri was something that helped set the stage of what I’d learned so that I could try to express it to others. My writing has always been an interpretive tool for me first – I often work on essays for years before I feel I’ve got a handle on what they’re aiming to do. The writing helps me teach myself.

I’ve appreciated the way Neoteric has allowed me the flexibility to present my thoughts both formally and informally. One piece can be more off the cuff and reactive, while others can carry the reflective distance of years. I think seeing that range in my own process has illuminated the process/method/experience core that I’m most interested in as a writer.

BOOK BLURB

NINE TEXTS collects the writings Matthew Ballou crafted for Neoteric Art as a contributing essayist between 2009 and 2011. Touching on a wide variety of topics, from the work of Richard Diebenkorn and Andrew Wyeth to the challenging questions surrounding intuition and analysis, Ballou’s writings are centered in his own practice as an artist and educator. Highlights from this collection include Subjectivity and Robert Henri, Art and Submission, and Teaching Close Encounters.

Buy the book here.
See Matthew Ballou’s work at www.eikonktizo.com.

Neoteric Art would like to thank all the readers, artists and all the other folks who have contributed to the success of our first year. It’s been a blast. We hope you have enjoyed the articles, interviews, reviews and the “One Question” segments. We plan on bringing you a lot more during our second year. Thanks again!

To celebrate our one year anniversary, Neoteric Art will be having a get-together during the Open Studios at The Cornelia Arts Building in Norbert Marszalek’s studio 205-B (William Dolan will also have work on view) – 2nd floor on Friday, April 24th from 6-9pm and Saturday, April 25th from 11am-5pm.

The Cornelia Arts Building is located at 1800 West Cornelia Avenue, two blocks South of Addison Street.

Hope to see a few of you there!