Face Forward

Posted on by Thor

On the first Thursday of November, the Orlando Museum of Art hosted a group exhibition called Face Forward. Every first Thursday the small gallery next to the lobby is opened to a themed group show. The work in Face Forward was predictably mostly portraits. I arrived early so I could case the space and decide where I wanted to sketch. In one corner, Paul Austin Sanders began playing guitar. The opposite corner is what finally caught my eye. Ashli Szymanski and Sarah Okun from CSStudios, were arranging makeup and foam latex masks. They had to duck tape down some plastic to protect the museum carpeting. Ashli cut off lengths of tape and handed them to Sarah who crawled under the table to tape the edge of the plastic. Facetiously Sarah said, “You are getting better at that Sarah.” Sarah replied, “Thank you, I went to school for it.” A custom blood red mask was glaring out with his face chiseled and skeletal. The model for the night, Jess D.P., arrived with a large backpack full of dresses. After much discussion, the black dress with purple trim and lapels was chosen. Black boots with plenty of buckles completed the ensemble.

As soon as the latex mask was placed on the models face, I began to sketch. They were planning to turn her into a very creepy porcelain doll. The model was beautiful but with the mask her features became swollen and strange. A long time was spent getting the edge of the mask to flow seamlessly into her skin. The model held the small dish of latex or glue that held the mask in place. A young girl complimented my sketch and then sat and watched the makeup transformation transfixed. After she finished her plate of food from Cafe Tu Tu Tango, she started to squirm.

As I was putting the last of the watercolor washes down, they started spreading white make up all over the model’s face, neck, chest and arms. The transformation was almost complete. By now the museum was packed. Allison Stevens was offering Shipyard beer in the main gallery and we spoke for a while about the new brewery coming to town. I am hoping to do sketches as the brewery takes shape. I spoke to Pam Treadwell who had several pieces in the show. She explained that one image had been achieved by pouring chocolate on her son’s girlfriend’s face and watching how it dripped over her features. In the painting the girl looked like she didn’t enjoy the process. Anna McCambridge announced she is now engaged to Marabou Thomas. So much to celebrate!

Happiness Hurts

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Performance artist Brian Feldman put out a call on Facebook for anyone with a video camera to record his performance of Happiness Hurts at the Orlando Museum of Art. I happen to have a video camera, so I sent him a message and he made arrangements to get me into the event. He created this performance for 1st Thursdays at the Museum. 1st Thursdays is a monthly event where artists are asked to exhibit work along a similar theme. I couldn’t make out the theme by looking at the art hanging on the walls. Then Tisse Mallon finally realized that they must all relate to happiness. Brian’s performance piece was the key to the puzzle. I spent some time getting the camera ready and there was some panic that the cord to the projector might not be long enough. At the last minute a longer cord was found.

Brian began to smile and the museum slowly filled up. Some people got the idea of the performance right away. I overheard one woman saying, “Smiling that long must hurt.” I was the sketch artist and cameraman. I turned the LCD display so Brian could see his closely cropped face in the viewfinder. This allowed him to focus and remain perfectly still. I set my watch timer to go off in an hour and at that time I would have to replace the tape.

While I was working Sultana Fatima Ali introduced herself to me. She had helped organize a bicycle giveaway program called “Wheels for Kids” that I had sketched. On that day, she had seen me working and she asked a policeman who I was. He told her about my blog and she started reading. She has started following Brian’s performances so she has started to appear in my sketches. As I sketched, I kept meeting people I know. I don’t disappear into the woodwork the way I used to. I am slowly learning to balance the work with the socializing.

On the wall, Brian’s smile was quivering; he was having trouble keeping his smile consistent. He had to keep smiling for three straight hours. With my sketch complete, I wandered around a bit and looked at some of the art. I had to leave early to go sketch another event, so I asked Tisse if she would pack up my camera and tripod and she agreed.

Transending Vision – Orlando Museum of Art

Posted on by Thor

Band of America and Brokers from from Merrill Lynch gathered in the lobby of the Orlando Museum of Arts for a gathering in honor of the new show at the museum which is on loan from Bank of America. Bank of America started gathering the painting in the collection as far back as 1904. The paintings were gathered from over 3000 regional banks and thus show work gathered from artists all over the country.
Transcending Vision: American Impressionism follows the influence French Impressionism had on American artists from 1870 to 1940. Also on hand were works from the Hudson River School and the American Barbizon Schools of art. The paintings showed the development of landscape painting as an important feature of American art from the 19th to the mid 20th century. Landscape paintings also helped document this countries growth as settlers pushed west.
When I finished sketching the corporate mingling going on in the lobby, I went to the back rooms where these paintings are on display. It was refreshing to see so many paintings all in one place. The museum has a small permanent collection but lets face it the Orlando Museum of Art isn’t like walking into the Met or Chicago Art Institute. The paintings were technically great but even in a large museum, if I see too many landscapes all in one place, I glaze over. Landscapes are a dime a dozen to me. I miss the human element, the unexpected flash that comes the second a human enters and influences the landscape. As I was jotting down notes, Jodie Hardman, a Bank of America Marketing Manager, came over and introduced herself. She was curious about my work so I gave her a sketchbook to flip through. She then pulled out her iPhone and sent me a press release which gave me all the background information about the exhibit. That small technical wonder certainly made my job easier.
I examined the paintings up close. Sometimes the brush strokes were thick, juicy and delicious like frosting. The subject matter didn’t interest me that much but when I got close and examined the inner life of the paintings the tangled and twisted abstract world of brush work, I was excited and intrigued. The show left me wanting to work on large canvases.

Music Meets Art

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I went to 1st Thursdays at the Orlando Museum of Art to see “Rach”-tober: Music Meets Art. From Rachmaninoff to Rockabilly. How do sound and vision unite in our world? The focus of the show was on music, musicians and art influenced by music. Considering the theme of the show I felt I had to draw the musicians, Orlando-based gypsy jazz band, The Cook Trio, who were hired to play during the event. In the sketch you can see the large Dale Chihuly glass sculpture which rises up to a skylight.
In the front gallery of the museum there were 18 artists whose work was on display. I was most impressed by the work of Plinio Pinto who had large watercolor portrait paintings of rock stars. Food at the event was available from Infusion Tea and there was a cash bar. Most of this evening was spent watching Brian Feldman “Under the Covers“. I didn’t linger too long at the event. Once my sketch was done and I had seen all the art on display for the evening, I headed home.

Brian Feldman – Under the Covers

Posted on by Thor

At the first Thursday of this month Brian Feldman held a cabaret by request called “Under the Covers” at the Orlando Museum of Art. Back on the first Thursday in May, Jeremy Seghers performed, an act by the same name, singing cover songs requested by the audience for a Fringe Festival Preview. Brian used Jeremy’s performance as inspiration to literally go under the covers.
Accompanying Brian was Isaac Schankler on a Kurzweil SP-76. The performance was developed and first presented in July of 2009 at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach Florida. When the audience entered the theater, they could faintly make out the form of Brian lying under the covers on a mattress on stage. Isaac introduced the act and sat at the piano. Brian explained that he didn’t actually sleep on a mattress himself, but instead slept on the floor of a friend’s house. He was recently separated from his girlfriend, Jessica, and many of the songs in his first set seemed directed to her. An unexpected development towards the end of the first set was that Jeremy Seghers got on stage and joined Brian to sing a duet. At first, Jeremy just sat on the bed next to Brian’s form hidden by the covers. Then, Jeremy lifted the covers and joined Brian underneath, singing “I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues”. This song was a show stopper.
I returned to see his second performance which featured a Queen song requested by Katie Windish from Frames Forever titled “Fat Bottomed Girls”. Don’t ask why she needed to hear that song at this time in her life. After the last song, Brian had to explain that the performance was over since he was still on stage, though under the covers. I am sure some people like myself lingered to see the performance artist in person. But Brian consulted with stage hands and shouted out, “No really, the show is over! Get out of here, people!” When everyone had left, he sprinted into the wings.

Orlando Museum of Art

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I went to the OMA last night for “First Thursdays”. Every first Thursday of each month the museum hosts art created by local artists for one night. The evening usually has live music, food and booze. The cost to get in is $10. Food and booze are extra. I thought Terry might want to go but she wasn’t picking up her cell phone. When I got to the museum I decided to sit on the edge of a fountain and sketch the entry. I liked watching the various individuals waiting for dates and the warm welcomes when people are reunited. Like myself many people were on there cell phones trying to figure out why they were left waiting. The event only lasted till 9PM so by the time I finished sketching I discovered that there was only 15 minutes left to go before the museum closed. I had totally lost track of time.
The exhibit fit neatly into a small room right off the lobby. One artist had really nice resin sculptures of a dragon and werewolf. Another artists acrylic paintings of movie characters were really fun and quirky. I should have taken cards.
Brian Feldman of “txt” fame was also exhibiting himself as a performance piece. Brian stood with his back against a wall being filmed by a video camera which projected a large image of his face on the wall beside him. Brian was practicing method acting by trying to make himself cry. His face was contorted in a harsh grimace but I didn’t notice any tears. Either he was cryed out or he was unable to tap his inner sorrow in such a loud party atmosphere. I unfortunately didn’t have time to get a decent sketch of him, but once again he held my attention far longer than any painting or sculpture in the room. His performance reminded of a short story entitled “The Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka, it has a surreal disturbing quality, that I liked. Bravo!