Mark Ashton Vey: The Music Continues

Mark Vey paints trees. Trees are the living memory of his childhood in Scotland. They obviously have had a profound impact on him. Vey calls his style "Musicalism".
Vey says he plays on the canvas like a musician which makes the trees dance in the colors of his music and surrealist style.
"My musical success is the past, but the music is still alive in my paintings." Once upon a time, using the name Mark Ashton,  he played in a band called Rare Bird, which opened for the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd. He traveled the world with the band and their first single called "Sympathy" became an international hit. But Vey now makes make music on canvas with acrylic paints. You can hear that music in each artwork and the movement of his trees is mesmerizing. The seductive colors he uses are quite hypnotic.

Vey has exhibited in New York, London, Barcelona, St. Tropez, Aix-An Provence, Nice, and Hamburg. His paintings are on permanent display in various galleries around the world, and they are in many important collections,  including that of Julian Lennon. After 3 years painting in Spain, he now lives and paints in Nice Côte d’Azur France. He is represented by a London dealer and, luckily for us, the music continues on.


Portrait de Genocide: A Political Statement

Sal Scolara, an esteemed professor emeritis from The University of Connecticut, wrote these thoughtful words about a mixed media piece created by Pedro Martin DeClet. It was exhibited by my gallery at the American Visionary Art Museum. This large, prestigious work, featured in the museum's catalogue, is available for sale at the gallery.
"Some artists, like Pedro Martin DeClet, have chosen to create political statements that suggest a new-found kinship with oppressed cultural groups and the positive and affirming act of presenting a political statement for the consideration of viewers. DeClet's Portrait de Genocide is a powerful media related work which chronicles the U.S. government's genocide of native American Indians. The artist has lain out a loose grid of some 50 photocopied images (the number corresponding to the number of states in our country) made from archival photographs of famous Indian chiefs and related imagery. Atop this strong, historical gallery of Indian history, the artist has painted a bold, blood-red graphic image suggestive of rock hieroglyphs found in Indian areas of the Southwest. This blood-red colored sign seems to be a target and a tribute, a marker of the passing of these great leaders. DeClet aligns himself with those that would remind us of these ugly scars upon our nation's history. Make no mistake -- it is not simply an artwork of rebellion one sees here, but a truth laid bare -- and some artists have traditionally used their art to comment on society and its ills. This is a positive act of growth and concern, a connecting to something greater that one's immediate situation."

Greg Giegucz: From Potter to Printmaker

The following is the information directly from the site of an artist and friend I met at @ Martha's Vineyard many years ago. He has moved from the medium of clay to printmaking with the same great success.

"A native of New York, Greg Giegucz is a multimedia artist who resides and works out of New Orleans. After earning an MFA from the Memphis College of Art in August 2006, Giegucz relocated to New Orleans to draw from its devastated landscape, still recovering in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Fascinated with imagery that combines cities with living organisms, Giegucz joined New Orleans’s rapidly evolving community to study

displacement.

Giegucz is a founding member of the Greater New Orleans Artist Mansion and is a parttime

instructor of art at the New Orleans Artworks at the New Orleans School of Glassworks and Printmaking Studio. 

Giegucz describes his work as a personal journal of illustrated characters and symbols, evoked from memory and intuition. His art narrates Everyman’s quiet struggle to reconcile his respective place in an unbalanced and fragmented world of human discourse.

For more information, and to read about numerous prestigious awards, please visit www.giegucz.com

HAI is Offering Art for the 99%

HAI is hosting 100 Living Rooms, an evening of Outsider Art, live music, wine and food on Saturday June 16th from 6pm-9pm at The Gallery at HAI (548 Broadway, 3rd Floor) New York, NY.

Purchase a ticket and you are guaranteed to go home with a piece of original art From HAI's Archive of Outsider Art. HAI’s Archive of Outsider Art includes thousands of paintings and drawings by individuals with mental illness who were able to find their creative voices through participating in HAI Arts Workshops.  These individuals were institutionalized for decades, and had been released into adult homes in Far Rockaway and Coney Island, where HAI Workshop Artists were introduced to them.  Of the thousands of people who participated in HAI Workshops, these twenty or so individuals became completely absorbed by drawing and painting developing remarkable bodies of work.  HAI began exhibiting their work in galleries and museums in the 1980’s, and continues to represent their work today, along with contemporary Outsider Artists.

 Art selection begins at 7pm sharp and work is selected in the order tickets are purchased.
Art Collector- A $100 ticket guarantees you will choose one of the first ten pieces of art
Art Fan- A $35 ticket guarantees you leave with a fabulous piece of art

To purchase tickets by phone please visit http://100livingrooms.eventbrite.com/  OR call 212.575.7660

Art can be previewed online at ww.hainyc.org or at the HAI Gallery starting May 30th.