Wednesday, July 11, 2012

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."

Monday, July 9, 2012

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