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.

Book of the Gospels, updated!

Self-taught artist Laura James got quite an unusual request from the Catholic Church! Could she make 34 paintings for a new authorized version of the Book of The Gospels? Leaning on her Antiguan heritage, Laura produced a body of work that is simply breathtaking. When completed it was show at the Divinity School at Yale University to very high acclaim. This elegant book is now actively being used in the Catholic Church throughout the country. The richly embossed gold and leather cover depicting an angel and a lion on a background of green, red, brown and gold, are a mere hint of what is inside. No longer is this a simply a white man's tale......all races are depicted, and the Gospel according to Christ is greatly enhanced by the inclusion.

Laura James writes:

As a child I had a big book of Bible stories where everyone was sort of a yellow ochre color, except for the blond and blue-eyed Jesus and servants who were gray and strangely apelike. Even then I recognized that this was a racist depiction.

Later, I felt vindicated when I saw Ethiopian iconography and impressed with Ethiopia’s ancient Christian heritage… and I decided that painting in that style was a good way to show multicultural diversity in Biblical figures to a western audience.

To this end my work has been used worldwide by numerous Christian denominations and is at the forefront of the movement toward more inclusion in religious art. To me the work is traditional but still contemporary because of the time it’s being done and because it’s being done by me, a Black woman from Brooklyn, who’s never even been to Ethiopia!

Inga Moijson, From Childhood to Here

Although as a child, Inga Moijson attended art lessons on the weekends, she is basically a self-taught artist. She delves deeply into her childhood for subject matter and emotions. In her bio she writes:

"To me painting is a way of expressing my innermost self. By giving it form, I give others an opportunity to share that sacred space. I allow the beholder to peer into a subconscious parallel world that coexists with ‘reality’. Naturally, there are points of contact with reality; we are all influenced by what happens around us. But my soul is strong enough and wilful enough to retain its individuality. For the outsider, it is difficult to remain indifferent. With a little luck, my work will grip him to such an extent that he will truly feel it and be able to make my world his own."

Moijson's complex, brightly painted and edgy works are sometimes confrontational, but always appealing. Their fairy tale exterior belies a deeper and profound meaning, and yet the works are accessible on many levels. You can tell yourself the story or search for that of the artist. Either way, they are fascinating paintings with a lot of staying power. The artist lives in Belgium with her husband and two talking parakeets, and has been painting full time for eight years.

Sculpture in The Garden Show

The Sculpture in The Garden Show is almost here ! Mark down Saturday, June 11th and Sunday June 12th in your calendars. I'm introducing three new artists who, relying almost entirely on recycled materials, have created some remarkable works of art. And the regular crew, whom you've come to expect, will be bringing tantalizing new pieces.

William Brock will be returning from Tennessee, and his birds, seen to the right, were one of the highlights of the show last year. Wait till you see what I've collected for this year!

Birds, fish, masks, stone sculpture, robots, musicians, horses, birdhouses, and even handmade and quite quirky dolls by Sandy Mastroni will be offered. You will now be able to order handcrafted metal stands for the popular stone heads, should you want to bring them inside. Mine stay out all year and give the garden interest even in the winter. (We won't always get 64 inches of snow!)

This year, to mix things up a bit, Maishe Dickman is showing his elegant redware pottery, which has made the cover of Ceramics Monthly.

This is a fun visit for the whole family.

9am to 4pm each day

See you there!

Bev

Beverly Kaye

15 Lorraine Dr.

Woodbridge, CT

203 387 5700

Gallery: http://www.artbrut.com

Blog: http://www.BeverlyKayeGallery.blogspot.com

Sales Blog: http://www.ArtbrutAndOutsiderArt.blogspot.com