Call for Participation: Inauguration: Acts of Resistance, Acts of Kindness

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Signs at First Presbyterian Church, Marshall, MI

The history of Susan Hensel Gallery is one of community-based events that tend toward political activism.  The gallery opened in the election year of 2004 with shows that dealt with electoral politics, the war in Iraq, dreams for peace.  I retired from gallery work several years ago to return to studio practice.

With the looming presidency of Donald Trump, I'm at it again.  I cannot remain quiet.  So, for one night only, I am planning a community event in the gallery/studio.  Would you like to be part of it?

I will re-open Susan Hensel Gallery for one night:

Inauguration: Acts of Resistance, Acts of Kindness

Jan 20, 2017

6-10 pm

Susan Hensel Gallery

An art exhibition with signmaking, button making, poetry reading, music and potluck in the "gallery" space.

It is planned to be a wide ranging evening, appropriate for many ages that will include the opportunity to exhibit protest art; make and take yard signs that support a more positive focus; make and take buttons to remind people to "remember another way" that does not include misogyny, xenophobia and bigotry and, of course, there will be food.

I'm in contact with surrounding art businesses, poets and musicians to see if they want to join in an evening of revelry, turning Cedar Ave into the place to be on Inauguration night.

So, what do you think?  Do you want to join me?

WHAT CAN YOU SHOW?

You are invited to show one or two pieces of art, wall art preferred, that speak to the current times.

IS THERE A JURY?

Most work will be shown. The only limitations are space in the gallery/studio and a requirement that work be non-violent in imagery.

ARE THERE FEES?

There are no fees of any kind.  Donations toward materials gratefully accepted (I have a budget of @ $300 for the sign making and button making materials.) Sales are allowed, but not necessarily expected.

WHEN AND HOW SHALL I DELIVER?

Please deliver art ready to hang on Wednesday, Jan 18-19, 3pm-7pm, If you are sending work from far away, I encourage you to send free stuff/mail art, things that do not need to be returned. It is only one night, afterall. Otherwise, send prepaid return shipping labels. 

HOW WILL THIS BE PROMOTED?

Robust social media, local and national press releases, Susan Hensel Gallery blog and website.

For promotional purposes, as soon as possible, send a large jpg (1920pixels on the long side) of representative work and any info that would help me write about you and your work to susanhensel@yahoo.com.

My goal is to begin to create pathways for positive resistance within our community. Art is my protest.  It is what I do and have always done. Join me if you wish.

Thanks for considering this idea!

Susan Hensel

Susan Hensel Gallery

3441 Cedar Ave S

Minneapolis, MN 55407

susanhensel@yahoo.com

IN THE WINDOWS Mississippi River: Water Washes

I met Annie Hejny last summer, during the Women's Art Institute at St. Kate's.  She began this series of paintings then, collecting river water and combining them with her paints.  A subtle, worshipful consideration of the value of our water supply.  These paintings, that will be up through October, are especially beautiful at night.   Come by at night to see them glow.

Mississippi River: Water Washes

by

Annie Hejny

Annie Hejny was born in St. Paul and studied at the University of St. Thomas and St. Catherine

University, earning a double-major B.A. in Elementary Education and Studio Art with honors (2012).

Participating as a mentor and artist in the Twin Cities community, she has volunteered with Free Arts

Minnesota, blankslate theater, VISION and founded the PAINT Project, a collaboration between local

establishments to implement mural painting events in 10 countries during 2010-2013. Since 2014,

Annie is a member of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA) and the Women's Art

Resources of Minnesota (WARM).

As an emerging visual artist, she intentionally explores the spaces from her daily life and larger travels to create highly-saturated paintings. Recent exhibitions include Art-A-Whirl (Minneapolis, MN), 6x6x2015 (Rochester, NY) and One Wall (Chicago, IL).

She currently resides in St. Paul and works at the Casket Arts Building in Northeast Minneapolis. Last summer she participated in the Women's Art Institute at St. Catherine University. Most recently, she converted her single-stall garage into Gallery Three, a pop-up exhibition space for local artists.

MARIA KOROL, in the Windows on Cedar

         IN THE WINDOWS for the month of AUGUST

MARIA KOROL

I first met Maria last summer at the Women's Art Institute at St. Kates.  She is a lyrical painter and sculptor of narrative. 
          María Korol was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1980 and moved to the United States in 2004. Her former education in classic and modern dance shifted to an interest in the visual arts while studying at the University of California, Irvine. Since then, she has shown her paintings and drawings nationally and internationally in places as far afield as Bogotá and New York. She holds a Master in Fine Arts in painting and drawing from Indiana University, Bloomington, where she taught drawing, two-dimensional design and color theory classes. She taught drawing in Florence, Italy for six weeks in the summer of 2014, and at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and Design last year. She was recently Assistant Professor of Art and Gallery Director at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. She is a fellowship recipient with the Akademie der Kunste for the 2016 residency in Berlin, Germany, and will be the Visiting Artist and Painting Professor at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Georgia for the 2016-17 academic year.

In her own words:

I am fascinated by stories about raw human impulses: malice, envy, obsessions, sexual urgings, abuse, and also by moments of shame and vulnerability that everyone seems to have lived. The narrative impetus in my work comes from such experiences, from memory, but I also use what I hear, read or invent. Humor, spontaneity and rhythm are present in my drawings. The final aim is to tell a story in the vein of artists such as Paula Rego and Kara Walker. Using the comic strip and storyboard format, I make my characters reappear in different situations as the drawings pile up. The viewer is invited to become familiar with them, learns to decipher their thoughts and intentions through slow viewing. What seems like a simple smile may turn into a charged and complex sneer after careful observation of the interactions and events illustrated in the drawing.

 I am from Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to the United States as an adult. I grew up a girl in a sexist culture, in a Jewish family during and after a chauvinistic murderous dictatorship. My experience as an immigrant fuels my ideas and perceptions. Immigrants are often pushed into a helpless and awkward state because of the possible inadequacy of their language, social behavior, and financial situation. I am interested in the sensitivity of the immigrant as well as in the emotions she brings about on the people that surround her. As Edward Said puts it in Culture and Imperialism: “Just as none of us is outside or beyond geography, none of us is completely free from the struggle over geography. That struggle is complex and interesting because it is not only about soldiers and cannons but also about ideas, about forms, about images and imaginings.”

http://www.mariakorol.com/

Evening transformations: Lyz Wendland

During the day, the windows require close inspection.   They are subtle, snow white with ghosts.  At night, they glow from afar, revealing their depth.  See more of Lyz Wendland's work.

In the Windows: Lyz Wendland

Stillwater, MN artist, Lyz Wendland Received a Minnesota Artists Initiative Grant to create and mount this site specific installation.  While it is similar to her Phipps Center for the Arts installation, pictured above, it was made especially for these windows on Cedar Avenue.

For best viewing, come by after dark and see them glow!

Lyz Wendland artist statement

My work reflects my interest in mapping and architecture, especially the appeal of repetition and the reassuring promise of reliability. My mainly abstract pieces deal with the comfort offered by repeating forms and actions and they examine the subtle rigidity of my cookie-cutter neighborhood, which offers a sometimes clear and sometimes blurred delineation between public and private spaces. The connection of the everyday mundane intertwines with predictability of structure. The lines, shapes and forms I observe in my suburban neighborhood inspire my current body of work made up of layered process of drawing, painting, installation and sculpture.

Windows on Cedar:Peppino Earthman

Peppino S. Earthman

Photographer/Visual Artist

Earthman and Associates Ltd

Peppino Earthman is a seasoned professional photographer for 25 years. Peppino started out shooting family events and events for friends.  Later Peppino traveled the Southern United States and Midwest; he has photographed some of the controversial places for their beauty and uniqueness. Peppino has photographed several metropolitan cities such as Chicago, Atlanta, Minneapolis, New York, St. Louis, and the California Coastline.

Family, friends, and colleagues have stated Peppino is naturally content when he has a camera in his hand. Photography is Peppino’s passion, he has spent hours shooting photos of everything in his path. He appreciates the beauty of architecture and what landscapes has to offer and wishes to share this beauty with mankind.

 “As a professional photographer/Visual Artist, Peppino has  traveled the Southern States, Mexico, Canada, Italy, Cuba, & South America to shoot some of the most historical, controversial, and beautiful sites some long forgotten…Peppino sees the unseen beauty of what the earth has to offer and some of the places most people want to forget. Peppino has also shot some of the most beautiful women in the world and is always looking for new assignments to build his portfolio; and currently looking for reliable models, which can be ready for a shoot in a reasonable time, willingly and availability to travel.”

The photographs displayed were shot in Chicago, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and St. Louis.  The area of expertise Peppino has chosen is: Architectural, Landscapes, Urban, and Events. Peppino doesn’t Photoshop any of his photographs; his belief is in “Natural Beauty”…Nothings perfect and that’s the way it was intended, why photo shop to turn it into make-believe.

“Life isn’t measured by the number of Breaths we take…

But by the moment we take our Breath”

Contact for assignments

Peppino Earthman:

Earthman and Associates Ltd

Email:earthmanandassociates@gmail.com

Mobile: 612-770-5670

See profile on Linked-In