The Academy at LVA 2018 Senior Showcase: Amy Gue

Amy Gue took Developing Concepts with Miranda Hale in the Fall 2017 semester, and just finished Drawing and Painting 1 with Leslie Shell. Both Academy at LVA classes were at the Holy Trinity/Clifton Community Center.

 “I have been competing in speech and debate through the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association (NCFCA) for the past 5 years, and I have placed in multiple events. I have gotten 2nd place in duo interpretation and 3rd place in illustrated oratory to name a few. Last year, my design won NCFCA Region 6’s t-shirt design contest.”

Amy has been accepted at John Brown University, Lipscomb University, Taylor University, Cedarville University, and the University of Louisville, and was awarded generous scholarships at Lipscomb, Taylor, and Cedarville. She will be attending Cedarville this fall, and is planning on majoring in graphic design.

“I have volunteered for the past 3 summers at a family camp for military families called White Sulphur Springs. That experience required me to interact with and welcome guests, clean the hotel, help serve meals, and work on a team to carry out certain tasks. It has been such a good and influential experience.”

“I walked into the Developing Concepts class not appreciating conceptual or modern art, and came out with a new understanding of those art forms. I no longer scoff at that type of art, but I am now able to appreciate it. Although modern art forms are still not my favorite, I can still appreciate them. Drawing and Painting 1 taught me all the little principles, and I learned a lot of practical tips. I made some of my best work in that class. I would definitely recommend LVA classes. Ms. Miranda Hale, the teacher of Developing Concepts, really helped me learn a lot about the art program at the University of Louisville. She contacted influential professors there, and organized a private tour of the Hite Art Institute for me! I really appreciated her help, and she taught me a lot about how to build an impressive portfolio.”

Amy's work will be included in The Academy at LVA exhibition, which will be on display May 9 - 16 at Louisville Visual Art, 1538 Lytle Street in the Portland neighborhood. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 12-4pm, or by appointment. There will be a reception Friday, May 11, 6-8pm.

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Vignette: Henry Chodkowski

Henry Chodkowski taught painting at the University of Louisville for 37 years (1962-1999), and how many students/artists he influenced in that time is almost literally incalculable.

As an artist, Chodkowski moved from geometric compositions and stark graphic drawings to a particularly evocative landscapes influenced by multiple journeys to Greece. Many artists express a highly developed sense of place for a special location: Van Gogh in Arles and Gauguin in Tahiti are obvious examples, men obsessed with the individual sun and atmosphere they couldn’t seem to find anywhere else.

Chodkowski's fascination with the island of Crete and the Aegean Sea may have also been about the light - the Mediterranean sun is the stuff of legends, after all, but in the paintings we see here, the formal elements of landscape have largely receded into a vigorously executed abstract field of emotional color. While we know that Chodkowski painted from direct observation, the turmoil of stormy weather he captures must also be forging a connection with the deep wealth of history and mythology inherent in that country. The organic relationship between the slate blue and flushed pink in the sky show us the dense and threatening tempest, not the saturating sunlight we find in postcards.

"Ouranos-Thalassa, 26" by Henry Chodkowski, Acrylic on paper, 103:4 x 115:8in, circa

In several pieces, such as “Ouranos Thalassa, 26”, that connection to ancient history is made explicit with impressions of ancient symbols in the paper. Chodkowski looks so far beyond the present-day culture, that the act of artistic creation merges with an intuitive sense of archaeology that borders on the mystical.

“These paintings are charged with the direct experience of actual places where earth, sea and sky are such vessels of new illumination, echoing inner expanses within us. Vast symbols hover almost unnoticed in veiled atmospheres of nascent light, as archetypal bridges to experience beyond history. The places are Aegean sites of the heroic ages, and the labyrinthian symbols speak of early Minoan forms of civilized vitalism.” - Jay Kloner

Hometown: Hartford, Connecticut
Education: Bachelors, University of Hartford, Connecticut; Masters, Yale University, Connecticut

"Ouranos-Thalassa 78" by Henry Chodkowski,  Acrylic on paper, 8 1:4x11 5:8in, circa

"Ouranos-Thalassa 115" by Henry Chodkowski, Acrylic on paper. 22x26in, circa

"Ouranos-Thalassa 122" by Henry Chodkowski, Acrylic on paper. 161:4 x 151in, circa

"Ouranos-Thalassa 71" by Henry Chodkowski,  Acrylic on paper, 8.5x12in, circa

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Vignette: Victor Sweatt

"Between Collard Greens and the Sun" by Victor Sweatt, Watercolor on paper and mixed media, 11x14in, 2018, $450

The people we see in Victor Sweatt’s work are people he knows well. Whether or not they are, strictly speaking, portraits of actual people in the artist’s life may seem beside the point, they may very well be, but even if they are not -Sweatt knows them. They are found in his neighborhood on Louisville’ West side and in thousand of neighborhoods just like it all over America. Simple, hard-working folk, but seen through the artist’s eyes as people of innate dignity and humility. As he paints or draws them, Sweatt is bearing witness to the divine in humanity. In the parlance of the church, his images “testify”.

Sweatt has often captured these characters inside of a church, but even when they are not, he paints them with reverence: a body bent over collard greens in the garden, or aged fingers at work repairing a pair of shoes. They are skills from the past, too often taken for granted or thought forgotten. But this artist understands and appreciates that they are the threads that bind a community.

"The Craftsman" by Victor Sweatt, Acrylic on mat board, 11x15.5in. 2018, $450

In 2017, Sweatt completed two large scale paintings for the Slugger Museum in downtown Louisville that depict native son and World Champion Boxer Muhammad Ali on one, and Atlanta Braves legend and holder of the record for career home runs Hank Aaron on the other. Together the work is titled: “Ali & Aaron: United in the Fight”. He also won a design competition to paint an image for the Heritage West development in the Russell neighborhood of Louisville that will be displayed on a billboard.

Sweatt was born in Louisville. He has shown his work in group and solo exhibitions, and appears in public and private collections throughout the United States. Sweat is a signature member of the Louisville Visual Art, the Kentucky Artist Pastel Society, and the Kentucky Watercolor Society.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victor.sweatt

"Within" by Victor Sweatt, Oil on canvas, 8x8in, 2018 $350

"Love Letter" by Victor Sweatt, Watercolor paper and acrylic, 11x14in, 2018, $400

"The Power of Touch" by Victor Sweatt, Watercolor paper and ink, 11x14, 2018, $250

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Vignette: Sid Webb

“These images are representative of a life long need to use art to reflect the political atmosphere.” – Sid Webb

(Honoré Daumier, after Charles Philipon, who was jailed for the original.)

Political satire has a long and storied history. Honoré-Victorin Daumier (1808-1879) caricatured the French King Louis Phillipe turning into a pear, and often as corrupt. In 1835, the king reinstituted censorship of images, effectively curtailing Daumier’s most pointed political work. By the time Napoleon III took the throne, Daumier had become more careful, inventing Ratapoil, a political henchman of the new king that placed his critiques at a safer remove.

Such commentary in art today is usually more explicit, owing to digital technology that makes it all too easy to incorporate actual photographs of the subject. Of course, their subjects in return attack the artists, but has any period ever provided such ripe targets as this generation’s overexposed and shameless crop of politicians?

"The Word Only He Can Say Publically" by Sid Webb, Digital multi-media, Acrylic, 24x40in, 2017, $3400

Sid Webb is an artist and activist who, now a "Senior Citizen", still takes to the streets with his wife to protest injustice and inequality. As a Kentucky resident, he need not look very far to find the conflict between ideologies and division that defines our age. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) draws his ire, as does the current President of the United States, Donald Trump.

In a pointed commentary on the now infamous Access Hollywood video, Webb positions the 45th occupant of the Oval Office in conflict and contrast to a sexualized female figure that is both salacious (in its sheer, revealing lace) and innocent (the face of silent movie icon Clara Bow). The result is a bracing image of ego and arrogance run amuck that unfortunately has become an all-too common part of the Modern American Experience.

There is little need to explain Webb’s point-of-view; the images speak for themselves.  The artist has stated before that, “Art is a creation that aptly describes its time and place,” and perhaps that is the explanation necessary. The themes of corruption and the abuse of the people’s trust are here rendered in terms specific to today, but they are universal, the same as expressed by Daumier and others over time, and just as likely to keep being revisited over and over, for the next generation of artists to rail against.

Webb works in a variety of mediums, and included here are figure studies that verge into the abstract. "Green Woman" merges the generous figure of an ancient fertility goddess with a Pop Art sensibility, capturing a Post Modern Feminism in loose gestural fashion and a note of sardonic humor.

Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
Education: Majored in journalism and political science, University of Kentucky; Atlanta School of Art (High Museum)
Website: www.sidwebb.com

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"'Nuff Hope" by Sid Webb, Digital, 6.25x10in, 2013, $180

"Boys" by Sid Webb, Ink & conte crayon, digital restoration, 16x20in, 1967, $2200

"Green Woman" by Sid Webb, Acrylic, 8x8in, 2017, $180

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire text copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.
Original works of art, copyright reserved by artist.

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Vignette: Joshua Jenkins

"Searching For Enlightenment" by Joshua Jenkins, 43 x 64 x 1 in, acrylic and mixed media on canvas (2017)

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“Art to me is the soul’s communication - a response to experience and life.” — Joshua Jenkins

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"Summertime Contemplation" by Joshua Jenkins, 24 x 18 x 1 in, acrylic and mixed media on canvas (2017)

Like any good Expressionist, Joshua Jenkins builds an atmosphere divorced from recognizable reality, and then populates it with figures of solidity that are often indistinct, occupying space as a mass but lacking the specifics of individual character. There is some detail in the faces he attaches to these figures, often on necks that protrude forward, so that the features often give the impression of a mask. Oftentimes the only insight provide for these figures are what they are holding: a stringed instrument is a common item, or a particular hat might give us some clue about the personality. Jenkins is more concerned with the composition and action of the paint, using setting and placement to suggest narrative.

“Some of the works in the show, like 'Summertime Contemplation' & 'Searching for Enlightenment' are an obvious transition from the body of work from my show Somewhere In Between Anxiety & Serenity,” states Jenkins. “There a lot of the paintings had more muted colors and calmer lines. A lot of these newer pieces harken back to my earlier work, the bolder style with warmer colors that I’m known for.”

"Summer Heat (detail)" by Joshua Jenkins

"Summer Nights" by Joshua Jenkins, 48 x 30 x 1.5 in, acrylic and mixed media on canvas (2017)

For many artists, the theme of summer would conjure up images of sunbaked landscapes, perhaps a beach-lined coastline - open areas of escape. But in “Summer Heat”, Jenkins captures the claustrophobic swelter of a crowded urban environment. This artist’s summer also include a domestic scene of four figures in a modern day family in “Summer Nights”, and the detail of the faces is noticeably more developed, with hair and facial details that suggest an element of autobiography in the scene. As most of the paintings show figures of some universality, here we get the sense that Jenkins knows these people, that this is his summer, and not necessarily anyone else’s.

Jenkins’ solo show, Summertime, will be opening at Lenihan Sotheby’s International Realty, 3803 Brownsboro Road, August 10 with an Artist’s Open House from 5:00pm-7:30pm.

Hometown: Poughkeepsie, NY
Age: 30
Education: BA in Digital Media with a Minor in Studio Art, Marist College (Poughkeepsie, New York)
Gallery Representative: Joshua is self-represented locally, but has works available at Revelry Gallery, KORE Gallery, New Editions Gallery (Lexington, KY), and at Caza Sikes (Cincinnati, OH)
Website: http://www.joshuajenkinsart.com

"Summer Heat" by Joshua Jenkins, 64 x 59 x 1 in, acrylic and mixed media on canvas (2016-2017)

"Summer Nights (detail)" by Joshua Jenkins

"Nature’s Musicians" by Joshua Jenkins, 36 x 48 x 1.5 in, acrylic and mixed media on canvas (2017)

Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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