“My current work reflects the changes in our climate and the effect on our earth.” — Corie Neumayer

"Angry Wind" by Corie Neumayer, 24x36in, acrylic, latex (2017), $700 | BUY NOW — *"Angry Wind" by Corie Neumayer, 24x36in, acrylic, latex (2017), $700 | BUY NOW*

Painter Corie Neumayer’s latest work is so much more emotional than the last time we saw her on Artebella. There was always signature mark making, but she has here cut loose from much of the intellectual discipline previously evident in her compositions in favor of a near-tempestuous brushwork of unusual vigor and expressiveness. As an artist, she seems riled up, even if her statement remains understated and reserved:

“I am a painter who creates abstracted paintings of the landscape that focus on open spaces; deserts, mountains, lakes, as well as the countryside of Kentucky and Indiana. My work is done in a variety of untraditional and traditional media. My current work reflects the changes in our climate and the effect on our earth.”

"Rain and Rain" by Corie Neumayer, 24x30in, acrylic, latex (2017), $600 | BUY NOW — *"Rain and Rain" by Corie Neumayer, 24x30in, acrylic, latex (2017), $600 | BUY NOW*

The natural world has always played an important role in her work, but this new energy is forceful and imbued with what feels like anger, as Neumayer uses her art as a form of social activism. The turmoil below the surface of the image may not be as overt as marching with a sign because it works more subliminally, but the inference seems clear. The earth is in trouble, a highly volatile organism that has suffered enough abuse.

As an educator, Neumayer helped create and develop the Visual Art Magnet program at DuPont Manual High School in Louisville and was a teacher in that program 1986-2004.

Neumayer has been a member of PYRO Gallery since 2005, and has a show on exhibit here now.

"Burnt Land" by Corie Neumayer, 18x24in, acrylic, latex (2017), $400 | BUY NOW — *"Burnt Land" by Corie Neumayer, 18x24in, acrylic, latex (2017), $400 | BUY NOW*

The Changing Land – A Painting Exhibit by Corie Neumayer, with guest artist Matt Gaddie, runs through July 15, 2017.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: MA in Teaching, University of Louisville; BA, Georgetown College (Georgetown Kentucky); also attended Savannah College of Art and Design (Savannah, Georgia), California State University-Long Beach, and St. Cloud College (St. Cloud, Minnesota)
Gallery Representative: Pyro Gallery
Website: www.corieneumayerpaintings.com

"Crops on Fire" by Corie Neumayer, 24x36in, acrylic, latex (2017), $600 | BUY NOW — *"Crops on Fire" by Corie Neumayer, 24x36in, acrylic, latex (2017), $600 | BUY NOW*

"Looks Like Snow Again" by Corie Neumayer, 24x36in, acrylic, latex (2017), $600 | BUY NOW — *"Looks Like Snow Again" by Corie Neumayer, 24x36in, acrylic, latex (2017), $600 | BUY NOW*

Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more. — *Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more.*

Fiber

Vignette: Vallorie Henderson

Josh Jenkins · March 14, 2017

“Being part of the earth, its secrets are part of our fiber, our purpose, our memory, and our spirit.” — Vallorie Henderson

"A Bigger Piece of the Pie" by Vallorie Henderson, 2x3ft, hand-dyed and felted Merino wool with silk organza, machine stitching, $675 | BUY NOW — *"A Bigger Piece of the Pie" by Vallorie Henderson, 2x3ft, hand-dyed and felted Merino wool with silk organza, machine stitching, $675 | BUY NOW*

Because they are created by human hand, we are tempted to think that textiles are less connected to nature than some other mediums. Yet the work of Vallorie Henderson captures the tones and textures of the natural world with certainty. Her Appalachian heritage has always imbued her artist’s sensibility with a feeling for the land, but isn’t there something inherent in the fibers of the material, which are born of the fluid, organic quality of biology, that carries the earth with it through any process?

“My work will always have its origins in nature, if not by the inherent qualities within wool that allow it to felt, then perhaps by the preference for a particular line or form found only in the natural world. I enjoy creating landscapes with an abstract expressionist approach, hoping to represent the essence of the chosen vista through transparent layers of silk and wool, allowing a visual blending of complex colors when the viewer’s eyes see multiple hues through other hues.”

"Bottom Land" by Vallorie Henderson, 7x35in, hand-dyed and felted Merino wool with silk organza, machine stitching, $575 | BUY NOW — *"Bottom Land" by Vallorie Henderson, 7x35in, hand-dyed and felted Merino wool with silk organza, machine stitching, $575 | BUY NOW*

“With my most recent body of work, Birds Eye View, I chose to focus on aerial views of the farmlands in southern Indiana, western Kentucky and some areas of southern and eastern Kentucky where I am from. At first glance, these works may appear to represent a fascination with geometric shapes, patterns and repetitive grids. Viewing the landscape from higher altitudes does not allow a full understanding of the ongoing process that give form to the land below or of how its appearance reflects human occupation and the day-to-day engagements involving people, land, material, and circumstances. Beyond its dramatic scenery, our landscape is remarkable for the cultural activities and ideas it represents.”

"Gray Day along the Pike" by Vallorie Henderson, 14.5x28in, hand-dyed and felted Merino wool with silk organza, machine stitching, $625 | BUY NOW — *"Gray Day along the Pike" by Vallorie Henderson, 14.5x28in, hand-dyed and felted Merino wool with silk organza, machine stitching, $625 | BUY NOW*

“My Cherokee ancestors did not think it possible to own land, believing instead that we are born from Mother Earth. As an artist, I accept that we are made of this earth and in some manner, have always known the earth and its environs. Being part of the earth, its secrets are part of our fiber, our purpose, our memory, and our spirit. We are this place and all of its stories and events. Making connections between our experiences, their location and time is to be part of a greater whole while living in the present.“

Vallorie Henderson’s Bird’s Eye View series is currently featured in the Louisville Visual Art exhibit, Tessile Ora, along with work by Denise Furnish and Elmer Luciell Allen. It will be on display at Louisville’s Metro Hall through May 26, 2017.

Hometown: Somerset, Kentucky
Age: 59
Education: BA in Art, Berea College, Berea, KY; MFA in Fibers, Miami University, Oxford, OH
Website: http://www.valloriehendersontextiles.com

"Amber Waves of Grain" by Vallorie Henderson, 2x3ft, hand-dyed and felted Merino wool with silk organza, machine stitching, $675 | BUY NOW — *"Amber Waves of Grain" by Vallorie Henderson, 2x3ft, hand-dyed and felted Merino wool with silk organza, machine stitching, $675 | BUY NOW*

*"Woodland Vessel" by Vallorie Henderson*

Mixed Media, Painting

Vignette: Patrick Donley

Josh Jenkins · February 14, 2017

Where our army has gone and established a long-term presence, there has sprouted an interest in America’s game…” – Patrick Donley

*“Taijitu (South Korea)" by Patrick Donley, 20x26in, mixed media on arches (2016)*

Not very long ago, we were discussing the use of flags in art, and their importance as symbols. Patrick Donley is a painter, sculptor, and collage artist who uses found materials to a significant degree. In his artist’s statement for his new exhibit at Lenihan Sotheby’s International Realty, he provides insight into his process, but also illuminates how the weight of memory in reclaimed objects can raise the artist’s own awareness through discovery, in this case, tying in to themes of geo-political influence.

“The Flags series began as an excuse to use the imagery of ‘America’s Game’ in my art. For years, I have been fascinated by the gritty, rugged, glorious, and often tarnished visual lexicon of baseball, a game full of heroes, heroines, legends, myths, successes and failures.

The choice to use the flag as an inspiration was somewhat accidental. I had been making collage paintings on paper that were made up of horizontal bands like the strata of the earth, or like the stripes on a flag. The paintings being on paper seemed appropriate, more ephemeral - more flag-like. I came across a cache of baseball images I had saved including some torn up baseball cards found while walking my dogs (the source for much of my collage). So the Baseball Flags were born (however, I never understood why the championship is called ‘the World Series’).

“The Girl Next Door (Aruba)" by Patrick Donley, 20x26in, mixed media on arches (2016) — *“The Girl Next Door (Aruba)" by Patrick Donley, 20x26in, mixed media on arches (2016)*

The first pieces were mainly suggestive of flags: very colorful with lots of random collage, words and letters buried in the paint. After making about ten of these, I chose to leave the idea for a while and venture elsewhere, as is my way of working. Several years and several very different bodies of work ensued.

One day last year, I decided to revisit the flags, but this time I thought to use flags of the world as the platform. I had done a large commission piece for Kentucky Refugee Ministries here in Louisville, and while cleaning the studio I came across the images of all of the flags that represent the refugees who have been resettled into our town, and thus, these were my initial inspirations. After completing several, though interesting conceptually, something just did not feel right about the flags I was using, other than their graphic nature. Where was the connection to baseball?

*“8 Men Out (Venezuela)” by Patrick Donley, 19x26in (framed), mixed media on arches (2016)*

So I researched how many countries are actually represented by players throughout the major leagues. The number varied, but twenty-something is the rough tally. From that point on, the flags became about countries that have contributed players to the sport.

One of the fun challenges of using ‘real’ flags as the departure point is that there is not a huge diversity of colors used in national flags. It is a fairly basic palette, which allows me the license to explore layering, variation, and texture.

*“Daddy-O” by Patrick Donley, 8x8in, mixed media on wood (2015)*

At this point, I began to connect the dots between our military presence throughout the world and the growth of baseball in many of those places. It made sense. Where our army has gone and established a long-term presence, there has sprouted an interest in America’s game: Japan, Korea, Germany, Cuba, and Vietnam. But the list extends well beyond that to some places that honestly I could not guess why players would come from there: Australia, the Netherlands, Aruba, Venezuela, Columbia, Greece Baseball, Taiwan, Curacao, Brazil. And the list goes on.

It fascinates me that although Soccer is the ‘World’s’ game, Baseball has ‘the World Series’, and now, for me, that phrase finally makes a little more sense.”

Flags: A World Series, New Work by Patrick Donley, is now on exhibit at Lenihan Sotheby’s International Realty at 3803 Brownsboro Road in Louisville. There is an Artist Open House Thursday, February 16, 5:00-7:30pm. On March 3, Donley will open The Memento Series: Travel and Leisure at Craft(s) Gallery in Louisville.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Age: 54
Education: BA in Painting, Davidson College in Painting; MFA in Painting and Drawing, Northwestern University
Website: http://patrickdonley.wix.com/donleyart

*“Beer Is Food” by Patrick Donley, 8x8in, mixed media on wood (2016)*

earth

Vignette: Corie Neumayer

“My current work reflects the changes in our climate and the effect on our earth.” — Corie Neumayer

Vignette: Vallorie Henderson

“Being part of the earth, its secrets are part of our fiber, our purpose, our memory, and our spirit.” — Vallorie Henderson

Vignette: Patrick Donley

Where our army has gone and established a long-term presence, there has sprouted an interest in America’s game…” – Patrick Donley