*"Callie" by Ann Stewart Anderson, 16x12in, cut paper mosaic (2017)*

The Answer Is Sisterhood

It was recently announced that Anderson is one of the recipients of the 2017 Al Smith Fellowship. The prestigious award, named in honor of former arts council chair and Kentucky journalist Al Smith, recognizes professional artists who have reached a high level of achievement in their careers. Since its beginning in 1983, the program has provided more than $2.5 million in funding to artists in the visual arts, literary arts, media arts, composing and choreography. In this round of funding, the fellowships were awarded to artists in the choreography and literary arts disciplines.

Ann Stewart Anderson has been working with assemblage techniques through the use of various media for several years, but most recently she has been using paper, specifically images and textures pulled from art magazines. Now she utilizes the approach in a new series that seems consistent with the style and themes of the Wonderful Old Women (W.O.W.) series, yet there is a new political commentary that has come into play.

“It has been almost a year since I got the idea of creating Sisters,” explains Anderson. “Since then I have made seven TEFFUBUD sisters, three GAMTRA sisters, four NACIREMA sisters, three DEMARF sisters, and I am just now putting the final touches on the last group of as yet unnamed sisters.”

“This new concept pushes me to develop more complex images. The NACIREMA sisters, (Hint: read it backwards), inspired by a portrait of Donald Trump illustrated in last November’s Art In America, is a visual statement about presidential politics. Each woman represents an American state: Minnie, Minnesota; Dela, Delaware; Flora, Florida and Callie, California. All are dressed in black and, hidden away in the composition there are upside down American flags. And, as you can see, all have some characteristics of the face of Trump which literally is under the transforming layers of paper glued over it to create these sisters. I will continue to make more siblings as long as I can find inspiration and material, which is pretty easy thanks to my local bookshop and friends for whom I am delighted to recycle their discarded art magazines.”

*"Dela" by Ann Stewart Anderson, 16x12in, cut paper mosaic (2017)*

The use of the inverted flag references the U.S. military protocol for flying the flag upside down as a warning to approaching troops. In the past, Anderson, has expressed social commentary through the use of Classical Mythology in her paintings, almost always with a vital feminist undercurrent, yet the political message in these images is expressed with even greater subtlety. Anderson’s use of collage has developed even more, with some of the textures and compositions in “Dela”, for example, recalling her previous work with mosaics.

Anderson ‘s new series is making its public debut in Sisters: A Family Resemblance, a solo show concurrent with the Painting II show at Galerie Hertz, both running through September 2, 2017.

*"Moira" by Ann Stewart Anderson, 16x12in, cut paper mosaic (2017)*

Anderson’s work can be found in several corporate collections including:

Drake Hotel, Chicago
Turtle Wax Company, Chicago
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Louisville
Brown Foreman Distillers
Atlantic Richfield Corporation
Evansville Museum of Arts and Science
Alabama Power Company
Central Bank, Lexington
Hilliard Lyons, Louisville
Cleveland Clinic
Makers Mark Distillery

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Age: 82
Education: BA, Wellesley College, MA, American University
Gallery Representative: Galerie Hertz (Louisville)
Website: http://www.annstewartanderson.com

*"Enid" by Ann Stewart Anderson, 16x12in, cut paper mosaic (2017)*

*"Minnie" by Ann Stewart Anderson, 16x12in, cut paper mosaic (2017)*

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Painting

Vignette: Gretchen Treitz

Josh Jenkins · July 11, 2017

“Trees for me are a symbol of strength, a metaphor of hope.” – Gretchen Treitz

*"Sycamore" by Gretchen Treitz, 8x8in, watercolor, silverleaf (2016)*

Trees are important in the work of Gretchen Treitz, the form providing compositional structure while also expressing a highly spiritual theme. Everyone has heard of druids, but Treitz is following a longer, more complicated tradition of using the tree as a religious symbol; their endless cycle of renewal allows an easy metaphor for life, and the evergreen has often represented the eternal or divine for precisely its lack of a cycle of change. No death or renewal, but constant and unending life.

“I am amazed how trees seem to personify a perfect being in adversity. My current series of trees is an attempt to explore a reality beyond appearances. Like many artists from the past, I use nature, light, and celestial luminosity to search for the divine. Painting trees with silver leaf not only highlights their shape but also calls forth the universal tension between matter and spirit. I engage trees to approach the spiritual realms of the wilderness, the cosmos, and the mysteries of the soul. Trees for me are a symbol of strength, a metaphor of hope. Silver leaf, white gold leaf, and aluminum leaf emulate a kind of ethereal light. I utilize these materials to represent the delicate vulnerability of sky, wind, atmosphere, and other environmental factors. Other times I manipulate these metal leaves and watercolor to embody the wonder of the life energy of a tree’s progression against these forces.”

*"Light on Broken Places II" by Gretchen Treitz, 15x15in, watercolor, silverleaf (2017)*

Treitz was just a part of Painting Exhibition #1 at Galerie Hertz in Louisville, and in 2016 participated in Aqueous, Kentucky Watercolor Society, Actor’s Theater, Louisville, and in Horizon: Contemporary Landscape, Community Arts Center, Danville, KY.

Permanent Collections:
The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn New York
National Westminster Bank, New York, New York
Hilliard-Lyons Collection, Louisville, KY
Holcomb Farm Permanent Collection, Granby, CT
Private Collections in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Michigan

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: BFA, Stephens College, Columbia, MO; MFA, Brooklyn College, City University of New York
Website: http://www.gretchentreitz.com/

*"Kentucky's State Champion Swamp Chestnut Oak" by Gretchen Treitz, 14x14in, watercolor, silverleaf (2016)*

"Good Fruit II" by Gretchen Treitz, 25x25in, watercolor, silverleaf (2016), $2000 | BUY NOW — *"Good Fruit II" by Gretchen Treitz, 25x25in, watercolor, silverleaf (2016), $2000 | BUY NOW*

*"Rose on Gerardia" by Gretchen Treitz, 10x12in, watercolor, silverleaf (2015)*

*"Study for In the Shadows" by Gretchen Treitz, 8x10in, watercolor, silverleaf (2015)*

Mixed Media, Painting, Sculpture

Vignette: Tom Pfannerstill

Josh Jenkins · November 11, 2016

*"Ali Center and River West" by Tom Pfannerstill, 30x45in, acrylic on canvas (2016)*

Artists are sometimes magicians, creating illusions of space and time. Tom Pfannerstill’s “From the Street” series appear to be trash, candy boxes, fast food cups, oilcans, violently pressed flat by the heavy tread of delivery trucks. The artist finds these items in the street and alleyways, but this is not what you see on the gallery wall. Pfannerstill recreates each cast-off container as carved wood sculptures painted with acrylics.

It is a highly successful trompe l’oeil effect. The notion of picking any of these up by hand in the alley might be distasteful, but the seductive desire to touch the sculptural replication is difficult to control, even if only to verify that they are indeed not the flattened and filthy ‘real thing’. Pfannerstill applies the same approach to recreating objects from around his studio “They have been altered, bent, folded and scarred,” explains the artist, “ …in a word individualized. They touch on issues of commercialism and consumerism, but are mostly intended to be subtle reminders of the temporality of all things.”

*"Spring Street Tavern" by Tom Pfannerstill, 19.25x24in, acrylic on canvas (2016)*

Pfannerstill is most renowned for the painted sculptures, but actually is identified through several different styles and medium. “The work changes often, but I find myself returning again and again to several major areas of investigation; three-dimensional still life, found object works, a series of the human head (in this case, mine), quilts and quilt patterns using un-quiltlike materials, blue paintings, and of late black paintings.”

Now, inspired by flying out of NYC at night, Pfannerstill hs been immersed in a series of paintings of cities at night; darkness punctuated by points of light. The work is not like anything people are familiar from this artist, which is why he is particularly excited about them.

Pfannerstill currently has a show in Nashville Tennessee at the Cumberland Gallery. He will also be exhibiting with Caroline Waite at Galerie Hertz in Louisville, Kentucky November 13 through December 31, 2016.

Hometown: Louisville
Age: 64
Education: BFA, Western Kentucky University, 1975; School of Hard Knocks, 1975-present
Gallery Representation: Galerie Hertz, Louisville; Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN; Jonathan Novak Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA; Ellis-Walker Gallery, Bowling Green, KY; Sager-Braudis Gallery, Columbia, MO
Website: http://www.tpfannerstill.com

"On the Road #2" by Tom Pfannerstill, 24x34in, acrylic on canvas (2016)

"On the Road #3" by Tom Pfannerstill, 20x30in, acrylic on canvas (2016)

*"Brillo" by Tom Pfannerstill, acrylic and/or enamel on carved basswood (2016)*

*"Eggo" by Tom Pfannerstill, acrylic and/or enamel on carved basswood (2016)*

*"Ultimate Lemons" by Tom Pfannerstill, acrylic and/or enamel on carved basswood (2016)*

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Painting, Drawing

Vignette: Ray Kleinhelter

Josh Jenkins · November 2, 2016

*A photograph of Ray Kleinhelter at work on his boat (2016).*

Ray Kleinhelter paints abstract compositions of intricate geometric pattern. Although he cites American Richard Diebenkorn and London’s Frank Auerbach as influences, Kleinhelter’s approach touches upon a variety of 20th century movements, and a viewer might feel as if they are seeing a mash-up of Color Field, Abstract Expressionism and a touch of Pop Art. But such attempts to pigeonhole his work probably wouldn’t be accepted by the artist himself:

“I am interested in the process, (or craft) of painting, drawing, and printmaking. Every serious painter has a different interpretation of what this means. There are no rules to follow, but what we want are pictures that hold up. No explanation required. Painting in its purest form is much more interesting than any perceived meaning applied to the image. Contemporary interpretations of art, while intellectually compelling, have little to add to the language of painting, where form and content are inseparable.”

*"#12" by Ray Kleinhelter, 12x9in, watercolor on Arches hot press paper (2016)*

As with most artists, Kleinhelter began with representational work, and he still sees recognizable form and the natural world at the root of his intensely colored geometric abstracts:

*"Landscape Variation #4" by Ray Kleinhelter, 22.5x30in, charcoal on Stonehenge paper (2016)*

“I continue to draw and paint from nature, lately from my boat, exploring the appearance of land and light. These pictures inform others and act as starting points for improvisation. I rarely stop with one version of an image. In the last year or two, wood cut printing has become a catalyst toward flatter, more direct images. Interestingly, the paintings have changed through the experience of printmaking, moving toward what I believe is a cleaner sense of structure.”

You can visit Ray Kleinhelter on the Ohio River during OPEN STUDIO WEEKEND, November 5 & 6, 2016, where he will be painting on his boat. The event benefits scholarship programs for Louisville Visual Art and University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute and tickets may be purchased here.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: Yale School of Art Summer Painting Scholar 1982; BFA, Kansas City Art Institute 1982; MFA, Indiana University, Bloomington 1986
Gallery Representation: Galerie Hertz (Louisville)

*"Riverbank #6" by Ray Kleinhelter, 34x40in, oil on panel (2016)*

"Riverbank #1" by Ray Kleinhelter, oil on panel (2016) — *"Riverbank #1" by Ray Kleinhelter, oil on panel (2016)*

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Mixed Media

Vignette: Jacque Parsley

Josh Jenkins · October 28, 2016

"The waste of the world becomes my art." - Kurt Schwitters

*A photograph of Parsley in her studio.*

Jacque Parsley claims this is her favorite quote, and it speaks to an aspect of the lives of artists that bears a spotlight: that long before it become fashionable or socially conscious to recycle, artists were repurposing all kinds of materials. It is a part of their DNA to see potential in things discarded by others.

For Parsley, this manifests it self in collage techniques that incorporate previously used elements. Her sculptures are constructed from a range of odds and ends, but the doll parts are a signature motif for her. Gentle and childlike, but also full of the connotations of dread, menace, and the tragic loss of innocence that have attached themselves to dolls that have been relegated to the dumpster.

"Superb Hibiscus" by Jacque Parsley, 18x15x1in, mixed media collage (2016), $300 | BUY NOW — *"Superb Hibiscus" by Jacque Parsley, 18x15x1in, mixed media collage (2016), $300 | BUY NOW*

The artist alludes to exactly such associations: "Collage to me is like a visual daydream. It is serious play. You delve into your subconscious, and let your intuition take over. When you come out of ‘the zone’ you make rational corrections.”

In her new 2D mixed media pieces the collection of disparate imagery speak to the power of memory, which collage is perfectly suited for. “I use the flotsam and jetsam of everyday life, including old photos, vintage postcards, advertising trade cards, and stamps from my father’s stamp collection.”

Parsley’s work will be featured in the upcoming Mix it UP exhibit at New Editions Gallery in Lexington, KY, and in the Day of the Dead show at Craft Gallery and Mercantile in Louisville, KY.

You can visit Jacque parsley in her studio in Louisville during OPEN STUDIO WEEKEND, November 5 & 6, 2016. The event benefits scholarship programs for Louisville Visual Art and University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute and tickets may be purchased here.

Age: 69 going on 70
Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee
Education: BFA Louisville School of Art; MA University of Louisville; MFA University of Louisville
Website: kentuckyartists.com
Gallery Representation: Craft Gallery and Mercantile, Galerie Hertz

"Miss Grits" by Jacque Parsley, 17x14x1in, mixed media collage (2016), $250 | BUY NOW — *"Miss Grits" by Jacque Parsley, 17x14x1in, mixed media collage (2016), $250 | BUY NOW*

"I Remember Florence" by Jacque Parsley, 18x15x1in, mixed media collage (2016), $250 | BUY NOW — *"I Remember Florence" by Jacque Parsley, 18x15x1in, mixed media collage (2016), $250 | BUY NOW*

"Eastern Hemisphere" by Jacque Parsley, 20x17x1in, mixed media collage (2016), $300 | BUY NOW — *"Eastern Hemisphere" by Jacque Parsley, 20x17x1in, mixed media collage (2016), $300 | BUY NOW*

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galerie hertz

Vignette: Ann Stewart Anderson

Vignette: Gretchen Treitz

“Trees for me are a symbol of strength, a metaphor of hope.” – Gretchen Treitz

Vignette: Tom Pfannerstill

Vignette: Ray Kleinhelter

Vignette: Jacque Parsley

"The waste of the world becomes my art." - Kurt Schwitters