Artists Talk with LVA: February 10, 2022

Sheila Fox was our guest this week, talking about her solo show at Revelry: "A Journey of Elegance". Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Keith Waits talk with artists.

Sheila Fox, also known under the name 'GodivaGoddess', is a self-taught mixed media artist based in Louisville, KY. Fox has been making art for 20 years. Her vibrant portraits of Black women take inspiration from Fox’s own lived experience as an African American woman, as she seeks to celebrate her story and the stories of generations of Black women through the joy of artistic expression.

'A Journey of Elegance' at Revelry Gallery is now open and an artists’ reception will happen on Friday, February 11th, from 6-9 pm. The show will be on display through March 6th.

Vignette: Tracey Ippolito

"I Only Have Today" by Tracy Ippolito, Acrylic on canvas, 24x30in, 2016, $850

The fantastical in art often exists in a gray area between fine art and genre, yet the Surrealists are a movement that reached farther than is often acknowledged. Everyone knows Salvador Dali, of course, but when looking at the work of Tracey Ippolito, we are reminded of less famous Surrealist painters such as Leonid Afremov and Jane Small. Ippolito, who is mostly self-trained, claims a different classification in describing her work, but the debt to Surrealism is clear.

“All my life, I have been an artist, thirsty for exploring, sharing, and making new discoveries,” explains Ippolito. “In the midst of creating my art, I began to gather a collection of ideas to bring something new to my images. This became a lifelong project, Universalism.”

“I have always utilized my own life as a medium in my art, using my own journey to punctuate and hopefully illuminate the journey for us all. I have always felt a strong, inherent responsibility to others to create experiences, such as I have had whether due to mental illnesses or spirituality, awakening us to something higher than what we know, or who we think we are.”

"The Angel and the Apparition" by Tracy Ippolito, Acrylic on canvas, 24x36in, 2016, $950

“I approach my canvasses as if they are open windows that anyone can look through to see into another world. The intention is for the viewer to see so deeply into the painting, that eventually, the line of sight reconnects with the individual. This is to bring about a unique, all-encompassing experience which not only heightens the personal notion of “self”, but increases the concept of oneness or co-consciousness through the merging of worlds. Through exploring a compendium of subjects on one visual plane at a time, we enter wholly into the pursuit of finding ourselves, remembering where we came from, and discovering what we mean.”

LIke so many artists, Ippolito is striving to communicate something so intensely individual in broad enough terms to connect the viewer’s own, equally individual spiritual sensibility.

Ippolito has exhibited in several local group exhibits in 2017, including Cherchez lez Femme,  at Prophecy Ink, and The Enduring Nude at Kaviar Gallery, both in Louisville.

Permanent Collections
Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville KY
Nelson Atkins Museum, Rochester NY
Royal Palace, Kingdom of Bahrain, Middle East

Hometown: Gilford, NH
Education: Self-taught
Website: www.artofuniversalism.com
Instagram: /Artofuniversalism            

 Scroll down for more images

"Recluse" by Tracy Ippolito, Acrylic on canvas, 24x36in, 201*, NFS

"Ladyhead" by Tracy Ippolito, Oil on canvas, 16x20in, 2016, $675

"Chrysalis" by Tracy Ippolito, Oil on canvas, 30x40in, 2017, NFS

"The Battle for Sanity" by Tracy Ippolito, Oil on canvas, 22x26in, 2016, NFS

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

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Vignette: Michael Victor Troutman

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"I didn't choose art. I was born into it." – Michael Victor Troutman

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"Amber" by Michael Victor Troutman, 6x6in, acrylic on canvas (2017), $25 | BUY NOW

Michael Victor Troutman claims that his work contains no “pretentious message,” and that he just hopes to provoke an individual emotional response in each individual viewer. His unorthodox use of color and a deliberately unsophisticated approach to mark making give us paintings that might be more accessible to a broader audience for exactly their lack of “airs.” There is skill in the line work but a liberating lack of concern for what is academically appropriate in compositional choices.

Troutman’s work is reminiscent of mid-20th century art that included connotations from the past. “Amber” is quick and spontaneous, but cannot help but recall Andy Warhol’s portrait of Marilyn Monroe, while the sense of decadence with a hint of depravity found in “Cessation” seems to cite Toulouse-Lautrec as a part of its ancestry.

"Cessation" by Michael Victor Troutman, 24x30in, acrylic gesso varnish on canvas (2016), $123 | BUY NOW

The artist is self-taught and has been exhibiting since the late 1990s. He primarily paints portraits but has experience with other mediums such as sculpture, found art, collages, drawings and the written word. He credits much of his artistic talent to his family, “especially, my father, Victor, & my brother, Aaron. Many other relatives—including my mother, who worked in the Culinary Arts & created edible sculptures, etc., and my sister, who worked in crafts & home décor, fabric/fashion, etc., & and uncles, grandparents, etc. who made swank furniture and kinetic art—are also influences/inspirations to my creativity.”

"A Self Portrait" by Michael Victor Troutman, 24.5 x 18.5 in, acrylic on canvas (2012) 

“I took advantage of the situation and used the tools, instruments & materials I found in my vicinity. Art is not a science, thus I did not continue formal training. Everyone is born an artist, but somewhere along the line most children morph into adults—they're too self-critical and judgmental.”

When Troutman expresses his aesthetic he tends to the poetical:

Some cold souls see art as an excessive luxury; one of them even said to me that “art is one thing that the world could do without.”
But to that bastard, I reply, I retort that never has the world done without art.
Art is ancient and as continuous as circles.
I find that when something “does not matter” is when it/something matters the most
because it's done as a thing/act in itself,
alone, clean & pure
& done because it needed or wanted to be done
& it was not done to seek rewards in heaven
& it was not done to evade punishment in hell;
it was done because it was the R—> thing to do regardless of the consequences/effects.

"TRS 3.0" by Michael victor Troutman, 20x24in, acrylic gesso varnish on canvas (2015), $138 | BUY NOW

ART is about AIM:

Attention

Influence  

Manipulation

- so please let me con you. Feel! ENJOY!

Troutman’s latest exhibition started March 3 at Open Community Arts Center in Louisville.

Hometown: DePauw, Indiana
Age: 28
Education: BA, Spanish; BA, Political Science & Minor in International Studies w/ concentration in Latin America (& a brief period of graduate school MAT Spanish program)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TroutmanArt

"Girl Stepping Out of Shadow" by Michael Victor Troutman, 16x20in, acrylic on canvas (2012), $169 | BUY NOW

"Private Eye" by Michael victor Troutman, 24x30in, acrylic varnish on canvas (2015), $222 | BUY NOW

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

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Vignette: Micheal Reilly

"Succulent #4" by Micheal Reilly, 32x40in, photography/digital art print (2015), $1500 | BUY NOW

Micheal Reilly received his first camera at age six and was heavily influenced by his father, who was an avid photographer. After retiring from a career as a commercial photographer, Reilly now creates vivid, hyper-saturated digital images that begin with a simple photograph, but then are heavily manipulated through digital programs. He describes his work as “Abstract Organics” and all of his images are printed on 16-gauge aluminum using a dye sublimation process that perfectly mimics his vivid colors.

"Blossom Stems #1" by Micheal Reilly, 32x40in, photography/digital art print (2015), $1500 | BUY NOW

“My art is the expression of my soul. It is my illustrated vision, the world I see ... or want to see. I want to stretch your imagination, and I come as the naked stranger, exposing my inner feelings and urges, my lust for color, a mild insanity, and my happiness. Joy, I hope, is a primary response – and surprise. I think what I offer is new and unique. It’s me, the real me.” –Micheal Reilly’s Artist’s Statement

Reilly studied in Commercial Art at the University of Louisville, but within a few years, at the age of 24, he had started his own commercial photography studio. The rapid growth of his business enabled Reilly to travel the world creating advertising images for an estimable roster of clients, many of whom were Fortune 100. He was one of the pioneers introducing digital imaging into the commercial photography industry, was featured several times in the industry trade magazine, Photo District News, and was a frequent featured speaker at the International Photo Symposium in New York City.

Hometown: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Age: 59
Education: Self-taught in photography and art (starting at age 6)
Website: http://www.michealreilly.com

"Purple Berries" by Micheal Reilly, 32x40in, photography/digital art print (2014), $1500 | BUY NOW

"Thistle #2" by Micheal Reilly, 40x32in, photography/digital art print (2015), $1500 | BUY NOW

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2016 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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