Tag Archive: Nathaniel Smith

  1. C4W: 2013 // Juror Talk

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    MINNEAPOLIS – Thursday, Nov. 14, 7:00 p.m. – Ash Marlene Hane, Nathaniel Smith and Jesse Draxler are hard working members of the local art community.  They curated the current exhibit at Gamut Gallery, “C4W: 2013,” the annual call for works show.  As jurors for C4W and as exhibiting artists themselves, they will discuss logistics for artists getting their work shown in galleries. As artists building careers in the arts, they will discuss the current climate of the arts in Minnesota.

    It has been nearly a year since Smith wrote his three part series “Art & Vision: The State of the Arts” for “l’etoile magazine.” In the series, both Hane and Draxler became part of Smith’s public discourse, critiquing the health and direction of Minnesota’s art community. The Juror Talk will be a chance to discuss recent updates and developments.  It will also cover Smith’s basic premise for a healthy “Arts Ecosystem,” as inspired by 1960’s revolutionary gallerist Walter Hopps’. The jurors will discuss the delicate balance between artists, galleries, critics, museums and art collectors; as well as a wealth of practical advice for artists. Attendees will have a chance to discuss controversial theories about money in the arts and to learn about more effective ways to support the arts for people in various walks of life.

    Nathaniel Smith is a visual artist, arts writer and curator based in Minneapolis, MN. He was the founder and Director of The FUTURE PRESENCE Gallery, which was awarded several Best New Gallery 2011 and Best Arts Exhibition of the Year 2012 awards during its one-and-half year run. He is the Arts Editor at l’étoile magazine (Art & Vision column), the blog editor at Beautiful/Decay, and regularly contributes to mnartists.org, MPR and other publications. Smith will open his next venture, a small-group focused commercial gallery titled NIGHT Galleries, in 2014.

    Ash Marlene Hane’s recent print media work combines photographic elements with interpretive figure drawing. She holds a 2008 art history and studio art degree, with a printmaking focus, from the University of Minnesota. She has exhibited nationally and solo at Gamut Gallery in 2013.  She has been published by Southern Graphics Council International, Mid America Print Council and on Printeresting: North American print arts blog. She was recently awarded the Metropolitan Regional Art Council’s Next Step Fund grant and will show solo at the Familia Skate Shop Nov. 2013.

    Jesse Draxler is an illustrator, graphic designer and a fine artist, focusing on collage.  He was recently named one of the Walker Art Center, MN artist blogs “Ten Artists to Watch in 2013.”  He has exhibited nationally and internationally, with solo shows locally at HAUS and Umber Studio and in Los Angeles at SNP Gallery and Plaid Studio.  He has been published in numerous publications such as Fine Line, Working Class and Bolo in 2011, and in the book “The Age of Collage” in 2013.

  2. C4W: 2013 // Exhibit Finale

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    Artwork above by Jacob Spriggs

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    MINNEAPOLIS – Saturday, Nov. 23, 7:00 – 11:00 p.m. – This year, Gamut Gallery’s “C4W: 2013” call-for-works show was entrusted to three local artists to jury and curate: arts writer and gallerist Nathaniel Smith, printmaker Ash Marlene Hane, and multi-disciplinary artist Jesse Draxler.  The resulting collection shows the depth of variety in minimalism and a range of moods from within the void. For the C4W Exhibit Finale, the blank canvas of sound will be entrusted to multi-instrumentalist Jacob Grun.  He will create a soundscape in harmony with the surrounding imagery.  Free admission is made possible in part by sponsorship from Pabst Blue Ribbon.

    Opening night of C4W was a well-attended evening with local artists, gallerists and art supporters there to weigh in on the quality of the works.  Several praised the exhibit for its “cohesion,” a challenging feat for an open submission juried show. The video installation piece, “Perfection” by Nicholas Knutson, engaged crowds of people with interactive audio and physical aspects.  Another favorite was the large sculpture “This Isn’t a Surrender But I Would Be Hard-Pressed to Convince Otherwise,” by Nicholas Carroll, which combines an artist’s stool, blinds and other materials to create an object of contemplation.  The collection is especially suited for those interested in investing in art, with each piece priced 500 dollars or less.

    Grun is widely known as the front man of local band “Me and My Arrow.”  In the last year the band played several shows at First Avenue alongside Touch People, Joan of Arc and Chris Cohen.  Grun is the lead singer/ songwriter, guitarist and studio producer for the group.  For nearly a decade, he has owned the storied recording studio Sound Gallery, a supportive resource for local musicians and bands.  There, Grun has honed the art of bringing community together through music in a unique and exciting atmosphere.  At the C4W Exhibit Finale, Grun will provide a mysterious one-man set.

    The C4W | 2013 Artists:

    Nicholas Carroll
    Jacob Spriggs
    Joshua McGarvey
    Marnie Erpestad
    Morgan Pease
    Christopher Atkins
    Nicholas Knutson
    Suzanne Mahoney
    Toni Dachis
    Josh Winkler
    Danielle Voight
    Joshua Wilichowski
    Katerina Fisher
    Kelsey Henderson
    Nicholas Kovatch

     

  3. C4W: 2013

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    Artwork above by Nicholas Kovatch

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    MINNEAPOLIS – Oct. 19, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. – Opening Reception for the C4W Finalists; the exhibit runs through Nov. 23.  This year Gamut Gallery chose guest jurors to select the artists for their annual Open Call for Works exhibit.  Ash Marlene Hane, the first solo exhibitor at Gamut, was chosen as a trusted representative of the gallery’s aesthetic and intentions.  Hane then selected Nathanial Smith and Jesse Draxler as co-jurors.  Her choice represents more than just a cross-section of young, current, Minneapolis-based artists.  She sought out deliberators with a discerning eye, but also an unrelenting drive to create, view and analyze art.  The trio has contrasting views and processes, pulling the selection of works into unexpected territory.  The show, resulting in combined aesthetic of each juror, will be a decided departure from what Gamut Gallery has seen to date.  The jurors describe their selected pieces as “speaking softly while saying a lot”, stark and moody, void of emotion and with a dash of surprising humor.

    Works range in media from collage, sculpture, video, photography, paintings and drawings. We get a sense of the diversity that is still possible, even in a minimal show, as each juror relays the story of encountering a submission that resonated with him or her:

    Christopher Atkins’ photograph: “Untitled [Milfoil],” strikes Draxler as refreshingly devoid of emotion. A near over-exposed haze slowly reveals tendrils of milfoil and the elusive surface of a lake. The image is part of Atkins’ ongoing trials with focus and depth of field during repeated walks in his neighborhood. The process drew the artist deeply into digital color photography techniques. Meaning the work is indeed less the product of emotion than what personal interpretation may hold.

    Smith is drawn to Marnie Erpestad’s unique approach in photographing a museum mounted animal skeleton in “Articulated 2.” To reach the engaging result, Erpestad sought out deep emotional responses over her life, which led her back to a consuming fascination with biology. Her intent to capture the magic she found in natural history museums as a child, led to several days of experiments with some of her most cherished imagery and ultimately an unconventional perspective.

    Hane decribes Jacob Spriggs’ “Inside In, Outside Out,” as “six Polaroids that together kind of made this landscape, but upon closer look aren’t a landscape at all.” This effect is a result of utter patience as Spriggs captures warm moments of every variety with vintage film. The expired Polaroids he finds at thrift-stores, leave randomly shaped “voids” of information where they have degraded. Spriggs waits months to be able to match up these fragments of varied nostalgia, transforming them from personal and emotive to purely a combination of information, which Spriggs calls a “visual landscape.”

    FEATURED ARTISTS:
    Nicholas Carroll
    Jacob Spriggs
    Joshua McGarvey
    Marnie Erpestad
    Morgan Pease
    Christopher Atkins
    Nicholas Knutson
    Suzanne Mahoney
    Toni Dachis
    Josh Winkler
    Danielle Voight
    Joshua Wilichowski
    Katerina Fisher
    Kelsey Henderson
    Nicholas Kovatch