Material Witness: Hannelore Baron, Donna Sharrett and Vanessa German @ Pavel Zoubok Gallery in NY

Wow, Pittsburgh artist, Vanessa German will sharing space in a big NY gallery with some pretty amazing and iconic artists. Hannelore Baron is an artist, whose work had a very visceral impact when I first saw it. Vanessa's does very much the same thing.

Link To Exhibit Page

"I surrender myself to the objects that call up to me. there are stories in the air and in the objects & materials I am building with, there is something about possession- in going into the place where the building can be done. I love to build. I love to troll my neighborhood for secret on-the-ground, or buried just-under-the-ground treasures that have to be, a word, in the sentence, of the stories that come insisting through my hands, through my blood."

Not to lay it on too thick but, Vanessa might be an authentic genius. Yes, she has had some success here in Pittsburgh, but I'm so glad she is being recognised in the wider world also.

Material Witness
November 17 - December 17, 2011

PAVEL ZOUBOK GALLERY
533 West 23rd street
New York, NY 10011

Pittsburgh Biennial at the Warhol, Opening Reception 9/17/2011,Gertrude's/LOT

First, I will get my gripes out of the way. Why was the reception only two hours long and on a Saturday afternoon? Why not your typical evening reception thats 3 hours long? Having said that (and I just don't get it....WHY!? ....I almost missed the whole thing, cause I thought it was in the evening! And I would have loved to have been there longer. Plus, I was afraid I was going to be really late, because it looked like I had a flat tire...and I grabbed the wrong shoes, and my feet were killing me...and I was walking around in the parking lot in just tights with no shoes looking for my car....becuase I parked in such a rush.....WHY!?).
Anyway....having said that, the work is wonderful. Eric Shiner picked a marvelous group of artists. The work is terrific.
Standouts for me on the first go round (I'll go back soon):
Vanessa German, Large elaborate sculptural pieces.
LaToya Ruby Frazier, Photographs related to the Braddock Levis ad campaign. While I am not on the anti Levis ad side(Braddock needs money) she brings up some very valod points about this ad campaign, and about the relationship of other corporations to Braddock. Really interesting!
Kim Beck, Large backlit photo of her "The Skys the Limit" skywriting piece was installed in the cloud room. Perfect. This piece (the actual skywriting with the vintage plane) will be happening again in NYC over the HighLine in the beginning of October.

Elise Adibi, two new beautiful subtle yet very powerful nonobjective paintings from her new "Oxidation" series. The photo and detail are by pemission of the artist.

And there was the Milk Truck (artist, Jill Miller)......actually, I liked so many things..........

The Warhol seemed less concerned about picture taking this time around.....hence all the pictures. That, I liked!

Opening Tonight at Mendelson Gallery: Jack Weiss and Vanessa German

2010 AAP Mendelson Exhibition Award Winners: Jack Weiss and Vanessa German.
The Mendelson Gallery is proud to present Jack Weiss and Vanessa German, winners of the 2010 AAP exhibit Award. These two artists seem very different from one another at first glance, but there is a subtle balance between them. See their artwork at the opening on Wednesday, June 30 from 5:30 until 8:30. (Please note the change in date for the opening reception first posted in the AAP calendar)

Vanessa German CP Article and Post Gazette Video

If you know Vanessa German's work...don't miss these links. If you don't know her work....don't miss these links.

As I was reading the CP article....the thought..."hmmmm maybe a genius?" crossed my mind a couple of times. At least.

Pittsburgh CP Cover Story 5/19/2010 http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:79346

Pittsburgh Post Gazette" In the Frame" video http://www.post-gazette.com/multimedia/default.asp?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipid=4811796

Associated Artists Of Pittsburgh Ninety-Ninth Annual : First Thoughts

I got to the opening of The big AAP show at the Carnegie, and thought I'd put down a few impressions. Although the Carnegie gave me a yearly press pass, I took no notes yet and don't intend to try to get permission to penetrate the museum's no photography policy.

Hanging, as usual was well done and the show occupied a major chunk of first class gallery space.

The curator, Doryun Chung had no prior experience with Pittsburgh at all and put together a show with a decent number of true lows (really bad work) as well as many extreme highs. Dry conceptual work was rarer than ever. Color, humor and very accessible personal expression were the common theme.

Wonderful to see Deanna Mance get her moment in the sun with two stunning big drawings and a major purchase award! Vanessa German's moving, mysterious doll totem also got an award.

More thoughts to come.

women's work

The opening reception for women's work was on March 2. It was a great night. Janis Burley-Wilson selected the work for the show. The work she chose for the exhibit showed a lot of diversity. So often, these group shos tend to be the same people showing with the same people. It was nice to shake up the mix a bit.

The exhibit:

women's work
March 2 - April 20, 2007
709 Gallery
709 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh PA 15222

The show closes on April 20, which is the next Downtown Gallery Crawl. It's a great time to see all of the visual arts venues in the cultural district.


I love galleries that provide seating. It makes it so much easier to stick around...
Susan Constanse -- A Venial Journey
Christiane D
Vanessa German

Margaret Burley

Monique Luck
Sarah Beitler

Great Art in Shadyside??

There's a 125% cxhance that this show will rock your world.

Celebration of Visual Traditions @ August Wilson Center For African American Culture

Vanessa German
Vanessa German

Robert Smalls
Chantaphone Rajavong
Chantaphone Rajavong
Leroy Johnson
Leroy Johnson

John Abner

These are some images I took of the Celebration of Visual Traditions show at the August Wilson space downtown. This is a touring show organised by the Pensylvania Council On the Arts, designed to highlight the diversity of culture across PA. Given my weakness for art as visual communication; I found the show to be very enjoyable and inspiring. The show catalog is very thin on artist's statements. They are not needed.

Several of my favorite works were, John Abner's Day Worker; Leroy Johnson's assembage works, Chantaphone Rajavong's assemblage sculptures and Vanessa German's mixed media works.