Mark your calendars: Two Pre-Auction Talks in March

Ever wondered how the auction world really works - what goes on behind the scenes, how those prices get so high? Ever thought about how to start collecting art yourself or building a collection?

In anticipation of Second Street's New Art Auction on April 8, SSG will host a pairing of talks meant to answer these questions, as well as engage, and inspire you to develop your eye, build your collection, and participate in the excitement of the auction process.

On March 9, Victoria Pouncey will present a talk titled "Demystifying the Auction Process."  Pouncey was Senior Vice President and International Head of Proposals at Christie's. During her 17 year career at the auction house, she worked on the sales of important works by 19th and 20th century masters including Monet, van Gogh, Picasso, Johns, Rothko and Lichtenstein. She left Christie's in May 2008 to move to Charlottesville with her husband and young daughter.

The evening will begin at 5:30pm with the talk beginning at 6pm.  The talk is free to members with a suggested $8 donation for non-members.

On March 24,  SSG will host Philae Knight, head of Special Projects at Phillips de Pury and Company, and Rebecca Schoenthal, Curator at Second Street Gallery who will be discussing the mechanics of, and philosophies behind, building an art collection at any level.  This event will also promote the New Collectors component of the New Art Auction which showcases unique and affordable contemporary art. 

The evening will begin at 5:30pm with the discussion beginning at 6pm..  The talk is free to members with a suggested $8 donation for non-members.

Please RSVP to members@secondstreetgallery.org or call 977-7284. 

We look forward to sharing these great topics and talks with you.

Educators' Workshop 2/23/2011! Call us to RSVP...

Bomb Landscape + Monsterface reviewed in The Hook by Laura Parsons

 We are thrilled to share this insightful review with you! Visit the link below for the original article or read the full text below. Make sure to plan a visit soon.

Parson's review of Bomb Landscape + MonsterFace in this week's Hook

 "A friend once confided that while she was heating water she realized she could simply put her newborn in the pot and boil the baby. She was mortified, but the truth is everyone has dark thoughts. A primal self lurks within that is monstrous and unspeakably brutal, full of fear and the will to survive. That we keep it at bay is what defines our humanity.

Artist Josephine Taylor grapples with her dark imaginings by expressing them on the page, venting basic fears and impulses while controlling them with refined lines and delicate pigments, transforming them into something wondrous. Her stunning large works on paper currently hang at Second Street Gallery.

The 11 images in Taylors’s “Bomb Landscape + Monster Face” belong to two bodies of work. The three nearly floor-to-ceiling drawings from Taylor’s “Bomb Landscape” depict a post-apocalyptic world where humans have become primitive, competing with wild animals and living in makeshift dwellings crafted from fragments of the past. Taylor masterfully lets the page do much of the work by creating reverse silhouettes from the negative space, inking in black backgrounds with barely visible strokes that shift direction to heighten the tension in each image.

Using translucent colored inks, Taylor details facial expressions and sex organs in her nude human figures and emphasizes the eyes and mouths of her snarling Tasmanian Devil-like beasts. Though spare, Taylor’s observation of these elements is meticulously realistic and provides contrast with the dynamic white strands of hair, eyelashes, and tips of fur.

In the diptych, “Bomb Landscape #5,” four animals on the left face off against two men and a woman on the right. Wearing an empty-eyed pelt, one man clasps his hands in seeming supplication to the snapping beasts, while the woman lurches over him, her face contorted as she casts a net while being penetrated from behind by the second man, who looks fearfully upward— his posture and expression exactly echoed by an animal on the left. The scene pulses with desperation and anxiety, yet Taylor’s technique mesmerizes with its beauty.

In her “Monster Face” series, Taylor introduces more color to re-imagine benign family scenes and children’s portraits as ghastly. She removes skin and distorts features, but her lines and colors are delicate and lovely despite the horrific content of her images.

Taylor’s ability to render menacing visions with undeniable beauty is nothing short of breathtaking and speaks to the humanizing power of art."

- by Laura Parsons

Josephine Taylor’s exhibition, “Bomb Landscape + Monster Face,” is on view through February 26 at Second Street Gallery, 115 Second St. SE. 977-7284.

Shots from January First Fridays - Josephine Taylor & Kevin Everson

 

reflection of Josephine Taylor's "Bomb Landscapes."

Josephine Taylor posing in front of her "Bomb Landscapes."

 First Friday patrons watching Kevin Everson's "The Equestrians."

"Bomb Landscape" dyptych admirers

Crowds swelling after the artist talk.

 Contemplating the end of "The Equestrians."

Second Street welcomed over 350 patrons to kick off 2011 with two new exhibitions. The Main Gallery features large scale drawings by Josephine Taylor and the Dove Gallery is showing a new film by local artist and professor Kevin Everson.  Please plan a visit soon. Josephine Taylor's, "Bomb Landscape + Monster Face," and Kevin Everson's "The Equestrians will be on view from January 7-February 26, 2011.  SSG is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11-6pm.

-photo credit to John Mitchell Photography-

A Year in reVIEW

There are 16 days left in 2010.  16!

Since updating the blog and not procrastinating were two of our resolutions this year, we're going to recap 2010 early so there's time to remember, digest, and revel in all that SSG has accomplished in the last 349 days. Deeeeep breath & GO!
 
January marked our first member show in two years and featured over ninety works by local talent. We also headed up to the Glenstone Collection with Women for Art for little contemporary art field trip fun.

In February, Rebecca Scoenthal (SSG's curator) and guest curator Melissa Ragain wove together the work of nine artists who each uniquely addressed the pervasive imagery of war.  The 2010 Educator workshop prevailed against the Snowpocalpyse and the Virginia Museum of Fine Art's Jeffrey Allison led a session on Manuel Alvaro's powerful photography.

April was host to an original, site-specific, Charlottesville -inspired sound and light installation by Takafumi Ide, commissioned by SSG and sponsored by the David Greenewalt Trust. At the same time we showed a playfully jarring body of work by Geoffrey Chadsey.

Family Art Day returned in May 2010 after a one year hiatus, to big attendance and a smiling good time.  We partnered with Kid Pan Alley and made six music themed crafts with over 200 local kids and parents.

The Gallery's 36th Season ended with a fantastic installation by Hawaiian artist Margo Ray who also helped us build an impromptu water tower on the downtown mall for our Public Art Project. 

Next came summer camp! Our first ever summer art camp was a big hit with kid-cvillains who learned basic art principles by creating mini-me's. There was only time for a short exhale before we started on Season 37 prep and a roof-top-tapas-galore preview with our friends.

This fall SSG has hosted three incredible, challenging and memorable exhibitions with Luke DuBois& Corwin Levi, Dymph DeWyld&10x10x10, and Abby Kasonik&Mara Sprafkin.  Throughout almost every month of exhibition programming we are also continually providing outreach workshops to area public schools and the Boys and Girls Club. On top of all THAT, since January '10 we have hosted a brilliant slate of local creatives including Sonia Weber Gilkey, Dean Dass, Jon-Philip Sheridan, Sharon Shapiro, Bob Strini, and Sanda Iliescu at our members-only Artist Forums.

Four paragraphs later and loads of detail suspended, we realize that we have a lot to be proud of and even more to be grateful for.  Why? Because we are able to do all of these things thanks to this community and its belief that ART MATTERS.  Creativity is the root of all innovation, and as we find ourselves seeking solutions and reinvention, art is powerful example of how free expression can benefit us all. 

So bundle up and cozy down with friends and family until January 7 when we'll start a new year and another chapter of all things contemporary at SSG.  Cheers!

Ornament Workshop 2010

We've sent you invites, emails, and peppered our conversations telling you the great news....it's time for SSG's Holiday Ornament Workshop once again! Join us at McGuffey Art Center this Saturday, December 4&5 to make an original piece of art...out of glass.  Reservations are required so please call 977-7284 or email members@secondstreetgallery. org asap. You can also stop by the workshop during the day to check for availability.

 This a wonderful tradition we hope you will share with friends, family, and us.  

Give the gift of art!

Retweet Raffle!

SSG is excited to announce our first Retweet Raffle!

The Retweet Raffle is a fun and easy way to win a free month’s membership to SSG! First, follow us on Twitter @SSGCVILLE. Then, tomorrow, retweet our post to your followers! Once you’ve done that, your name will be entered into a raffle to win a free month of membership to SSG! Membership benefits include:
- early exhibition previews

- gallery mailings with updates and art happenings

- invites to our private events and discounts on tickets

- recognition on our website

The winner will be picked on Friday, November 26th, 2010. We will contact the winner via Twitter for more information about how to claim your prize!

We can’t wait for you to join SSG in an exciting Social Media event! Remember: look for our Twitter Post tomorrow (Tuesday, November, 23rd) and RT to win your prize!