art for the ears

Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed and John Zorn improvize at the Montreal Jazz Festival on July 2. Art reflects our times and this was art.

Louise and her laire

A Brief Respite

If it was essential that you work over the labor day weekend, like moi you might enjoy this. If there is the time and space you might pour yourself a Scotch or a Guinness since you won't have to worry about drinking and driving... although you'll feel refreshed from the journey.

Walking the Line

I don't know why it feels more appropro to lend my work the lyric of a Johnny Cash song than a line from Shakespeare - but somehow it does. Always in search of the authentic experience or expression, it doesn't matter to me where the truth lies - on the high or low end of the "critical brow."

All in all, this concern is less critical than the fact that the jpg posted here is blue and it should fall into a sepia range. I was planning on uploading the digital file for the print work very soon - like today - and now I wonder what is up with my file.

The image on the left is a drawing on panel and the file with text is built over a digital photograph of the drawing. It looks like I may need to do some more testing before I place my order. Maybe my muse is building in lag time so I'll reconsider the title? Hmmmm.

Madame Jacque

On Friday I was fortunate to be able to ride into Farmville with a couple of artist/curators who had business at the LCVA. It was the perfect opportunity to pay my respect to a dear friend and mentor, the sculptor Jackie Wall.

Jackie's story would be a good read and is the result of strong convictions and passion for the world around her. She's an advocate for art, culture, nature conservation, human relations, much less race relations! She has exhibited her sculpture throughout the mid Atlantic and been a force for change during the past 40 years or so in central Virginia.

Late one morning I was pulling into my studio parking lot and was shocked to hear Jackie's voice on NPR! She was interviewed as part of "Separate But Unequal, How a Student-Led Protest Helped Change the Nation." She is the voice of reason and promise in this interview that honored the 50th anniversary of Brown vs the Board of Education. If you visit this link and listen to the second part of the interview series you'll hear Jackie talking about her experiences during that era and the promise of the future.

She's the real deal. At 81, she's still a force of nature.

True Richmond

Richmond may seem like a city of Republican shoes, self-promoting lawyers, churches in every size, color and architectural style and NASCAR politics... but please consider your source before you form an opinion of this quirky Southern city.

We all shudder to remember the editorials that have been written in the local daily and we've basked in the glow of our nation's media spotlight via our domestic and cultural controversies. An opinion based on this information would be lopsided! To know the real Richmond, well, the one that captured my heart, you might want to read the Flashback column of Richmond Magazine each month. If you aren't a regular reader and pick it up on occasion before you have your teeth cleaned or cavities searched you'll have the chance to own a collection of the most memorable columns by their celebrated author, Harry Kollatz, Jr.*

This image above is a draft of the cover sent to the author by The History Press. It depicts the pyramid that is a cornerstone monument of our beloved Hollywood Cemetery. I've toured cemeteries all over Europe and the United States and Hollywood Cemetery ranks up there with some of the best with its views of the James River rapids, haunting monuments, Victorian details, lush landscaping and topography. Please don't let my enthusiasm for the cover art and its locale mislead you: True Richmond Stories is not a tourist guide or a history book. It is a collection of portraits of the profound, eccentric, backward and heroic people and places that, in summary, equal why Richmond is and always has been such a colorful place to live.

True Richmond Stories has gone to press and will be available in many bookstores in mid September. Until then you can order it here or subscribe to Harry's official blog and get a free copy!

*Harry Kollatz, Jr is my spouse and partner in art and life...

a now a moment for a word from our sponsor

I am not a God fearing gal though I think there should certainly be more Godliness in the world. We're wired for it, right? That's what they say though I don't know what side of the propaganda fence is being paid for that research... Anyway... regardless of how busy we are we've always taken time out to celebrate the wonder of spring and the rebirth it signals in all of us. It is a sacred time for us if there is one. Harry and I walked across The Fan to Monument Ave to pay our respects to the season, drink wine (too much, too early!) and honor this time in our lives.

Most everyone was dressed in winter garb and several asked Harry "Who are you supposed to be?" He always wears his seersucker for Easter, regardless of the weather and the undying tradition people have of never wearing linen or seersucker before Memorial Day. The birds like it. I like it. The rest of the world, with few exceptions, looked like they were going camping. I told my husband he should have answered "Oh, I'm supposed to be Harry Kollatz, Jr."

It was a splendid afternoon. The only thing that could have made it better would have been the presence of my mother, who has used up her time card for Virginia this season... and the presence of our beloved friends the Cusacks who were transferred to Massachusettes more than a year ago... where everyone must wear goose down until the summer thaw.

We miss them. Liz, I smoked a cuban cigarillo in your honor this afternoon!

midnight rendevous

Tonite is one of those nights Harry and I would love to be able to morph into two couples to avoid missing the many things that happen on a warm spring evening this time of year.

The French Film Festival is around the corner. Art a 'la Mode is downtown at 1708 and everyone is in a good mood (even the French) because the weather has been splendid and Richmond certainly competes with Paris regarding beauty and passion when the rites of spring are in the air.
Back in 1994, before I lived in Richmond, I ran into my friend Issac Regelson in Paris. I was on sabbatical and he was "doing research.." He was actually digging dirt at an Archeological dig near Hotel de Ville and they discovered the oldest evidence of life on the right bank of Paris - the crown of a Merovingian Princess. Issac struck it with his shovel and proclaimed voila! ici!! or something like that. He doesn't speak French and no one on the dig spoke English but everyone got it. I remember reading about it in the NYHT back when it was a great paper. Issac loved Paris but he was the first to tell me Oh, Paris is great but the Champs-Elysee has nothing on Monument Ave... and after spending a lot of time on both Avenues I must agree. I hope some of the 25 or so artists in the French Delegation made it past Carytown to see Monument Ave before they headed home. I know many of them spent their time out of the cinema smoking and eating ribs on the deck of the rib place across the street.

We spent the day in the Byrd but left enough time to switch to creative black tie gear for the annual auction at 1708 Gallery. It is probably the strongest collection of artwork I've witnessed go on the block for the gallery. The auction raises programming funds for one of the nations oldest artist-run galleries. Everyone was in a good mood and it was nice seeing a frenzy over art from local, regional and well known artists by local collectors. A slide show of the event can be seen here if you are curious. There were many pieces I would love to have gone home with. After the auction Harry and I met up at the Byrd for the midnight presentation of the French Film Fest. There was a lovely energy in the air - not quite the Marais on a lovely spring night but very close!
A presentation on the infamous French film archvist and scholar Henri Langoise the opening night of the VCU French Film Festival.

Dreams and Possibilities @ Whitney @ Altria

This show runs until the end of next week. If you are in NYC please take time to check it out. The Whitney at Altria is located right next to Grand Central Station right across the street from the Central Cafe. (The Cafe under the bridge across from one of the exits at Grand Central) Harry and Carole both showed up with me at different times and were interviewed by the Praxis Team. It was interesting meeting other participants from around the country.

Open source concepts are a very new idea for people who aren't involved with computers as part of their livelihood. Thirty - forty actors showed up everyday to participate in the performance aspect of this installation and many of them were not comfortable with the idea that their interviews would be uploaded to the internet... even if the results promised a feature length film. That's where we're headed, people. That's where WE are - you, and I. Its a bridge AND a wall... an idea I find very compelling in its inherent contradictions. Like any tool (I read this as fool in a rereading....hmmmm...), it depends on how one uses it and how one thinks about it.

More work in Progress

Today I've been listening to WWOZ wind down the last hours of Carnival before lent. Fat Tuesday is a day to get yer yayas out. Since I can't be there I've been conjuring my muse during the past few days. The quicktime show above is of a new body of work which addresses the history and language of portraiture. It's very different work for me in since it reverses my process and the drawings become photographs! Very appropriate for my dyslexic, ambidextrous state of being...

If you like the new work or find it interesting please share!
To really appreciate the day turn your digital dial to wwoz. They are broadcasting from Cafe Brazil on Frenchman St... with the best horn sections in the world. An on-going titles in my work evolved from the coffee shop that was run by the same crew of bohos that opened Cafe Brazil back in the last 80's or early 90's. Does anyone remember "Until waiting Fills?" It was the black hole of hip when Reagan was running the country and Edwin Edwards was gambling with Louisiana tax dollars in Vegas under the name of Wang Chung. It would be a much simpler felony to commit these days... now that NOLA has casinos.


This photo was taken back in the day... with the lucky bead lady standing in front of the cafe. I pulled it from the Fare Grounds website. The photo is from an exhibition at Fare Grounds which presented art and artifacts from the history of NOLA's great coffee houses.

timing

Show time.

I've decided to use our "guest quarters" as my air conditioned studio this summer. THIS IS A FIRST. The Virginia Beach show will require a different head space and presentation than the show at Randolph Macon - or any other show I've had for that matter. I can make art anywhere but the minutae of presenting it, framing it, etc is another matter.

Other considerations: White walls. Framing system and best of all: God next door. Really. "100 Artists Look at God" will be in the adjacent gallery. I'm thrilled! The show was curated by John Baldessari so I am confident it will be a great counter to what I am doing. The image above is representative of ths work that will be in a solo show slotted for August/September at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia in Virginia Beach.

Dinner at the White House

Not THAT White House! But... it is part of a complex that was designed by Thomas Jefferson! Last night, Friday, May 7, there was a black-tie Commonwealth Dinner on the hill here in Richmond. It was quite a gala for the Harryman and I. We were invited as representatives of the arts community (the Firehouse Theatre Project specifically) at a Gala Commonwealth Dinner at the Executive Mansion last night! This fete was quite unusual for us as well as for the Commonwealth. Under normal conditions Virginians don't take time to honor the contributions that artists make to the Commonwealth unless there is a beer truck close by... but Governor Mark Warner knows how to toast the arts!

As the first Democratic Governor Virginia has elected since Doug Wilder there are many thirsty artists around the state. Wilder was was not known for his support of the arts although his daughter is a very fine artist. The Republican Govenors weren't interested in the arts or if they were it was a secret to their constituents. Hence, there weren't many occasions for celebrating the Arts under their "reign." Mark Warner made up for lost time.

Diane Alexander and Tracey Welborn of the Virginia Opera performed under the glittering light of the mansion and the diamonds of the patrons at hand. Everyone was all smiles as they performed works from Verdi's "La Traviata, "Puccini's "La Boheme," Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" and Bernstein's "West Side Story."

I recognized many faces from across the state from my time participating on the Museum's Outreach Program of curator's who meet for statewide roundtable's several times a year. The "The Art Count Project" wouldn't have been possible without these hardworking curators and arts administrators. It was nice seeing them winded and dined. Working for a not-for-profit art institution is a labor of love but in the end everyone has to have the resources to pay their bills and send their kids to college. Running an art organization is like having a baby that always needs to be fed. It never really grows up in the sense that it will always need more. These women and men work very hard and make great contributions to the quality of life here.

Conversation's were broken by servings of a lovely pea and carrot puree, Virginia Rockfish wrapped in prosciutto, Summerfield Sirloin and an amazinf goatcheese cake with yogurt lime sorbet. It was heavenly. All of the wines were from Virginia wineries with the most distinctive being a 2001 New World Red from the Kluge Estate and Barboursville Vinyard's 2001 Malvaxia.

It was a lovely, lovely evening we ended by swinging on the long tree swing which hangs next to the Mansion. The Harryman looked pretty cute in his Tuxedo on the tree swing. Its hard to believe we pulled up the gate at the beginning of the evening in our ancient auto and the security guards asked us if we were with the band... um, I mean musicians in the orchestra!