Margaret Rozga, Justice Freedom Herbs

Poet, activist Margaret Rozga has published a new book, Justice Feedom Herbs. Quite a sweet surprise to see my name mentioned in the acknowledgements. Thank you Margaret. We collaborated several years ago for the Poetic Dialogue Project under the auspices of the ARC Gallery of Chicago at the H. F. Johnson Gallery of Carthage College.

Poetic Dialog Project: Poetry — Art — Women
February 22-April 7, 2007
Featured artists: Granite Amit, Kina Bagovska, Nancy Charak, Laura Ann Cloud, Brooke Demos, Kathleen Dugan, Iris Goldstein, Kris Gosh, Carolyne King, Keli LeMoi, Lynette Mohill, Cheri Reif Naselli, Judith Roth, Charlotte Segal, Beth Shadur, Michele Stutts, Mirjana Ugrinov, Kelly Weime, and Amy Zucker.

Represented by Space Gallery, Featured "Five Game Changers"

You can see my artwork at Space Gallery, featured here in Denver Westworld Blogs, No. 2 on the list! Please come on by, it's at 4th Avenue and Santa Fe, Denver.

"If Michael Burnett and Melissa Snow wanted to be taken seriously in the art world, they sure picked the right path: building a custom-designed building for their Space Gallery that looks for all the world like a small museum. The two-story structure rises on the corner of 4th Avenue and Santa Fe Drive. Designed by architect Owen Beard's firm, Solid Design, it is an absolute show stopper. Beard took a prefabricated building kit and re-imagined it as a sleek neo-modernist structure assembling the parts in different ways than intended. The venue includes a large main exhibition space, with a fenced-in outdoor sculpture garden adjacent to it. There's a grand-staircase and at the top, a wrap-around mezzanine gallery that overlooks the main room. The interior has just the right amount of drama to attract events--in fact, you could say that it's just about the best place in town to hold a pot-friendly same-sex wedding -- or even a liquor-friendly regular one. The current exhibit, The 12 Inches of Christmas, features small works by artists in the gallery's stable."

Rothko Paintings Restored with Digital Imaging

From the Harvard Museums Website

"This new presentation of Mark Rothko’s Harvard Murals features innovative, noninvasive digital projection as a conservation approach. The exhibition returns this mural series to public view and scholarship while also encouraging study and debate of the technology."

"The technique employs a camera-projector system that includes custom-made software developed and applied by a team of art historians, conservation scientists, conservators, and scientists at the Harvard Art Museums and the MIT Media Lab. The digital projection technology restores the appearance of the murals’ original rich colors, which had faded while on display in the 1960s and ’70s in a penthouse dining room of Harvard University’s Holyoke Center (now the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center), the space for which they were commissioned. Deemed unsuitable for exhibition, the murals entered storage in 1979 and since then have rarely been seen by the public."

Panel 4, Mark Rothko, Harvard Mural

Panel Two, Mark Rothko, Harvard Mural

I am truly grateful that the conservationists have wisely decided to leave the paintings alone. I am however, slightly uneasy at the possibilities that going forward the solution to paints fading is to simply fire up the pixels. It is deeply disturbing that the paintings were carelessly exposed to degenerative lighting conditions in the first place. But, it is good to note that the conservationists understood that Rothko's somewhat unconventional technique of painting with pigment loaded into the rabbit skin sizing without a separating layer of varnish could not be touched.

Here's from the NYTimes, August 1988
"Although a quarter-century has passed since they were first displayed, the five murals Mark Rothko painted for Harvard remain a source of controversy and embarrassment at the university. Fingers have been pointed toward various factions in the Harvard administration and at the artist himself, but no matter where blame rests, the reasons for distress can clearly be seen: What Rothko donated to the university to cover the walls of a penthouse dining room intended for ceremonial functions has been irreparably damaged by overexposure to the sun. Lush crimson-toned paintings have faded to a variety of unrelated blue colors; they cannot be restored, The murals, which have also been ripped, spattered with food and marred by graffiti, were retired to storage nine years ago from the room in the Holyoke Center where they had been hung, their battered canvases a lingering humiliation to the university that had requested them. Plans to clean the panels and to install three of them in the school's Arthur M. Sackler Museum got far enough that the building's architect, James Stirling, included a niche for them in his plan."

I highlight the additional crimes committed to these paintings over and above damage from exposure to light, ". . .ripped, spattered with food. . .marred by graffiti."

http://www.markrothko.org/

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/sep/14/art1, interview detailing Kate Rothko Prizel's work to save the legacy and the paintings.

Galileo Was So Right

Space Gallery Denver Representation...

Space Gallery, 400 Santa Fe Drive, Denver

Thanks to gallerist Michael Burnett and co-curator Jo Marks Aardsma, I am delighted to hang in such good company. So, come on by.

"Space Gallery would like to welcome Taiko Chandler, Nancy Charak, Greg Friedler, Howard Hersh, Lisa Purdy, Betsy Stewart, Robert Striffolino and Laura Wait to our stable of artists. Visit the gallery to view new works from this exciting lineup."

"Though Denver's art world can trace its roots back to the late nineteenth century — the Denver Art Museum, for example, was founded in 1893 — it has only reached critical mass since the dawn of the 21st. The most obvious evidence of this was the construction of the DAM's Hamilton Buildingand of MCA Denver's new home in the mid-2000s; both were momentous events that raised the city's art profile nationally and internationally."

"But the biggest news on Santa Fe involves the aforementioned Space, which has just unveiled its brand-new, custom-designed building — and it is fabulous. Galleries typically occupy repurposed retail, commercial or industrial buildings, like Michael Warren and Point do, so a structure specifically created to display and sell art is pretty rare here; William Havu Gallery and Plus Gallery are the only other architect-designed art venues in Denver."--http://www.westword.com/2014-06-05/culture/space-gallery-grand-opening/

Paintings at Space Gallery Denver

Surface, a group exhibit featuring 10 of my paintings from my series, "How Many Miles to Babylon," and 9 of my small gestural pieces, opened last night at Space Gallery, 400 Santa Fe Drive, Denver. The show is up until November 1 of this year, please come on by. The other fine artists exhibiting are Jo Marks Aardsma, Tonia Bonnell, Sophia Dixon Dillo, Carlene Francis, Susan M. Gibbons, Nancy Koenigsberg, Diane McGregor, and Sharon Swidler. The exhibit is hosted by gallerist Michael Burnett and curated by Jo Marks Aardsma.

Nancy Charak photograph c. 2014

Nancy Charak photograph, c. 2014

Nancy Charak photograph, c. 2014

Nancy Charak photograph, c. 2014

Nancy Charak photograph, c. 2014

Nancy Charak photograph, c. 2014

Nancy Charak Exhibiting at Space Gallery, "Surface," Denver

How Many Miles to Babylon No. 5, c. 2014, Nancy Charak artist, 18"x24", oil, oil wash, polyester thread, copper roofing nails on unprimed cotton canvas.

Space Gallery in Denver, "Surface" for Friday, September 26 through November 1, 2014. Opening reception is that Friday the 26th, at 400 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, 80204, phone 720/904-1088. Please come on by.

Conrad Wilde Gallery has scheduled some of my new watercolors in a group exhibit, "Geologic Time," opening reception February 7, 2015 closes February 28. The gallery is reopening in a new location at 101 W. 6th Street, downtown Tucson.

Next year, "Black" is scheduled for November 2015, at Space Gallery as well. I will post updates as the schedules are firmed up with opening and closing dates.

My work is on display and for sale at The Nevica Project, under the auspices of Jayson Lawfer, at 3717 N. Ravenswood Unit 115W, Chicago, IL 60613, (406) 360-0164. Take a look, he has a nice stable of artists that I'm tickled to be listed with.

ROUNDER STUDIO has moved. I have pulled an Agnes Martin, decamping to the southwest, Tucson. Now engaged in the delightful exercise of making art work for these and other upcoming shows.

Wegman's Weimaraners ABC

Just because Wegman, so there.

Curiosity on Mars at the Mountain

Winged Victory

More of watching people look at art, a repost of this video. Winged Victory, Samothrace, Louvre.



Louvre, Paris, April 2011.

Denver...Opening 9/26 at Space Gallery

Heading back to Denver for the Opening of Surface at Space Gallery, 400 Santa Fe St., from 6 to 9pm. Please come on by.

"Blue Bear, Denver," Nancy Charak, photograph, c. 2013

"Scramble, Denver," Nancy Charak, photograph, c. 2013

A little bit about the Blue Bear, "I See What You Mean," and the artist Lawrence Argent. . .and the nose was at the corner of 14th and Arapahoe, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

American Gothic

Short video, Grant Wood, American Gothic, Art Institute of Chicago, I like to watch people looking at paintings. I feel as if I am eavesdropping.

Surface at Space Gallery Denver 9/26--11/1/2014

Come see my work and the work of other fine artists: Jo Marks Aardsma, Tonia Bonnell, Michael Burnett, Sophia Dixon Dillo, Carlene Frances, Susan M. Gibbons, Nancy Koenigsberg, Diane McGregor, Sharon Swidler

Surface (part 5 in the Art of the Real Series)

Showing: September 26th 2014 - November 1st 2014

Opening Reception: Friday, September 26th 6-9pm
Space Gallery is at 400 Santa Fe Drive, Denver CO 80204, 720.904.1088
 

How Many Miles to Babylon No. 3, c. 2014, 18"x24", oil, oil wash, polyester thread, copper roofing nails on unprimed cotton canvas, Nancy Charak artist

Space Gallery:  This show interests itself in the “non-objective”: art that is not representational, that contains no recognizable figures or objects, art that has no intentional derivation from any concrete matter.

The work for this show was selected because each artist uses the surface as a crucial element beyond a vehicle on which to apply a medium….either revealing what is behind/under the surface or concealing/altering/manipulating the surface itself and in a palette of white, black, gray, or neutral.

Samwise Gamgee the Wonder Dog

A year ago yesterday, August 29, 2013, I called my friend, Slim, said to her, "get in the car, come pick me up, we're going to the pound to get me a dog." Here he is, Samwise Gamgee, a year later. The pound, Pima Animal Care Center, found him as a stray near the I-10 freeway and Ruthrauff Road, when I took him he had been there for nine days. I was so totally not prepared for how hard it was to walk around the many kennel stalls to see so many beautiful, misplaced dogs hungry for affection and a place to call home. Sam had been neutered and chipped, with no response from the previous owner who had the foresight to chip him. I walked around the kennels and kept coming back to him. There was a lovely dog in the stall next to him, who was barking loudly, whereas Sam was at the gate looking at me. In retrospect, the pound may have named him Harpo because he did not bark. He finally barked three days later, a small one to let Slim and I know that he heard us at the door.

Sam is a true companion, and well-named. Samwise Gamgee went with Frodo Baggins all the way to Mount Doom and back to their home in the Shire. Sam is a good trail dog, a good car dog, logging many many miles with me across the west, a good sport, sweet and gentle. Best guess by the vet is that he is eight or nine years old.

Samwise Gamgee, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

Samwise Gamgee, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

Harpo, c. 2013, Nancy Charak photograph

Surface What Is It?

Surface: tactile, edged, shadowy, illusory, lustrous, spiny, woven, shimmering, satinous, smooth, watery, patterned, rough, wavy, irregular, abraded, luminous, finished.

All pieces are 18"x24", oil, oil wash, polyester thread, copper roofing nails, wood glue on unprimed cotton canvas, will be on display at SPACE Gallery, from September 26 through November 1, 2014. Opening reception, Friday, September 26th, please come on by.

These pieces will be on exhibit with a number of fine artists, including Jo Marks Aardsma, Sharon Swidler and Diane McGregor.

How Many Miles to Babylon No. 6, c. 2014, Nancy Charak artist

How Many Miles to Babylon No. 8, c. 2014, Nancy Charak artist

How Many Miles to Babylon No. 9, c. 2014, Nancy Charak artist

How Many Miles to Babylon No. 10, c. 2014, Nancy Charak artist

4,947, On the Road to Crater Lake

The first four were taken with the GoPro Hero mounted to the dashboard on the Road to Crater Lake National Park. The map says it is 43 miles from Klamath Falls to Crater Lake, it felt longer, miles and miles of towering evergreens. And then, to see that caldera of the ancient volcano filled in with the most astonishing blue waters is mind-blowing. There's where I used the DSLR.

Road to Crater Lake 01, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

Road to Crater Lake 02, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

Road to Crater Lake 03, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

Road to Crater Lake 04, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

Crater Lake 01, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

Crater Lake 02, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

4,974, ctd.

Inglenook Vineyard, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

View of Columbia River, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

Birds Over Columbia, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

Drainage Pipe Astoria, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

Raven over Portland Wilderness, c. 2014, Nancy Charak photograph

4,947: Zion National Park

Once again taken with the GoPro Hero camera in hand held burst mode through the mile long tunnel in Zion National Park. Note, this is a silent movie.

4,947 Miles

Samwise Gamgee, otherwise known as Sam the Wonder Dog, and I just completed a journey by car of 4,947 miles. Sam was a trooper, rarely complaining as he was hauled in and out of cars to visit family and friends, then national parks and humongous western scenery for all those miles across 24 days. On the last two days, when asked to get back into the car, he'd look up with this "really, Nancy?" kind of mild glare. A couple of times he nudged me to stop the car for a rest wherein he did not pee or poop, just walked. Good dog, Sam.

Our route took us from Tucson to Los Angeles, to Napa, to Grants Pass, to Portland, to the Oregon beach, to Vancouver BC, back to Portland, then to Crater Lake, to Lake Tahoe, to Elko, to Promontory Point, Zion, Bryce, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then via Flagstaff back to Tucson.

Nancy Charak photo c. 2014

Nancy Charak photo c. 2014

Nancy Charak photo c. 2014

Nancy Charak photo c. 2014

These particular photos were taken with a GoPro Hero. I originally had the camera mounted on the dashboard of the car only to realize that I was mostly taking pictures of the hood of the car at 60 second intervals without any control. So, I took to hand holding the camera, which has no viewfinder and no feedback until it is downloaded back to a computer, out the window of the car when I saw scenic views, in burst mode, three at a time.

Parenthetically, I should add, that for huge portions of the road, it was the phenomenon of "oh look, there's another scenic vista," and another, and another.

Art Friends Keep Me Warm

Sean Scully says it's very important for a young artist to have friends, because friends keep you warm. Now that I'm no longer a young artist, this is still a truth. So here's to Sharon Swidler, Mary Jo Marks Aardsma, Diane McGregor, Judith Roth, Jason Messinger, Scott Simons, Dara Felz, Basia Krol, Randi Russo, Emily Roynesdal, Jim Pinto, Joey Wozniak, the entire Artists' Breakfast Group, my art-friends who keep me warm. You should look up their work, you should, it'll keep you warm too.

Picture of the Day, Oregon Coast

Posted for no reason other than I want to.

Oregon Coast 2007, c. Nancy Charak photograph

Artist of the Day: Joan Mitchell

My artist of the day is Joan Mitchell, fellow Chicagoan. h/t to Hyperallergic. I had the pleasure of seeing her work just about every working day for 10 years while at my job at the big law firm. So many of my co-worker secretaries had no clue what they were looking at.

Joan Mitchell, artist

Joan Mitchell, artist

Joan Mitchell, artist

How Many Miles to Babylon No. 9, Work in Progress

Here's No. 9 in the How Many Miles to Babylon series for the show "Surface" at Space Gallery in Denver, opening September 25th, this year. Please come on by, I'll be hanging with Mary Jo Marks Aardsma, Diane McGregor, Sharon Swidler, Nancy Koenigsberg, Tonia Bonnell, Sophia Dillo, Carlene Frances, Sue Gibbons, under the good auspices of gallerist Michael Burnett, at 400 Santa Fe Drive, Denver. Space Gallery got a terrific write up here.

How Many Miles to Babylon No. 9 is 18"x24", oil, oil wash, polyester thread, copper roofing nails, wood glue on unprimed cotton canvas.

How Many Miles to Babylon No. 9, c. Nancy Charak artist, 2014

Artist of the Day: Judith Joseph

My artist of the day is Judith Joseph. We met through overlapping memberships in the ARC Gallery, women's art cooperative in Chicago. Judith Joseph's work is about color, light, joy and simchas. I always look closely at her work because there are always sweet surprises in them. Should I ever marry (what again! nah), she will make my ketubah.

Plumeria Ketubah, 2007, Tucson, Arizona, 18" X 24", Judith Joseph, artist
collection Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Stein

And one more thing, she blogs. Find Judith Joseph's blog here.

Artist of the Day: Kevin Swallow

My artist of the day is Kevin Swallow, a stalwart, devoted, lunch-bucket kind of artist. He shows up every day and works. He works in the historic Cornelia Arts Building, in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago.

Here he is announcing a corporate commission.

Wrigley Building, Kevin Swallow artist, 2014

Work in Progress, How Many Miles to Babylon No. 7

Can't resist putting it up for all to see. Here's No. 7 in the series, How Many Miles to Babylon. To repeat the poem...the first six lines are from the old British nursery rhyme, the final five lines are mine, for what it's worth. This piece, like the others in the series, is 18"x24", oil wash, polyester thread, copper roofing nails, wood glue on unprimed cotton canvas.

How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Can I get there by candle-light?
Yes, and back again.
If your heels are nimble and light,

You may get there by candle-light.

How many miles to the hanging gardens,
How many miles to the Babel tower,
How many miles between the two rivers,
How many miles from the Hydaspes,
How many miles to Enkidu and Gilgamesh wrested in clay?

How Many Miles to Babylon No. 7, c. Nancy Charak, artist, 2014

How Many Miles to Babylon No. 6, Work in Progress

Here's No. 6 in the series, 18"x24", oil wash, polyester thread, copper roofing nails on unprimed cotton canvas. No. 7 is in work.

How Many Miles to Babylon 06, c. Nancy Charak, artist, 2014

Stale Conjecture re Gardner Heist

h/t Art Law Report, FBI Claims to Have Confirmed Sightings. . .

"The FBI said today that the bureau has received “confirmed” sightings of the works of art stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. Thieves dressed as police robbed the museum of thirteen major works of art on March 18, 1990, including works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and Manet. Read carefully, however, the story is nothing new at all, just a retelling of last year’s “news” released around the anniversary of the theft and a raft of conjecture."

The FBI's report is talked about earlier.

Here's another view on this from the ARCA blog...

Vermeer, The Concert

Work in Progress: How Many Miles to Babylon 05

Here's No. 5 in the How Many Miles to Babylon series, on the table out on the balcony drying, or rather, curing. Oil paints don't dry, they cure. 18"x24", oil wash, polyester thread, copper roofing nails, wood glue on unprimed cotton canvas.

How Many Miles to Babylon 05, c. Nancy Charak, artist, 2014