Focus, attitude, risk, skill: these are the terms most used by barebrush guest curator, artist Robert W. Pillsbury, as he selected thirty one artists from among the 48 who entered. Bob reviewed a record 541 pieces, looking at everything. "I like to do a deep dive," he said. "Everything needs to be looked at."
Bob consistently opted for the riskier, edgier pieces and had a lot of comments. Of Jen Mazza, he said, "I want to see more of her work on barebrush." He continued, emphasizing, "She needs to put up more work. If Philip Pearlstein could paint with as much emotion as Jen Mazza, I'd like his paintings better." Bob called Jacqui Morgan's Allen, "thrilling" and Jon Reddich's Richard HC "powerful." He said that the work by Serge Lis was like looking at Magritte as a photographer. He called Ruth Butler's photograph, Between Venus and Uranus "painterly," and Tim Woodhouse's drawing, Random Pandemonium 1 "suggestive rather than literal". He considered Donna Cleary (Erased) and Lucinda Luvaas (Flying over City) as pushing their media. He enjoyed selecting Jean Marcellino (Looking at the Bright Side), Guenter Knop (The Call), Joe Mays (Curcuitboard Jungle #84), Trisha Lambi (Flamenco Dancer Diptych) and called them "risky." With Francien Krieg (Man's Point of View) and Charles Schindler (Strength of a Woman), he was speechless, and then finally said "I didn't realize you had anything like this out here, wow."
"I am immensely grateful to Bob for the thorough review of all the artworks and I am proud of this calendar and the caliber of the artists barebrush is attracting," says CEO Ilene Skeen, "Bob dove deeply into the process, as he intended, and had a few words for almost every artist he reviewed. and I believe this calendar is one of the strongest we've ever had. I feel that the calendar itself is emphasizing Bob's four key tenets: focus, attitude, risk, skill. You won't find a better small show of this genre anywhere."
The artists represented for May 2008 are: Ruth Butler, Donna Cleary, Donelli J. DiMaria*, Mollie Kellogg, Guenter Knop, Francien Krieg*, Kasper Holten, Trisha Lambi, Serge Lis, John Luce Lockett, Lucinda Luvaas, Jean Marcellino*, Joseph Mays, Jen Mazza*, Dan McCormack, Jacqui Morgan, David Moreschi, Frank Olesen, Kathy Ostman-Magneusen, Mercadoocasio, Richard Rabkin, Jon Reddich*, Chanit Roston, Charles Schindler, Ilene Skeen, Sara Swan, Suhas Tavkar, Randy Thurman, Haydee Torres, Judy Volkmann, Tim Woodhouse
Each of the artists selected for the calendar receives two (2) complimentary listings. Five artists, indicated by asterisks (*), are nominated for the Curators Choice Awards (box at right). Each nominee receives 8 additional complimentary listings and is in the running for cash prizes as well. YOU CAN VOTE NOW. Winners announced June 1st.
Check the 'New Art' to see the entries in the "Art Log". You can also enjoy the art offline with the free printer-friendly version and weekly planner (click on the tiny calendar icons, next to the month/year, above), or shop for barebrush gear including the calendar on shirts and bags (top menu). Click on the link at left for more about Robert W. Pillsbury.
