Reduce, Recycle, Reuse equals art

My favorite kind of art is made from recycled objects, injecting into them a new and sometimes curious life. Jim Shores is a self-taught artist from Georgia, who falls in to this group of talented folk. He creates metal sculpture, assemblages and environmental art from discarded objects and I dare you not to smile when you spot one. His art is delightful and his friends think a whole lot of good about him.

European Naive works come to the big city......

My pal, naive artist Guido Vedovato of Italy is showing his colorful and very charming works in New York City next month at the Gina Gallery of Naive Art. If you are in the city, don't miss this chance to see the highly talented international artists who will be joining him in this stunning show. A rare chance to see what is being created outside of the hallowed NY art scene. Definitely a highlight of the season!

Dots....eat them, play them, love them

Amy Myers wrote to tell me about a "board and care" residential facility that houses 250 people suffering from debilitating mental illness located in San Pedro, California. In this space there is a Living Museum Art Center, where a handful of dedicated artists spend the major portion of each day. Amy tells me these artists derive great satisfaction out of their work and in some cases discovering their creativity has literally saved their lives by giving them a sense of purpose. Jennifer Flores is one of these talented people and her "Dots Guitar" will certainly bring a smile to your face. If you have any interest in seeing more of her work, please contact
Amy Myers
Living Museum Art Center at Harbor View House
921 S. Beacon Street
San Pedro, CA 90731

Doodles to die for.......Ian Pyper

As it succinctly says on his website," Ian Pyper creates drawings; he induces visions. Pyper uses marker, watercolor and paper, like a caveman used burnt wood, spit and a hard rock wall, to show us clearly what he sees." This entirely self-taught and outsider artist from the UK wows his audience with a cacophony of color and line, dots and doodles, and wins an ever larger audience each time. Paper saturated with watercolor and ink mesmerize the eye and spirit alike. I like!

Squeakie turns to folk art........

"James Stone has been called "Squeakie" for as long as he can remember. He was born in Georgetown County, South Carolina, in 1951. When he was growing up, the family moved every few years or so because his father was a sharecropper and carpenter, and they moved where the work was. Squeakie started work at "handing" tobacco (passing the leaves on to a worker who strung it for drying) when he was just five or six years old. As he got older, he was involved in all aspects of the operation, from pulling plants, setting tobacco, hoeing, cropping. And he picked cotton. He worked in a few factories and grocery stores over the years, and then began working as a house painter about thirty years ago." Check out his website to hear the rest of this self-taught artist's story and see more of his work.

Jammin' at the Cotton Club.....

These life sized sculptures by Dirk Dahl have to be seen to be believed. He has lovingly captured the feel, the sound, and the spirit of Jazz greats, when Jazz was great. When I was a teen, my cousin, Fred, took me under his wing and brought me to the famous nightclub, Storyville, in Boston in the late.....forget it..... I'm not going to tell you the decade! There, and at the Worcester Auditorium, and at the Newport Jazz Festival we saw Ella Fitzgerald, Woody Herman and his Thundering Herd, Louis Armstrong, and so many more of the top musicians in the new world order called Jazz. Years later my friend Dirk was hearing about these same musicians and their performances at the Cotton Club in Florida. He started on a quest to honor each of his favorites and here are images of a couple more of his truly amazing sculptures. I can hear the music.....

Greek Outsider artist, tissue paper magic

Greece still beckon Katerina Mourati, who was born there in 1962, and still returns to Patmos for solitude and respite. Germany is now her home and her tissue paper drawings and paintings are as mystical and magical as the islands she so dearly loves.

Outsider Art shown at German Fair

Here's a photo of Alexandra Huber's art on the walls of the famous Artfair in Karlsruhe, Germany. This is a spectacular fair and thankfully it was very successful for all involved. There will be a show of her work called "Alexandra in America" from May through July at the Beverly Kaye Gallery and more of her work can be seen by clicking on the title link. Feel free to join the Galley's facebook page as a Fan.

"We Need A Holy Place", Outsider Art....

Two of the larger Alexandra Huber works on paper, 19" x 25", chosen from a large body of her latest works, are now available at the gallery. The first is titled "'Schrages Kabinett" or in English,  "Crazy Cabinet" and the second is titled "We Need A Holy Place". $1800 a piece. Alexandra just returned from the famous Artfair in Karlsruhe, Germany, and in her words,

"it was very successful in spite of the crisis."

"Magic Place" a sample of what the future holds.....

Although her German agent decided to withdraw from the Outsider Art Fair, he faithfully delivered to me a cache of new and very exciting works by Alexandra Huber. New York fans, as well as anyone else who missed seeing her work at the February show, will not be disappointed with the quality of works selected.  The art is being photographed and will be posted soon on 

artbrut.com which is the address for the Beverly Kaye Gallery. Two larger mixed media pieces and ten of the 6" x 6" smalls will be added to the extensive portfolio of Huber works represented here. Alexandra remains one of Europe's top self-taught artists, and her current shows and catalogues will be listed when the new works are ready to go public. This little gem called "Magic Place" is a great example of what is to follow.

Algerian, Moroccan and political folk art

The stark compelling images of Algerian, Moroccan, and American artist, Fethi Meghelli, are a cross between dreamlike folk tales and political pronouncements. This talented, respected, and highly trained artist creates works which wrap themselves around your brain. In this intriguing piece called "Other Realities", two mesmerizing images are printed on the same piece of arches paper. Each powerful in their own right, together they are magic. Offered from a private collection, 17" x 12" unframed, $500

Acoma Pueblo Pottery, self-taught art

   

 Lucy Lewis was a matriarchal Pueblo Indian artist, whose works are in permanent museum collections all over the world. She lived and worked at Acoma Pueblo, carved into the top of a sandstone bluff called Sky City, an hour's drive west of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Lucy brought renewed interest in old designs, such as the lightening jar and the bear heart line. Her pottery was graceful and much admired, and all of her daughters, as well as her son Andrew, became potters in their own right. Nieces followed in the family tradition and some of the finest and thinnest walled pieces bear the Lewis name. Click on the title and you will see more of this collection, which I hand picked during memorable visits with the family in the 1980's and 1990's. 

Dolores and Emma Lewis were gracious hosts and thanks to them I was able to meet Lucy and watch as she painstakingly decorated some of her final pots. The last time I saw Lucy, a French film company was making a video of the pottery process, which was eventually titled "Daughters of the Anasazi". If you can find a copy, it is a detailed  and fascinating explanation of the entire process, from the hunting for the clay to the dung firing. All of the pieces shown in the link are now offered for sale.