Art & Artists | The Visuals: Lee Steele

Crash back at Southport Galleries

04/04/2013 By Lee

A few years back, I was delighted to see Southport Galleries bursting with color and showing off its edge by exhibiting the street-inspired art of John “Crash” Matos.

Southport Galleries’s spring season kicks off with “Crash: Hide ‘N Seek,” which opens with a reception 6-8 p.m. Friday, April 12.

“Hide ’N Seek” explores the dazzling layers of signs, shapes, and patterns of our visual environment.

“My art is a visual link between street life and established society,” Crash saya. “Southport village as a venue is a dramatic juxtaposition to the south Bronx where I began tagging subway cars at age 13 ? but my works never looked better on the gallery’s generous white walls and amber-colored wood floors.”

Southport Galleries took over the old Village Hardware in 2009, and has transformed the storefront into an airy and smart art space.

Filed Under: Art & Artists, Galleries Tagged With: southport

Diana Vreeland: A First Lady at City Lights

03/25/2013 By Lee

Who would write this today?

Why don’t you…

tie black tulle bows on your wrists?

have a yellow satin bed entirely quilted in butterflies?

remember how delicious champagne cocktails are after tennis or golf? Indifferent champagne can be used for these.

upholster your car seat in fine camel’s hair? Hermes of Paris will do this for you.

wash your blond baby’s hair in dead champagne to keep its curl?

Diana Vreeland had such a flair for cockeyed fantasy. Both an outcast, a visionary and a determined confabulist, Diana Vreeland is an inspiration.

I’ve been enamored of her for years, ever since I saw “Full Gallop” on Broadway, a one-woman show with Mary-Louise Wilson that brought the former Vogue editor back to life. If you don’t know much about Diana Vreeland, then pay attention…

Now a new documentary about the legendary La Vreeland is on tap at City Lights Gallery.

FIRST LADIES, from Eve and Beyond, art exhibit at City Lights
FILM SCREENING AND CLOSING EVENT, WEDS. APRIL 3, 2013, 6:30 p.m.,
will feature a film about the First Lady of Style, Diana Vreeland “The Eye Has to Travel” documents the life and work of Diana Vreeland. Her career spanned five decades: as fashion editor of Harper’s Bazaar editor-in chief of American Vogue. She also was an arts patron and special consultant to the Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Light refreshment available, suggested donation: $5

City lights is located in downtown Bridgeport, CT 06604, (203) 334-7748

www.citylightsgallery.org

More aboout DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL documents one of the most influential women of the 20th century, “an enduring icon whose influence changed the face of fashion, beauty, art, publishing and culture forever.” Known for this and other statements: “the bikini is the biggest thing since the atom bomb,” Vreeland was considered the “Empress of Fashion.” She was the visionary beahind Twiggy and Jackie O.

World Artists’ Network sets up at the Arcade

02/19/2013 By Lee

WAN paints and cleans a storefront before setting up shop at the Arcade in Bridgeport

WAN opens up shop at the Arcade in Bridgeport

I first got to know the World Artists Network when their president, Valeria Garrido Bisceglia, gave a beautifully constructed series on art criticism at the Black Rock Library. I’ve seen her now and again, ever since, usually setting up or breaking down tables at an art fair or similar event. Now, I’m happy to see that WAN has a place to put down some furniture that won’t have to be folded up and carted away at the end of the day.

I hope to be there when they celebrate their grand opening at the historic Arcade Mall in downtown Bridgeport. Open by appointment or for special events, WAN’s storefront will give life to the downtown space.

The grand opening starts 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21 with an exhibit that will be up until April 11.

Filed Under: Downtown

Forest to Shore: ‘Kick Ass’ x 4

12/28/2012 By Lee

Stratford’s Forest To Shore Gallery promises both “horror” and “beauty” when they present four regional artists in a ”A Kick Ass Art Show” in a reception 6 p.m.-midnight Saturday, Jan. 26. (Why don’t more gallery receptions last until midnight?)

Live painting will be performed by all four artists on a single canvas throughout the night.

Also, there will be a special “Instagram raffle” with prizes donated from each artist and FTS.

FTS supplied this information about the artists: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Art & Artists, Galleries, Gatherings

Visual scavenger hunt at City Lights

12/24/2012 By Lee

City Lights is looking for artists interested in participating in the January 2013 exhibit ART/BPT/2013/DETAILS

For DETAILS, artists are encouraged to go on a visual scavenger hunt for “the soul of Bridgeport.” Artists can send jpegs (72 dpi) and inquiries to clgallerybpt@gmail.com. The submissions deadline is Dec. 27, 2012.

ART/BPT/2013/DETAILS will open Friday, Jan. 25, 2013.

Filed Under: Art & Artists

Bridgeport’s not-so-distant past at Framemakers

12/06/2012 By Lee

Majestic Theater in Bridgeport. Photo: Jay Misencik.

Bridgeport photographer Jay Misencik will be featured in a new show at Framemakers in Black Rock, starting with an opening reception 2-4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 8. Along with portraits of downtown’s workforce, a video will show rare photos of the downtown Palace and Majestic theaters, two regal but decaying 1920s landmarks which have been shuttered for 40 years.

Misencik’s portraits were featured at City Lights last January. The slices of life captured by his lens are at the Connecticut Post’s website.

Filed Under: Art & Artists

Alvarez Gallery celebrates 3 years

12/05/2012 By Lee

Fernando Luis Alvarez is celebrating three years in Stamford.

Stamford Advocate photo

Watch this Sunday’s Stamford Advocate for an anniversary story that’s not about any old, married couples.

The Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery will host “3 Year Anniversary: 10 Artists, 10 Parties” starting with a reception on Friday, Dec. 14. The gallery will feature the work of 10 FLA artists tasked with curating their own spaces and throwing their own parties on the gallery floors.

“It’s a very eclectic curatorial project that represents the full spectrum of who the gallery represents,” Alvarez told writer Scott Gargan.

When we visited Fernando last year, Alvarez told me that he was a game-changer for the local art scene. We can’t disagree.

Filed Under: Art & Artists, Galleries Tagged With: stamford

Passage to Cuba with Ben Ortiz

11/27/2012 By Lee

Alain Bertrand, “Viva Cuba”

For an American, it’s tough to permission to enter Cuba. Here’s an opportunity for art lovers.

Independent art curator Ben Ortiz is facilitating and accompanying a trip to Cuba for the Greenwich Arts Council. The ”Cuba Art and Culture Today” — An insider’s Education Exchange will explore Havana, Cienfuegos and Trinidad on March 17-24, 2013.

“This trip is designed as a people-to-people exchange of ideas between citizens of the United States and Cuba,” said Ortiz.

The tour will exchange culture and ideas at the homes of artists, some of them internationally known; see their work; visit various craft fairs, experience the wonderful national art museum in Havana, as well as the museum of the Revolution and other historic sites; and enjoy the Latin music and dance of Cuba. Our time in Havana will include walks through Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and visits to other neighborhoods which display the incredibly diverse architectural and artistic glories of Cuba.

The trip, including flight from JFK Airport, most meals, and lodging at the Parque Central Hotel, is $5,800 per person based on double occupancy.

Filed Under: Art & Artists Tagged With: cuba

Collector’s Press lithographs at HCC

11/26/2012 By Lee

The doors of the storage vault have again swung open at the Housatonic Museum of Art to reveal a fantastic print collection that focuses on Collector’s Press, a famed San Francisco-based [Read more...]

Filed Under: Art & Artists

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