"Illustrative" by James Dupree

Gallery 141 Presents Philadelphia Artist James Dupree


I've spoken of the Lancaster art scene before, and as of June's First Friday you can now find new and old works by James Dupree at Gallery 141. I introduced gallery owner and my close friend, Alana Hunter to my teacher and friend, James Dupree, shortly after I moved into Dupree Studios in West Philly. Immediately a show was in the works.

I also planted a seed back in March that resulted in a successful benefit show at James' own gallery in Philadelphia. Dupree Gallery hosted Foyer of Philadelphia whose president is also my good friend, Leigh Braden. Here is where I get recognized. :)



Anyway, Dupree's show, "Illustrative", at Gallery 141 is absolutely beautiful. Below left is a picture of a piece from a new series he has started entitled "Stay in the Light". Right is the artist standing between this piece and an older piece called "Life, Death, and Eternity". Both are mixed media.

The depth and light in these paintings, created by layers and layers, is breath taking. I should say that I intended this blog to simply be a report on the First Friday event and not any sort of comment on the actual art itself; but some things cannot go unsaid.



a view of the gallery- new, abstract works next to abstracted fish, above photorealism (one can also find posters of his painting of Philadelphia at the gallery)

others from the "Stay in the Light" series.

Also don't miss the aquarium section of the gallery where Mr. Dupree is showing his fish series: illustrative underwater paintings that look as if they are behind glass. (Incidentally, these can be ordered and glazed over by the artist in my different sizes using the Giclee print process)

But let's get to the opening night. Art lovers came out in the heat wave to see the work but none the less it was definitely a quieter night than usual. The featured artist was unable to attend the opening. Instead he attended his opening in Philadelphia at Sande Webster Gallery. This was a big show of Alumni from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.

One of Dupree's private students did make it out to the show. Maria has been taking classes at Dupree Studios for the past year. For more information on instruction and residencies, visit the Dupree Studios Inc website.

Below are more pictures from the opening night of the show in Lancaster: I enjoyed watching as visitors contemplated this mixed media work and debated how they were done.

Gallery 141 is accustomed to getting hundreds of visitors each First Friday and serves up refreshments as well as live music. Below is a movie clip of the entertainment on June 6th.

"Illustrative" by James Dupree will remain up until the end of month. However, Mr. Dupree will be showing various works there until the end of the summer. For the month of July, "Revisions" by James Dupree will be traveling from his gallery in Philadelphia to Lancaster City.

Gallery 141 is one of the original and most eclectic galleries in Lancaster. Showing local artists and jewelers, as well as selling beads and textiles. Activities range from First Fridays and Music Fridays to beading parties, birthday parties, and weekly Yoga classes. For more information visit their blog by clicking HERE.

Artwalk in Lancaster City

I've been trying to spread the word- about the lancaster city art scene..... People usually look at me blankly, like I'm not speaking English, or they say something about it being Amish country.

But First Fridays in Lancaster are exciting! Especially when it is nice out- with 40 galleries within walking distance and live music and art performances scattered throughout!

A couple of weeks ago I attended ARTWALK , an event that happens twice a year, which is like first friday except that it lasts a whole weekend!
Most of my pictures are at Gallery 141 (check out their website by clicking), a personal favorite of mine located on Water Street behind the A-plus.

Above right is a picture of local artist/musician, J.C. leaving his mark on the wall outside the gallery. Gallery 141 invites all its artist friends to paint a bubble in the underwater mural originally painted by Andrew Strode.I thoroughly enjoyed myself leaving my contribution to this Evolving Mural Project(right).


Below are some pictures of the movement performance by Kate of Catcow Yoga. What was most fun about this day is the way that J.C. and Kate combined their artistic activities as J.C. used her as inspiration for his 'bubble'.





































I did walk around to some other galleries and one that I really enjoyed was The Living Light gallery on Prince St. They have a wonderful variety of paintings and sculptures with very different styles and techniques with one thing in common, they are all very well done. Below are a couple of my favorites by three different artists but visit their website to see more by clicking on the name.
I love the orchids in this one. The style reminds me of Van Gogh.

I strive to create the light and dimension found in this abstract piece, in my own work.

And the serene beauty and skillful painting of this work caught my attention.

Another gallery on Prince Street that I enjoy is the Red Raven Art Company. This gallery had a lot of beautiful collages, prints, and watercolors out for art walk. Some of the ones I enjoyed were:

The piece with the birds was especially enjoyable in person. I think my favorite pieces were by this artist:

I guess what I'm saying is, Lancaster may be much smaller than philly, but I almost think its art scene is just as big!

The Chicken and First Person Arts

This is the Chicken

I have been invited by miss koco and First Person Arts to participate in the Salon tonight at the Gershwin Y. Miss Koco is doing a project called "Pieces of Koco" that takes objects that were once a part of her life and ejects them into someone else's experience.

A week and a half ago I selected, from her collection of things, a glass chicken. i was attracted to this object for a few reasons:

1. the strangeness of a glass, headless, de-feathered chicken
like, why did someone make this?
2. the color: red- such a strong, passionate color
3. the material: glass- oooooooooo, so pretty
4. the place it came from: Bucks Rock, a place that I had heard so much about before meeting Miss Koco....
5. and the thought: "wow, that would probably be hard to draw"


So I decided to do a week's worth of studies of my new glass chicken. Lately art has been an itch that I just have to scratch. The work I am always planning in my head is conceptual and autobiographical. But I don't believe in art that is just conceptual and not technical. So I am on a mission to hone my drawing and painting skills. If you can draw- you can do anything. This means a lot of quick studies and this is where Miss Koco's glass chicken fits into my life. What better challenge of my skills then a glass chicken?

So my first sketch was done at home, in Philadelphia, with ebony pencil. In the middle of these two sketches, there was an accident and the chicken lost a leg (see above pic). Very sad. So these are the only drawings done when the chicken had both legs.



Next, I decided to use colored pencil. I believe this work was done in Maryland, while visiting my mother. Chicken spent the day before with me at my friend's Gallery 141 in Lancaster City, PA.

I am fond of the shadow in this one.





The next two works I did were in charcoal. The first was a quick sketch I did on a break at a figure drawing class at Fleischer Art Memorial. One of the best 30-second sketches I ever did! I did the next one on Saturday before leaving for New York City. This might be my favorite of the bunch. I like the softness and I like the tail view for some reason!

Oh! and I almost forgot the one with oil pastel that I did at work! this one got kind of messed up because i never use oil pastels but everything is a learning experience! It was also large and therefore fun!

This last watercolor was done after driving home from a friend's house in Jersey.

Honestly, I had bigger plans for this project that a sudden cold prevented. I wanted to do an oil painting, a print, and a very large drawing. with an egg. i bought 3x4 foot paper. I honestly am no where near board with studying this chicken!

It's interesting, Miss Koco made me think about objects and the reasons we hold on to them. And documentation as art. I mean, all these drawings are, are documented moments between me and the chicken. I could easily part with this object because now the art has become the object. Whatever meaning I had in the chicken has now moved into the art. I think that it is time for the chicken to move on to its next adventure...

Frida Kahlo at the art museum

I had been looking forward to the Frida show, saving up my money to go... swearing I wouldn't go until I finished reading her diary. But on a whim, I went with a co-worker last friday night.

I love going to the museum at night. Wine, Jazz, and Art... I can't think of a more perfect combination.

It's funny cause I don't want to love Frida Kahlo's work, the whole Fridamania thing turns me off- I mean, if the general public loves her so much, I must be more refined than that! ;) However, I find her symbolism so romantic. And being the bleeding heart that I am, this appeals to me. Everything she painted was about love: Love of art, love of life, love of a man (Diego) and love of her country. I use similar icons in my own work but didn't realize how similar until I saw the show.


In this self portrait to the right, I love the way
she is looking at the viewer. I have no idea
what the monkey symbolizes and I only imagine
that the black cat is bad luck hovering over her.
What I love the most is the humming bird- it
is said that Hummingbirds bring love. Some
believe the Hummingbird is a messenger. If he
appears during a time of great sorrow or pain,
healing will soon follow. He also symbolizes the
fragility of nature and all living things. I have
always been attracted to humming birds, and
birds in general, wanting to use them in my
work, below are some images of my mourning doves.

















There are some romantic reasons why I chose the mourning dove, but I also like the duality of the name. Most of my art right now is about duality- the light and dark of things.

I see a lot of duality in Frida's work as well. I noticed in many of the paintings at the museum, both a sun and a moon in the backgrounds. There is also a piece where the hands of earth are both black and white. The painting below is one of my favorites.

I look at the two personas of frida and what stands out first are the hearts. I wonder why, on the left, she shows the inside of the chest and the inside of the heart, while on the right the heart is whole and shown on the outside. I have been using the heart as a symbol in my own artwork, drawing it as frida has, more anatomically than symbolically. What appeals to me about doing it this way is the loving, happy connotations to the red heart contrasted with the sort of macabre feelings of death and violence that the fleshy heart organ have. For me, this ties into the duality idea. Everything has a dark and light side- deep love can be so joyful as well as excruciatingly painful. This is something I am dealing with through my artwork, the realization in my twenties that there is no perfect love affair. An idealized relationship where both parties are desperately in love without fear, their entire lives, does not exist. Life is wrought with complexities. There will be dark and light times always. And people change and grow. And I wonder what this means for marriage- for commitment...and me.

Below is an example of a light button I started recently.
















What always happens to me when I enjoy shows, is I get depressed. I get the feeling that everything has already been done, and better than I am capable of doing. And I'm disappointed that I am so influenced by frida. It feels like I'm just copying her :(. But I can't abandon my ideas now, I have to see all the projects that I have started through. So all I can do is keep working at it. And go through the process.

This week's art

So I finished my first painting in oil. I painted with oils in college but never finished any paintings.... this one is going into the Fleischer Student Show this friday, not because I think it is great, but because there are cash prizes.

I have been working on a drawing too for the same show and I think there is a reoccurring problem with both- they are over worked. I am trying so hard to make them 3-dimensional and accurate, that they have lost the original personal sensitivity that came through me when I first looked at the models. For example, look at the picture I took of this same painting before I finished it:


I almost like this original better. I don't know. I have a lot to learn. I guess it is part of the process- working it and working it- even if the end result is uninspiring.

I will post my other painting for the show when it is finished tomorrow, and the drawing as well.

But if anyone is interested in seeing other art work i haven't finished over the years- my art scuttlebutt page has a gallery.

I need time. (and money)

I think that someone should pay me to be an artist.

I don't want to be sitting here, researching old paintings. I want to have time and money to make new art. 40 hours a week is too much time to give up, especially when I am still broke at the end of the week, and there is so much art to make!

I need time to research grants and residencies.
I need time to study, read about artists and their projects.
Time to learn about mold making and resin casting.
I need time to develop my own community art program in west philly.
I need time to draw and paint the figure.

THEN
I need time to make my light boxes- and figure out exactly what they are about
Time to finish my "struggle" print, hand color it, and make a collage out of it.
Time to finish the commissioned painting for my mom
I need time to finish the prints with dogs, about poverty and violence and desperation and fear.

and sometimes
I just want to knit myself a hat, or a pair of gloves, on the couch with my dog.

I need time.

I am looking for my art community

i am living my dream. almost.

i live in a building filled with art, in a city filled with art, and i have nights filled with art classes.

but i need more support. more artists to do this with.

who's in?