VOODOO MARASA (ROOTS & SPIRITS)
Pierre Sylvain
October 30-December 18, 2015
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Voodoo Marasa (Roots and Spirits) by Haitian artist Pierre Sylvain celebrates the joy of voodoo, including Creole words, color combinations and international symbols infused throughout most major world religions. In this series, each painting depicts a different "Loa", or "little god" of the Haitian people and their voodoo culture. Each Loa is omnipotent and functions differently to support its believers.
As an artist, Pierre Sylvain is inspired to enlighten others about voodoo culture beyond the general association to voodoo dolls and zombies. Voodoo is more than a religious practice, it is about creating community, unity, healing, and finding peace and belonging. Voodoo is among the world's most misunderstood religions, due in part to popular portrayal by Hollywood. Voodoo practitioners have deeply committed beliefs that higher powers enhance their lives, offer protection, show love to the earth and enrich the history of the Haitian people.
Each piece in Voodoo Marasa (Roots and Spirits) includes texture, found objects, and mixed media combinations.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Pierre Sylvain is a self-taught artist and has exhibited throughout New England and the United States. His works are in private and public collections throughout North America, Europe, and the Caribbean. Sylvain is the founder and curator of Art for Haiti, an annual collective show of community artists partnering with CT/Haitian Non-Profits. In addition to showing his work, Sylvain enjoys teaching art for individuals and in the community.
The pieces to be exhibited in Voodoo Marasa (Roots and Spirits) at Hartford Public Library's ArtWalk will include different textures, found objects, and mixed media combinations. For more information on the artist please visit his webpage at www.pierresylvain.com.
Click here to view Pierre Sylvain's artist video
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OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE WORLD: CONNECTICUT TO SINGAPORE
Janette Maxey
August 28-October 9, 2015
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Things you notice when entering a new culture - people, food, everyday items in a store, street signs, the textures and colors of a place. No filters and all overwhelming. A short time passes, curiosity takes hold, you go deeper into that place and form answers to questions starting with the reference points in your own past.
A lifetime resident of Connecticut, I left for an adventure abroad to live in Singapore, the Island/City/State/Country one degree north of the equator in exotic, (or so I thought), South East Asia. Upon my return, I rediscovered my own Town/State/Country realizing it was more curious and unusual than I ever thought possible.
This exhibition compares and contrasts people, places, and everyday objects in Singapore and Connecticut. This series of gouache paintings tells a story of these two places, and my connection to them, as an informed insider and a curious outsider.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Janette Maxey was born in California and lives and works in Connecticut. She holds an AS in Fine Arts at Tunxis Community College, and a BFA (magna cum laude) in painting from The Hartford Art School. Before finishing her BFA she studied abroad in Cortona, Italy. In addition, she has studied at the Art Students League of New York, New York Studio School and The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.
Maxey has received the following residencies: The League Residency at VYT Campus - part of the Art Students League of New York, Vermont Studio Center, and the Urban Artist Initiative studio residency at the Farmington Valley Arts Center. She has also been awarded grants from the Ruth Katzman Scholarship in loving memory of her parents Lillian and Max Katzman for Artist-in-Residence Program, Middletown Commission on the Arts, The Urban Artist Initiative through the Institute of Community Research, and Banca Popolare of Cortona, Italy.
She has exhibited throughout New England, Italy, and Singapore. Her works are included in private and public collections in North America, Europe and Asia.
Click here to view Janette Maxey's artist video
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THE SCULPTURES OF DAVID HAYES
June 5-August 7, 2015
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
In a career that spanned six decades, Connecticut modern master sculptor David Hayes worked with cutting torches and arc welders to create art that has been exhibited all over the world, including at MoMA and the Guggenheim Museum.
Hartford Public Library is already home to Hayes' six-ton, seventeen-foot "Large Vertical Motif" steel and paint structure that stands prominently on Main Street.
His son, David M. Hayes, presents his father's artistic legacy with select works of a smaller scale at the Downtown Library's ArtWalk space.
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A HARTFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY SCRAPBOOK: THE WONDERS WITHIN
Gwen Reed
April 15-May 11, 2015
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
In celebration of National Library Week, Hartford Public Library presents a sampling of collections and memories from its Hartford History Center with a look back at the Library's history. Selected pieces from the archive highlight Hartford's history as well: an artist rendering of humorist Mark Twain, an iconic poem of Wallace Stevens, and recognition of the accomplishments of Hartford activist Gwen Reed.
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HEAD TO TOE
Joe Bun Keo
February 13-April 8, 2015
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Being Asian-American is a "mixed blessing". Despite my rich heritage, I experience cultural taboos and faux pas daily. My nationality is American, my ethnicity is Cambodian (Khmer), yet I speak a dialect of Thai, but I can't read or write Khmer or Thai. English is the only language that I can comfortably utilize, but I still don't feel accepted as an American. Learning English was one of the most difficult things growing up. Silent letters, homonyms, idioms, slang, SMS text-talk and other facets of the contemporary vernacular are so complex.
The phrase "head to toe" implies a sense of completion, a sense of a whole; something that I've been trying to attain in regards to my cultural identity.
I use this adversary relationship with foreign tongues as the inspiration behind my work. There's just conflict; a perpetual tension that I wish to showcase. I hope the results will manifest in clear presentations of my trials and tribulations of ironically verbalizing my life as an Asian-American.
"Head to toe" also implies two points. "Point A" is the head and "Point B", are the feet. The head is the most sacred part of the human body in Southeast Asian culture. The feet are considered the most vulgar. It represents two extremes.
This exhibition will explore both of the title's meanings in the form of installation, sculptural and conceptual works.
Click here to view Joe Bun Keo's artist video
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UPCYCLED SAMPLER
Anita Gangi Balkun
December 5, 2014-January 9, 2015
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
I am a collector of the commonplace. My work reuses stuff headed for the recycle bin or trash and transforms it into unexpected forms. The straightforward integrity of the materials allows the sculptural and sometimes interactive aspect of the artwork to highlight extraordinary qualities of the objects. I search for content within the history of the object - its use or its journey - and use that information as a springboard to the form. Abundance, multiples, texture and generosity also have their place in the artworks.
While the "stuff" is familiar, its juxtaposition to a particular space or daily activity adds potency and intention to its artistic transformation. This sampling of artwork demonstrates the ability of throwaway materials to transform the spaces they occupy, availing you to see them in a new context and in large-scale formats. They fuse recognizable materials to the tempo of life, and often originate through situations of personal serendipity.
Click here to view Anita Gangi Balkun's artist video
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FAMILY TRAITS
Isabel Acosta
September 12-October 24, 2014
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
My strong will pushed me to pursue my dreams, so with pain in my heart and body and with tears in my eyes, I moved to the United States, leaving my family behind.
The feeling of displacement is shared by many others around the world who have left behind their roots. I am a Latina woman who is trapped in two worlds, the one that gave me birth and raised me up, and the one I now stand in.
When I create, I picture my family and each of their distinct personal features from my memories. I strive to bring them close to me by depicting certain gestures, feelings and moods in my work. Reflected in my work are intimate details that I reveal. Through my work, I express my wonder at how many women feel the inequality between the sexes in all spheres of life, no matter how far they went with their education.
My voluptuous sculptures are intended to represent the human figure - embodied in a guitar shape - and to capture the sentiment of its sound. Each of them has their own distinct echo; the most profound can be spoken.
Click here to view Isabel Acosta's artist video
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YOUNG @ ART!
Joe Young
July 3-August 25, 2014
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Joe Young uses his pen to inspire and encourage others – embracing the lives and outlooks of inner-city youth and the community-at-large. As a cartoonist and community activist, Young first introduced the comic strip Scruples in 1988, featuring childlike characters with billiard-ball-size eyes who reflect upon thought provoking messages on current topics such as: AIDS, drugs, teen pregnancy, prejudice and violence.
Mr. Young received the prestigious Daily Point of Light Award in 1999 from the White House for volunteering his time in bringing the Arts to disadvantaged children. He and his work has appeared in People, Ebony, GQ and Jet magazines, the Boston Globe, New York Times, C-Span, US Weekend, CNN and other national media outlets.
Featured pieces in this show include a section of the “The World’s Longest Comic Strip,” created in 1997 and recognized by Guinness World Records. The entire piece was 6 feet high by 100 yards long and featured contributions from celebrity artists such as CBS Morning Show anchor Gayle King and NBA basketball star Ray Allen.
Also featured is the Scruples Apartheid Comic Strip, which was awarded first place in the CRT's National Arts Program in the 1990’s and later commissioned by the Desmond Tutu Refugee Fund to help raise money for South African refugees.
Click here to view Joe Young's artist video
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LIFE OF IMAGES
David Holzman
May 9-June 20, 2014
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
A life of images. An unending series of pictures and objects that transcribe the points in a life. One image leading to the next, series within series, each a story leading to another. I'm a native of NYC, having grown up in the museums, looking at pictures and objects from the world's cultures. Like any artist, I have developed a belief system about what is worth doing. A work of art must say something on a human level. It should encourage the viewer to look at it because it is stimulating to look at. It should be able to stand alone. My own work of the last 30 years has been inspired by two great formats- the woodcut narrative and surrealist automatic drawing. The art of indigenous cultures and the work known as outsider art have also contributed to my sensibilities. The idea of a collective unconscious suggests that it is possible for an artist to play an interpretive role in society. I want to blend archetypical symbols with a personal surrealism to present images that illustrate the human spirit. Each day is an opportunity to return to an inner source. The goal is to drink from this continuous fountain of imagery, every day, as long as I'm alive.
Click here to view David Holzman's artist video
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CONNECTICUT WOMEN'S HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES PORTRAIT EXHIBIT
March 17-April 27, 2014
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
The Inductee Portrait Exhibit is a beautifully executed collection of framed images and biographies honoring Connecticut women, past and present, women of great achievement who have broken new ground or have emerged as leaders in their fields of endeavor. The exhibit consists of 65 framed black-and-white portraits of CWHF Inductees (1994-2002). Each portrait is accompanied by a short biography of the Inductee. It is elegant and eye-catching in its simplicity and makes a wonderful addition to Hartford Public Library’s other ongoing exhibits and programs honoring work and women in Connecticut.
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DIALOGUES: IMPROMPTU CONVERSATIONS IN COLOR
Carlos Hernandez Chavez
February 7-March 15, 2014
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
From my earliest memory, color has always been my guide and companion in discovery. It's been there silently, an undeniable presence in everything that I see and do. It brings consciousness into things that may be insignificant to others: the iridescence of a bird's plumage, or the morning's pink and yellow sunbeams washing on my bedroom wall; the orange glow of streetlights on freshly fallen snow; the shiny rainbows flowing in an oil slick washed by the rain; the refreshing, diaphanous blue and cadmium orange pigment of pre-dawn light; the screaming neon of street cones; the wind-blown red and yellow leaves on a wet road; and so much more.
I see color as a symbol to many emotions and feelings; to joys and sorrows; to wonderment and spirituality. Color continues to be an energizing force for me, at once silent and with a strong, loving voice, that makes whole what might be an otherwise incomplete existence.
Color is Life.
Click here to view Carlos Hernandez Chavez's artist video
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AT THE START OF THE END OF HISTORY
David Borawski
December 13, 2013-January 17, 2014
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Iconic societal events can define a time, a place, a beginning and an end. We sit in front of glowing screens and watch in helpless awe as democracy plays out its endgame. Corporations were given constitutional protections while humans are being denied those same protections. All the while, the escapades of celebrities-gone-wild and murderous psychopaths are held up before our eyes like shiny objects in the hands of hypnotists.
The work in this exhibition seeks to draw upon and highlight a select group of those game changing events, suggesting connections, similarities, oddities and mysteries, as the viewer navigates the veiled layers of information and follows the bread crumb trail out of the forest.
Click here to view David Borawski's artist video
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THE WANDERLUST OF SED MILES
Sed Miles
October 18-November 15, 2013
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
The Wanderlust of Sed Miles is a reflection of the artist’s visual life spanning 20 years. His journey from rural South Carolina to his diasporic passages through the Americas, Europe and Africa is presented in three acts: Yonda: A reconstruction of his Southern roots; Moment of Passage: Journaling Diaspora and Global Citizenship, and Black Gold: Dark male bodies in Frantz Fanon's infernal circle (An offering to Trayvon). With rich, large scale monochrome, color, mixed media, and installations, this collection forces a negotiation of gaze between the image and viewers that is simultaneously both comforting and unsettling.
“Authentic cultural aesthetics” is how Sed defines the guiding framework behind his image making. Focusing on global and humanistic criterion, he is quickly developing a collection of photographic art that wanders between genres. His work expresses a spiritual link between documentary, fine art, and portrait narratives. Making great use of a double-voiced rhetoric, the signifying style of cultural critique, he cleverly initiates his view of this world with a formal visual vocabulary applied to the African Diaspora.
Framing each image as a veracious set of sensual data, a visual account of the quintessential humanity of life within dark bodies both facing and behind the camera, he not only exposes the verve of his own and his subjects' lives, but primarily introduces the viewers to their own empirical doubts and interpretive dilemmas, inhaling both aesthetic and political data.
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STAGECRAFT: 50 YEARS OF DESIGN AT HARTFORD STAGE
September 6-27, 2013
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
In celebration of Hartford Stage’s 50th Anniversary Season, the STAGECRAFT exhibit consists of a selection of costumes, props and scenic elements from the company’s extensive collection. A hallmark of the theatre’s work is the quality of the work that appears on stage, all of which is built here in Hartford. Scores of locally-based artists, craftspeople, and technicians created these pieces to animate the visions of some of the world’s most prominent theatrical designers.
Hartford Stage has earned many of the nation’s most distinguished awards, including a Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Margo Jones Award for Development of New Works, OBIE awards, and two New York Critics Circle Awards, and has produced nationally renowned titles, including the New York transfers of Enchanted April, The Gershwin’s Fascinating Rhythm, The Carpetbagger’s Children, The Orphans' Home Cycle, Tea at Five and Resurrection (Through the Night).
Michael Stotts, Managing Director at Hartford Stage, said, “Hartford Stage designs, and the execution of those designs, have been highlighted and featured in national trade publications for decades. We have 50 years of history that have been in storage, that we are now bringing out to show to the world. It is especially important that our local audiences and constituencies know and recognize the unique contributions Hartford Stage has made to the American Theatre.”
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ART FOR THE REST OF US
Joe Sam
June 14-August 9, 2013
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Renowned American painter and mixed-media artist JoeSam’s “Art for the Rest of Us” includes paintings and mixed-media artworks that have been exhibited around the country, particularly in California, where the artist lived before moving to Hartford and establishing a home and studio. “My work reflects the fact that I am a Black artist,” JoeSam says. “My colors, patterns and designs are multi-faceted and combine many parallel elements in a single piece of work, analogous to the way African-derived music combines parallel rhythmic and melodic elements. The content of my work reflects issues and ideas concerning people of color.” Born in Harlem, JoeSam studied child psychology and had a career in social services before devoting himself full time to his art beginning in the late 1970s. His vibrant work is included in many public and private collections, and he has created numerous public art installations. JoeSam also illustrated several books, including The Invisible Hunters/Los Cazadores Invisible, a bilingual children’s book about a tribal group in Central America. He has worked on art projects in Europe and South America, and served as an artist in residence in California. The opening of JoeSam’s exhibition on June 14 has been scheduled to coincide with The Amistad Center’s June 15 gala celebration of Juneteenth, the oldest known celebration of the end of American slavery and a historic date for many African Americans.
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LIFE: A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
Frans Lanting
April 8-May 13, 2013
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Frans Lanting has been hailed as one of the great photographers of our time. His influential work appears in books, magazines, and exhibitions around the world. For more than two decades he has documented wildlife from the Amazon to Antarctica to promote understanding about the Earth and its natural history through images that convey a passion for nature and a sense of wonder about our living planet. Lanting's work has been commissioned frequently by National Geographic, where he served as a Photographer-in-Residence. In 2006, Lanting launched The LIFE Project, a lyrical interpretation of the history of life on Earth, as a book, an exhibition, an interactive website, and a multimedia orchestral performance with music by Philip Glass. Lanting’s books have received awards and acclaim: “No one turns animals into art more completely than Frans Lanting,” writesThe New Yorker. His books include LIFE: A Journey Through Time, Jungles, Penguin, Living Planet, Eye to Eye,Bonobo, Okavango: Africa’s Last Eden, Forgotten Edens, and Madagascar, A World Out of Time, all produced in collaboration with his partner, editor Christine Eckstrom. Lanting serves on the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund and the Chairman’s Council of Conservation International; he is a Trustee of the University of California Santa Cruz. Lanting has received top honors from World Press Photo, the title of BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and the Sierra Club’s Ansel Adams Award. He has been honored as a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society in London and is a recipient of Sweden’s Lennart Nilsson Award. In 2001 H.R.H. Prince Bernhard inducted him as a Knight in the Royal Order of the Golden Ark, the Netherlands’ highest conservation honor.
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