"Cat Show" Opens January 4, 2013

We're honored to present another exhibition of work by the late artist Greg Brown. "Cat Show" is a collectors' show of cat paintings Greg painted in the early 2000s. J. Williams, Jennifer Martin, and Shelley Ross graciously lent the works on display. Included is a portrait of the infamous "Rocky", who had his own Nuvo column at the time. Rocky made a regal appearance at the unveiling of his portrait, impressing the Utrillo's crowd, and the press, with his poise.

The show opens with a reception on Friday, Jan 4, 6 - 9pm. It will run Jan 4 - Jan 19 (two weeks).

Dewclaw is located at 1125 Brookside Ave, in the Circle Center Industrial Complex. Be sure to use the South Studios entrance - then go see more art up the street, through the Center Studios entrance.

Found-photo and Ephemera Portraits

Opening reception: December 7, 6 - 9 pm

Show runs two weeks, December 7 - 22, 2012

 Selected works from the Utrillo's collection of thrift art. This show features found photos of people, ranging from a tiara-crowned little girl to a disturbing montage of backwoods kinfolk. Utrillo's was a thrift art and framing shop, on East 10th Street, Indianapolis, which was founded by artist Greg Brown in the early 1990s. Also on display, portrait sketches by Harry Blomme.

“My plan was to show a fairly straight-forward presentation, but the work defied standard arrangements. In the end, I mixed everything together, and added even more disparate works. And so heart-melting children's photos hang next to the har-har hairdo photos, next to the haunting 19th century Russian couple. The scary mountain folk snapshot collage and Randy Wyatt's O.J. Simpson painting, are corralled from the children by vertical grouping. Harry Blomme pencil portraits cover one wall, and Georgia Kraus watercolors grace the opposite corner. The absurdist approach tempers the emotional extremes, bringing the freak and the sweet onto more common ground.” Carla Knopp 12-1-12 

Most works will be for sale, proceeds will be donated to Gleaners Food Bank.

Found-photo and Ephemera Portraits opens tomorrow

Some installations shots of the current show. It opens tomorrow and runs December 7 - 22. Most of the art is for sale, with proceeds being donated to Gleaner's Food Pantry, Indianapolis. The works include magazine clippings, found photographs, thrift store paintings, as well as work by Georgia Kraus and Harry Blomme. Price range $5 - $50. We can authenticate your purchase with the official "Utrillo's" stamp, if you like.

I'm really enjoying this show. I hadn't planned a curated approach, at least not beyond basic arranging of the work. It did go beyond that, and it was a very intriguing process. I'm not sure I can impose my own vision, to this degree, onto the work of active, living artists. But I'm certainly more open to that scenario now. 

More images of the show are here.

"Kinkade Meets Turner Paints Sci-fi With Fanbrush"

  Carla Knopp presents

current landscapes from her studio 

November 2 - 24, 2012

Dewclaw founder Carla Knopp presents current landscape paintings from her studio. She revisits her earlier working methods, using a wet-into-wet application to intuitively conjure new imagery. Many of these paintings use a high-keyed palette and imagery that steer them toward the realm of kitsch. These choices also give the paintings a new aesthetic look, creating new paths of reference. The results range a bit, from the raucously saccharine and playful, to poetic, wistful, and ominous.

These paintings start from similar intentions and methods, and then become independent explorations. 

 IMAGES from show

"An Apotropaic Symphony"

Richard Nickolson

October 5 - 27, 2012

Reception IDADA First Friday, October 5, 6-9 pm

Back Door to Baghdad, 2004

3 3/8" x 4 1/2"

Dewclaw welcomes guest artist Richard Emery Nickolson for October. He will present "An Apotropaic Symphony", a selection of watercolors on paper which reference pictographic symbols, both historical and current. Richard served as a Professor of Painting, Drawing, Foundations Studies and Critical Thinking at the Herron School of Art and Design, IUPUI, from 1973 to 2010.  

"The sources and inspirations for these paintings arise from certain pre-historic sites such as the ‘alignements’ in Brittany in western France, the site known as ‘newspaper rock’ in Moab, Utah and finally to carvings from the very northern reaches of Alaska and the Canadian Rockies.  These were of course examples of pictographs from very different cultures, prior to the invention of language.  They have now been combined with more immediate references to elements in American art and history.

Straight or jagged lines easily become signs for rain or lightening bolts. House shapes from either the Philadelphia carpenter’s guidebook or Indiana Amish quilts appear as both representational and abstract. These works, all watercolors on paper, seek to bridge this gap between traditional oppositions. They function in the very same way that elements in early modern painting were meant to be symbolic. The short essay by Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater titled “Thought Forms” proposed these and other symbols and their use in painting. This form of abstraction has also been a powerful influence on my current work.

From “An American Frame” to “The Reliquary for the Language of Lost Birds,” this series of paintings seeks to explore and synthesize a variety of responses to both contemporary issues and historical references.  As a contemporary painter, I often have the feeling that I am a reincarnated transcendentalist, living in and witnessing the death throes of the post-modern era." 

-  R.Nickolson, September 2012

In addition to his professorship, Richard received an MFA from Indiana University, a BFA from the Maryland Institute, and was assigned to the Office, Chief of Military History and the United States Army Combat Artist Team XI in 1970-1971.

In 2002, His work was featured in two solo shows at the Indianapolis Art Center as part of a program series, "The Art of Combat: Artists and the Viet Nam War, Then and Now".He received a Creative Renewal Fellowship in 2005-6. He served as a Visiting Professor of Painting, Drawing and Journaling at the Pont'Aven School of Contemporary Art in the summers of 1995,1997,2000, and 2007. Richard has served as Artist-in-Residence at St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's College, Millay Colony, Austerlitz, NY, the Ossabaw Island Project, Savannah, Georgia, Alfred University, Alfred, NY, the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar, Virginia. In the spring of 2010 the Board tof Trustees of Indiana University voted to award him with the title of Professor Emeritus at the Herron School of Art & Design.

Nuvo Review of "An Apotropaic Symphony"

Here's a great review of Richard's show by Nuvo's Dan Grossman.

"An Apotropaic Symphony" - Richard Emery Nickolson

A short clip of October First Friday, featuring Richard Emery Nickolson's "An Apotropaic Symphony". More images on Richard's web site.

Greg Brown Tribute Show 

August 3 - September 15, 2012

Reception IDADA First Friday, September 7, 6-9 pm

Dewclaw is currently presenting work by Greg Brown, who passed away in July. This selection of works is a summary show; an informal grouping of Greg's visual art endeavors over the years. Much of his art is closely connected to his writings and his person-to-person outreach interactions. We look forward to organizing more in-depth presentations in the future. For now, please join us for this tribute showing of Greg Brown's visual art. 
 

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Greg Brown opened Utrillo's Art in Indianapolis in 1994. This space served as a picture and frame shop, a thrift art store, a poetry and music venue, and a gallery exhibition space. He produced the 1990s cable access show, Utrillo-vision, which showcased artists and events. He presented artists from diverse backgrounds, with wide-ranging artistic motives.

He later focused on writing and distributing pamphlets, which reflected his ongoing interpretations of biblical parables and the synoptic Gospels. These works became entwined with his visual art, his community outreach, his thoughts on subculture and dominant culture dynamics, and even his physical abode. Utrillo's eventually became House of Jsu, an interior and exterior installation of sorts. Greg indicated that the House of Jsu was a physical symbol of subcultural identity. He wanted to preserve this concept of independent identity, and through his storefront and writings, offer a symbol for others seeking an alternative to the dominant culture.

He seemed to use the parable teachings to find gentle and kindly paths of revolution.

From the end of his 3/30/10 artist statement draft:

"...The ‘church’ of a sign of Jsu is the uncomplicated presentation of the teaching.  The art of it, in this case, is one Hippie’s take on crackpot evangelism.  But even as sign painting has been given free hand, the religious  symbols and pamphlets have been carefully constructed over long periods of time.  The effect being to forge lasting connections between the symbols and the ideas they represent.  The act of religious teaching; writing, and symbol making happens all along the porous, disputed, border between the tangible and intangible realities.  It is a tradition that is filled with unnamed participants from far away places.  Parable doctrine itself is an anonymous work that draws directly from the work of other anonymous scribes.  More identity has been allowed the writers of the parable doctrine commentaries and applications,  but only as a way to track a single individuals line of thought.  Even at that, Hala Maloki and Alez Alatofo are both aliases for the same writer.  The use of different names signals the change of emphasis from religion to art, from the intangible to the tangible reality.  There always have been some alternative subculturals who never do assimilate all the way into either the dominant culture or the dominant subculture.  The combining of alternative religion and art serves to strengthen them and help them endure.  The alternative subcultures have over a century of history now.  And even though the Hipsters are the sixth assimilated generation, each new generation has come into their own as unassimilated.  Our ‘alter.’ should be maintained to help the next generation, should they wish to continue in this tradition."

Here's a glimpse of the current Greg Brown tribute show, which will run through September 15. This show is a prequel to future presentations, which will focus more definitively on his various projects. Join us for a reception on Friday, September 7, 6-9 pm, or on Saturdays 12-4 pm.

Craft Plaques - Teasers

Carla Knopp will use Dewclaw as a studio for July & August, and will open on First Fridays 6 - 9 pm, Saturdays, 12 -4 pm, and by appointment.

*Update: 8-2-12   The craft studio lasted through opening night and half-way through Saturday. Then I did a total take-down amidst a near melt-down. I'd been struggling and waffling about this work, and finally made the decision to excise it from my oeuvre. It could come back, but I feel good about recommitting to my core aesthetic directions, which involve exploration in the magical two-dimensional realm. This field and path of thought is meandering enough to yield infinite discoveries. This 3-d direction is simply too distracting, and felt like it stymied more deeply engaged discoveries. 

Dewclaw is pleased to present "Timbre: Brian Fick", a selection of paintings from the past 10 years. This exhibition includes a large group of previously undisplayed work. Show opens with a reception on IDADA First Friday, June 1, 6 - 9pm. (A second reception will be held Wednesday, June 13, 6-9 pm). 

 

Brian explores quirks of concept and imagery, often by combining unlikely sensibilities. He creates landscapes with gestural abandon, to which he may add rigid historic ornamentation, or impossibly wobbled structures. Goofball twit meets esoteric wit, and campy metaphors harbor more serious undertones. Brian roams beyond normal expectations.

Brian has formatted these paintings for modular display. They are to hang as an installation of interchangeable paintings, forming single gridded conglomerations. Each panel is framed in mock-traditionl motif, with playfully painted arabesque decoration and a wood biscuit "title plate". This uniformity in arrangement is a perfect foil to the exuberant explorations with each painting.

The works are also united by a more subtle commonality. A characteristic tone or timbre runs throughout one's work. This exhibition seeks to underscore that which defines our individual consciousness. Brian offers quite varied expressions within his innovative methods of painting. This series of work also reveal the nature of an individual psyche, as it moves through time, space, and experience.

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Brian is an artist of longstanding local reputation in Indianapolis, having produced and exhibited paintings continuously from 1985 to present. His work is in the permanent collection of the Indianapolis Public Library, Eli Lilly & Co, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. He received a BFA from Herron School of Art & Design in 1985, was a founding member of 431 Gallery and served as its president in 1988. He was project coordinator for "Herron Goes Public", which featured 7 floors of installations at the Goodman Quad in 1985. He co-owns Acanthus Arts, an architectural painting and historical restoration company, which has completed restoration projects on The Library of Congress, the United States Capitol, the Birch Bayh Federal Courthouse, and various other buildings across the U.S. and abroad.

Timbre: Brian Fick

More images from the show.

Timbre: Brian Fick

June 1 - 23, 2012

"Timbre: Brian Fick" - teaser images

June 1 - 23, 2012

Opening reception: IDADA First Friday, June 1, 6-9 pm

Mid-show, mid-week reception: Wednesday, June 13, 6-9 pm

By appointment: 317-375-0876

"Frozen Time, Quiet Space" 

paintings by

George Meluch 

May 4 - 26, 2012

 

 

View work from the show here.

 

"This body of work is a non-literal, intuitive investigation into the themes of isolation, and the constructed ideas of the non-technological human experience. Drawing from and seeking to undermine the panoply of artistic renderings of our development as a unique species, these forms and formal choices toy with a balance of solemnity and extravagance, of contemporary tradition and historical innuendo. 

"The time is no time, and the meta narrative is shifting. The content playfully taunts both the future speculations of this special, current year and the ever evolving contemporary science dealing with the past. Tiny tensions pull at all the corners of conceptual and painterly edges and color's role is conflicted in the symbolic and the illusory fashion.

"It is a constructed dream, but it is not an idyllic space, or one based on longing, or on fear. Figure and character are forced into fluidity, disallowed solid identity for the opening of their theoretical purpose. This painted world is a silent world."


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George Meluch is an Indiana based artist, with a 2010 BFA in Painting from the John Herron Institute of Art. He previously studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he won the Fred Walker award for creative writing in 2005 and participated in a number of group shows. In 2010 and 2011 he attended the Purdue Graduate Fine Arts program.

He is obsessed with history and historical theory, dubiously studious of accepted paradigms and ingenuously loving of those which are disregarded. He does not believe in the concept of belief and is a huge fan of all religions and other interesting human practices.

"Frozen Time, Quiet Space" - paintings by George Meluch

Show runs May 4 - 26, 2012

"Night Driving"
 paintings by
 Anita Giddings

April 6 - April 28, 2012

Opening Reception: Friday, April 6, 6-9 pm 

"Many years ago, while on a trip with my sister, we became lost.  We were driving in an unfamiliar part of the country and the road was obscured with fog.  Even though it was three o¹clock in the morning and we were hundreds of miles from where we were going, I couldn’t help being fascinated with the scene in front of us.  The oncoming headlights of the other cars, the looming hills and trees and the glow of the pavement was a painting in motion.  This is the type of experience I find most inspiring. 

My work is based on the idea of the mysterious phenomena of the natural world.  I explore the juncture between the known and the unknown.  I feel that this borderland between the rational and the mysterious is what has driven the imagination of humankind for generations.  I investigate this connection in my work -  the landscape is my laboratory. 

The human concepts of time and geographic location fascinate me.  I think of our ancestors naming and organizing the world around them.  What could not be explained through observation became the seeds of myths and folklore.  The mysterious time of evening, of pale clouds in a night sky, of inky shadows and disorienting shapes, these are the scenes that I attempt to capture with my paintings.

The paintings are small scale but my intent is to suggest a much larger space.  I currently work in oil on panel using traditional painting methods.  After several years of working in sculpture and installation, I have returned to painting.  I paint for the love of seeing things. I find myself painting the same image over again with slight variations. I want these images in my work, my memory."

Anita has exhibited her work for many years, and has worked in sculpture and installation, in addition to painting. She received her BFA from Herron School of Art, and her MFA from Indiana State University. She currently is the Coordinator of Electives Arts and Senior Lecturer of Fine Art, at Herron School of Art and Design, IUPUI.

Night Driving - Anita Giddings

 

Dewclaw's already had a little work done. We repainted with a warm mid-gray, and the mood is even more mysterious and intimate. It was very exciting to see Anita Giddings work in this new environment. The reception was quite busy. I wish I'd taken more photos.

"Hashtag Life" - New Works by Kamilah Gill

Kamilah Gill opened a solo show of her work at Dewclaw. We're excited to have her as our first guest artist in the space.  "Hashtag Life" is a collection of her paintings, where she uses an online search process to find and build her imagery.

"I've been trying to organize the information that I've been gathering for years. I keep many pages of notes about all kinds of things that I select at random. My art is a byproduct of this massive attempt to organize my thoughts. The internet is a central source for my collection of images and information. I use the related search suggestions from search engines and random image selectors to choose subjects for my paintings. I search Twitter for phrases and images from people around the world. I try to save little fragments from the endless flow of words and pictures and put them on display for further contemplation."

-Kamilah Gill 2012

Here are more installation shots of the show.

And here is her wonderful drawing from the opening.