Absolutely Abstract 2012 at The Philadelphia Sketch Club

Absolutely Abstract 2012 at The Philadelphia Sketch Club

Absolutely Abstract 2012 at The Philadelphia Sketch Club, 235 South Camac Street, Philadelphia PA, 19107, August 31st, 2012 through September 22nd, 2012. Artist reception and awards September 9th, 2012, 2:00 – 4:00pm.

Contributing Writer DoN Brewer‘s light being (Frank), a digital landscape photograph is included with the painters. The annual juried art event draws the region’s brightest and most innovative abstract artists, it really is an honor to be part of the history of America’s oldest artist run club and gallery.

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Written by DoN Brewer, Contributing Writer, SideArts.com Philadelphia Art Blog

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Josette Urso: Here and Then at 110 Church Gallery

June First Friday was rainy and 110 Church Gallery stayed open late for me as I ran in with swishy sneakers and sagging socks from the rain. It was 8:45pm and Josette Urso, urso means bear in Italian, was rushing with her patient companion to catch the train back to NYC.  Thankfully she stayed to answer some questions about the collection of paintings in the intimate gallery, we talked for three minutes.

DoN: “Tell me about about your show?  Everybody’s listening.”

Josette: “These are pieces that are all oil on canvas or oil on panel.  They span the last two and a half years I’d say. I work from observation, although, many of the pieces are very abstract. I consider them extrapolations. I’m responding to the natural world and the man-made world. In the past, I would travel and I would work on site but the new pieces now I’m kind of manipulating the on sightness. My studio has giant windows that overlook a city view in Brooklyn. And I’m very interested in near/far, so many times I’m lingering on what’s inside as well as what’s outside. And the weather, whatever’s going on outside very much influences what happens with the paintings.”

“I don’t want to have a system. It’s very important to me to be lost, to get as lost as possible, to get into this unfamiliar, sometimes uncomfortable territory.  And experiment and explore.  I’m an intuitive painter. I really never know what this is going to look like until they happen. They kind of leave me. It’s almost like traveling through the process of making the painting.”

DoN: “Wow. That was a lot of information. So you sit and look out the window and work plein air? I know they’re not the same thing.”

Josette: “I know. I’ve traveled to Ireland, I’ve worked in Taiwan, on sight outside plein air and the pieces, still, they weren’t, I guess I wasn’t interested in the appearance of them. Not the appearance of the place but more a sense of the spirit of the place. The essence of the place, not the appearance. So it’s more abstracted, I guess at the beginning of every painting I’m looking, I can’t rely on only what I know.”

“If I rely on only what’s in my head, it’s a limited vocabulary. I need something to respond to and I’m not really drawn to any one particular place, I mix it up between natural and urban settings. I like to be in a place that I don’t know that well and at the same time it’s really great to return to the places I knew before. I’m looking for that unexpected, I need to make discoveries along the way.”

The exhibition of paintings by  Josette Urso at 110 Church Gallery, curated by Stella Gassaway, is a collaboration with The Center for Emerging Visual Artists, the Philadelphia arts organization that helps artists launch their careers, Josette Urso  is a fellow of the career development program. Then and Now is on exhibit at 110 Church Gallery through July 26th and on July 11th at 6:00pm Josette Urso will be giving an artist talk in the gallery. Make an art date with yourself to listen to an artist who understands the language of art and is articulate explaining her motivations.

Gray Seashore by M. Pia De Girolamo © 2012

I do most of my work in the solitude of my studio. It is quiet; I don’t play music (except once in a great while). I do hear bird sounds and the wind or rain and I have large windows that look out onto some backyard woods. I am not a complete recluse however; I very much enjoy the company of friends. They feed my soul and I hope I feed theirs.

Just a couple of days ago I caught up with an artist friend who I had not seen for many months and had not even talked to by phone or email, which was unusual. I knew she must have had a lot going on. She was on my “to call” list and I finally was able to cross that item off.  I found out that she had been deeply involved with helping her daughter who was anticipating the birth of a child. There had been some frightening moments but all was eventually resolved happily just a week or so ago.

My friend is a few years older than I am and has gone through some soul-trying times that have shaped her. I find her perspective invaluable. It is obvious that she has done the hard work of self-examination because when she speaks I know what she says sounds right and true. She is a joyful person and I’d call her an “enlightened” one.

We speak about family, art, our former careers and our present calling. We’ll look at each other’s work, talk about the nitty gritty of technique, and swap info about the best places to look for deals on supplies. We examine artists whose work inspires us and investigate venues where we might show. Together, we weave a complex fabric of past, present and future that we can wrap around ourselves like a blanket as we go forward with our lives and work.

Friends do not just show up at one’s door announced these days. It takes a conscious effort to keep up with them. I have found that the throw away line “we’ll have to get together soon” must be accompanied by an immediate setting of a date, otherwise, the intended meeting never materializes. We’ve all got work to do, but good friends make our lives richer and I’m convinced that they make our work better too.

Through the Veil by M. Pia De Girolamo © 2012 Acrylic on Canvas 36" x 36"

An artist, Joyce Wycoff, who I follow on Twitter and Facebook wrote a blog post http://joycewycoff.blogspot.com/2012/01/artist-statements-evaluation.html about creating a strong artist statement. We corresponded about ways to craft a good one and she suggested a helpful (and fun) exercise which consisted of writing down at least 15 sentences describing “why I am an artist”.

I made my list and recently while  revisiting it, I noticed certain words and phrases which jumped off the page and I highlighted them. Here they are:

Energized

Euphoric

Connected

Delight

Powerful

Sharing

Interacting

Extraordinary

Enriched

Insight

Heightened awareness

Precious gift

Accepting

Bursting to come out

I’m sure the artists among you will claim all or some of these powerful words but I think that many apply to the experience of the viewers of art as well. The viewer, when really engaged with the art, will feel the same things as the artist who created it.

HD Video – watch in full screen mode.  Absolutely Abstract 2011 @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club, America’s oldest art club – 151 years old and still vital!  DoN Brewer interviews PSC Board President Bill Patterson.

DoN Brewer – Philly.SideArts