Muhammad Ali: The Photographs of Sonia Katchian at Focal Point Gallery in Chapel Hill, NC

By catherinehoward | Published: January 23, 2012

Walking into the artist’s reception at Focal Point Gallery on Sunday, January 15th, a sumptuous spread of cookies, sheet cake, cupcakes, and snacks left no room for doubt that we were joining a jovial celebration of Ali’s 70th birthday already in progress.  Although Sonia Katchian’s “The ALI Folio” includes a smattering of images of Ali in the ring, this exhibition glorifies an intimately human Ali, the gentle man known to his family and close associates.

Training in Zaire for the "Rumble in the Jungle", a youngish looking 32 year old Muhammad Ali prepares for the heavyweight championship title match in 1974 against George Foreman.

This living legend, a symbol of boxing, charisma, Islam, and now Parkinson’s disease, captivates our imaginations.  His public persona inspires awe and reverence (after all, the man is The Champ), but with a career veiled in bravado, who is the man behind the façade?

Now, we do see Ali’s physical prowess in various photographs of his warm-ups and sparring.  The piercing gaze he flings at an off-camera opponent in “Deer Lake, PA Training Camp 1974)” chills the blood.  However, of the mixture of fighting, preparation, and candid shots, the most captivating photos only tangentially allude to his “job”.  Ali’s unwavering attentiveness, a quality that made him such a formidable fighter, surfaces in a photograph of him conversing with a tailor, entitled “Los Angeles 1981”, but his intense gaze is softened with a poised deference.

On another wall, the dichotomy of man vs. idol is perfectly encapsulated: “Deer Lake, PA Training Camp 1974”, depicting two small boys gazing up at a life-size chalk drawing of The Champ surrounded by promotional boxing posters, is placed right next to “First Class to Detroit, 1981”, in which Ali is sprawled out, jaw slack, exhausted, on an airplane.

The vulnerability and trust required to fall asleep around someone else is a testament to the warmth and dedication inherent in Katchian and Ali’s relationship.  During our conversation, she reiterated the gentility Ali exuded toward his inner circle.  “He was so modest, soft-spoken.  His public persona was all for show.”

NYC, 1977, night before fight in the Garden with Ernie Shavers, the mood is kept light with Dick Sadler telling an Uncle Tom joke to Ali and his entourage.

Ali’s public conversion to the Muslim faith made him a lightning rod during the Civil Rights movement, but regardless of how his religious beliefs were portrayed in the media, Katchian tenderly mused, “He is a very spiritual person; his relationship to God is so deep and important to him.”

This multifaceted glimpse at such an iconic figure sparks nuanced conversations about race, fame, and religion.  While there may not be any cupcakes left, Ali’s candid smile will still welcome you.  Bring the kids and neighbors, and join in the celebration!

On display until February 28th, “The ALI Folio”, a connoisseur’s boxed edition containing 14 of Katchian’s and Ali’s favorite photographs, can be purchased by visiting Focal Point Gallery at 1215 East Franklin St in Chapel Hill. Posters and postcards are also available.  Call 919-636-4557 or visit www.chapelhillfocalpoint.com for more information.

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    Falling into place

    By catherinehoward | Published: January 19, 2012

    Canvas on the floor, gold piano keys, wire sheets hanging from the ceiling… When I walked in, a sense of place was still very much in-progress. Upon entering the space, Michelle Gonzales-Green’s effusive energy sweeps you into a menagerie of interactive installations dedicated to personal space, faith, and identity. She has taken the entire week to paint/sculpt/create within The Carrack’s space, giving her the flexibility to reflect the surrounding environment and subsequent experiences in her work. Chronicling her creativity only since January 1, 2012, this seemingly piecemeal array explores the wide variety of facets prompted by Gonzales-Green’s meditations on “home” and “self”.

    First, we run into “Wonder Clock”, a combination of the album sleeve for Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” and black and gold piano keys refashioned as clock hands. Gonzales-Green gushed that “Pastime Paradise” was the genesis of her self-awareness, and as such, the rest of the show in essence stems from that album. [While writing this essay, I listened to “Pastime Paradise” on loop. It was only fitting.]

    Next, a resurrection of Grandma’s wooden wall paneling and flowered couch welcome you to sit down for a spell. The framed photographs reverse our expectations, focusing on pride in Grandma rather than in the grandkids. Comfort, memories, loss, pride, and nostalgia well up in waves. A trio of sculptures explore female empowerment, gender ambiguity, and the afterlife. A seductively sensuous “Tree of Knowledge” refashions femininity as the origin of paradisiacal knowledge rather than it’s downfall.

    Now, to be fair, I have to leave a few surprises, but I can at least say don’t be afraid to get down and dirty in your experience of Heaven and Hell. Oh, and be prepared for a journey back in time.

    The visual language between individual installations may not be consistent, but the entire exhibit’s energy is intoxicatingly genuine. Not even a hint of irony or sarcasm in sight. Gonzales-Green eloquently summarized the motivation behind a sense of place:

    “We only know what we choose to be. To have a sense of place, we all choose, but why do we choose what we choose? How do we know what we’ve never experienced or never been?”

    This inspiring sphere of reminiscence and nurturing gives us a chance to step outside our personal history and experience a viscerally powerful alternative perception of “home”. Allow her to enfold you and whisk you away on this fantastical journey.

    Meet the artist and enjoy homemade Puerto Rican food at the opening reception THIS FRIDAY, January 20th from 6-9 pm at The Carrack Modern Art, 111 West Parrish St, Durham, NC 27701. For more information about The Carrack Modern Art, visit http://thecarrack.org.

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      Extraordinary Things

      By Dave Delcambre | Published: January 14, 2012

      Fresh out of the gate in 2012 comes the splendid The Spectacular of Vernacular just opened at UNC’s Ackland Museum.  Chapel Hill is the final stop of this travelling show’s itinerary which originated last January at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. This is also the show’s only appearance at a university institution and the Ackland’s chief curator Peter Nisbet seized the opportunity to land a show rich in  regional idiosyncrasies, playful eccentricities, witty observations and educational opportunities.  (Museum staff have planned this as a kick off for a trio of shows exploring vernacular themes later this year.)

      The show is also  loaded with both visual delight and a ton of star power via a roster of art world heavyweights including Mike Kelley, Kara Walker, Louise Bourgeois, Faith Ringgold, Rachel Harrison, Siah Armajani, Marina Abramovic, William Eggleston, Jim Shaw and Jeffrey Vallance.  The exhibition’s premise is what the catalog terms ” strategic selections that capture varied practices and influences ranging from rustic to urban vernacular” and the show shrewdly pulls it off.    Spanning the vast reach of material culture, popular iconography, homemade craft, the commonplace and the everyday, the work smartly toes a compelling line that vacillates between the very contemporary and the not so distant past.  A selection of Walker Evans’ photos from the 1930′s and Eggleston pictures from the 1960′s coupled with a splendid pair of Ree Morton pieces from the 1970′s remind that an interest in the  ordinary, the ritualized and the familiar is by no means a recent preoccupation for artists.    (The catalog does likewise, reprinting a vivid essay from 1984 on the vernacular by master essayist J.B. Jackson.)

      The Ackland as the show’s lone Southeastern venue itself serves a sort of  double duty; simultaneously acting as a genteel host for newcomer work here in the midst of the historically vernacular-rich South yet demonstrating for us that our region’s strong traditions in craft, folk art and self-taught work are by no means isolated in place or spirit.  I like to think of this show’s run here in Chapel Hill as an art world spin on one of those Food Network smackdown reality shows:  like when a celebrity chef comes to town to take on a regional expert on their own home turf and cuisine.  Of course the newcomer no matter their star wattage is outmatched by the history and culinary tradition of place, yet the very premise of the contest reveals an opportunity for a few new tricks and variations on time honored themes to emerge.  (Look no further in the show than William E. Jones’s video montage of WPA photo discards  for an excellent instance. )

      Victual talk aside, the Ackland deserves kudos for hosting a travelling exhibition like this which shows the museum has the capability to keep pace with the curatorial chops of the Nasher and CAM-Raleigh.  Let’s hope it will spur on their own in-house curatorial ambitions as well.  I’m already eagerly awaiting the next show.

      The Spectacular of Vernacular is on view at the Ackland Art Museum on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill through March 18, 2012.

      (images courtesy the Ackland Art Museum and artist William E. Jones)

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        Tavares Strachan at Cary Academy

        By Dave Delcambre | Published: December 22, 2011

         

        It’s a keen parent who can call on an internationally recognized visual artist to come visit their kid’s school’s art class.  But that’s precisely what’s happened this past month at Cary Academy whose art class students have not only benefited so has the entire campus population.

        The visiting artist Tavares Strachan is originally from the Bahamas and now based in New York.  He is an assembler of mixed media and installation works which meld technological fascinations with concepts that explore identity and place in novel ways.  Writing in the Boston Globe on a Strachan solo show at MIT’s List Center, Sebastian Smee described the artists’ works as sculptures that, “address themselves to an inhospitable universe with a combination of wide-eyed technophilia and darker apprehensions of futility and absurdity.”   Some heady concepts those. But Strachan’s work is political certainly yet it is also always timely and rooted in the local in profound ways.   It’s that aspect I admire the most about his work.  Though placed for the time being within a private academic setting, the piece is already making a splash outside its wall mounted location via social media including YouTube and Facebook and Twitter sites.  Such exposure will allow the work to benefit area youth in a manner which they are likely not  often not able to experience in the visual arts.   Let’s hope this work titled I Belong Here sets a precedent for more adventurousness in the local artistic climate.

         

         

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          pre-Reflections

          By Dave Delcambre | Published: December 12, 2011

          A few sneak peeks pics courtesy NCMA of the current Beverly McIver show Reflections which opened this past weekend with a screening of the well received documentary ‘Raising Renee.’   This is an exciting show – particularly in conjunction with Rembrandt.  I like these installation photos particularly the one that shows the level of interest on the part of passerby before the show opened.   More to follow…including review of the show by yours truly in Artsee magazine.

          Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver opened at the North Carolina Museum of Art on December 11, 2011 in the North Carolina Gallery and is on view through June 24, 2012

           

           

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            Blue Velvet Reflections

            By Sarah Richter | Published: November 12, 2011

            Wilmington, NC is often affectionately known as “Wilmywood.” The Hollywood of the East coast, films such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and cult favorite Empire Records were filmed on the streets of town and television shows Dawson’s Creek and One Tree Hill call Wilmington home. What put Wilmington on the map as a home to cinema enthusiasts, aside from a variety of picturesque venues, was the 1980s cult classic Blue Velvet. Filmed across the city, the film placed the town on the map and has now become a point of reverence and honor for Wilmingtonians and film enthusiasts alike. Now, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the film’s release, a variety of events have been coordinated around town, most notably an art exhibit honoring the films international and local influence. 

            Most group art shows possess a common theme, be it in subject matter, style, aesthetic beliefs or geographical proximity. Projekte’s newest exhibition has a unique thread of unity: the hyper-real, cult classic and cinematic starlet of Wilmington, “Blue Velvet.“

            The idea for an art show inspired by the iconic movie, came from Steve Fox, who is heading the 25th anniversary celebration in its honor this week. Bonnie England, owner and curator of Projekte, was on board from the start and began sending out a call to artists. They received art submissions from around the globe.

            “We’ve had some very strong submissions locally and internationally,” England notes. “There are 23 artists participating, with artwork coming from China, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and different parts of the States.”

            The exhibit will be diverse, even though abstract works are not included; mainly, the art will be figural or conceptual. “There are a few original acrylic and oil paintings whose subjects are the main characters in the film,” England says.

            Though some of the artistic representations are more gruesome than others, there will be a variety of creative homages present. “One image from Spanish artist Gauthier de Meirsman, will be digitally projected since he thinks it suits his modern, digital style of the piece very well,” according to England. Concerning the personal aesthetic, Meirsman states:

            “I dare to believe that displaying [the piece] this way would emphasize the fact that David Lynch’s work continues to influence and inspire regardless of time, technique or technology.”

            Local artists whose work will be exhibited include Wilmington’s well-known paper-maker Fritzi Huber and Ben Billingsley, an instructor at Cape Fear Community College. “Billingsley has created a small book—20 pages, each 3×6—of images based on scenes in the film. The images are drypoint prints in blue ink; he’ll be hand-coloring the images in various media,” England notes.

            Other artists whose work is part of the exhibition include Colleen Ringrose, Matt Kraus, Paul Bonzulac, Carolyn Foland and Robert Cole.

            “Projekte is the one and only place to see this exhibit!” England enthusiastically shares. The exhibition celebrates a Wilmington production not only at an important milestone in its cinematic legacy but as a milestone in our local film industry’s progress. Projekte will be partnering with Kaci Torres, a Pabst Blue Ribbon marketing agent, to include their traveling exhibit “PBaRt,” which consists of iconic American beer-inspired art. It’s quite apropos seeing that Pabst is a sponsor of the celebration. It’s also a poetic union: Dennis Hopper’s Frank Booth endorsed this beverage of choice in his character’s existence.

            Organized to coincide with the variety of “Blue Velvet” celebrations to be happening in the port city over the coming week, the show will be on display during the Cucalorus Film Festival. From a sneak peak at a Wilmington-based adaptation of the film, “Blue Velvet: the Musical”  to screenings of Peter Braatz’s innovative look at a the making of a film in “No Frank in Lumberton” and local filmmaker Ben Fancy’s current documentary, “It’s a Strange World”.

            “It’s truly going to be a great and fascinating exhibit,” Englands says, “whether you’re a fan of the cult classic film or not.” The positive artistic response to commemorate the film’s 25th birthday is further proof of “Blue Velvet”’s far-reaching scope of influence. Although important to Wilmington and our local cinema industry, the zany, surrealist reel has impacted people around the world and continues doing so even today.

             

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              Tribute to the Fallen

              By Dave Delcambre | Published: November 11, 2011

              A fitting show has just opened for this November 11th.  Associate Professor Vita Plume of NCSU’s College of Design unveils her ongoing project of woven detail portraits of Canadian and American soldiers killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002.   Now numbering more than 300 portraits, the images are produced via a multi-step process involving digital photo manipulation and computer loom weaving in conjunction with hand dyeing.    Stark and striking while bestowing dignity through the use of the fallen’s own selections of commemorative portraits,  the series is also amazingly stark in its tactility and physical presence – the sheer number of them all on display can be a bit overwhelming so go prepared.  More to come on the work after I sit down and speak with Vita in the coming days in further detail about her approach and process but for now, a few of the images alone and a moment to think about what they represent this Veteran’s Day…

              Fallen Soldiers will be on view in the Brooks Hall Gallery at NC State University’s College of Design through Nov. 19, 2011.

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                Ruminations in Drawing

                By Dave Delcambre | Published: November 8, 2011

                In case you find  yourself a little mystified by the process of architecture or wondering just what might go on inside the head of an architect, a show now on view at D.H. Hill Library at NC State might provide some clues.  NCSU College of Design Dean Marvin Malecha is displaying a selection from his personal sketchbooks and drawings that serves as a sort of guidepost for his thought process, specifically thinking through drawing.  Though Malecha has had a wide ranging career in architecture, the local community will know him first and foremost as an educator (he’s served as the College of Design‘s dean since 1994)  and the didactic prism of this show will reinforce that reputation.

                Accompanied by a nicely executed catalog, the drawings are organized along broad themes— “Debate”, “Variation”, “Wonder”, “Remember”, and “Make”— tantamount to explorations of the process of creativity in general but take note that such concepts are in fact a road map for architectural education.   These notions are after all at the heart of design education in the broadest sense.  But don’t think that the show is just for architectural insiders, (though they may in fact be most of the audience that takes in the exhibition) and the show’s curation and display does in fact seem to have taken particular care not to encumber itself with too narrow a focus.   I think the work is the better for it.

                If  you visit simply looking for fine drawing, the show has it in spades.  There is the kind of work here you might expect to see an architect sketching and thinking about, classic works of architecture such as the Parthenon and Hagia Sophia for instance, but there are also unexpected structures and scenes as well such as a fanciful series depicting structures to house the mythical Pegasus, a rural grain elevator, humble woodsheds, cafes and streetscapes framed within compelling perspectives and detail views.  The drawings are powerful sketches in and of themselves (a throwback to the kind of thing that used to happen alot more back before AutoCAD, Photoshop and SketchUp came to dominate the world of architectural visualization) but a particularly noteworthy aspect of the show is its outreach efforts.  Two drawing kiosks, one with traditional pencil and sketchbook and another equipped with digital iPad drawing media are available to allow users to interact with the show in a most direct way.  While the architect in me enjoys Malecha’s deft touch with the pencil and his mastery of perspectival space and rendering technique,  I like this notion that architectural sketching can stretch beyond the boundaries of the exhibition and engage viewers in other very direct ways.  An undergrad student browsing by who happens to spend a little time in the gallery area really getting into the Brushes app might just be the sort of viewer who would benefit the most from experiencing this work for instance.

                One thing this exhibition proves is that in our digitally saturated world, there’s a calm and serenity to be found in the simple act of concentrated looking and the humble medium of sketching those encounters.  Something Malecha has noted happens in his process is that, “When I draw, I can feel the tension drain away from me.”  Perhaps this show is just the sort of thing to cause others to slow down and experience drawing anew.

                 

                The Urge to Draw, The Cause to Reflect: Drawings, Sketchbooks, Provocations is on view at the D.H.Hill Library at NC State University through December 16, 2011  (images courtesy D.H. Hill Library)

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                  Matt Micca’s Ballpoint Abstractions at the Durham Arts Council

                  By Matt Zigler | Published: November 5, 2011
                  There is something about edges that is visually interesting.  Edges mark the ending of one surface and the beginning of another, and sometimes it is difficult to mark the exact point where this becomes that.  This suggests a connectedness that intrigues us as something that we all sense but rarely experience.

                  Artist Matt Micca explores this fundamental visual experience with some unexpected means, the humble ball point pen.  The ball point has never been seen as exactly the most versatile artistic medium, but Micca is able to suggest a large variety of textures and atmospheres by meticulously building up the surface of the drawings in interconnected layers of hatch marks.

                  In the most successful of the pieces on display at the Durham Art Council, Micca’s work evokes an assortment of scientific subjects from microscopic views of microbes, skin, and cells to global views of continents and atmosphere.

                  Micca describes his work as visual meditation, which is what it would take to work line by line to build up such an intricate and textured surface.  The viewer is also given an opportunity to have a meditative experience as they slowly delve into the complex and textured surface.

                  Ballpoint Abstractions is on view in the Allenton Gallery of the Durham Arts Council at 120 Morris Street in Durham through November 30th.

                  Matt Zigler

                  www.mattzigler.com

                  @mattziglerart

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                    Looking Inside

                    By Dave Delcambre | Published: October 29, 2011

                    It’s a big opening weekend for Rembrandt at the NC Museum of Art so if you venture over seeking out the Dutch master in the coming weeks, don’t miss another small gem of a show at the museum tucked around the corner from Rembrandt‘s entrance.   It’s a group effort, a student curated show taken on by UNC Chapel Hill’s undergraduate Curatorial Projects class (taught by elin o’Hara slavick) that includes self-portrait themed work culled from submissions by college students from across the country.  It’s  also quite a mixed-bag: from drawing to painting to nearly abstract mixed media and everything in between. There’s  straight up traditional portraiture done in charcoal and graphite alongside photographic musings on imagery and approach next to work that ponders the role of identity within the broader scope of society.  In organizing the show, a call for submissions was put out (via Tumblr where you can now also view complete artist list and titles) and artists in university and college programs across the country responded in kind,  eventually submitting 160 works which were pared down to the exhibitions’s final 41 pieces.

                    I like the energy and optimism in this show.  I was fortunate to spend a few minutes the other day speaking with several of the student curators (and professor slavick ) as well as affiliated NCMA staff who helped with the show’s selections and logistics.  Their comments, input and candor were enlightening and it seemed the group had already learned quite alot from organizing such an exhibition.  It’s no easy task getting a large group of curatorial students to agree on which images in the end warrant inclusion.   But this show’s true legacy might just be the life-changing tales the students related to me that have already come from several of the exhibition’s artists.   Several of the artists have experienced jubilation from simply seeing their work on display in the venue of the state’s official art museum.  There’s instant validity that comes from this (particularly understood by the artists’ families for instance who might be on the face regarding a career path in the arts.)  Most importantly inclusion in this kind of show can bestow a legitimacy on their work that can’t be underestimated.    For me, this small exhibition has in fact already proven its power as a game-changer, not on the curatorial scale of a Rembrandt blockbuster, but rather on the direct impact it can have on the  lives of up-and-coming artists.

                     

                     

                    Self-Observed is on view in the East Building of the North Carolina Museum of Art from October 30, 2011 through January 22, 2012

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