Friday, October 17, 2014

local color

Two receptions this weekend for area group shows that I have some work in. One is Art of the Automobile at Mamaroneck Library as I reported the other day, and is actually tomorrow Oct 18, 2-4 pm. The other is Reflections, opening at Front Street Gallery in Patterson on Sunday Oct 19, 10-2 pm, which has my Disco Ball painting.
Meanwhile, the  Self-Portrait show continues at Ann St Gallery in Newburgh through Nov 22. Then next Sat Oct 25 is the opening of Small Matters of Great Importance at the Edward Hopper House in Nyack. It's good to get the kids out in the fresh air.

Monday, October 13, 2014

you painted trucks

Some phone calls flew back and forth about work I would contribute to a Westchester group show of cars a friend was organizing.
'You got car paintings?'
'Yes, I sure do have car paintings.'
'Great. What sizes?'
'A bunch of different sizes, 12 or 20 inch…'
'Great. I'll need a few smaller ones as it turns out.'
'No problem', I assure him, forgetting the pivotal word CAR. I have a few large paintings of cars (the Edsel; the Beetle, a couple Fords) that will be too big. I grab two smallish vehicle paintings- one older, one new- and drop them at the venue- the Mamaroneck Public Library. I send off an email.
'You got my pieces, right? Did you hang the show yet?'
'HAUSER!!! Yes you are up.... NO you did not paint cars.... you painted trucks!!! Fear not, all is well. Love how you paint... always have.'
'Oops. Sorry. Trucks aren't cars?'
The show, Art of The Automobile, is up through Oct 27, with a reception Sat Oct 18th 2-4pm.


Wednesday, October 8, 2014

for the beacon sukkah project




'A sukkah is a house that gives no shelter, a house that parodies the idea of security. It's a Jewish sand mandala of a building, open to the sky and used for seven days around the time of the fall harvest and then dismantled. It's rickety and tenuous, creating the illusion of permanence and highlighting the impermanence of everything… Beacon Hebrew Alliance will contemplate and celebrate these universal themes of ephemerality and transience in Open to the Sky: The Beacon Sukkah Project, which will be at Polhill Park (by the Beacon Visitors' Center) October 8-16.'
I helped install the artwork in the sukkah today, using wood and twine to hang the pieces like scrolls against the sunlit walls of cloth. Above, the roof frame laid with bamboo made soft rustling sounds in the wind.

As for my contribution.. The leaf painting in the center of my piece is from a larger portrait I made many years ago of a dear friend, for a show with the theme 'Influence'. That part, painted beyond her laughing face, was inspired by looking down into dark water at bright fallen leaves swirling on the surface. It became its own painting which I kept for a long time, but it ceased to mean what it once had. The seasonal transition is an obvious example of impermanence, but in this work it also signifies, to me, how a piece of art can shift in personal meaning over time. Holding onto a work to evoke memory or sentiment isn't always necessary. I liked the idea of integrating it into this patchwork quilt-like piece for the sukkah, passing it on to be seen again in a new way for a new purpose.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

no small matter


I'm pleased that three of my paintings were accepted to Small Matters of Great Importance, the Edward Hopper House's annual juried show in Nyack, NY. The show will run October 25, 2014 - January 4, 2015, with a reception on Saturday, October 25, 2-4 pm.
I have entered before (see hopper to hauser) but the only time I was in this show was 2006, so it will be nice to see my work there again, in the house where Hopper grew up. The 2014 theme is 'En Route'. It being a theme of mine as well, I had no trouble finding images to submit. Sometimes the juror agrees with me. I did not get selected for the 'Under 40' show at WAAM (in Woodstock), but as the only common link is having yet to complete one's fourth decade, there is no way to know what kind of show it will be, or whether one's work stands a chance. If under 40 means edgy, I suspect I'm always out of the running. Though I got in a couple years ago. The funny thing was that I was one of the few artists who attended the opening, and nearly everyone else in the room was well over 40. Yes, I need to search for new shows to enter, new galleries, probably new cities. Build a house on top of a truck bed and just start knocking down doors.