Medium of Exchange: The Art of Cash

6-22-12

Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts

<http://www.banfill-locke.org/>

Medium of Exchange: The Art of Cash

Nice small community gallery space if you can find it, with handcrafted gifts shop at entry, a bit at odds with the art exhibition but understandably so. Fun participatory money message buttons (I picked “Buy My Vote”) given by curator of show John Schuerman, himself an accomplished artist <www.schuermanfineart.com> Photo during artist reception shows artist Rachel Breen <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tFJL7I-1gA> (3 minute egg segment) creating her conceptual piece “The Bank of Our Common Wealth: Prosperity, sewing together donated dollar bills on a vintage sewing machine, with a certificate of deposit with the message at the bottom “Thank you for your investment in the idea that we are all in this together!” I especially liked the work of Karen Searle <http://www.karensearle.com/> and her money stole and the alternative version of the Rubrik's money cube titled “Job Search” by John Ilg <http://mnartists.org/john_ilg> — both were most clever and compelling in their messages.

Local Art Opening at Vine Arts Center

                                                                                          photo montage by Lydia Kulesov 2012

 Local Art Event

Opening last night of the Juno Avenue Art “Expanding the Garden” at the Vine Arts Center <www.vineartscenter.org> timed with celebration of Earth Day on April 22, 2012.

The Art Center is a vibrant local (Seward & Longfellow, Minneapolis) warehouse building converted to artist studios and a fabulously spacious, well-lit artist-run art gallery and locally-made artist gift shop. The current show is work of a women's artist support group from St. Paul. Most members of the group came to practice art later in life and all seem to share the belief in “the therapeutic benefits of art”, quoted from an article about the group in the Villager newspaper <www.myvillager.com>. Most of the work is expressive, very colorful and graphic. There were a few red dot stickers by the end of the evening on the smaller attractive well-done and reasonably-priced pieces—a good sign that people are out buying original art and supporting the local art community! Congratulations to this group of emerging artists! Show runs through May 5th.

Art Opening at Textile Center

Last night after a bit of r&r beer tasting at Fulton Brewery in Minneapolis <www.fultonbeer.com> we went on the the opening reception for "Twelve Strands" a Mentor/Protégé Program Exhibition at the Textile Center <www.textilecentermn.org>  It is a lovely exhibition and was a great turnout! I particularly liked the work of mentor/artist Karen Searle <www.karensearle.com> and her knit copper wire breast-plate. It evoked something between a cultivated flower garden of a necklace going wild and a typically male adornment worn by a Plains Indian warrior for battle, a sublime pairing of ideas, in my view. I also liked the work of Kimber Olson <www.peridotfiberart.com> a transparent leafy fabric collage or assemblage. The show runs through May 25.

MPC FStop Meeting—April 18, 2012

                                        Paul Shambroom on left, Tom Arndt on right, photo by Lydia Kulesov

Last night was the monthly FStop meeting at the Minneapolis Photo Center <www.mplsphotocenter.com>. Tom Arndt <www.pdnphotooftheday.com/2009/03/737> veteran photographer and founder of the group, invited his long-time friend and fellow photographer Paul Shambroom <www.paulshambroom.com> to talk about his work and new directions in photography today. Some of the ideas Paul presented challenged the very core of what traditionally defines the tools and process of photography and how the crafting of an image is rapidly changing with the development of new technologies and image distribution on the web. Paul shared some of his work documenting his deep interest in the relationship of power and militarism in this country. This project of over a decade has taken him all across the country photographing military weaponry and machinery oddly situated in small town Americana landscape and the people who are involved in this industry. He was the first photographer ever to receive an Enduring Vision Award of $100,000 from the Bush Foundation in 2010. I look forward to watching his work continue to evolve. It was a very inspiring and thought-provoking evening.

New Work — Triptych Series

Triptych02, photograph, Lydia Kulesov ©2011, all rights reserved

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www.mnartists.org/lydia_kulesov

Lydia Kulesov Fine Art Photography

My current work is focused on photography — Lydia Kulesov ©2012

Introduction to NEW Art blog!

Lydia Kulesov NEW Arts Blog! — A spotlight for art photography and visual arts, reviews and images of arts events around town, arts resources and articles of interest, links to compelling works of other artists, and insightful musings on the world of art and photography today.