STUDIO-ONLINE

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, author, artist and designer Maira Kalman has lived and worked in New York City for years and become a central figure in the arts there. From her award-winning children’s picture books, which include Ooh-la-la (Max in Love), and covers for The New Yorker to her recent illlustrated edition of Strunk and White’s classic text on writing, The Elements of Style, Kalman has a way with whimsy, humor and the all-knowing eye that pierces the heart of a subject. This fall, Penguin published Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty. In this volume, the artist’s signature-style paintings amplify considerations of love, death, identity, happiness and even candy, among other surprising topics. As with all of Kalman’s work, her new book reflects a keen intelligence and refreshingly unique point of view.

Kalman’s fans will be glad to learn that the Museum of Arts and Design in New York has included her work in Pricked: Extreme Embroidery, which runs through March 9, 2008. In Converation: Maira Kalman with Chee Pearlman is scheduled in association with the exhibit and will feature Kalman speaking with editorial and design consultant Pearlman about her practice of embroidery. Autographed copies of The Principles of Uncertainty will be available at the event.

Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The event (and admission to the museum on Thursday evenings) is free.

Museum of Arts and Design
40 W. 53rd St.
New York, NY
Telephone: (212) 956-3535
Web site: www.madmuseum.org

For her second solo show in New York (and first at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery located in Chelsea), Pop Surrealist artist Lori Earley has created work that marks a deepening of her vision. Taking her portraiture in a more intimate direction, Earley’s recent works are “mood-based,” combining her interest in fashion illustration, remarkable attention to detail and stylized renderings for an even more striking effect. The resulting portraits are hauntingly beautiful images that remain in consciousness long after viewing. Earley’s process begins with a line drawing rather than sketches. From there, Earley develops the drawing into a full-scale painting or rendered drawing. Each line drawing is, thus, a work of art in itself.

Opening reception: Saturday, Feb. 23, from 7 to p.m.

Jonathan LeVine Gallery
529 W. 20th St., 9E
New York, NY 10011
Telephone: (212) 243-3822
Web site: www.jonathanlevinegallery.com

Born in Tokyo in 1962, Takashi Murakami is a study in contrasts. His influences range from traditional Japanese painting to street culture. The high and low and everything in between comes together in his paintings and sculpture. Murakami’s work can also be seen and collected in mass-marketed toys, books and even Louis Vuitton handbags. Aside from his stature as the “new Warhol” in the eyes of many critics, Murakami has played a pivotal role in promoting traditional and contemporary Japanese art. This catalogue of Murakami’s artwork from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, published in fall 2007 by Rizzoli, follows the artist from his early years through his social awakening and development as an entrepreneur and important voice in the future of the arts in Japan.

This group exhibition continues the Jonathan LeVine Gallery’s series on International Street Art that began with Ruas De São Paulo: A Survey of Brazilian Street Art and features installations by six of Europe’s most dynamic Street Artists. Those familiar with the active contemporary urban art scenes in London, Paris and Milan will see it transformed in the Chelsea gallery setting through newly created original works and site-specific installation pieces. The six artists in this show have their own individual aesthetic, form of medium and means of expression. Together they will alter the gallery using a variety of materials including paint, wheat paste, stencil, mosaic tile and digital animation—merging techniques and traditions, from the old and new world.

Opening reception: Saturday, Dec. 1, from 6-9 p.m.

Jonathan LeVine Gallery
529 W. 20th St., 9E
New York, NY 10011
Telephone: (212) 243-3822
Web site: www.jonathanlevinegallery.com

For visitors to New York, Kathy Jakobsen’s My New York is a wonderful way to keep the memories alive. This outstanding visual catalogue of “must-see” places, created by a noted folk artist, will bring smiles to the faces of travelers young and old, those who are new to the city and those who visit frequently. In fact, native New Yorkers may find Jakobsen’s renderings, in vibrant oils, of such iconic locales as South Street Seaport, China Town, the Empire State Building, Central Park, Madison Square Garden and the Statue of Liberty true to their own visions of their beloved city. This grand tour is conducted by a young girl named Becky, who writes her impressions to a friend soon to move to New York from the Midwest. Becky’s chatty details are memorable and entertaining, and end notes provide more factual details about each place, attraction and event. The anniversary edition of My New York (Little, Brown, 2003) has additional illustrations and fold-out pages. Forget the postcards; My New York is a volume to bring home, share with friends and return to for an instant jolt of New York energy.

Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About their Art (Philomel, 2007) is ideal for sparking children’s creative tendencies and will be enjoyed by teachers, librarians and parents, who know as well as children that picture books are treasure troves of riveting stories and wonderful artwork. Each of the artists talk with children about their art and how they became illustrators. The fun-to-share format features fold-out pages with photos of the artists’ early work, their studios and the process of moving from sketches to final artwork. Among the artists included in the volume are Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are), Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar), Tome dePaola (Strega Nona), pop-up book master Robert Sabuda, Leo Lionni (Frederick) and Jerry Pinkney (The Ugly Duckling).

Acclaimed children’s book author/illustrator Peter Sis’s latest title, The Wall (FSG, 2007) relates his experiences growing up in Prague during the Cold War. The book combines journal entries and period photos to set the stage for his tale of a young boy yearning for art and freedom within a constrictly controlled society. Sis’s palette reflects conflicting emotional and psychological states, while blunt captions drive home the reality of life in Communist countries at this time. Still, readers who have never experienced such narrow lives will identify with Sis’s growth into a young person who questions his society, the adults around him and his future. Teens rebel in their own ways, and Sis demonstrates that even within tight boundaries, young adults will find ways to express their questions, aspirations and discontent.

Australian artist Shaun Tan’s The Arrival (Arthur A. Levine, 2007), received starred reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal and will, no doubt, reward readers with its moving portrait of the immigrant experience. Tan (The Lost Thing) walks a fine line between wordless picture book and graphic novel, incorporating many of the standard conventions of storytelling and comic art. But the effect here is more daring and personal. Devoid of verbal explanations and storylines, the situation of a one man who leaves his family to find a better life in a foreign land is heightened and becomes more immediate. The setting is at once actual and surreal, nostalgic and furturistic. The photorealistic artwork (black and white and sepia toned) is soft and haunting, filled with images that operate on many levels. In fact, the book can be interpreted as an album of the many people who have, like the main chatacter, traveled to an alternate universe where language, customs and landscape no longer make sense. Tan knows that, in such situations, memories of loved ones left back home and the kindness of strangers serve as lifelines. The sophistication of Tan’s work may bring to mind Chris Van Allsburg (The Polar Express) and David Wiesner (Flotsam), but Tan is in a class of his own.

Although the concept is simple (think positively, be flexible and move in the direction of least resistance), Change the Way You See Everything Through Asset-Based Thinking (Running Press, 2006) will help readers make the subtle shifts necessary to accomplish big changes in their personal and professional lives. Authors Kathryn Cramer, a corporate consultant, and Hank Wasiak, a veteran of the advertising agency, have sought and found groundbreaking individuals in a variety of fields and discovered the essence of their successes. Most readers will recognize some names (musician Moby and actress Sonia Manzano, for example). Although it is fun to read about famous people who developed second careers, the unknown contributors are, perhaps, more inspirational as representatives of the majority of people whose lives may not seem extraordinary on the surface but whose work has made enormous changes for themselves and others. Readers will learn to detect negative thinking patterns and cultivate the awareness and reality-checks that are necessary for asset-based thinking. This is a great title with which to start a new year or new leg on the road of life.

El Taller Latino Americano’s Grady Alexis Gallery presents “Dancin”, a series of paintings showcasing the work of Latin artist Carlos Ortiz. In the series, Ortiz explores the themes of family heritage, and community.

Ortiz states that the title for this exhibition is derived from the style he uses to paint. “I selected ‘Dancin’ as the general title for the work I do because it involves a lot of physicality and movement and spontaneity of movement,” he explains. Ortiz cites an early introduction to expressionistic artists as well as involvement in the Salsa music scene of the late 60’s and early 70’s as influencing factors regarding his fluid, rapid painting style. Concerning Salsa music, Ortiz explicates that “the whole idea of synchronicity of cultures, of rhythms, of colors, of movement all taking the form for a dance was influential.”

Exemplifying this idea is a large mural that will be present at the “Dancin” exhibition consisting of overlapping images of faces, hands, and people dancing. Ortiz says the mural, like most of his work, represents the importance of community, and is meant to radiate a positive energy and sense of rhythm. This sense of community is not limited to the people on the canvas though, says Ortiz. “I like to play music when I show my work as well and I like it to be a community-building experience, not just something where you go to a museum and see a piece on the wall.”

Other works by Ortiz depict tropical scenes. These, he says, are in honor of his parents and their Caribbean roots. “The Caribbean is such that there is so much movement, rhythm and it’s all one big carnival,” Ortiz explains. “That whole thing is a part of my artwork that I always pay homage to and it’s my essence.”

Carlos Ortiz currently presides as Assistant Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Montclair State University, yet another influence that has helped to shape his work. But while Ortiz draws inspiration for his art from many places, his motivation to paint is simple. “I think the painting process in itself inspires me,” he says. “I love to be in the studio working.”

This exhibition is curated by gallery director Veronica Aberham.

El Taller Latino Americano
2710 Broadway
W. 104th Street, New York City.
Phone: 212 665 9460
Web: www.tallerlatino.org