Category Archives: Press and Articles

Adam Viens show reviewed be Artist / Writer Gil Scullion

Adam Viens show reviewed be Artist / Writer Gil Scullion

A review by Gil Scullion on the very recent show of Adam Viens  work.
Read below:

 

Gil Scullion
April 2018

The first and most noticeable characteristic in the work of Adam Viens is its materiality. He uses all manner of salvaged, pre-owned, weathered and deteriorating materials in its construction. The EBK Gallery on Pearl Street in Hartford is exhibiting six of Viens pieces that incorporate plexiglass, transparent mesh fabric, wood products, paper, paint, pencil and ping pong balls among other materials. The visceral opulence is kept in check by a strong, formal foundation that organizes the compositions into distinct horizontals and verticals.

In a conversation with the artist we discussed the Russian Constructivist tradition of “faktura.” Following the end of the First World War progressive, Russian artists began to view their artworks as experiments. The evolutionary tendency in art was towards complete abstraction and the example of Picasso and Braque’s pre-war collages encouraged the inclusion of materials not typically employed in the production of art. The Constructivists developed a literal art that emphasized the physical properties of their media. For instance, an artist might have used glass or plastic so that elements positioned behind remained visible. Transparency was the crucial quality. A length of steel would have been used to represent rigidity and strength. Wood was easily shaped into rectangles that could be hung on a wall in the manner of paintings. The Constructivists turned these different physical properties into a language whose basis was a truth to materials. The construction of each artwork had to be clear to the viewer and each element was required to exploit its most salient characteristics. Viens suggested there were several affinities between his work and the ideas of the Constructivists. Most pronounced was a Constructivist way of learning. The process of building the pieces encouraged a kind of dialogue between the artist’s intentions and the capabilities of the materials. Viens said, “…like the Russian Constructivists, I use material as a visual language. It is visual poetry. Every material has a number of connotations, and associations that come along with it. When combined in a certain way it becomes a distillation of human experiences.” For instance, materials have what Viens termed a “degradation rate” wherein the material’s response to environmental stresses relates to “emotional or intellectual processes.”

Viens’ work goes beyond strictly formal considerations. Some of the materials he employs are already deeply embedded with ideas that are not formal in nature. For instance, he has used photographs, charts, diagrams and wooden constructions that have had a purposeful existence before they are incorporated them into an artwork. How much of their original meanings do these elements retain? In what ways do they change when they are re-contextualized?

Viens replied, “The original meanings always remain intact. Their meaning is not altered, but expanded upon. The re-contextualizing is a process of consummation bringing forth the inherent spirit already residing in the material or object. At a certain point the art object and I come to an agreement that it is done. This is sometimes after it has been killed and resuscitated many times, or sometimes after only an hour or two of deliberate choices. Either way, when it gets there, the original meanings and properties are still present, but they become dependent on the viewer. It is also the case that the more you bring to a work of art the more you are able to get out of it. Here it is especially true because some of the objects are so specifically charged that if one of the element’s original purposes is unrecognized the dialogue changes drastically. This speaks to the nature of subjectivity, when dealing with art, and any sensory experience.”

Quotations are from a correspondence between the author and Adam Viens, March – April 2018.

(Click here to save or print a copy of this review)

Take Magazine has a nice write up on Jason Werner

Take Magazine has a nice write up on Jason Werner

Check out this nice write up on Jason Werner’s recent “StarField” show in the gallery, by John Boudreau for Take Magazine. Hartford’s Star Painter     StarField 4 2017 48” x 60”  acrylic on canvas     HARTFORD’S STAR PAINTER  JULY 11, 2017  JOHN BOUDREAU  CONNECTICUT Influenced by transcendentalists and Carl Sagan, Connecticut artist Jason Werner creates… Continue Reading

Honored to sit in on a round table chat for “S” Salon & Westport News

Honored to sit in on a round table chat for “S” Salon & Westport News

Had the honor of being invited to a round table conversation in Darien CT at the home of Jan and Bob Dilenschneider, to chat art and it’s importance in Connecticut.  Was also especially honored to be in the room with Tom Loughman, Director of The Wadsworth Atheneum and Ann Sievers, Director of University of St… Continue Reading

Article on Kevin Horan’s photographic portraits by Susan Dunne for The Hartford Courant

Article on Kevin Horan’s photographic portraits by Susan Dunne for The Hartford Courant

Check out this article on Kevin Horan’s photographs by Susan Dunne of the Hartford Courant Goat Portraiture Exhibit At EBK Gallery Susan Dunne Contact Reporter When Kevin Horan takes one of his elegant black-and-white portraits, the faces are full of personality. Sweet Pea is, like her name, sweet. Lily is shy. Jake is looking for trouble.… Continue Reading

EBK Gallery has been invited to participate in CT Contemporary – Westport, Connecticut

EBK Gallery has been invited to participate in CT Contemporary – Westport, Connecticut

CT Contemporary Art Fair Appears In Westport The art fair will offer a peak of what is happening now in CT’s contemporary art galleries.   The art fair will offer a peak of what is happening now in CT’s contemporary art galleries. By Damita Thomas (Patch Staff) – Updated June 14, 2017 11:00 am ET… Continue Reading

Nice Write Up on Genevieve May by Hartford Courant’s Susan Dunne

Nice Write Up on Genevieve May by Hartford Courant’s Susan Dunne

Check out this article on Genevieve May’s paintings by Susan Dunne of the Hartford Courant   Portraits Of Strangers At EBK Hartford portraitist Génévieve May likes painting strangers she meets around the city. See her work at EBK Gallery. Susan Dunne Contact Reporter Génévieve May goes into the Hartford community and meets people. They might… Continue Reading

Article on Stass Shpanin’s “Coltland Souvenir Shop” from Susan Dunne of the Hartford Courant

Article on Stass Shpanin’s “Coltland Souvenir Shop” from Susan Dunne of the Hartford Courant

Check out this article on Stass Shpanin’s “Coltland Souvenir Shop” from Susan Dunne of the Hartford Courant   ‘Coltland Souvenir Shop’ Exhibit Pokes Fun At Hartford Legend  EBK Gallery in Hartford lets artist Stass Shpanin have fun with the legacy of 19th-century captain of industry Samuel Colt in the “Coltland Souvenir Shop” exhibit. Read story… Continue Reading

Here’s a great interview from WideWalls on the Lindsey Fyfe Live Painting Project

Here’s a great interview from WideWalls on the Lindsey Fyfe Live Painting Project

Check out this great write up from the European online publication and art site WideWalls. A special thanks to Amy Lin in the Art Exhibitions department there! LINDSEY FYFE INTERVIEW – ON ABSTRACT PAINTING IN PUBLIC SETTINGS     LINDSEY FYFE INTERVIEW – ON ABSTRACT PAINTING IN PUBLIC SETTINGS Abstract Art• Amy Lin   Painting on… Continue Reading


Copyright © 2015 EBK Gallery