Terrence Payne - Painter

Terrence Payne has lived and worked in the Minneapolis area for the past fifteen years, building a body of unique and thought provoking work while exhibiting at galleries and universities throughout the united states. His work can be found in private, corporate and collegiate collections throughout the world. Terrence founded Rosalux gallery eight years ago to give local emerging and mid career artists an opportunity to exhibit their work in an environment that would bring them higher visibility while nurturing their artistic callings without the limitations imposed by many commercial galleries. Serving as gallery director since its inception , he has helped over sixty local artists further their art careers through their involvement with Rosalux.

Terrence Payne

www.terrencepayne.com

terrencepayne.blogspot.com

tjpayne@comcast.net

You are currently exhibiting as part of the Minnesota Artist Exhibition Program (MAEP) at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This seems like quite and honor and opportunity. Tell me about the work you are showing there.

I'm showing a group of eight large oil pastel drawings. My drawings are typically portraits of different archetypes defined by the figure in the piece, their costume, action, secondary objects around the figure and a sort of wallpaper pattern behind them which sets the undertone for the entire work. For this show I am using the same pattern in each individual drawing to give an underlying unity to the entire show. I'm hoping that it will read as to how different sorts of personalities react to a similar situation and how what each one brings to a scenario can affect its outcome.

You have a special place in the Minneapolis arts community in that not only are you an artist, but you are also the founder of the Rosalux Gallery, which is one of the relatively few galleries in the twin cities accessible to emerging artists to show their work. Whose work have you shown that you are proud to say you have been able to provide an opportunity for exposure?

I would have to say that I am proud to have been a part of giving any and all of our artists past and present an opportunity for exposure. When I started the gallery I had this idea of creating a space where the artists have an active roll not only in the creation of their work but also in the promotion and exhibition of it as well. By asking that they take on the financial risks of exhibiting their work that also gave them the freedom to do what they wanted to do how they wanted to do it. Specifically for emerging artists I think that this is an extremely valuable experience because they are learning how to write a press release, edit the work in a show, garner and maintain a database of individuals who are interested in their work, put together a portfolio of their work to send out to new markets and begin to build a network of peers to share information with with regards to furthering their careers.

In the time since we opened our first location we have worked with over sixty local artists as members in the group, as well as the many others who have participated in the annual open door exhibition, and through these connection I hope that we have managed to make a positive impact on the local arts scene. The main motivation for Rosalux has always been to act as a tool with which to strengthen the Minneapolis arts community with the belief that by strengthening our artists at how it will create a better impression for all abroad.

Many artists find art to be a solitary experience, where creating community can be difficult. I wonder if you might have a different experience. I referring specifically to the Pilot Arts Group. The Pilot Arts webpage says it was created to provide updates of the “collective and individual endeavors of Pilot Artists.” Can you tell me how this group came together? What advantages have you found by working as part of a collective? Do you have any advice for others who might want to go down this same path?

Pilot is something that grew out of an idea that John Alspach and I had for Rosalux several years ago as a different way of promoting our art in hopes of finding a larger audience for the work of local artists. The basic idea of it being that we would work with a smaller group of artists and buy advertising in national design magazines to promote a website for the group and do one or two shows at alternative spaces each year.

The Rosalux group wasn't ready to give it a go so we decided to work with some other artists who were further along in their careers and would be more comfortable trying some new things. The first show we had was in a vacant storefront in uptown that coincided with our first ads in Dwell magazine and it went pretty well. As time went on and newer less traditional media started to spring up which made more sense for artists to put their efforts into pursuing rather than print ads the group changed its focus to being an annual exhibition collective which seeks out one show a year outside of minnesota.

Our next show is this coming october at the Greyduck gallery in Austin, Texas. Overall I think that pilot has been a great thing for us, its seems to have evolved into more of a guild than a collective in that it is a place for a group of peers to share ideas and experiences and try new things.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

I can't remember any specific words of wisdom that I ever received from anyone in particular, but I would like to give a shout out to M.C. Anderson of the former M.C. Gallery which used to be downtown back in the day. It was my first experience showing in a gallery and M.C. tolerated me hanging around and asking annoying questions about the art world which was really where I learned great deal about how things work in the world of art and commerce.

Which Minnesota artists do you enjoy?

eeerghh! I am terrible at remembering the names of artists but I have no problem remembering the images I see. First off, there are none better than Jen Davis, Joe Sinness, and Erica Olson Gross who are my exhibition partners this fall inthe MAEP Galleries at the MIA. I have seen a lot of awesome local art this year but these are a few that have really stuck with me: I have really enjoyed following the design work of Land Land this year, the drawings of Nick Howard, the photos of Areca Roe, and the sculpture of Amelia Biewald. These are some of the artists who have made definite impact on what I am doing right now in one way or another.

If I were to follow you around on an “art day” in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

We would probably start our day at the MIA looking around and wandering aimlessly waiting for something to spark something for us( I usually go there and do that when I am stuck on an idea or looking for inspiration). then we might stop for lunch at Victors and head over to Andy Ducetts garage and see what kind of weirdness is going on there. next stop is the shiny robot studios in NE to see whats being made up there and probably we would end up at Jim Wrayge's studio in the Northrup King getting drunk and embellishing stories about stupid things we used to do.

What was the last local exhibit you saw and what were your impressions?

I just went to the opening for Tara Costello's new show at Rosalux this past weekend as well as the new shows at SooVac the weekend before which features work by Liz Miller, Justin Stewart, Pam Valfer and Allen Brewer. They were all top notch and the biggest impression I am usually left with after visiting most shows in the twin cities is how lucky we are to be living in a community that turns out and supports its artists as well as the quality of work happening in town on any given day.


Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?

I like to check out Fecal Face, Tiny Showcase, Artist a Day, and then whatever links I find on Facebook or that get sent to me by other artists.

How do you incorporate your blog, Facebook, and other social media/internet resources into your life as an artist?

I pretty much use my blog as a diary for my own purposes considering the amount of traffic it gets. Its a good place to put up new work and sketches I am working on to see how they fit in with a larger group of work. Facebook is great for sending out invites to shows and spy on what others are doing and I use my website as an online point of reference for others to get a sense of who I am as an artist.

Do you have any exhibits or any interesting things going on in your life or coming up in the near future?

I do, I will be showing in the MAEP galleries at the art institute (MIA) this month with Jen Davis, Joe Siness, and Erica Olson Gross in a show called Flourish which opens October 21st as well as another group show this month in Austin,Ttexas at the Grayduck Gallery with the Pilot Arts Group and that one opens on the fourteenth. Then its back to Rosalux which will be hosting our annual juried competition Open Door this November and I'll be spending the winter preparing new work for a show there this coming April.