James Dankert - Painter

Interns Rown

James Dankert

SpotArt Gallery Featured Interview

James Dankert
Saint Paul MN
Email: jamesdankert@msn.com
Website: www.jamesdankert.com
MNartist.org profile

Bio~

I’m a visual artist and musician who resides in Saint Paul, MN.

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?
I paint mostly with acrylics, sometimes with oil, and the “through line” of the last 4 years of my work is the human form. As for style, I’m primarily interested in lines and hard-edged, flat areas of color. My work doesn’t present much in the way of painterly brushwork or illusions of volume, shadow, and light. I’m constantly engaged in the process of discovering my strongest interests and paring down my imagery to include only those interests.

Currently I’ve been working on a series of flat, nude human forms against black backgrounds, taking equal parts inspiration from Attic vase painting and from the paintings of John Wesley. My previous project was a series of office scenes depicting employees in anonymous office spaces. While I started this series with the idea of painting the office as psychological landscape, as I worked through the images, I discovered my deeper interest in the form and framing of the human figures within these scenes. My current series of nudes sheds reference to a physical context and presents the contours of flat human forms interrupted by the edge of the support.

Filing

"What is Art?" is certainly too big of a question to ask here, but what do you hope your audience takes away from your art? What statement do you hope to make?
I hope that my most successful paintings would support a variety of readings, I don’t feel like my paintings are vessels for meaning. That said, I can note what I’m thinking about when I paint. My first hope is that an audience would perceive a certain deadpan humor in my imagery, an eye for blunt and blank moments. In my office series, I’m trying to paint minimally expressive images that capture unremarkable moments of the work day in an office. As for my current series, I think of the imagery as a playful embrace of a non-spiritual, body-centered worldview.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
Get out and see as much art as you can and, whenever possible, join the conversation at openings and exhibitions. I don’t follow this advice half as well as I should, but it seems like good advice.

Tell me about your working space and your creative process?
My workspace is cramped and uncomfortable. Whatever painting I’m working on is the eye of a hurricane of clutter and disorganization. If my space were too pleasant, I’m afraid I might just hang out and get nothing done. It’s in an old laboratory building, which I figure is an auspicious place to make art. My paintings start as quick pencil sketches made mostly while I’m sitting around home watching tv, without the use of models. The sketch transferred to the support provides a starting point, then I work out the rest of the image while I’m painting. The most difficult part of my creative process is trying to remain open, not to self-censor myself too severely during the early image-making process.

Conversation in Cube

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?

Some (there are so many):
Jennifer Davis - http://www.jenniferdavisart.com/
Michael Thomsen - http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=158290
Gregory J Rose - http://www.secretsofthecity.com/secrets/view/sunday-slideshow-studio-visit-with-gregory-rose
Corey McNally - http://www.local-artist-interviews.com/2010/08/corey-mcnally-abstract-painter-and.html
Clinton Rost - http://clintonrost.com/
Ray Becoskie - http://www.becoskie.com/
Gregory Graham - http://www.gregorygrahamart.com/

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

I love the MIA. Right now, if you went with me, we’d see the Titian exhibition (I haven’t been yet—I need to get off the stick!). Northeast Minneapolis and Saint Paul’s Lowertown are areas I find myself returning to often to look at art during gallery openings and in artists’ studios when they’re open. I also like to see what’s happening at Gallery 13 in downtown Minneapolis.

We’d see everything we could. Since I’m a painter, we’d certainly look at paintings. Beyond that, I don’t have much of an art agenda. I’m curious about most approaches and I linger on whatever strikes me. I almost always find something interesting or instructive in the works I see.

Copy Room

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?

Locally:
www.mnartists.org
www.mplsart.com
Lowertown First Fridays
Local Artist Interviews (Facebook)

Otherwise:
http://nymag.com/tags/ask%20an%20art%20critic
http://edwardwinkleman.blogspot.com/
http://joannemattera.blogspot.com/
http://www.twocoatsofpaint.com/

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?
Currently, I have a painting up in the “Flesh and Form” exhibition on view at Altered Esthetics through April 21:

Lunch

In May, I’ll have paintings on view at SpotArt gallery for the “SpotAwhirl” show opening on May 20 AND May 21, 2011 http://spotart.org/ .

Rochester Art Center

Anna Miller - Painter

Anna Miller

SpotArt Gallery Featured Interview

"Spotastic"

February 11th - March 11 2011

Reception: Friday 2/11 7-11pm

Details and Directions

Anna Miller
Saint Paul, MN
AnnaRUok@msn.com
http://www.bluecanvas.com/annamiller
http://www.mnartists.org/Anna_Miller

Artist Bio ~
Anna Miller hails from Sioux Falls, SD and received a BA in Art and Art History from the University of Minnesota. Since then she's been showing steadily throughout the state in salons, restaurants, coffee shops, and galleries. Currently, she works at Wet Paint Artists' Materials, which allows for many opportunities to meet other artists and experiment with new materials. Her favorite mediums include acrylic, watercolor, ink, oil pastel, and the beloved Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.

December 2010 (part of monthly self portraits), Marker in Sketchbook, 5x8”

Tell me about your work. What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?
Generally, I like to draw and paint women. When looking for inspiration, I’ll leaf through a fashion magazine or one of my many pin-up art books. Themes change, but more often than not a drawing or painting by me is going to include a lady. My work is also very driven by color and I like to work with contrasting hues. My older works are saturated with bright reds and greens, whereas recently, I’ve been working with blue and orange. My two newest paintings depict a mysterious woman dancing in a blue abyss with orange and green accents. Some people have pointed out that I’ve taken a turn to a more nautical style, which may be true, but it’s entirely based on a tube of Old Holland, Indigo Deep that I fell in love with.

This past year, I set out to create a self portrait each month. It was meant to be just an exercise, but it turned into a nice little body of work. Each drawing reflects my attitude towards that time of year and is a record of how I've changed. I think it would be interesting to continue this for a number of years, kind of like a growth chart for adulthood.

A Lady Never Admits Her Feet Hurt, 2006, Relief Print, 12x20”

"What is Art?" is certainly too big of a question to ask here, but how do you hope your art is perceived by your audience? Or what statement do you hope to make with your art?
I include myself in many of my paintings and these works usually have a strong personal meaning. Painting can be a cathartic form of therapy that allows me to release frustrations and fears that I build up inside myself. A lot of the time, other people will interpret a meaning based on their own ideas and experiences that is not what I intended, but just as valid. This is what I love about making art. It opens discussions and there is no right or wrong answer. I like to suggest to the viewer a narrative and a sense of familiarity that they can take away with them to ponder and interpret.

I’m not really into relaying a message through my art, be it politically or socially, but if someone gets that out of my work, I won’t dispute it. Above all, my intentions are to add beauty to my world. This may explain why I use a lot of feminine imagery, bright colors, and organic shapes. To me, that’s beautiful and I hope that others respond positively to that.

The Misadventure of Holly Hobby, 2006, Watercolor on Paper, 15x19”

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
Avid visual journalist Roz Stendahl (http://rozwoundup.typepad.com) stresses that you shouldn't cover up your mistakes. I like this attitude because it allows for creative freedom in my artwork. I don't worry about what the outcome will be when I'm drawing in my sketchbook or starting a new painting, which is always so daunting. I tend to just let things happen and often times, the “mistakes” are what give the art life and make it interesting. Letting go can also be a learning process in discovering new techniques or knowing what not to do next time.

Tell me about your working space and your creative process?
I do have a studio in the basement of my house, but really, it’s just a space to keep all of my art supplies and collections of junk. In the summertime, I move my easel and paints up to my screened in back porch. Sometimes I'll spend the entire day out there painting, drawing, or reading. It's blissful. I wish I could use the porch all year round because the basement is just too cold and dank for creative thinking. I keep sketchbooks and carry one with me almost everywhere I go, so in reality, my working space is wherever I happen to be.

I like to draw people and record strange situations in my sketchbooks, but I don't like to be noticed when I’m working. For me, drawing and paintings is a private act, but people are always interested to see an artist at work. I'm kind of a hypocrite because, here I am invading the privacy of strangers by secretly drawing them, but I get all defensive when they want to take a peek.

My creative process is pretty spontaneous. I don’t do a lot of planning because I find that when I do, the outcome is stale and unexciting. When I start a new painting, I choose a couple of key colors, turn on some music, and intuitively move the paint around the canvas. More often than not this doesn’t create a final product, but a nice backdrop for a focus character. The main characters in my paintings are usually inspired by a photograph, either from a photo session with a model or some spontaneous act of awesome caught on camera. I participated in Urban Arts: A Night of Art and Burlesque last August and took a lot of photos during the burlesque show. These have been great fodder for new paintings.

Identity Can't Save You Now!, 2006, Acrylic and Marker on Canvas, 24x36”

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?
I recently discovered Michael Thomsen (http://www.mdthomsen.com) and love the tiny worlds he creates with found object. His style really reminds me of two other artists, whose work I admire: Mary Solberg (http://marysolberg.30art.com) and John Ready (www.johnreadyart.com).

I've participated in two shows put on by Urban Arts (http://www.urbanarts-tc.com) and had the opportunity of showing with wonderful artists such as Kao Lee Thao (http://www.innerswirl.com), Mai C. Vang (http://www.chaosmaiart.com) and Chris Navarre.

Other artists I've come to admire are Dan Weiken (www.danwieken.com) for his intricate pen and ink drawings, Chuck U (www.chucku.com) for his colorful and psychedelic urban illustrations, and Caitlin Karolczak (http://studiosilenti.com) for her haunting, monochromatic oil paintings that seem from another world and time.

Also, I can't forget some of my talented co-workers at Wet Paint: Kristina Fjellman (www.kristinafjellman.com), Justin Terlecki, (www.mnartists.org/terlecki), Paul Damon (http://www.pauldamonlandscapes.com), Gregory Graham (http://www.gregorygrahamart.com), Dana O’Malley (http://www.danaomalley.com), Steve Robbins (www.comicartiststeve.com), Liz Carlson (www.mnartists.org/liz_carlson), and Kate Katzer (http://katzerova.blogspot.com).

Plenty of Fish in the Sea, 2010, Acrylic, Ink, and Oil Pastel on Canvas, 18x24”

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?
I don't generally go to galleries randomly. That is, I'm only going to see an art show if I've gotten a postcard that intrigues me or an invitation from somebody I know.

If you were to follow me around to some of my favorite places to draw, you might find yourself at the Como Zoo and Conservatory, The Life Drawing Co-op at MCAD on Monday nights, a music venue where some of my favorite local bands play (Gluek's, The Fineline, Palmer's, Bunker's, etc.) or at a friend's house during what we call “Art Club.”

All Dolled Up (detail), 2009, Installation, 1-car garage

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’m a member of BlueCanvas.com, which is a social networking site for artists that also prints a quarterly periodical. I’ve discovered a lot of great artists through that site. I'm also a huge fan of Hi Fructose (http://hifructose.com). I don't visit the site as much as I devour the magazine.

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?
February 11 through March 11, I'll have work up at SpotArt gallery in Northeast Minneapolis. This is a group show with a lot of different artists and a variety of styles. I’m showing most of the monthly self portraits from 2010. I don’t have anything scheduled at the moment because I took a hiatus from showing to create new work. I'm starting to get out there again, so look for me when you're out and about.

If you were to receive a $2,000 art grant to do anything you want, what would you do?
A year and a half ago I did my first installation in my garage. It was called All Dolled Up and it was based on the interior of a doll house from my childhood. All of the materials used were my own or handed down from my relatives, which worked for the nostalgic nature of the show. I have many more ideas for installations and would like to pursue these, but my resources are limited. If I had a $2,000 grant, I would put it towards building a name for myself as an installation artist.

Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association

Tom Riggle - Painter

Tom Riggle

MNArtists.org Profile

email: grainbeltart@gmail.com

Bio:~

Tom Riggle is a Minneapolis based artist who received his BFA

from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. In 2006, he was invited

to and participated in a Contemporary Art Show at the National Academy

Museum in New York City as part of the 181st Annual Invitational

Exhibition of Contemporary artists with 124 of the finest American

artists from across the country. Some notable artists exhibiting work

at the museum were Lynda Benglis, Susanne Doremus, Trenton Doyle

Hancock, Sylvia Plimack Mangold,Pat Steir, Enrique Chagoya, Kiki

Smith, John Chamberlain and many others. Tom has also been invited in

both 2007 and 2011 to exhibit his work at the Florence Biennle in

Florence, Italy. Previously Tom has exhibited work at Flanders

Gallery in South Minneapolis and at Art Chicago. His studio is in the

Grainbelt Bottling House in NE Minneapolis.

Tell me about your work.

I'm a painter with an interest in many different things/styles. I've

been working on several bodies of work in the last few years.

One series is abstract where I'm interested in color and the resists

of different chemicals/mediums. Oil and water for example resist each

other. I explore oil mediums and look for those kinds of interesting

reactions. I really enjoy making these because of the process, it

takes some of the control away from me. I encounter lots of trial and

error. The process takes me almost to the point of chaos, but when

things work out there are some amazing reactions.

Another series is color bar paintings. A simple explanation (beyond

all the art speak and references of color field painting) is I enjoy

the composition and you never see the color bars on your television

anymore when programming goes off the air. When I was a kid the color

bars indicated it was time for me to go to bed. Now the TV is 24 hrs

and never goes off the air therefore there is a entire generation that

won't experience the color bars. I find that interesting and somewhat

profound. It makes me recognize my mortality.

I also have a series of figurative work; some painted and others done

with pen and whiteout. The paintings are very expressive and

influenced by social narratives and politics. The pen drawings I've

been doing for sometime but have recently evolved into something

completely different.

What are you currently working on?

The pen drawings.

How is this different from past projects?

It happened more by accident than by design. I started drawing and

the next thing I knew I was morphing a wolf with an octopus. Then I

started to think about what they hunted and so on. Now I've started a

series of drawings that have to do with this idea of hunter and prey

and how they can interchange. I wanted to empower the prey and have us

wonder which is which.

This series is different because I'm repeating some of the imagery.

Instead of trying to recreate the wheel, I'm allowing myself to have

fun with these images and they are becoming something...characters

maybe...definitely something I've never done before. The truth is this

series is so new I'm still in the discovery stage and I'm just excited

that I like it.

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

The best advice was probably from Robert Colescott who did some

studio visits at MCAD (Minneapolis College of Art and Design) when he

had a show at the Walker several years ago. He said to look for what

"was working" in a painting. In our critiques at school we always

picked out what "wasn't working" in someone's work but its hard to know

what's working if your always looking for what isn't. It opened my

eyes to another way to approach my work. If you concentrate on what

is working, what is not working will fix itself.

Tell me about your working space?

I share a space with Joe Greco in the Grainbelt Bottling House in NE

Minneapolis, MN. The building is unique in that the middle of the

building is empty and has a three story ceiling. We've had some great

shows there. Because of the amount of floor and wall space we can

have a variety of work in the building. We've had bands, dancers,

performance artists, installations, films, paintings and sculptures

all in the same show and in some instances all at once.

And your creative process?

I'd say a train wreck, at least at times. I really just try to pay

attention to everything because you never know where inspiration will

come from. Instead of looking for it, I just roll with it and hope to

catch it when it's there. When I force inspiration then that's when

everything comes off the tracks.

Which Minnesota artists do you enjoy?

There are a lot of great artists in town but I really enjoy Michael

Thomsen; his sculptures or wall reliefs always inspire me. Also I have

just been turned onto Aaron Horkey's work and really dig what he's

doing. He just did a show in Windom, MN called Midwestern Heart.

Apparently it could have been in any major city but he wanted his

friends and family to be able to see it. That makes me dig his work

even more.

Where do you go online for good art resources, or to find a new

artist, or to see what's going on in the art world locally or

nationally?

Hi-Fructose has a great online site. That's how I found out about

Aaron Horkey. With that said Tarnish & Gold look promising and I've

always liked Rogue Buddha.

If I were to follow you around for an "art day" in Minnesota where would we go?

We could always do the standards however we would take a drive to the

top of the state, the gunflint trail, it's very peaceful and really

unbelievable. A great art day for me is to clear everything out and

take in what's around. I don't paint from nature but it's having more

and more of a role. Living in the city does that...we believe it

contains all of our aspirations- commerce, innovation, entertainment,

our cosmopolitan persona. Really it's just separating us from the

earth, going up to the gunflint trail reminds me of that and inspires

something greater.

Soo Visual Arts Gallery