Artist Richard Claraval @ Spinning Plate Gallery

THIS SUN OF ROBERT by Richard Claraval, Spinning Plate Gallery, 5720 Friendship Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15206, November 1, December 31, 2010. Opening Reception: Saturday, November, 13, 2010, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.

An unusual feature of this show is that the artist will actually work on new pieces in one portion of the gallery throughout the run of the exhibition.

THIS SUN OF ROBERT

Being the child of a verbally abusive father is a terrible thing, but like all disasters it has the potential to be used for good. Artist Richard Claraval likes to think of the profound anger left over from his painful childhood as a small sun inside him. Like the real sun one cannot get too close or it will consume him, but, also like the real sun, it contains tremendous energy which Mr. Claraval taps into to give greater intensity to his art. In his new solo exhibition titled, “THIS SUN OF ROBERT”, opening on November 1, at The Spinning Plate Gallery in Pittsburgh, Pa., he uses one sculpture which directly addresses his childhood as a touch stone to all the other work in the show.

“The Prison of My Youth”, consists of a ripped, jagged, black and red, life-sized self portrait suspended in a rough wire cage. Gnarled ropes, twisted into some of the cruel things Mr. Claraval’s father said to him when he was a child, pierce through the body from one side of the prison to the other, holding it in place. This piece will be situated at the point of the triangularly shaped gallery, with the rest of the work radiating outward from it, shifting from darker more intense, to brighter more optimistic. These will consist of seemingly massive sculptures that project more than nine feet directly from the walls from tiny cross-sections, along with drawings that fuse the human figure with gestural abstraction. All of the sculptures, along with the figure in “The Prison of My Youth” are made of Styrafoam, and coated with a hard polyurethane polyurea skin.

The title of the exhibition, THIS SUN OF ROBERT, refers to the first two lines of Shakespeare’s Richard III,

“Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this sun of York;”.

Mr. Claraval’s internal “sun”, so painful when it was created by his father, Robert, is now helping him to overcome his troubled past, to forge a happier life for himself, and perhaps even a “glorious summer” before the end.

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20, 2007.pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly, www.RickByerly.com.

Pittsburgh artist Jim Rettinger at Panza Gallery May 8 2010

Pittsburgh artist Jim Rettinger


decay

&

renewal


Opens May 8th, 2010 6-9pm


@ PANZA gallery

115 Sedgwick Street

Millvale Pa 15209

412.821.0959 panzagallery@mac.com

Wed.Thurs.Fri.10-5 Sat 10-3

...

The Pittsburgh Art Blog

pittsburgh galleries is reborn anew as The Pittsburgh Art Blog. the blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20, 2007.pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh art advocate rick byerly, www.RickByerly.com.

Exhibit Review: Artists Janese Hexon and Connie Cantor at the Christine Frechard Gallery in Squirrel Hill

Good to see the Pittsburgh Tribune Review and Kurt Shaw covering the talented work of Pittsburgh artists Janese Hexon and Connie Cantor. I also like the sentiment expressed by gallery owner Christine Frechard: "I'm tired of hearing that there's no collectors here, there's no money here. Great artists from here are exhibiting outside of the city and collectors are buying outside of the city."



Review link.



The exhibit runs until April 8, 2010.

Gallery Hours:

Tuesday - Saturday: 10:30 AM - 6:00 PM

Sunday: 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM

5871 Forbes Avenue

(between Murray and Shady)

Pittsburgh, Pa. 15217

(724) 766-0104

christinefrechardgallery@gmail.com

www.christinefrechardgallery.com

...





The Pittsburgh Art Blog



pittsburgh galleries is reborn anew as The Pittsburgh Art Blog. the blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20, 2007.



pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.



the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh art advocate rick byerly, www.RickByerly.com.

Artist John Metzler, Urban Tree Forge

I was passing on contact information to a friend about artist John Metzler and realized I didn't have his site listed on the blog links so did that and wanted to post here as well. His amazing wooden tables were purchased by phipps via the G20 dillio ( G20 tables not pictured above fyi).

from the site:

Urban Tree Forge is a creative manufacturer of hardwoods, millwork, furniture, cabinetry and sculpture. We specialize in blending furniture with art to create unique pieces that are inspired by nature.

website: http://urbantreeforge.com/

blog: http://urbantreeforge.blogspot.com/

Pittsburgh 3rd Annual EcoFest October 10, 2009

ECOFEST- Saturday, October 10th, 2009 10:00AM-2:00PM

Our 3rd Annual EcoFest is bigger than ever!

Featuring the Pittsburgh Power Flower!

Drop off working and non-working computers, printers and TVs thanks to environment-friendly Goodwill

Donate bikes you've been meaning to get rid of to Free Ride, and attend a bike workshop

Learn how to make inexpensive, safe, environmentally-kind cleaning products for your home

Hear a representative of the Sierra Club speak and take your questions about coal energy

Start tracking your ecological efforts as PennFuture brings the “Black and Gold City Goes Green” campaign to Regent Square

Hear representatives of the Frick Park Nature Center speak about Frick Park and bring your children for Nature Center activities

Be involved in a Children’s Art show

Donate perennials for our hillside, and help beautify our neighborhood


at the Wilkins School Community Center, 7604 Charleston Avenue in the Regent Square area.

Art in Public: Expressing Youth Voices in Pittsburgh Contest

Art in Public: Expressing Youth Voices in Pittsburgh

Art Energy Design's Pittsburgh Power Flowers

from Rick Byerly:

this is something i'm really excited about. several months ago i was fortunate to have been approached by artist david l edwards with an incredible idea to merge public art with sustainable energy. since then i've joined on and will help with marketing, sales and community relations. the goal in general is to raise money to then sell these sculptures to already interested parties like Phipps Conservatory.

the first one he has already built is a 12 foot metal sunflower sculpture with the petals functioning as the wind turbine and the leaves as l.e.d. lighting. it lights up at night and will have the capacity to charge cell phones and the like. in the next few days i will be photographing the working model.

the details on the Pittsburgh Power Flowers are here.

we have an opportunity to receive a $25,000 grant from the grable and pittsburgh foundations to involve pittsburgh youth in the design and use of these power flowers and are excited about the possibilities. after the initial grant we will be donating 2 of the 5 power flowers to pittsburgh organizations which best support youth voices. just today we picked up an important pittsburgh public school connection. one of the things which makes our project stand out is it's financial sustainability. the other 3 flowers we will sell and plow the money back into creating new flowers of different designs and colors to sell to interested parties.i'm asking for your help in registering at the changemakers website and post comments as you see fit about the Pittsburgh Power Flowers project.

the register link is here and the link to our entry is here.

the window for relevant comments is very short as they start considering the applications May 21. the voting begins june 8 and everyone who registers at changemakers will be eligible to vote. i'll send a reminder that day.we will also be debuting the working model at pittsburgh technology councils' art and tech kickoff on june 18, 2009. more details closer to that date.thanks for your time!

rick byerly, http://www.artenergydesign.com/

The Competition:

The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Grable Foundation are partnering with Ashoka’s Changemakers to build a movement that will use public art to capture the creativity and activism of youth in Pittsburgh. We’re looking for projects that empower youth to demonstrate what’s important to them through well-designed, sustainable public art. The most inspired projects will be publicly recognized and two winners will receive $25,000 grants to fund their projects. We are looking for artists and those who love art to create a new type of innovative public art in the greater Pittsburgh area. Most of the public art in our region does not reflect the experiences of young people and their responses to the issues they care about. If you believe in the power of art to transform public spaces, engage youth, and inspire social change in our community, it’s time to get involved.details about the changemakers competition:

Art in Public: Expressing Youth Voices in Pittsburgh entries will be accepted until May 20, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time. Individuals and teams are encouraged to submit ideas early so they can receive comments, questions, and insights from the Changemakers and Pittsburgh Foundation communities, which can be used to improve their entries before the final deadline.

Here’s how the Challenge will work:

Entry Stage, April 8 – May 20, 2009: Entries can be submitted until May 20, 2009, 6:00 p.m. US Eastern Standard Time. Entries may be submitted by teams or individuals. Supporters are encouraged to nominate entrants, add comments and participate in the online review discussion with the entrants.

Online Review and Judging, May 21 – June 5, 2009: Online review and discussion continue during this phase. Simultaneously, a panel of experts and community members from the Pittsburgh region will select between 5-10 Finalists. Finalists will be announced on June 5, 2009.

Online Voting, June 8 – June 24, 2009: The Changemakers community votes online to select the 2 grant-winners from the slate of Finalists. Anyone who registers with Changemakers online is eligible to vote and Finalists will be encouraged to mobilize their supporters within the Pittsburgh region. Everyone who enters the challenge will receive increased exposure to the Pittsburgh Foundation, regional grantmakers and others who are interested in public art and youth expression. Participation in the competition offers the opportunity to receive feedback on your idea from fellow entrants, Changemakers and Pittsburgh Foundation staff, judges, and the Changemakers community.

administered by:

pittsburgh galleries is a project from
pittsburgh photographer rick byerly, www.uniquetake.com

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