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Straube Center
in the News Special to the
Times In the Renaissance era, artists had patrons. In today's world, artists depend on agents and galleries, both of whom may charge hefty commissions and often offer the art to limited audiences. Trenton native John Stinger is out to alter the scene by forming an art alliance composed of professional artists and a network of corporations that will offer space for exhibitions. Launching the new endeavor is an exhibit of the work of six artists at The Straube Center in Pennington. "Finding Win Straube was a godsend. He understands the need for artists to expose their work," Stinger says. "It takes people like him who are astute collectors to appreciate that good artists need a place to show their work. That's what this show is all about. Giving exposure in the right way to serious artists." Bimonthly exhibits are scheduled for the Straube Center through 2009. Lined up for those shows are 18 painters, four sculp tors and three fine-art photographers. As a preview, a few of those artists have work on view in this exhibit. Included in this inaugural exhibition are works by Ewing artist Joy Kreves, as well as Brad Browne, Chris Carter, Richard Gerstner, J. Stacy Rogers and Stinger, the show's curator. Kreves is exhibiting her hand- drawn "Discs" series -- circles of waves done in colored inks on paper, wood or clay that she describes as "worlds of sound waves, radio waves, thought waves, etc., (that) are unseen drivers of the events in our mundane world." Also on view is Kreves' acrylic on wood Mandala Series: images done in copper wash and acrylic on canvas, linocuts rubbings with gold leaf of fish scales and fingerprints, and sunspots and droplets done in mixed media on handmade paper. Browne's stunning black-and- white photographs on exhibit include "Lunchtime For Amish Girls," which looks down upon the backs of nine Amish girls as they sit in a line crossing the middle distance of a farmer's field. With an unerring eye for composition, he captures landscapes and rocky shores, heavy clouds and serene skies. He focuses in on such sights as segments of sculptures, a quilt er's hands stitching, chanced-upon roadside scenes. He shows a lone tree, dwarfed by sky and landscape as a storm approaches, and a pair of oaks in winter throwing their shadows across a field of frozen stubble. Carter's oil paintings journey from her "On The Road" series to works of abstraction. They all, however, comprise one or more of the five elements of art -- line, shape, value, color and texture. Of "On The Road #3," she says the mood created the color. The dark trees on the low horizon contrast with an atmospheric sky as the triangular shape of the road leads the eye into the picture. "Three Guides #2," she says, walks the fine line between representation and abstraction. In it, three ovoid shapes are seen against trapezoidal and triangular shapes in shades of orange and blue. Gerstner is showing a few of his silk-screen images taken from his black-and-white photographs. Images such as these previously made up the main body of his art when he worked in layout and production at Newsweek and roamed the streets of Manhattan. Others are from a trip to Vietnam photographing for Holt International Children's Services. But the majority of works he is exhibiting is a large collection of pen-and-ink drawings done since June 2007. "I needed to get back to the basics and drawing is as basic as it gets," he says. The drawings were done with colored inks and Rapidograph pens that allow the viewer to see the pen strokes and follow the artist's hand as he develops and builds his image. Rogers began his career as an il lustrator, then a graphic designer. He operated his own advertising agency and then began painting portraits. Now, with multiple awards to his credit, he is producing high-quality representational paintings such as "Old Salt," which captures a white bearded fisherman in a red slicker. Light rests on the hood of the slicker and seeps through it casting a gentle glow on the man's face as he baits his hook. Most of Rogers' work on display is figurative, such as pedestrians on Bridge Street in Lambertville and a woman seated on an iron bench reading under a big tree. Stinger is showing many of his paintings. Most of his scenes are in the Lehigh Valley and Bucks County, particularly by the Delaware. There are three variations of one spot on the banks of the river that he says he particularly likes. The view is into New Jersey from the Pennsylvania side. "There's lots of energy there. You can be there 24 hours a day and see something different every five minutes. It's a plein air painter's dream," he says. Stinger paints on location, usually for about three or four hours, until the light begins to change. He photographs the scene before he leaves and then goes back to his studio to finish. He also paints what he calls "fantasy landscapes." These, he says, are all out of his head. On exhibit is one such painting, "Misty River," which has the atmospheric quality of a tonalist painting. That, says Stinger, is where he is moving in his art. And the new Artist Alliance is where he is moving to help accomplished artists find venues where their art can be seen on a regular basis. Five more exhibitions are scheduled to be held at The Straube Center through this time next year. |
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