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--Dan Cummins (Board President)
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A Busy Month Ahead
For your enjoyment this month the newsletter includes John McGlinn's wonderful discoveries about what is going on around the country, as well as online. In addition, Phil Beck provides his keen insight on an art film that you may not have heard of before and Beppie Weiss entertains with her wit, and observation of local art activities. Isn't it nice to be able to learn all of this from the comfort of your own home.
As the latest wave of Covid-19 recedes, The ArtiFactory has more activities, both online and in-person, coming your way.
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February’s Art in the Afternoon and gallery exhibit highlights the work of Robert Yale Richardson, featuring watercolors, drawings, political cartoons, and recent explorations into hot stamped foil imaging.
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- Open Exhibit in our Gallery February 19 and 26 (1-4 PM)
- Art in the Afternoon - Join us both in the gallery to learn more about Robert's career and the works included in the exhibit. A video of the presentation will also be available on the ArtiFactory YouTube channel.
Gallery Walk March 4 5-8 pm will feature Robert Richardson's exhibit plus a hands on demonstration of hot stamped foiling by Deanne Wortman. Immediately following Gallery Walk, we are pleased to partner with Dreamwell Theatre in their production of The Revolutionists, an historical fantasy about four women surviving the French Revolution's Reign of Terror.
And of course we continue to offer two life drawing sessions per week, as well as hot stamped foil workshops.
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Two-Day Workshop
- March 12 – 1-4 pm
- Intro, samples, demo, questions …the basics
- March 13 – 1-4 pm
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Discover Foiling
The application possibilities for adding color, iridescence, and unimaginable effects to wood, metal, paper and fabric are endless! The reflective properties of Hot Stamped Foil will add depth to your artwork.
Lower Level Wesley House at 120 N. Dubuque St., Iowa City, Iowa. Due to safety concerns vaccination is encouraged. Masks will be required along with social distancing. . . more
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ArtiFactory is pleased to announce it will host Dreamwell Theatre’s return to live theater with their production of The Revolutionists: A Comedy, a Quartet, a Revolutionary Dream Fugue, a True Story, by Lauren Gunderson. Four beautiful, badass women from history--playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, former queen Marie Antoinette, and Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle--lose their heads in an irreverent, female-powered comedy set during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. Performances will take place on ArtiFactory’s stage February 25-26 and March 5 at 7:30 pm; March 4 at 8:30 pm, following the Gallery Walk.
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I hope you are all well, safe, warm, and indulging in some Valentine’s Day treats. Bubbley and chocolate are seasonal this time of year. (Well OK, any time is good.)
For a nice diversion you might like to take a little trip up to Cedar Rapids. There is an art exhibit at the Cherry Center Space called “Honoring the Human Form”. It displays the work of 12 people, professional and amateur, who have been together drawing the human body at Coe College since 1917. Some of the work will be for sale. Be on your best behavior and wear a mask.
The show runs through March and can be visited 10-5 Tuesday-Saturday. Cherry Building at 329 10th Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids.
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One other exhibit for you to enjoy is the “Iowa Artists Traveling Exhibit” which is in its last gallery, The Maquoketa Art Experience. This is a show of the winning pieces from the state show in 2021 and has been on the road touring Iowa for the past year. Included in this show are three pieces by artists from Iowa City, Loretta Kelley, Robert Richardson, and Beppie Weiss. HURRY! You only have until the end of the month to take this in!
The gallery is at 124 S. Main Street, Maquoketa, Iowa. 563-652-9925. Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 11-4 and Saturday 11-3.
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I don’t have any juicy art world news for you this month except for Francoise Gilot, Picasso’s partner for ten years from 1943-53 when she was 21 and he 61. She has celebrated her 100th birthday. They had two children and she learned to paint. She married twice more, first to artist Luc Simon and last to Jonas Salk….(yes THE Jonas Salk)…..in 1970 until his death in 1995. Her paintings are in many big museums and getting more valuable. Read more at the New York Times style section 2022/01/19.
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And now goodbye until next month
Please send any art related events or news that you would like to share in our next newsletter. With a last laugh from my intrepid toon finder, Jeff Allen, a western interpretation of the beloved art activity, the “Quick Draw”.
Beppie Weiss
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Jasper Johns Retrospective in Two Museums: Whitney Museum in NY & Philadelphia Museum
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 Early flag painting with encaustic
Per first video comment author Gail Weigl about the summary presentation by John Immerwahr: “Absolutely fascinating, John, as anticipated. I learned so much in so short an introduction and further, you've wet my appetite to see more.”
This is an introduction to the art of Jasper Johns, highlighting three major themes to get you started appreciating his work.
The second link is to a current presentation/walk-through of “Mind/Mirror” exhibitions by the curator at the Whitney Museum in New York City along with the Philadelphia Museum sharing 500-plus works simultaneously. In combination it is the most comprehensive retrospective ever devoted to Johns’s art.
Jasper Johns has been a favorite of mine since the late 1960s due to his personalized imprecise paint/medium treatment with precision composition and his unique cognitive dimension that all excite both my brain and my eyes.
10:45 minutes long, and 14:26 respectively below.
Jasper Johns Introduction
Jasper Johns "Mind/Mirror"
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Georgia O’Keeffe
In my research this month I came across this Georgia O’Keeffe painting that I had never seen. Pretty nice, I’d say.
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Contemporary Art in a Classic Setting: Kate MccGuire
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 Example from the “Menagerie” exhibition
From the video: “Menagerie”, a collection of sculptures by acclaimed British artist Kate MccGwire, and featuring a new large-scale commission, placed a spotlight on the ‘common’ bird and connects themes of nature, sustainability and art in a series of beautiful and intricate pieces in Harewood House in 2020. Inspired by nature, and linking to the 50th anniversary of the Harewood Bird Garden, Kate works primarily with discarded feathers, playing with opposites and contrasts in her pieces, and she has exhibited all over the world, in addition to creating acclaimed site-specific installations within historical buildings.
It’s like Highclere Castle of Downton Abbey with a modern artist’s own extravagances!
7:17 minutes long
Kate MccGuire at Harewood House, Leeds, UK
Harewood House UK
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CAI Contemporary Landscape Painting: A Complete Survey
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 David Hockney, one of twelve international artists included
Another CAI survey to provide us with a broad range of styles, names, interpretations, visual delights, and challenging art. David Hockney is the artist shown early in the video.
What is interesting to me is the roles familiarity and authority play in my immediate appreciation. If I know of the art/artist, I’m ready. If spoken of with some authority, I’ll listen/gaze. If neither, it’s a 50/50 chance I’m harsh. Human nature, I guess. We like what we know.
Many of the artists, as usual, I have not heard of, and some I am keenly aware of and a fan. Often I do see new unknown-to-me works that provide real excitement, and that’s my reward for being open.
Again this is a point of view based on the author’s criteria, but to assemble, as in previous CAI surveys, this ranking she/he must be seriously in the art business because this is no easy task to create such a survey.
Worthy of viewing, if only to shake up your day, again!
11:20 minutes long
CAI Contemporary Landscape Painting
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