Today: Donata Benker. Kuchenzelt, 2011.

Donata Benker. Kuchenzelt, 2011. Acrylic, oil, lacquer on canvas.

Lorraine Peltz | LA Art Show 2011

Lorraine Peltz' work is a continuing discussion of feminine ideas in a fresh, beautiful manner in relation to place and identity. Her vernacular uses recognizable, highly charged images that explore women's fantasies and desires. Peltz' mimicry and reconciliation of how information comes to us and how meaning is made -- real life alongside memory, poetry next to prose -- become the landscapes of her exterior world and an interior space of dream, desire, hope, and memory. Images of chandeliers, among others, co-mingle the language of 17th century-esque still-life objects and pop imageries of lightening bolts, puffy clouds, painted lips, ominous blackbirds, and more. Peltz received her MFA from the University of Chicago. She lives and works in Chicago and teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

IMAGE: Lorraine Peltz. Chandelier Blue, 2010. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 40 x 40 in. Singular.

Eugenie Pardue | LA Art Show 2011

Eugenia Pardue credits art for saving her soul. Born in Los Angeles, Pardue lived in Minnesota, New Orleans and Miami, where she received her BFA. She received her MFA in 1998 from Clemson University.

Pardue's work is concerned with the organization of space, rater than the figure. Using her brush as a tool to carve into her paint, she defines her work as a fusion between painting and sculpture. Her current painting vocabulary addresses the surface of painting, asking the question, 'What is a painting?'

In 2005, Pardue decided to focus solely on the surface of her work, using tonal variants of white, while applying decorative motifs and architectural elements. Today, the tension of her forms and surfaces possess allure, shadow and shape, resonating with ideas of femininity and the natural world.

IMAGE: Eugenia Pardue. Anne of Bohemia, 2007. Acrylic on panel. 36 x 36 in. Singular.

Donata Benker | LA Art Show 2011

Donata Benker's landscapes do not connect to the conventional genre of paintings. Her work evades the classical definition of 'landscape' because they do not refer back to an external reality but to themselves. Her understanding of landscape universally includes presence and absence of people, animals, objects, natural and artificial places. Over and over again, apparently recognizable places or objects appear in her paintings and invite the viewer associative access to her figurative world. In describing her work, Benker states, “A landscape is much more than just a place: it is rhythm, movement, color, light. With all its voices, it tells about things I have no words for. My paintings try to approach the space behind the landscape that elude our direct view.” Benker's paintings are about the tension between real conditions and their abstractions, between corporeal application of paint and transcending colors, and this is the source of their strength.

IMAGE: Donata Benker. Pausenhof, 2010. Acrylic, oil, lacquer on canvas. 39.4 x 51.2 in. (100 x 130 cm).

Winter Salon 2010 :: Nicole Schmoelzer

Winter Salon 2010. Nicole Schmoelzer. Staining 132, 2010. Oil, ink on linen. 60 x 55 in.

Winter Salon 2010 :: Eugenia Pardue

Winter Salon 2010. Eugenia Pardue. Anne of Bohemia, 2009. Acrylic on panel, 36 x 36 in.

Profile in Art: Monika Steiner

The rich oil paintings by Monika Steiner investigate subtle relationships between perception and material reality. Her paintings are meditative by virtue of color, shape, and multiple layers. Using ideas of surface and dissolving shapes, she creates a metaphor for the cycle of appearances arising out of, then returning to, states of pure potential.

Steiner is a beautiful woman with a refined appearance. At a recent visit to her studio, she was friendly and expressive, lighting up when discussing her work. Currently on exhibition at ARC Gallery and Micaëla Gallery in San Francisco, Steiner’s work studies contemplative relationships through a detailed visual landscape.

She states, “All forms of matter are containers of information. Particles come in and out of existence, through our intention to observe them, passing from the inchoate into the physical and then back into the realm of potential. Referencing this, my paintings feature emerging and dissolving spheres, Nature’s most efficient shape, floating in empty space. This concept allows an investigation of relationships between perception and material reality. Harmonious background colors interacting with the energetic floating spheres create a balance that it is delicate and powerful, dramatic and serene.”

The ongoing exhibitions of Steiner’s work possess obvious kinship. In a three-woman exhibition at Micaëla Gallery (through October 30), Steiner’s work is a presentation of color and geometric harmonies, while her exhibition at ARC Gallery (through September 18) is a distillation of her summer residency in Greece this year. Both exhibitions present artwork conforming to painting formalities and visual agreement.

Born in Switzerland in 1972, Steiner holds various degrees. In 2005, she received her BFA (Magna Cum Laude) in Painting from Sonoma State University. Steiner’s painting was recognized early during her studies as a painter, resulting in professional acceptance of her work in galleries while still a student. She earned recognition for her work as a goldsmith in Interlaken, Switzerland, and was awarded a Teaching Credential from the University of Bern. She resides in Switzerland and the San Francisco Bay Area, where she teaches painting and is devoted to her practice of painting and sculpture. Steiner has shown her work (and enjoyed successful exhibitions) in Switzerland, but is represented by galleries in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Santa Fe.

Reblogged from San Francisco Art News and written by Micaëla Van Zwoll, 09.2010. Monika Steiner was featured in exhibitions at ARC Gallery and Micaëla Gallery in San Francisco.

Opening Reception images: FELDMAN | OTTO | STEINER

Today: FELDMAN | OTTO | STEINER

FELDMAN | OTTO | STEINER
Opening Reception 2 September
Exhibition through 30 October

MICAËLA GALLERY introduces the work of three talented artists; Bella Feldman, Nancy Otto, and Monika Steiner.

Since the early 70's, the remarkable career of Bella Feldman continues to build on her extraordinary sculpture, drawing viewers by their rather amazing appearance. Using mass, material, and balance, she expertly sculpts objects that are playful and provocative, yet possessing elements of threat and tension.

Nancy Otto's installation presents the viewer with a contemporary window of her personal reality. Her collection of voice recordings and liquid shapes juxtaposes historical family commentaries with intimacy, beautiful sculptured glass shapes and color.

The work of Monika Steiner investigates relationships of perception and material reality. Her paintings are meditative by virtue of color, shape, and multiple layers.

You are cordially invited to meet the artists at the opening reception on Thursday, September 2 from 5 to 7.30 pm.

Lorraine Peltz' State of the Art

In a recent interview with Sabine Modder of online design magazine MoCoLoco, Chicago-based painter and art educator Lorraine Peltz sums it up for most artists when she compares being an artist to breathing.

MoCoLoco asked Lorraine the following questions:

Are you happy as an artist right now?



I would have to say yes, though I never really think in those terms. Being an artist is just what I am, and like breathing, it is an essential element of my life. It's one of the many roles I have, shaping how I see and interpret the world around me and all that I do. I have always felt very fortunate to be an artist, all my experiences seem to have come to me because of it.

Is this a time of growth for you?


The recession can still be felt everywhere, but you are still creating
 wonderful work. How have you been affected? 



These questions seem best addressed together--despite the current economic downturn this past year has been very busy, productive, and positive for me. I've had solo exhibitions in New York, (Cheryl McGinnis Gallery), San Francisco, (Micaela Gallery) Florida, (Rosenbaum Contemporary) and in Verona, Italy (Incorniciarte) and have been included in some group exhibitions and art fairs (Scope Basel, ArtHamptons. My dealers have sold my work and I have received some grants, so I can't complain. My thought is that you keep at it, keep working, and see what comes next.

Is making art working out? Do you need to have a day job?



I've taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for the past 15 years, and have always taught in conjunction with being an artist. For me, teaching is more than a day job, really, it is another element in the artist equation. At SAIC I am surrounded by other artists, my students - young emerging artists, and my colleagues - some also young and emerging, others quite established. Each encounter is often another opportunity to further that creative dialogue. It's work, yes, a job, yes, and it takes me away from the studio, but it also gives me something back - I have always found it to be a good mix for me.

What do you think of the art world right now?

I see the art world as an exciting place where many ways of being an artist are possible and acceptable. The people I admire in the art world are those that find ways to continue to be inventive, productive, and excited no matter what the economic climate is. Who'll survive? Those who are in it for the long run.

Lorraine Peltz' painting was recently featured at SCOPE Basel 2010 with Micaela Gallery.

images (top to bottom): Portrait of the artist, Chandelier Green Stripe, Chandelier White.

SF Weekly by Rossiter Drake

Bill Meredith

I first met Jason Newsted 17 years ago at the University of Massachusetts, in a bustling backstage area slightly smaller than the 1,500-square-foot Micaëla Gallery on Geary Street, where the onetime Metallica bassist held the opening party last night for his first public art exhibit, which runs through July 27.

At that initial introduction, Newsted was disheveled, having spent nearly three hours on stage thrashing along to a thunderous soundtrack comprised largely of hits from Metallica's 1991 self-titled breakthrough album. He wore a dirty white t-shirt and ripped jeans, greeting every autograph-seeking fan with the disarming familiarity of an old friend.

On Thursday at the Micaëla, it was clear that few things have changed about Newsted, who left Metallica in 2001 and insists he has never regretted it. At 47, he's leaner now, and the lines on his angular face--so often contorted into a fierce scowl for the band's videos and photo shoots--are more clearly defined. There was no t-shirt, though. He wore a black sports jacket and striped button-down to match his ash-colored jeans.

Newsted began painting in 2005, after a series of shoulder injuries and subsequent surgeries left him unable to shred, and forced him to become ambidextrous. (He's naturally right-handed.) The work began as a hobby, a new creative outlet that allowed him the freedom of expression his body seemed to be perversely denying him. It wasn't until a year later that he considered showcasing the results.

"I started out figuring out what techniques would allow me to draw and paint while my arm was in a sling, so I threw things at the canvas using a spatula, with one hand," says Newsted, whose show features just six of his roughly 1,000 paintings. "It was purposeful. I wanted each piece to mean something, and I wanted to paint a picture each day, as a reflection of what I was living and breathing at that time. The mentality was the same as my approach to writing music."

Bill Meredith

​He says he never thought about having an art show until 2006. At that time, he was working on Rock Star: Supernova for CBS, and the network wanted to decorate the contestants' house with his gold and platinum records. "The art director came to my home, saw my paintings, and asked who my influences were," Newsted explains. "I told him Hanna-Barbera - The Flintstones, The Jetsons. I'd never studied with anyone. He asked if I'd like the pictures to be featured on the TV show, at the house where all the karaoke kids stayed. I said sure. And people started offering me money for my pictures. So with that, and all the positive feedback I was getting, I started taking painting seriously."

Bill Meredith

Newsted has no plans to hang up his bass. He still plays at least once a week, and enjoyed a harmonious reunion with his former bandmates for Metallica's 2009 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame--but he remains dedicated to his art, and with good reason.

At the gallery, people were paying attention to his work. The crowd at the Micaëla was an eclectic mix of high-art enthusiasts--sharply dressed and studiously poring over his Pollock- and Picasso-inspired paintings--and metal maniacs, one of whom wore a denim jacket bearing every Metallica patch ever sold and inscribed, unequivocally, "Birth, School, Metallica, Death."

The response in his guestbook was overwhelmingly positive. One fan, in an entry gallery director Micaëla Van Zwoll called "the love letter," wrote: "There's nothing I can say you haven't heard before. You are my number-one artistic influence. Can you cook, too?" Another entry came from his mother, who traveled from his native Michigan for the opening: "Always proud to call you my son."

Bill Meredith

​Newsted took the adulation in stride, and he expects some degree of skepticism. In fact, he welcomes it.

"There are some people who are not going to like what I do, and they already made up their minds beforehand," he says. "They see another musician who paints, or another writer who paints. That's fine. I saw some people making fun of the paintings tonight, but it didn't bother me. I don't want everyone to like my stuff.

"It's just like the music. There are a lot of painters, and a lot of musicians. But you've got to be good. You have to be. I've convinced myself that this is a good idea, and the positive vibrations I've felt tell me I made the right decision."

Rossiter Drake writes for the SF Weekly. Follow him @SFAllShookDown.

Jenna North and Peter Foucault at The Garage Biennale

The Weather Reconnaissance, jointly curated by Jenna North and Peter Foucault
The Garage Biennale, 2830 Pacific Ave. , San Francisco, CA
November 22nd 2008 7PM – 10PM

Artists can tune their antennas like no other species, and the Weather Reconnaissance is an attempt to exhibit a diverse range of creative work in response to both the micro and macro interpretations and influences of this force that affects everything from mood to doom.

Also showing: Angela Baker, Lisa Blatt, Zack Eichelberger, Peter Foucault, Sid Garrison, Jessica Haggenjos, Rachel Jablo, Scott Kiernan, Keira Kotler, Mary Anne Kluth, Yoon Lee, John Melvin, Andrew Mills, Jenna North, Shalo P, Kevin Parks Hauser, Jackson Patterson, David Sanchez Burr, Larry Sheradon, Patrick Wilson

Performances by: Pete Ippel, Dori Latman, Jsun Adrian Mccarty, Bryan Reuter of Cloud Archive

Curated by Jenna North and Peter Foucault

Lorraine Peltz

Lorraine Peltz is a painter, not a glass artist! What's her work doing in our current exhibition, COLD+HOT 2008?! Good question...I struggled with that for a few weeks, actually, since I met her in Miami last year when her work was shown at the Art Now Miami Beach Fair by her Chicago gallerist. There is something immensely appealing about Lorraine's work. To begin, her use of saturated rich color draws the viewer quickly in, and before you know it, your eye is wandering all over her canvas like a lustful Casanova. Lorraine's work, using varying depths of field, is alluring and demonstrates sophisticated painterly knowledge in its deliberate engagement of the viewer's visual pleasure. Really. As one of the satellite exhibitors to the gargantuan Art Basel|Miami Beach throng, competing with massive shows of highbrow and lowbrow art, Lorraine's work and her gallerist's exhibition enjoyed a steady flow of visitors drawn in to her paintings. The imageries seem simple... Painterly sketches of chandeliers floating on a brightly hued canvas with cartoon conversation call-outs rising from a low corner. Makes me think of a party someplace fancy, lots of sparkling chandeliers above, it's evening, lots of beautiful people, conversation at a low, steady hum...nice...love the painting. Gotta have it.

I loooove Lorraine. Seriously. Her enthusiasm for her work is infectious, and translates to fine work and sophisticated messageries. Her work is easy on the eye, containing lovely references to her own feminist (and feminine) aesthetic. Feminist? Okay, here's where I tend to slip off the boat...I'm not a feminist, although I'm unquestionably old enough to join the geriatric generation that stormed corporate America with shrill demands for "equality"...and let's save that discussion for another day. The point is, Lorraine believes her work addresses continuing feminist dialogue. Who am I to argue? I do agree with deeply feminine aspects of her work, its sparkly allegory, rich hues, embrace of community and development of society. Her work reminds me how my mother's search for beauty was constant and commanded respect. It reminds me that design trades largely run by men are marketed to women. It tells me that in truth, it's the feminine gender that make the rules for how we live, what we live with, and who we allow to form these rules.

Lastly, I didn't tell you she's a studio art professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She's is, and what a heavyweight she is there too, with enough accolades, grants, reviews to give any grad school newbie a daunting challenge. Currently enjoying a restrospective exhibition of her work (from 1993 to 2008) at the Munster Center for Visual and Performing Arts, and looking forward to several exhibitions (Italy, Miami, San Francisco) in 2008, Lorraine Peltz is a woman, an artist, and an intellect to keep your eye on.