Author Archives: althewebmaster

Eat

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February 6- March 2, 2014
Opening reception Friday February 7th, 5-8

Nicholas Cullen, Taproot, photograph, 19" x 13"

Nicholas Cullen, Taproot, photograph, 19″ x 13″

Please join us for our mid-winter exploration of food in a show entitled ‘Eat’, which runs from February 6th through March 2nd with an opening reception Friday February 7th, 5-8pm.

Eat. We all do it, multiple times a day. We spend a fair amount of our time on earth thinking about what to eat, when to eat and where to eat. There is no better time than winter in Maine, when everything is frozen, to cook up some comfort food for the proverbial heart and soul. Åarhus has gathered together a casserole of artists from the midcoast to mull over their thoughts and ruminations, and spit it out in a variety of media for a show entitled, EAT. So stroll in to Åarhus Gallery for a little taste of Eat, it just might give you something to chew on.

Featured artists include; Josh Carlson, Maryjean Crowe, Nicholas Cullen, Kris Engman, Stephen Florimbi, Mia Kanazawa, Lynn Karlin, Mark Kelly, Richard Mann, Toki Oshima, Wesley Reddick, Willy Reddick, Julie Rose, Patricia Shea, Mike Silverton and Susan Tobey White.

Willy Reddick, Tuscan Kale, acrylic on paper, tin, brass rivets, 5.5" x 8"

Willy Reddick, Tuscan Kale, acrylic on paper, tin, brass rivets, 5.5″ x 8″

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7th Annual EXTRAVAGANZA

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November 1- December 24, 2013
Opening Reception Friday November 1st, 5-8pm

Extravaganza

Our seventh annual EXTRAVAGANZA kicks off early again this year, and runs from November 1st through December 24th. This jam-packed show features smaller artworks and a wide range of creative craftwork priced with gift giving in mind. Works in a dazzling variety of mediums, from over 70 talented Maine artists from throughout the midcoast and beyond will be exhibited, including: pottery, poetry and painting, collage, etching and photography, woodblock prints, blown glass, fiber arts, turned wood, handmade books, cards, calendars, ornaments, jewelry, music, new Glass Plate images, chocolates and more!

Twice a year Åarhus hangs a show salon style, not only to take full advantage of the available wall space but also to exemplify the vast array of talent, imagination and the multitudinous manifestations of artistic impulse we have here in the midcoast. The first floor to ceiling exhibition of the year is the hugely popular ‘Radius Belfast’ show, where all artists and artisans alike within a 30 mile radius of Belfast are invited to show their stuff. This show annually dazzles the walls for the month of March and is a great energy lifter for the winter doldrums. The Extravaganza however, our second salon style show, is the holiday hallmark of small works shows expressly and unabashedly focusing on the gift giving season. This show runs for two months and features all of the artists from the four invitational theme shows and the three guest artists shows as well as the craft artists that are featured throughout the year. Artists are asked to consider smaller works for this show so the public can expect to see an overall lower price point. This also gives the viewer an opportunity to recap all the previous Åarhus shows and possibly walk away with a real gem that otherwise may have gotten away or that the artist hadn’t shown during the regular season.

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Artists who have shown in the gallery and in the crafts section over the past year will be featured, along with some newcomers and the Åarhus partners. Artists included will be: Michael Alpert, Susan Amons, Suzanne Anderson, Barbara Andrus, Bernice Arthur, Joe Ascrizzi, Dan Beckman, Mark Bell, Bixby & Co., Martha Briana, Marcie Jan Bronstein, Phyllis Buchanan, Linda Buckmaster, Brendan Bullock, Josh Carlson, Kate Chandler, Kenny Cole, Cinder Conk, Susan Cooney, Al Crichton, Maryjean Crowe, Bill Davis, James Deane, Dean’s Sweets, Gabriella D’Italia, Kris Engman, David Estey, Maureen Farr, Jerri Finch, Sallie Findlay, Alan Fishman, Annadeene Fowler, George Fowler, Free Seedlings, Jacob Fricke, Elizabeth Garber, Harold Garde, Carol Gater, Gawler Sisters, J.T. Gibson, Ellen Goldsmith, David Jacobson, Jeffrey Jelenfy, Karen Jelenfy, David Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Jody Johnstone, Judd Jones, Susan Jones, Mia Kanazawa, Mark Kelly, Hannah Kreitzer, A. C. Kulik, Valerie Lawson, Marc Leavitt, Betsy Levine, Joel Lipman, Little Letterpress, Carol Logie, Stuart Loten, Richard Mann, Barbara Maria, Jennifer Marshall, Sandy McGaw, Kate McLeod, Holly Meade, Cathy Melio, Kate Mess, Metaphor Bronze, Leslie Miller, Ed Moffitt, Hanako Nakazato, Nire Art, Novel Jazz, Toki Oshima, Leila Ostby, Alex Portela, Robbi Fritz Portela, Jane Ploughman, Ben Potter, Phil Prince, Joan Proudman, Rebekah Raye, Abbie Read, Wesley Reddick, Willy Reddick, Julie Rose, Rural Electric, Ashleigh Russell, Eleanor Salazar, Erica Schlueter, Betty Schopmeyer, Mike Silverton, Carol Sloane, Karin Spitfire, Toussaint St. Negritude, Tandem Glass, Mary Trotochaud, Nance Trueworthy, Larry Unger, Glen Veevaert, Simon van der Ven, John Vincent, Dayle Tognoni Ward, Patricia Wheeler, Whiffletree, Andy White, J. Fred Woell.

Come join the fun, meet the artists and help kick off the Seventh Annual Holiday Extravaganza with an opening reception Friday November 1st from 5-8 pm.
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Sticks, Stones and Bones

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Sticks, Stones and Bones
October 1 –27, 2013
Opening Reception Friday October 4th, 5-8pm

L-R Barbara Andrus, Kevin Johnson, Abbie Read

L-R Barbara Andrus, Kevin Johnson, Abbie Read

Åarhus Gallery steps humbly into in the autumn season with a show entitled, Sticks, Stones and Bones. Please join them for an opening reception Friday October 4th from 5-8pm.

Making things from basic and accessible materials harvested from our immediate environment is a most human and noble thing to do. Noble indeed, because we may have become the humans we are today because of it and we likely owe our very survival to it up until just a few short centuries ago when things started getting all technical and complex. These days we can hardly turn our heads without it involving some sort of electronic device. It is unfortunate that so many of us have lost this compulsion to dabble in the realm of the sublunary because the outcome can be…. really cool.

The upcoming show at Åarhus will display a wide variety of artworks that, in one way or another involve or interpret these most basic ingredients.  So rattle your bones and rock on over to Åarhus for, Sticks Stones and Bones … it’s nothing to shake a stick at. The show runs from October 1st through the 27th.

Artists showing work will be: Barbara Andrus, Joe Ascrizzi, Brendan Bullock, J. T. Gibson, Kevin Johnson, Mark Kelly, Hannah Kreitzer, Richard Mann, Ben Potter, Abbie Read, Wesley Reddick, Willy Reddick and Andy White.

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An Evening of Chocolate Tasting, Art and Music

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Friday December 6, 2013, 5-7pm

Please join Åarhus Gallery for an evening of chocolate tasting, browsing music, and conviviality on Friday, December 6th from 5-7pm.  We’ll provide samples of Dean’s Sweets delicious hand-dipped chocolates and young entrepreneur Kate McAleer will be sharing samples of her hand-made, all natural, flavor-packed Bixby Bars which she produces right here in Belfast. Tom Luther’s unique hybrid blend of original music, as well as his take on some traditional seasonal pieces, will spice up the nooks and crannies and stimulate the mind, all the better to fully immerse oneself in the 2013 Extravaganza of small artworks and crafts lovingly assembled for a localvore’s gift giving pleasure!

Chocolate Collage

Tom Luther

Tom Luther

Tom Luther will be using a digital keyboard and laptop computer with several different kinds of software in combination with his own jazz rooted improvisation to produce reflective musical soundscapes, touching on both the familiar and unfamiliar, describing this work as being “somewhere between Herbie Hancock and Brian Eno”. Dean’s Sweets, winner of a 2011 Best of Portland Award will tantalize your taste buds at the tasting table with a sample or two of chocolates with flavors including; Brandy, Maple, Cayenne, and Salted Caramel truffles. Dean’s chocolate bar flavors will include; Brandied Orange Peel, Mocha Latte, and Maine Potato Chip. The Bixby & Co’s white, milk and dark chocolate bars each feature uniquely satisfying combinations of exotic spices, pure chocolate, healthy nuts and dried fruits. This is bound to be a truly delicious evening!

The jam-packed Extravaganza show features smaller artworks and a wide range of creative crafts priced with gift giving in mind. Over 70 talented Maine artists from throughout the mid-coast and beyond are represented in a dazzling variety of mediums, including: pottery, poetry and painting, collage, etching and photography, woodblock prints, turned wood, felted and knitted fiber works, assemblage, cards, calendars, ornaments, Glass Plate images of Maine, affordable jewelry, music and more! Even if you have visited the gallery during the Extravaganza, it may be worth another trip, we’ve added new works to the mix as things sell……. and chocolate!

We’ll be open Friday nights til 7 for the month of December, and will close at 3pm on December 24th.

Jaap Eduard Helder and Jody Johnstone

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July 2- 28, 2013
Opening Reception Friday July 5th, 5-8pm

Out Here Like This

Jaap Eduard Helder
Out There Like This
acrylic on paper
7.5″ x 6.5″

Åarhus Gallery is pleased to exhibit the work of Jaap Eduard Helder of Belfast and Jody Johnstone of Swanville to open the summer guest artist season for the month of July. The show runs from July 2nd through the 28th, 2013. Please join us for an opening reception Friday July 5th, 5-8pm.

Jaap Helder began painting in Holland where the landscape of industrial shapes and colors of post World War II reconstruction became an integral part of the imagery for his paintings. Helder was influenced by Escher, Mondrian, Karel Appel, and American jazz, which began his attraction to the United States, where he settled after extensively exploring his native Europe. Helder eventually landed in Maine and became acquainted with several artists, including John Hultberg, who further influenced and encouraged his work.

To put words to Jaap Helder’s paintings; If it were possible to visually bisect the recognizable, the perceptible space that may be used to disengage it’s parts, is what Helder paints. Even the texture of his paint creates a surface viscosity appearing to be imbibed with color emulsion from a photograph, exquisitely estranged. It entices us to see that which is between the tangible and the notional; “I draw the viewer into an imagined landscape, into a colorful, dynamic world that hovers between the abstract and the representational.”

For Jody Johnstone, pottery and woodfiring are inseparable from each other, and from her as well, in fact they’ve become her way of life. She’s never done anything else since returning from a two-year apprenticeship in Bizen, Japan with National Living Treasure, Jun Isezaki. Jody now conducts two eight day firings a year with a crew of four in the 24 foot long, 800 pot capacity, anagama kiln she built back in 1997, “ I want my pots to be both strong and soft, to embody my sense of beauty and rightness. The long firing adds richness and depth, and introduces just the right element of chance and mystery ……”

Seeing and handling Jody’s work is to witness talent and tireless dedication to a craft, and there will be no mystery why we view her as a living treasure right here in Swanville, Maine.

Johnstone_Sculpted-Vase

Jody Johnstone
Sculpted Vase
stoneware, anagama fired, unglazed
7” x 6 1/2” x 6”

Jody has shown all over New England, including CMCA in Rockport, Maine, the Worcester Center for Crafts in Worcester, Mass. and the New Hampshire Institute of Art, Manchester, NH. Her work has been included in numerous publications, many private collections and is in the permanent collection of the Corning Community College in Corning, NY.

Also showing will be the work of Åarhusians Kevin Johnson, Mark Kelly, Richard Mann, Wesley Reddick and Willy Reddick.
 
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Sublime Monotony

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Sublime-Monotony-pana-big
 
Sublime Monotony
May 2-June 2, 2013
Opening Friday May 3, 5-8pm

D'Italia_Black Finery

Gabriella D’Italia
Black Finery
pieced cotton sateen, batting, hand-quilted & embroidered
64” x 64”

With the monotonous winter having continued on, and on, the piles of snow and frozen ground having withered down to mud and then igniting into spring, Åarhus Gallery thought it would be appropriate to have some fun with what is at times a monotonous if not paradoxical condition, this human condition with it’s contradictions of the mundane: everyday we eat, drink, sleep… our hearts beat continuously all day, everyday; the near definition of monotony being the lifeblood of our very existence. The tides ebb and flow tirelessly, apparently from an infinite horizon. Everyday the sun goes down and then, lo and behold, everyday the sun comes up. And if we listen, we may find our noble oxymoron, an altogether separate, deafening silence becomes our virtual reality. That which at first seems extinguished, wearisome, routine, repetitive, becomes singularly new, becomes beauty, becomes the flame. In a paradoxical world, our world, neither is either, without each other… and together they reveal a divine truth: The Sublime Monotony.

The show will feature the works of Marcie Jan Bronstein, Gabriella D’Italia, Clint Fulkerson, J. T. Gibson, Stew Henderson, Kevin Johnson, Mark Kelly, Marc Leavitt, Karen MacDonald, Richard Mann, Wesley Reddick, Willy Reddick and Kate Russo.

Art writer Britta Konau hails our current show as “one of the strongest shows I have seen at Aarhus”… Read the review at the Free Press Online.

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Toussaint. St. Negritude

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Saturday June 1, 2013
7:30pm
$7 suggested donation
Light Refreshments
Cd’s and hats available for sale

Toussaint St Negritude-Street Corner

Jazz poet and Maine coast resident Toussaint St. Negritude conjures all crossroads of folk, blues, and the Afro-Atlantic experience, via the lone-road elegance of his bass clarinet and the alpine declarations of a voice well worth the view.

A west coast native, Toussaint is a proud product of revolution-era San Francisco, having been raised and informed by the triumphs of every left-local movement from Civil Rights to Gay Rights. Following early readings of Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Emerson, and Thoreau, His first great, and what still proves to be his most influential journey from home was at 19, to the Republic of Haiti, where, for 3 years, through the profoundly creative traditions of Voodoo, he was deeply exposed to the magic-surrealist writing of The Negritude Poets. Since Haiti, and throughout his years in San Francisco and all points north, south, and east, he has lived and traveled throughout the country, and after several years in the mountains of Vermont, much to his coastal and creative delight, he has recently discovered his home here on these art-fertile shores of Belfast, Maine.

Toussaint St. Negritude has been published and recorded broadly, and will continue with a forthcoming book of new poems this fall, published by Poets Coast Press.

Performing the self-grown harvest of his own works, this solo poet/composer, bass clarinetist further orchestrates his song by way of a variety of reed and string instruments, including his own handmade stringed-heron, The Bird-of-Mingus, a fretless, fully winged, 4-string banjo/cello-like instrument based on the Ekonting of coastal Senegal.

And, just to add more voodoo to this constellation, for each performance, he also makes and dons his own cool and winged hats.

Catch this transcendental flight, and you will be flown rightly.

Forest for the Trees

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April 4- 28, 2013
Opening Reception Friday April 5th, 5-8pm

Forest-panorama

 

Mary Barnes Trees mixed media on mylar 42" x 50"

Mary Barnes
Trees
mixed media on mylar
42″ x 50″

Please join Åarhus Gallery for an opening reception Friday April 5th, 5-8pm for a show entitled Forest for the Trees which runs April 4th through the 28th.

With spring finally here, and with National Arbor Day and Earth Day happening in April we at Åarhus have decided to branch out and have a tree show of our own entitled, ‘Forest For the Trees’. You are all familiar with this (partial) idiom, as meaning the inability to see the big picture due to over-attention to details. This show may forgo exemplifying any lessons learned from that wise old saying, and instead just have a good time with the tree as subject matter for art making. So if you have a firm handle on the big picture or if you want to bring a magnifying glass and focus in on the details, shake a limb over to Åarhus and leaf your troubles behind.

Featured artists include; Michael Alpert, Mary Barnes, Kenny Cole, Susan Cooney, Al Crichton, Kris Engman, Jerri Finch, Alan Fishman, David Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Mark Kelly, Richard Mann, Ed Moffitt, Ben Potter, Wesley Reddick, Willy Reddick, Carol Sloane and Kay Sullivan.

 

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5th Annual “44N 69W: Radius Belfast” 2013

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February 28th through March 31st
Opening reception Friday March 1st, 5-8pm
Showcases local artists and supports food pantries
Åarhus Gallery to Donate to Food Banks and Celebrate Art in the Community

Radius-panorama2013-800

radius-2010Please join Åarhus Gallery for an opening reception Friday March 1st, 5-8pm for the kick-off of the fifth annual ’44N 69W: Radius Belfast’ Show. An all encompassing exhibition celebrating the local creative energies of Maine residents from children to centenarians, amateurs to big wigs, living within a thirty mile radius of Belfast. The show runs from February 28th through March 31st and will be packed with work from potters, painters, welders, woodcarvers, mobile makers, sculptors and knitters. Artworks celebrating and illuminating this vast creative community will be on view and for sale with a charitable percentage of sales and entry fees going to food banks within a thirty-mile radius of Belfast. Last year a record 285 pieces of art were exhibited floor to ceiling to the delight of hundreds of visitors, friends and loved ones with consequent sales enabling a generous donation to some of the 40 soup kitchens and food pantries within the thirty mile radius of Belfast under the auspices of the Good Shepherd Food Bank.

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