Last outdoor run of the year: Struggling a bit, but still holding up (a tree) photo by Dick Bennett |
Finishing the Dunkin' Run 5k in 28:19 photo by Joe Putrock |
Things seen and heard on the Capital Region art scene and beyond
Last outdoor run of the year: Struggling a bit, but still holding up (a tree) photo by Dick Bennett |
Finishing the Dunkin' Run 5k in 28:19 photo by Joe Putrock |
It is with great sadness that I report on the recent death
of a dear friend, the world-class ceramic artist and Udu drum maker Frank
Giorgini, of Freehold, NY. He was 75 years old and had been undergoing treatment for cancer.
Frank and I first met in the mid-1980s when we both were
teaching classes at the Harmanus Bleecker Center in Albany under the auspices
of the Albany Institute of History & Art and the inimitable guidance of
Monica Miller (also a wonderful artist). One of my favorite memories of that
time was when we shared a two-person show at the Bleecker Center that featured Frank’s
Udu drums and my photographs, all of it dusky and formal, a lovely pairing of
sculpture and black-and-white pictures.
Frank was probably best known for his handmade and
commercially manufactured clay pot drums, which are treasured by percussionists
all over the world for their unique, earthy sounds and robust shapes, some
exquisite examples of which are held in the permanent collection of musical
instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Frank used to
proudly state that he was the only living person whose product was in that
collection, though I suppose other living artists’ instruments may have been
added after the fact. If not, then there are now none who can make that
claim.
But Frank had equal impact in many other aspects of ceramic
production, both in the commercial realm as a tile maker and in the fine art
realm – though, in his case, the line between the two was fuzzy at best. Many
will recognize his tile and mosaic installation in the Whitehall Street station
of the Brooklyn BMT subway line, which was commissioned and installed in 2000.
Entitled Passages, it traces the
history of Manhattan backward in time using numerous airborne gulls as a
unifying element (you can see many pictures of it here).
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A detail from Passages photo by Warren Sze |
Most artists, no matter how talented, need something more in
order to be successful – whether it’s a lucky break, an enthusiastic patron, or
a trust fund. In Frank’s case, it was his congenial personality. Everyone liked
Frank, and I can imagine no one who would have turned down an opportunity to
work with him or support his vision.
One way he shared that vision was through teaching. He
published books and instructional videos on tile making, and worked as an
adjunct professor at Parsons design school in New York. Probably most important
to Frank were the summer workshops he held at his Catskills home and studio for
people of all ages and abilities who wanted to spend a little time in the
country and learn how to build and fire an Udu drum.
Those two-weekend-long instructional experiences took place around Frank’s birthday, and always culminated in a grand potluck supper followed by a Bacchanalian bonfire, which naturally would be ringed by a large, happy throng of Udu-playing revelers. Though I never made an Udu drum, I stoked that fire nearly every year for decades, and danced around it with the best of them. Those Udu Fests will surely be among the most vivid – if slightly blurred – memories for many of Frank’s friends and fans.
Frank also was the proprietor, along with his partner, the
great chef Ana Sporer, of Ruby’s Hotel, a delightful garden-to-table restaurant
in Freehold that is expected to return to serving dinners after a period of mourning.
As bartender and host at Ruby’s, Frank welcomed guests with his consistent good
humor and, after dinner, he often shared a taste of his homemade limoncello, created
using a recipe from his Italian ancestors, and as strong as it was sweet.
Above the restaurant was a gallery where, for many years, Frank
mounted excellent shows of the best regional artists. The gallery was named in
memory of another Frank, a close friend of the restaurant’s family and a supremely
talented artist himself, who died way too young just before he was to have been
the exhibition space’s inaugural director. I hope that the Broderick Gallery,
too, will resume activities after a time, in loving memory of both Franks and
their dedication to the joy of making and experiencing great art.
That and so much more remains as the legacy of one very fine
person who also happened to be a brilliant artist, and a beloved friend to many.
The world was a better place with Frank Giorgini in it. May he rest in peace.
Note: If you’d like to get a taste of the amazing sound of the Udu drum, check out this extraordinary improvisation by Jacob Cole, a former workshop participant who posted it in Frank’s memory.
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Ana and Frank at Ruby's |
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Photography 101 will be on display through May 28 in The Artists' Space Gallery at The National Bottle Museum |
The indefatigable Fred Neudoerffer has organized a collection of many well-known shooters for an old-school display of straight photography in The Artists' Space Gallery at The National Bottle Museum in Ballston Spa that opens today.
I am among the 18 artists included, and am happy to be in their company in this lovely space (the above image, provided by Fred, shows three of my submissions just to the left of the framed poster).
There will be a reception for the artists from 5-7:30 pm on Friday, May 6. Come celebrate with us!
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Penny Dreadful by Nina Chanel Abney is among works by 59 artists at The School |
I won't have time myself to review the show, which will end on April 30, but I wanted to pass along Bill's endorsement before its too late.
The show is a re-examination of a prior exhibition mounted by The School in 2005 that highlighted Black Power-related materials from the gallery's collection, and features the work of 59 significant artists, including photographs by prominent journalists. The School is a vast, pristine space, and admission is free - but it is only open one day a week, Saturday, from 11 to 6, so plan accordingly.
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Adrien Brody, center, joins a stellar cast in Wes Anderson's film The French Dispatch |
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Benedict Cumberbatch is a strong Oscar contender for his performance in The Power of the Dog |
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Penelope Cruz in Parallel Mothers: Still mesmerizing after all these years |
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Newcomers Alanna Haim and Cooper Hoffman are both terrific in Licorice Pizza |
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Hidetoshi Nishijima and Toko Miura star in Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Drive My Car |
Still Life (aka White Jug), c.1950, color lithograph all works by Robert Blackburn |
Girl in Red, 1950, color lithograph |
In fact, he succeeded at both, by establishing printmaking workshops that forever changed the way postwar artists used those media, thereby significantly affecting the trajectory of contemporary art, and producing numerous powerful original works in the same media on his own time. Many viewers will be thrilled to see prints here by artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Charles White, and Grace Hartigan - and those are great! - but I'll focus my comments on Blackburn's work, which makes up about half the show.
Refugees (aka People in a Boat), 1938, lithograph |
Little One, 1960s-1971, lithograph |
Woodscape, 1984, color woodcut |
Blue Things, c. 1963–1970, color woodcut |
Works by, from left, Royal Brown, Naomi Lewis, and Benjamin Jose are part of refract at Albany Center Gallery. photos provided |
Owen Barensfeld's Is It big Enough? combines images to make a statement |
From left, works by Trevor Wilson, Owen Barensfeld, Benjamin Jose, and Royal Brown are part of refract |