ART: Be Radiant

Be Radiant
18x18" Acrylic on Canvas
by Martha A. Wade

"Made of Stardust" Exploration of Self and Our Human Potential by Martha A. Wade

Opening Reception: Friday, Sept 19 from 6-10pm

Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
On view through October 12, 2014.
RSVP on Facebook

ARTIST BIO
In her new body of work, Martha A. Wade creates a fantasy of humans made from stardust, who uplift our spirits by giving us a glimpse of what people can achieve at their highest potential.  Her tapestry of famous and everyday people suggest that common grounds exist, where everyone is empowered to fulfill their dreams. 

"We all have heroes and heathens in our lives, and most of us are both.  If you look closely into our eyes, you can see the same cluster of stars and particles that exist deep in space." - Martha Wade

"I See Forever In You", Watercolor by Martha A. Wade

Martha A. Wade is a self-taught artist from Chicago. The daughter of an artist, she has always carried a deep passion for art making.  Martha would watch her father paint from a young age, and longed for a canvas of her own.  She began to teach herself drawing by pausing cartoons on video and copying the image.  Today her paintings have a bold and vibrant style that explores mankind's potential on earth and throughout the universe.
Once fearful of the "starving artist" stereotype, Wade chose to attain her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan rather than fine art in 2000.  After years of working in the financial services industry, her creative spark could no longer be squelched.  Martha had no choice but to make a change and go back to school in the arts.  She received her Masters of Art Management from Columbia College Chicago in 2008, where she learned the graphic design, web production, and video skills needed to begin her artistic career on her own.  Martha then built her own website, and started posting images of her work.  The love Wade's art received online through social media gave her the courage to show more work, and devote her life to painting nearly 5 years ago.  Martha Wade’s work can be found in private collections nationally in the United States as well as internationally in Scotland, Ireland, and Sweden.

Please contact Galleryna19@gmail.com for more information on any of the work available for sale.

ABOUT GALLERYNA19
Galleryna19 is the newest addition to the trendy Oak Park Art District, the stylishly minimalist gallery exhibits emerging, mid-career and established artists creating contemporary works on paper, paintings, and fine art photography. The mission of Galleryna19 is to bridge various artist communities and provide its artists greater exposure to new markets.

Galleryna19 recognizes the necessity to provide lowbrow and outsider artists, as well as street artists a platform.  In addition to the exhibition of art, the gallery plans to host annual fundraisers for local nonprofits and provide opportunities for youth to develop as artists.

Galleryna19
19 Harrison Street
Oak Park, IL 60304
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Galleryna19 presents “City of Nowhere” by Chicago-based artist, Darren Pollard - July 18, 2014

Galleryna19 is pleased to present “City of Nowhere” by Chicago-based artist, Darren Pollard. This new collection of works marks his 1^st solo exhibition at Galleryna19, and will feature his mixed media paintings and collages from the series: City of Nowhere.  An opening reception will be held on July 18, 2014 from 6-10pm at 19 W. Harrison St, Oak Park IL 60304. The exhibition will be on view through August 18, 2013 and is free and open to the public.

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A Detroit native currently residing in Chicago, Pollard uses several acrylic mediums, found objects, magazine articles and sand to create a kaleidoscope of intertwining random themes that challenge the idea that social conformity and patterned behavior must exist for society to thrive. 

“If we abandon our fears, controlling values crackle; and we emerge from a pattern of unnecessary contextualization and manipulation to an open field of possibilities.  City of nowhere is not about execution, perfection, or skill; it’s an artistic display of liberation and abandonment.” – Pollard.

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Darren Pollard recalls hearing stories told by his family members about not “jumping on the Motown bandwagon”, and choosing to chain smoke while listening to avant-garde Jazz musicians, such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Those stories influenced Mr. Pollard to believe he was “cut from a different cloth.”   

At the age of 18, Darren Pollard moved to Chicago from Detroit to attend DeVry Institute of Technology.  After a classmate sold him a Pentax camera for fifty dollars, he dropped out and roamed the streets of Chicago taking photographs of everything he saw.  After leaving Chicago to return to school, Pollard received a BS in Psychology from Illinois State University, and then moved to Springfield, IL to pursue a Master’s Degree in Community Arts Management. 

After 4 years in Springfield, Pollard moved to the Wicker Park neighborhood in Chicago.  Pollard credits living in Wicker Park in the mid-to-late-nineties as his first real exposure to artist who made a living painting.

In 2002 Pollard moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he refined his skills as a photographer.  A year and a half later he was hired as a photography instructor at a community college in the Bay Area, and started exhibiting his fine art photography.   Pollard also started a photography club for kids the Mission district of San Francisco and served as photography curator at the Joyce Gordon Gallery in Oakland, California.   

In 2009 Pollard returned to Chicago to be closer to his two children.  Exposing his kids to photography and painting inspired him to paint.  His success as an abstract painter has been somewhat surprising. In a few short years Pollard has been included in several group shows throughout Chicago and the East Coast, and has accumulated a list of notable collectors throughout the United States.

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Event Information:
City of Nowhere, New Works by Darren Pollard
Opening Reception – Friday, July 18, 6-10 pm
On View Through August 18, 2014
@ Galleryna19
19 Harrison St, Oak Park, I

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Galleryna19 is the newest addition to the trendy Oak Park Art District, the stylishly minimalist gallery exhibits emerging, mid-career and established artists creating contemporary works on paper, paintings, and fine art photography. The mission of Galleryna19 is to bridge various artist communities and provide its artists greater exposure to new markets. 

Galleryna19 opened its doors in 2014 in the Oak Park Arts District; one known for its diverse culture and history. The owners, Martha Wade And Reisha Williams, founded the space to offer a welcoming environment for viewing the art they love. Galleryna19 recognizes the necessity to provide lowbrow and outsider artists, as well as street artists a platform.  In addition to the exhibition of art, the gallery plans to host annual fundraisers for local nonprofits and provide opportunities for youth to develop as artists.

​19 W. Harrison St.

Oak Park, IL 60304

773-617-7188
www.facebook.com/galleryna19

ARTIST ::: David Anthony Geary

Last year I fell in love with this work "Young Blood" even before I met artist David Anthony Geary.  We were both showing at a gallery in Chicago and I asked the owner "Who painted this piece? Its so good!"  David told me I had an interesting face and that he wanted to paint me, and I thought it was a line.  Then I realized he was serious, and that I was meeting a true visual artist.  A voyeur, who can look into the soul of people and capture their essence in his unique works of art.  We would soon become fast friends, sharing art tricks of the trade and helping to inspire each other when the art world felt unbearable.  I am honored to have two of his original pieces in my collection.  

Here are some of my David Anthony favorites.

ARTIST BIO
David Anthony is an artist working in a variety of mediums. His visual training took place in New Orleans, LA at Xavier University. After finishing his studies, he remained in this uniquely attractive city to absorb as much of its great culture and heritage as he could. Communicating his perspective of the world around him through a visual language, he became fluent in many dialects of visual art.  

Building a career as an artist, an educator, as well as a family in New Orleans, has greatly influenced his work both visually and conceptually. The community of Evanston and the greater Chicago-land area, which he now calls home, serves as a great source of inspiration to add to his palette. His work incorporates painting, printmaking, collage, assemblage, sculpture or photography.

To learn more about this artist, visit www.davidanthonyart.com

ARTIST ::: Hazel Dooney

Hazel Dooney is one of those artist that creates superbly interesting, somewhat controversial, and always painstakingly beautiful works of art.  The depth and breadth of her work is amazing, and certain to have a story behind each masterfully created work of art.

Dooney encourages artists to give up trying to control the copyright of their images and to allow their work and ideas to flow freely, with few restrictions, across the web.  Her blog titled "Self vs. Self" is an archived story behind her belief that ART IS WAR and offers digital downloads of some of her work.

As her painting content would show, she is interested in wild, uninhibited women who live outside the mainstream. "The difference is that I'm a woman too, in a time when women with desires can be in control of both their lives and bodies.  The qualities that make a woman sexually intriguing make her a perfect subject for a portrait. There is something deeper and more confronting in their posture and gaze." says Dooney.

 Dooney working in her studio in Australia, 2013

 Projecting an image of her drawing onto the large canvas

 

PRECIOUS BLOOD

1x1.5m on timber board
2009

DANGEROUS CAREER BABE: THE RACE CAR DRIVER
High gloss enamel on custom-made board, 160cm x 210cm.
2009

  SELF VS SELF #7
High gloss enamel and reflective vinyl on board, 150cm x 100cm
2004

 

Drawing by Hazel

Want more Hazel Dooney?
Visit her new Blog: http://dooneystudio.tumblr.com/

ARTIST ::: Charmaine Olivia

I have recently discovered beautiful and talented artist, Charmaine Olivia. Charmaine is an artist living in San Francisco who is passionately curious and constantly evolving and learning. Oil paints are her preferred medium, but she also enjoys using ink and watercolors. Here is a sample of her work below.

Spiced Cider

Jasmine Silhouette

Charmaine in her studio preparing for upcoming "Muses" show

Want more? http://www.charmaineolivia.com/

SCULPTURE ::: Floating Heads by Sophie Cave

This unique work of art by Sophie Cave is displayed at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, Scotland.  The piece shows over 50 floating heads, each with different emotion across the face. This appealing display stands out so much in the traditional setting of the rest of the building. The heads are not particularly detailed – they are completely white – but the expressions they bear, which would otherwise be hidden, are highlighted with a faint blue light. The heads have a slightly eerie life-like quality. The expressions they display are some that we see on a daily basis in our society, ranging from laughter to sadness

 

Floating Heads by Sophie Cave

MURALS ::: Rogers Park Winning Artists

Twenty artistic murals have been selected to brighten Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood and underpasses.  

Here are the finalist entries.

Andy Bellomo and Jennifer Kernica, "Mayfly Mayhem"

Ben Bauman, "Safari Junk"

 



Aaron Wooten, "Chicago 1955" 

Benjamin Janik, "The Public Space Project"

Brenda Barnum, "Northern Exposure"

Logan Bay, "Move on Up"

Miguel A. Del Real, "Seeing Harmony in Everyday Life"

Mitch Egly and Ben Giska, Untitled

Rodrigo (Solo) Mireles, "Trois Dames D'or"

 Jeremy Pettis, "A Piece of Mind"

 Keith Pollok, "Empty Hive"

 Justus Roe, "Seiche"

Katherine Ross and Karen Zissis, "Seasons of Time"

 Tony (Passero) Sparrow, "Monster Zoo"

 Thor, "Busy Town"

Shane Treacy, "Rogers Park Shuffle"





Gwendolyn Zabicki and Ken Smith, "Greetings from Rogers Park"

Molly Zakrajsek, "Flowers in Motion"

Jeff Zimmermann, "The Long View"





Mathew Hoffman, "You Are Beautiful"


Source:  
http://www.ward49.com/site/epage/136207_322.htm