Edwardsville Scene » art

World-famous Artist and SIUE Alum Displays Work on Campus

Editor — Thu, 13 May 2010 16:00:58 +0000

Gib Singleton, a Southern Illinois University Edwardsville graduate who may be best known for creating the crucifix atop the crosier of the late John Paul II during his time as Pope and now carried by Pope Benedict XVI. He also has sculptures in the Vatican Museum to the Cowboy Hall of Fame, and from the Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority to private collections around the world.

From Thursday, May 13th, through Sunday, June 27th, Singleton will display 28 of his works—representing religious, western, and contemporary subjects—will be on display at the SIUE’s Morris University Center Gallery.

For more information on the exhibit or the artist, visit the website: www.siue.edu/alumni, or contact Steve Jankowski, director of Alumni Affairs, (618) 650-2346.

Saturday Art Studio at SIUE

Editor — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:00:02 +0000

Come practice your craft with the Saturday Studio, sponsored SIUE’s Art & Design Department every Saturday, starting January 30 in SIUE’s Alumni Hall and the SIUE Art and Design Building. The Saturday morning art program is actually three classes—Primary Children’s, Ages 6-8, Room 3200 Alumni Hall, and Intermediate Art, ages 9-12, Room 3201 Alumni Hall, both from 9- 11:30 a.m.; and Drawing/Painting Jr./Sr. High, Ages 13-18, from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Room 2102, Art and Design Building.

More information acall(618) 650-3183, or, from St. Louis toll-free, (888) 328-5168, Ext. 3183. Ends March 27.

The Janus Series

Leesa — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:00:30 +0000

See the art and meet the artists at Edwardsville Arts Center on Friday, January 15th from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Arts Center will be holding a free Artists reception where you can drink, eat, and mingle with the artists and their works. This evening features The Janus Series by Raymond Yeager with works by Christina Yocca.

Getting Spunky at the Edwardsville Arts Center

Paul Peters — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:10:49 +0000

by Paul Peters

Somewhere in the back of your head years of advertising have probably embedded images of a turtle, a pirate or a donkey, with the words “Draw Me” above them.

Remember those ads for art correspondence schools?

The general idea was that you’d draw the turtle, donkey or pirate, send it in, and have your artistic talent assessed. If you showed some promise, you were invited to start paying for correspondence courses.

In the late 1960s and early 70s, Edwardsville artist Dave Thomas says he and his friends studying art at SIUE had a running joke about applying to art correspondence schools.

Thomas and his friend’s favorite subject was the donkey, known as Spunky. In 1971 Thomas says one of his friends, Mike Eckhard, took the joke a step further. He pasted Spunky’s image to an illustration board, and passed it around to about 16 other artists in the SIUE art department, who each did their rendition of Spunky.

Detail of EAC postcard, showing original "Spunky" image.

“I’ve just always thought it’d be fun to expand it,” Thomas says. “And then I thought why not do it as a fundraiser for the Edwardsville Arts Center.”

And so a few months ago, Thomas sent out postcards that looked like the original Spunky “Draw This” advertisements that appeared on matchbooks, inviting artists to participate in an exhibit whose only requirement was that the subject be Spunky.

“I’ve always liked the idea of just giving a group of artists an assignment that seems really simple and basic, that has so few limitations that it’s really wide open,” Thomas says. “There are no limits. Any size, any medium, it could be film, a written piece, a performance piece.”

The results have been interesting so far, Thomas says, and include a fashion designer’s Spunky-based dress, and former Edwardsville High School art teacher Dennis DeToye’s Spunky in the style of Andy Warhol and five other contemporary artists.

There’s an art history take with Spunky in the form of an ancient fertility god carving, and the pyramids.

Former SIUE professor Dan Anderson, who participated in the original challenge in 1971, has created a ceramic Spunky.

“It looks a little larger than life-size,” says Thomas, “a head of Spunky that’s three dimensional.”

Thomas himself has done what he calls “a painting of sorts.”

“It’s about 4 feet square – a fairly large painting of Spunky, and it’s intentionally a bad painting.”

Across the painting, he’s stamped the words “rejected” in huge letters.

So far, Thomas says he’s looking at 40 to 50 pieces in the exhibit, perhaps more, mostly done by local and regional artists.

The exhibit opens on November 20, giving the public time to view and bid on the pieces in the show. Bidding closes on December 4, when a reception party will be held at the Edwardsville Arts Center. The auctioned pieces will go to supporting the arts center.

Farmer’s Market

Leesa — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:00:22 +0000

Do you want to go green or at least get your greens? Check out the food, art, and festivities at the Land of Goshen Community Market on Saturdays from 8 a.m. until 12 p.m now through October 10th. Kids are welcome and their are free demonstrations and live entertainment.

Noir art in Edwardsville: A look at Parker Gibson

Jesse — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:32:03 +0000

Noir, by Parker Gibson

by Jesse Gernigin

Parker Gibson’s reputation precedes him, literally. I meet his work before I meet him. It has been hanging around Edwardsville in different galleries since March 15. Lately I had been seeing his work at Erato’s, but now it has moved into Afterwords Bookstore on Main Street in downtown Edwardsville.

His work is also making appearances and garnering accolades from well-circulated art magazines across the world, such as the popular 0nline e-zine Stone Online and Advanced Photoshop Magazine UK edition. When I get a chance to sit down with him I’m pleasantly surprised. The man behind the work was not what I was expecting.

Parker’s work is stylish and absent of the ennui that plagues most designers in the world of ready-made templates. Right now it is highly noir, with heavy influences coming from surrealists like Dali in creating and defining negative spaces. Parker’s work features pieces that exemplify specific subject’s kinetic motions and also highly abstract art that uses specific and minimal images to convey large amounts of information.

His work calls to mind a sharply dressed man who is constantly squinting between thoughts, but when I met him fresh from the studio I found our artist dressed much like myself in linen shorts and a simple pastel button up with matching flip flops. He carries himself with a lightness usually reserved for dancers, and is bursting with ideas. His energy quickly absorbs me and we spend the next thirty minutes discussing ideas and exploring themes that he is excited about. Parker is currently very interested in three dimensional noir art. He is combining typography, photography and new creative techniques with Photoshop to create art that is, “Descriptive emotionally, distorted informationally, plainly beautiful, achingly complex, bold, bright and entirely kinetic.”

When the conversation lulls I steer him into answering my questions. I ask him about his inspirations, his plans for the future. He avoids them almost superstitiously, but what he does say strikes me deep inside. I ask him out of everything he could do, “Why art?”

“Because, art is the place our hopes call home.”

He smiles. I urge him to continue, “Because art affords me the opportunity to express and explore things, something that has been there for me and something I can escape to.”

And how wonderful is it that Edwardsville gets to call itself home to Parker and his work right now. Parker’s work can be seen currently at Afterwords Bookstore on Main Street. So take a second and stop in, have a look at Parker’s work.

Parker’s work will be up through the end of July for viewing at Afterwords Bookstore.

Children’s Art Classes: It’s a Jungle

Teauna — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:00:24 +0000

Edwardsville Arts in the Parks helps inspire creativity and learning in your little ones. Help instill the inner learner and artist in your child and mix up the summer a bit. These classes are great for children K-4th. In this class they will examine plants through projects that include drawing, sculpture, and prints.

When: July 11th, 9 am

Where: Edwardsville City Park, 101 South Buchanan St.

Children’s Art Class: Best in Show

Teauna — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:00:05 +0000

Edwardsville Arts in the Parks helps inspire creativity and learning in your little ones. Help instill the inner learner and artist in your child and mix up the summer a bit. These classes are great for children K-4th. In this class they will build critters, canine sculptures, and learn some origami techniques.

When: June 27, 9 am

Where: Edwardsville City Park, 101 South Buchanan St.