| |
Archives / In
Production
The following artist DVDs are in various stages of production. In addition to posting short clips from these works-in-progress, we are now beginning to post virtually full length interviews. The first two are with Ashley Bryan (50 minutes) and Abby Shahn (41 minutes). Click on their images below to see these interviews. All of these projects are in need of funds for them to join the eleven completed DVDs. Please help support the completion of these important documentaries – helping preserve the legacy of art in Maine and America.
ASHLEY
BRYAN was born in Harlem, New York, in 1923. He
attended Cooper Union and the Skowhegan School and later chaired
the art department at Dartmouth College. Bryan paints, writes and
illustrates children’s books, on Little Cranberry Island and
performs poetry around the world.
In 2008, he was named a Literary Lion by the New York Public Library.
He won the 2009 Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for “lasting contribution
to literature for children.”
Click on photo above to see a preview.
Click on photo at left to see the interview. |
DAVID
DRISKELL: Maine Master – has been largely responsible
for bringing African American art into the mainstream of American
society – through his own artwork and writings and by curating
exhibits by artists of color focusing attention on black artists as
they fight for survival and search for identity. Driskell maintains
a deep connection to Maine, summering in Falmouth for nearly 50 years
and remaining active at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
where he has served on their board and first went in 1953.
As he has said: “… I went back to nature and relied very heavily
on my natural environment as the source of inspiration in my work.”
Maine has been that draw for him.
Click on photo at right to see a preview.
 Click on photo at left to see a preview.
|
|
 Artists often refer to ABBY SHAHN as a “painter’s painter,” meaning they are particularly inspired and influenced by the courage of her stylistic innovations. Her subjects include abstract exploration of the energies and archetypes of nature, local crises with a universal significance and geopolitical themes. There is an emotional spectrum in her canvases, collages, mixed media work, installations and performances that ranges from the playful to the very serious. Born in 1940, Shahn lives in central Maine where she settled when her parents, the remarkable artists and authors Ben and Bernarda Shahn, were among the earliest members of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
| Click on photo to see the interview. |
|
 Fred Woell is indeed a Maine Master. He has spent a good part of his adult life, 37 years, on Deer Isle, gathering junk, making his “anti-jewelry” and other sculptures, and inspiring friends and students. The power of his work resides in its commentary on everyday American life with all its ironies and sometimes misguided values. He often juxtaposes images creating an assemblage of ideas. Rather than sermonizing, he uses the junk he collects to create brilliant, mischievous, humorous sculptures – often producing insights into the healing nature of art.
| Click on photo to see a preview. |
|
| WILLIAM
IRVINE (b. 1931) grew up in the small coastal town
of Troon, Scotland, where he began painting at age 12, captivated
by what he calls “the magic of painting, that doorway through
which we can enter into other worlds.” He graduated from the
Glasgow School of Art in 1956, then lived and painted in London for
ten years until 1967. In 1968 he moved to Blue Hill, Maine, where
the proximity to the sea continues to inform many of his paintings.
|
Originally
from Pittsburgh where she was born in 1934, YVONNE
JACQUETTE attended the Rhode Island School of Design.
She first came to Maine in the 1950s and eventually spent each summer
in Lincolnville with her husband, photographer and filmmaker Rudy
Burckhardt (1914-1999). Jacquette is best known for her aerial views
of New York City (her winter home), Tokyo, Maine and other places.
Click
on photo at left to see a preview.
|
| Born
in Sayre, Pennsylvania, in 1925, CABOT LYFORD
attended Cornell University. After viewing the “Winged Victory
of Samothrace” in the Louvre, he vowed to sculpt. He attended
the Skowhegan School and later taught sculpture and art history at
Philips Exeter Academy for 23 years. In 1990 he received the National
Academy of Design’s Sculpture Prize. He lives and works in New
Harbor. |
| Born
in New York City in 1924, EMILY NELLIGAN
graduated from Cooper Union. Since first visiting Great Cranberry
Island in 1944 with her husband, artist Marvin Bileck (1910-2005),
Nelligan has focused on making exquisite charcoal drawings of the
island landscape, capturing its shadowy contours and primal edges.
The Bowdoin College Museum of Art mounted an exhibition of her work
in 2000. |
| Born
Charles Stanley, CARLO PITTORE
(1943-2005) studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston,
Portland School of Art, Chelsea College of Art in London and Brooklyn
Museum Art School. He was a significant figure in the international
field of mail art in 1970s and 1980s and gained recognition for his
bold figurative work. As an advocate for artists, Pittore founded
the Union of Maine Visual Artists. He mentored young artists through
the Academy of Carlo Pittore in Bowdoinham, Maine. |
Back to top |
