Last night I spent only about 90 minutes on the 7th floor, and was thus unable to get to all of the rooms – I will be back to expand and finish this look at this floor. I was accompanied by my wife on this trip, and below I will include her very savvy observations, fine tuned over decades of both practicing, teaching and being a strong voice for nearly every facet of the art scene on a worldwide scale.
As with all my previous floor visits, this floor proves again the unique and singular ability of ARTOMATIC to deliver on a scale that it is impossible to deliver in any other model but this one! The mind-overwhelming variety of subjects, skill levels, ideas, room-changing work and presentation forms is simply impossible to replicate unless the hive workforce and leadership of this kind of show is there.
First impression from the partial walk on the 7th floor? There is a lot of love with black light on this floor and also a lot of artists whose presentations include a wall assembly of a multitude of small, well-crafted and presented work!
My first recommendation comes for the work of Jenny Kanzler in room 7031. I am always seduced by artists who are able through their work marry the subject with unusual and unexpected, and this very talented artist delivers all of that and more with gusto and skill.
| Jenny Kanzler in room 7071 at Artomatic
In room 7006, Greg Skrtic offers an impressive array of large paintings which can best be described as brilliant rediscovery and modernizing of the traditional. In these works the artist subjugates the focus of the work to be recreated in a canvas of multi surfaces and images that force the eye to examine each minute details of the surface individually and them re-assemble them to deliver forms that seems to step out of medieval times and onto the 21st century.
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| Gregory Skrtic in room 7006 |
Skrtic notes on his website that:
I take inspiration from many sources, both natural and man-made. I use patterns from patchwork quilting, carpet or wallpaper designs just as readily as from a seashell, leaf, or seed pod. Incorporating these patterns into the overall composition in a way that they can co-exist in harmony is a recurring theme in my work.
It results in one of the more impressive “new-to-me” artists discovered so far at the event!
In room 7041, both my wife and I liked the somewhat “retro” work of Jeremy Arn. I note “retro” more in the sense of the muted palette, rather than just the subject, which is composed of interesting mechanical forms.
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| Jeremy Arn in room 7041 |
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| Cory Oberndorfer |
In room 7063, Andrea Cybyk‘s elegant abstracts dominate the room – I’ve discussed Cybyk’s works many times over the years, as her work has always been amongst the top at various previous incarnations of ARTOMATIC over the decades.
With the Wa PaPo project, launched in 2021 with my husband David Allen Harris (photographer), there’s an effort of revitalizing holistic histories and lore through reintroducing African-inspired elements with our own personal flair. This is a homage, rather than an ethnographic survey that accurately depicts any one place or culture. Instead, we hope to infuse new life and meaning into the ways of showing and retelling Black and Western folklore.
Over the course of the Wa PaPo project, I’ve explored stories about different figures of the African diaspora through prose, art, and reenactments on film, using creative license to change details for more original and interpretive artistic effect. I’m an interdisciplinary artist with ties to social practice art, writing, bodypainting, muraling, and assemblage; David is similarly equipped as a photographer and software engineer/computer scientist. Together, we use traditional and new media to fully tell the tales we weave.
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| Lync Prince Harris and David Allen Harris |
See a cool video about the series here.
Over is space 746, I must highlight the printmaking of Cecily Abram, which is not only pleasing to the eye, but also showcases a clearly talented printmaker. These gorgeous prints tease the viewer by assembling both recognizable forms, but married to deliver a somewhat abstracted delivery. They are also a great example of professional presentation: pH-balanced, acid free museum mats, etc. At $325 for the large monoprints, they are also one of the great steals of the show!
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| Cecily Abram in area 746 |
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| Detail of a John Grunwell painting |
By now it was getting a bit late as we had to pick up the son unit from a Caps’ game – on this floor we also liked (again) the African-influenced works of the ebullient Shiri Achu in room 7059. Achu was one of my top 10 Artomatic picks a few years ago and since then she has continued to deliver impressive works influenced heavily by her upbringing in Cameroon and then London.
