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Contemporary Artists

EXHIBITIONISTA: BRAND 53: National Juried Show of Works on Paper

May 29, 2025 By Debra Disman

I am thrilled to have my artists’ book, “THIN ICE” made in collaboration with artist Luciana Abait, shown in Brand 53: Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper

Opening Date: July 19, 2025 

The Associates of Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale, California host its 53rd Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper this summer. All works in the show will be on view in the beautiful Brand Library’s Gallery and in both printed and online exhibition catalogs. 

This year’s juror, Sigrid Burton, considers color and drawing as the foundation of her artistic practice and is noted for her works in oil on canvas or linen and mixed media on paper. She explores the natural world both literally and figuratively, with the intention of making light and depth tangible and visible on a two-dimensional picture plane. Burton captures the phenomenological occurrence of reflection and refraction of light, in particular, water, sky and deep space. Her studies of the art of the Indian subcontinent and its ancient and sophisticated aesthetic theory have influenced her thinking that the importance of a work of art is the response that the work evokes from the viewer. Within this context, color is understood to have great expressive and communicative power.

 

Tagged With: ARTIST'S BOOKS, Associates of Brand, brand, Brand 53: Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, Brand Gallery, Brand Library and Art Center, Collaboration, Contemporary Art, Contemporary Artists, Debra Thompson, Glendale, Glendale Arts and Culture, Los Angeles, Luciana Abait, Paper, Sigrid Burton, Steohanie Sherwood, Thin Ice, Tina Demirdjian, Works on paper, works on paperr, Works using paper

Mazur Museum showcases Contemporary Artists Throughout the US

January 30, 2025 By Debra Disman

I am thrilled to participate in “The 62nd Annual Juried Competition” at The Mazur Museum of Art!

The Masur Museum of Art’s Annual Juried Competition showcases contemporary artists throughout the United States of America working in any medium. First started in 1964, the Annual Juried Competition is the Masur Museum’s longest-running tradition and one of its best-reviewed exhibitions each year. This year, 1400  artworks were submitted by artists all over the nation, in all styles and media.

Exhibition on view Feb 20 – May 3, 2025
Public Reception: January 20, 2025 5:30 – 7:30 PM

I am honored to show: “The Body Politic: Black and Gold”


2024, 8.5 x 23 x 7″, bk board, paint, canvas, metal leaf, lace, cord, netting, trim, beads

About the Juror
Annemarie Sawkins, PhD, is a Milwaukee-based independent curator, who has curated several exhibitions for the Masur Museum of Art including Kogyo: Japanese Woodblock Prints (2022), Treasures of Art Nouveau (2019) and Afghan War Rugs: The Modern Art of Central Asia (2018). Her more recent projects include Profound Prints: Art by Exceptional Women at the Hilliard Art Museum and A Creative Place at the Trout Museum of Art. From 1999 to 2012, she was a curator at the Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University. A frequent juror and portfolio reviewer, Annemarie Sawkins has a MA and PhD in Art/Architectural History from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Sponsored by The Northeast Louisiana Arts Council

62nd Annual Juried Competition – Public Reception
5:30 – 7:30 PM
Juror’s talk and awards: 6:30 PM
Receptions at the Masur Museum of Art are free and open to the public. Light food and refreshments are served and ID for alcoholic beverages is required. Parking at the museum is limited so carpooling is suggested.

 

Filed Under: Exhibitions, New Work, TEXTILE/FIBER, Textiles/Fiber/Cloth, Venues, Work Tagged With: 62nd Annual Juried Exhibition, American Artists, Annemarie Sawkins, annual  group show, ARTIST'S BOOKS, Black and Gold, Book, Book Artist, Contemporary Artists, Fiber, Fiber Artist, Group Exhibition, Handmade Books, Juried Show, Mazur, Mazur Museum, Northeast Louisiana Arts Council, Sculptural Books, Textile Artist, Textiles, The Body Politic, US based artists

TAG: The 2025 LA OPEN

January 7, 2025 By Debra Disman

The Artists Gallery (TAG) Presents:
The L.A. Open 2025
JOIN US:
Wednesday, January 8 through Friday, January 24
Awards Reception: Saturday, January 11th, 2025, 5 – 8 pm

TAG and the L.A. Open celebrate art and creativity in Los Angeles County!

I am thrilled to show two works in this fun and fantastic annual show!

“The Body Politic: Black and Gold“, 2024, 8.5 x 23 x 7″, book board, paint, canvas, metal leaf, lace, cord, netting, trim, beads


“Hopes and Fears and…”, 2020, 24.5 x 16.25″, textile samples, linen thread

JUROR: Genie Davis
Genie Davis is a writer who loves and writes about art as well as a wide range of other subjects as a journalist, biographer, novelist, and WGA-W screen and television writer. You can see her written work in the arts on her own www.diversionsLA.com as well as in past publications of Artillery, Art & Cake, Art Scene, Fabrik, and Riot Material.
She is the curator of 2023’s Leaving Eden, a two-person thematic exhibition at Keystone Art Space; September 2024’s Thresholds, a small group exhibition at Gallery of Hermosa; and upcoming in March 2025, the international exhibition Windswept at Wonzimer Gallery.

MORE INFO HERE!

 

Filed Under: ARTISTS, Exhibitions, TEXTILE/FIBER, Textiles/Fiber/Cloth, Venues, Work Tagged With: Arts Scene, Contemporary Art, Contemporary Artists, Diversity, Genie Davis, Group Exhbition, Group Exhibition, Group Show, LA Arts Scene, LA Contemporary Art, LA Contemporary Artists, LA OPEN, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Artists, Los Angeles Contemporary Gallery, Los Angeles Exhbition, Mid City, Miracle Mile, Miracle Mile Gallery, TAG, Tag Gallery, the 2025 LA OPEN, The Artists Gallery, Vitality, Wilshire Boulevard

Art Centers and the Like: The HeART of Art

September 2, 2024 By Debra Disman

Art and Cultural Centers are amazing places.

They are CENTERS. Centers of art and culture to be sure, but also centers of learning, personal and collective growth, education, care, community, cooperation and love.

Amazing to show in, but especially amazing in the services they provide, the opportunities they offer and the roles they play for their near and far communities.

I am going to explore these worthy and precious resources and entities in the next few posts, but firstly, I need to get my arms around them in a big, collective heARTfelt hug!

I will add to, or write further interactions of this post over time.  I would also like to write about Libraries, College and University Art Galleries and smaller galleries as exhibition spaces and hubs of community and world culture.

These are the art and cultural centers I have shown in over the last few years, essentially since 2018:
(I included some very special organizations such as Blue Roof Studios, Shoebox Arts and ArtShare LA in Los Angeles, CA, “We Are The Arts”/The Arts Council of Fayetteville|Cumberland County in Fayetteville, NC, the Hera Educational Foundation and Gallery in Wakefield RI, and the Springfield Art Association, in Springfield, IL, even though they don’t have the word “CENTER” in their monikers, as I believe they serve many of the same heART-FULL functions as those that do.)

18th Street Arts Center,  Santa Monica, CA

O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA

Webster Arts, Webster Groves, MO

Intersect Arts Center, Saint Louis, MO

The Dairy Barn Arts Center O’Bleness Gallery, Athens, OH

Umpqua Valley Arts, Roseville, OR

 The Cultural Center of Cape Cod, South Yarmouth, MA

Springfield Art Association, Springfield, IL

The Korean Culture Center, Los Angeles, CA

“We Are The Arts”/The Arts Council of Fayetteville|Cumberland County, Fayetteville, NC

Artworks Center for Contemporary  Art, Loveland, CO

ArtShare LA, Los Angeles, CA

Shoebox Arts, Los Angeles, CA

Kelso Art Center, University of Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX

Tubac Center for the Arts, Tubac, AZ

Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA

The Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA
  
The Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, Lubbock, TX

Hera Educational Foundation and Gallery in Wakefield RI

Blue Roof Studios, Los Angeles, CA

San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA

The Center for Contemporary Art, Bedminister, NJ

Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY

Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA

The Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN;

Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO

Filed Under: ARTISTS, Exhibitions, Venues, Work Tagged With: 18th street art center, American Art Centers, Art Center, Art Center as Community, art centers, Art Centers in the US, Art Share, Arts at Blue Roof, Arts Council of Fayetteville, ARTWORKS Center For COntemporary Art, Artworks Loveland, blue roof, Brand Library and Art Center, Contemporary Art, Contemporary Artists, Contemporary Curators, Dairy Barn Arts Center, Foothills Art Center, Intersect Arts Center, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Korean Cultural Center, Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, O'hanlon, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Shoebox Arts, Shoebox Projects, Springfield Art Association, The Center for Contemporary Art, the Kelso Art Center, The Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts  (LHUCA), The San Francisco Center for the Book, The Yeiser Art Center, Tubac Center of the Arts, Umpaqua Valley Arts, Webster Arts

Showing (love) Around

July 9, 2024 By Debra Disman


We Are Doing It All Wrong, Edward A. Dixon Gallery, Dayton, OH, Juror/Curator: Ed Dixon:   “The exhibition is a challenge to artists and viewers to recognize, react and learn about the many ways humanity continually fails itself.  These issues are not always mainstream and sometimes are hidden.” Jurors: Ed Dixon/Stacy Kranitz/Judith L. Huacuja
See the SHOW!
See the VIDEO!

It is not only a joy to “show around” in group exhibitions at various venues around the country, it is a gratifying, enriching  experience,  and a heartwarming one at that, to discover, interact with and support so many inspiring and dedicated individuals,  organizations, endeavors, missions and visions. I meet new folks, but also “run into” friends and colleagues that “show up” in some of the same places: showing at some of the the same shows, sharing in some of the same artist talks and panels, featured in some of the same catalogues and publications. It is exciting to connect, and see both not only an overlap of interests materially and thematically, but also how we all approach things differently, and can learn from one another.

For example, I am currently showing at:
Word and Weft: Visualizing the Word, Webster Arts, Webster Groves, MO, Juror: Noriko Yuasa 

Women. Defining Our Representation, Black House Artist, Juror/Curator: Ellen Mattesi (online)  
We Are Doing It All Wrong, Edward A. Dixon Gallery, Dayton, OH, Jurors: Ed Dixon/Stacy Kranitz/Judith L. Huacuja 
Evidence of Joy, Intersect Arts Center, Saint Louis, MO, Curator: April Parvitz  

Soliloquy, presented by The Bridge Arts Foundation at The Scholarts Selection, San Gabriel, CA
Jurors: Charles Christopher Hill, Xin Song, Curator: Tia Xu  
Whisper, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR, Curator: Jennifer Gullia Cutshall  (catalogue)
Interplay, presented by the Surface Design Association at The Dairy Barn Arts Center O’Bleness Gallery, Athens, OH,  Juror: Annet Couwenberg
Northern National Art Competition, Nicolet College Art Gallery, Rhinelander, WI, Juror: Debra Brehmer 

The Circular Ritual of Spring, BG Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, Curator: Susan Lizotte (online)

And earlier this year:
Midway Marvels,ArtBarLA, Los Angeles, CA, Curator: Randi Matushevitz
Materiality Matters, Umpqua Valley Arts, Roseville, OR, Juror Panel: UVA Staff and Pacific NW professionals
Pulp: Book and Paper Arts, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA, Juror: Donna Seager
Fantastic Fibers 2024, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY, Juror: Sandro Tiberi, (catalogue) 
String Theory, The Cultural Center of Cape Cod, South Yarmouth, MA, Curator: Molly Demeulenaere  
Art of the Word, Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona, CA, Jurors: Fatemeh Burnes, Maurice Quillinan, Niamh Cunningham (catalogue)
By the Book,  Artopia Gallery, Arcadia, CA, Curator: Rosie Getz

Through this experience I am able to be exposed to and interact with :
Individuals: artists, curators, critics, collectors, gallery, museum, art center, library and academic/university directors/staff (on all different levels of responsibility and experience and in varying roles,  offices and positions)
Organizations: galleries, museums, art centers, universities/academic institutions, artist studios and alternative spaces (of different sizes, renown, reputation, influence and “status” in the “art world” and world at-large)

I plan to highlight and share about various of these individuals and entities over the next several posts. I will share particularly about Art Centers, which are an enormous source of vitality, creation, care and joy throughout the country and beyond. xxxooo

I begin with Gallerist Ed Dixon, in whose show We Are Doing It All Wrong I am honored to be in.  Presented at the Edward A. Dixon Galleryin Dayton, OH. Of the show says Owner/Curator: Ed Dixon:  “The exhibition is a challenge to artists and viewers to recognize, react and learn about the many ways humanity continually fails itself.  These issues are not always mainstream and sometimes are hidden.” The illustrious jurors Ed Dixon/Stacy Kranitz/Judith L. Huacuja hold a wealth of knowledge, expertise, care and passion among them in addition to many accomplishments.

In a time of such fraught difference, fear, and loathing, it is heartening and illuminating to see and be a part of all of these individuals and entities, making a difference. I have to feel that that all of our work, no matter what the outcome, does make a difference.

Thank you to You all.

 

 

 

Filed Under: ARTISTS, Exhibitions, MEDIA, New Work, Presentations, TEXTILE/FIBER, Women Artists, Work Tagged With: 18th Street Arts Center, American exhibitions, American shows, Annet Couwenberg, April Parvitz, art centers, Art of the Word, art vwnuwa, ArtBarLA, Artopia Gallery, bG Gallery, Black House Artist, Bridge Arts Foundation, Cape Cod Museum of Art, Charles Christopher Hill, Christopher Lloyd Tucker, Contemporary Art, Contemporary Artists, Craft Contemporary, curators, Debra Brehmer, Donna Seager, Ed Dixon, Edward A. Dixon Gallery, Ellen Mattesi, Exhbitions, exhibiting in the US, Fatemeh Burnes, galleries, Group Shows, Intersect Arts, January Arts, Jennifer Gillia Cutshall, Judith L. Huacuja, Juried Shows, jurists, Karina Bennett, libraries, Maurice Quillinan, Molly Demeulenaere, museums, Niamh Cunningham, Nicolet College Art Gallery, Noriko Yuasa, Randi Matushevitz, Rosie Getz, Sandro Tiberi, Sasse Museum of Art, Scholorarts Selection, SDA, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Shoebox Arts, Shoebox Projects, Shows, Stacy Kranitz, Surface Design Association, Susan Lizotte., The Brand Library and Art Center, The Cultural Center of Cape Cod, The Dairy Barn Arts Center O’Bleness Gallery, The Irvine Fine Arts Center, The Long Beach Museum of Art, The New Bedford Museum of Art, The Yeiser Art Center, Tia Xu, UCLA, Umpqua Valley Arts, universities, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Webster Arts, Xin Song

“A Common Thread” Artists’ Talk at ArtShare LA!

April 28, 2023 By Debra Disman

Join us for a LIVE, IN-PERSON Artists’ Talk at ArtShare LA, focusing on the fiber-oriented works in the exhibition, “A Common Thread” on view in the ArtShare LA gallery through May 13th.

Tagged With: Amabelle Aguiluz, Aneesa Shami Zizzo, Antoinette Adams, Art, Art Share, Artists' Talk, ArtShare LA, Baha Danesh, Beth Stryker, Carmen Mardonez, Carolyn Mason, Chloe Cusimano, Common Thread Community Art Venue, Contemporary Artists, Contemporary Los Angeles Artists, Debra Disman, Doris Bittar, Fiber, Fiber Art, Fiber Artists, Group Exhibition, Katie Shanks, Los Angeles Artists, Marie-Jose Njoku-Obi, Michelle Montjoy, Public Event, Textile Art, Textile Artist, TEXTILE ARTISTS, Textiles, Thread, threads, Women Artists, Yasmine Diaz

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