Satch Exhibit at Midland Carmel

Satch is currently exhibiting at Midland Arts and Antiques Market Carmel. The exhibit examines women's issues and women's stereotypical role in society along with the universal topics of religion and greed. Through November 30, 2008.

Midland Arts and Antiques Market Carmel
488 Gradle Drive
Carmel, IN

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10:00AM - 6:00 PM and Sunday noon - 5:00PM

Satch at Visual Fringe

Satch has two pieces, The Tooth Brush and Blessed Virgin Mary, in the VisualFringe exhibition in Indianapolis.  VisualFringe is a part of iNDYfRINGe 2008, the Indianapolis Theatre Fringe Festival.

We attended the opening of VisualFringe this past Friday on Mass. Ave. and in Fountain Square.  We haven't seen so much great affordable art on the walls in a long time.  Attendance was strong.  Every gallery had a nice crowd and the retail shops were very busy.  It was our first chance to see the new G.C. Lucas Gallery on Mass. Ave.  After the galleries closed around or after 9:00 PM the bars and restaurants were buzzing.  It was really heartening to see such an electric atmosphere.  

We had an early supper at Deano's Vino in Fountain Square.  We can't recommend Deano's enough.  The food and service was superb.

I find it puzzling that the galleries schedule to close at 9:00 PM, especially considering daylight savings time.  Are Hoosier values so deep that even the visual arts community feels they must close up early?  Opening at 6:00 PM and closing at 10:00 PM makes more sense. This way those that want to get to the galleries before, or after, dinner would have plenty of time to browse.  And, how about a midnight madness event once per year?  The opening of VisualFringe/First Friday would be the perfect event.

Review in Nuvo

Nuvo recently reviewed Ron Kern's and Mike Stroup's exhibit at The Kern Gallery. The exhibit received four out of five stars from critic, G.C. Cristo. Read the review.

Ron Kern and Mike Stroup Photographs

Following is information about the current exhibit of photographs from Ron Kern and Mike Stroup:

Mike Stroup - Artist Statement

Photography can be a medium for travel through time and space. Beyond the literal world we live in are places seen and unseen by the everyday eye. The simple act of passing by familiar landscapes can be mystically transformed through the photograph to suggest the fleeting passage of time and the life before us.

Much of our lives are consumed in the pursuing of contentment and a state of happiness, of balance. Very rarely are we able to allow ourselves to delve into the peace of melancholy, or the quiet contemplation of the remembrances of lives and living passed.

Life in bloom, life in repose, life denied, and anew.
Often there is a searching, a reaching, a haunting grasp for a more comforting path just beyond, perhaps never fulfilled.

According to a poem -
The questions lie
As the answers die
And we know not why
But so it shall remain

Old buildings, worn landmarks, cemeteries, vanishing rural communities – almost all forgotten – places “from nowhere to goodbye” deserve a second look to remind us that we are all here but for a moment. Only when we stop, speed up, or change perspective does precious time, our greatest resource each day, take on a new and different look when captured through the eye of a camera.
Words gently adapted from an old song help to capture the essence of the photographs you see here: “Will the wind (or the silence) ever remember, the whispered moments of our lives?” Look . . . and then, look again.

Mike Stroup




The Photographs presented at the Kern Gallery by Ron Kern are from his forthcoming Book, Sunset Junque Shop.

Ron Kern - Sunset Junque Shop

While driving to Saugatuck, Michigan, Satch and I decided to turn off the interstate and take an older, less-traveled road to Saugatuck, Michigan. Driving north along the Red Arrow Highway we were enjoying the perfect Michigan summer weather. It was one of those July days where a gentle breeze was blowing off of the lake keeping the heat at bay. The sun shone brightly in the deep blue sky.

First up were the small towns, Lakeside, Harbert, Sawyer, Bridgman and Stevensville. Getting onto the Blue Star Highway at St. Joseph we drove along the lake and through the dunes to South Haven where we stopped for a quick lunch and a walk. Onward to Saugatuck, a town where Satch and I find solace and inspiration.

Many men can attest, while traveling, wives love to stop at every interesting, and not so interesting place (in our opinion anyhow) especially if it’s an antique shop. We were almost to Saugatuck, and then Satch saw it. A little north of South Haven, on the west side of the road, we had passed a place called Sunset Junque Shop. Of course we had to turn around and check it out. As I steered the PT Cruiser onto a swatch of gravel at the side of the road, I looked over a landscape of objects that I couldn’t quite put my mind around. We got out, amazed at what we saw. It was a place like no other. There was a gypsy wagon with a stuffed ogre leaning against it. I thought, hmm, this stop might be interesting.

Off I went while Satch headed into the shop. Walking over the property I was pretty amazed with the conglomeration of stuff that was everywhere. Before long I realized that I wasn’t just seeing a bunch of things strewn about, but I was walking around in the middle of a gathered and assembled array of elements. The canvas of objects stretched out for acres, in and around several barns, broken down sheds, and a tattered house, held together with hope from its last repair. As I looked closer I began to see messages, scenes and assemblages.

There were installations, abstractions, still lifes and social commentaries. Within this environment there were “residents," and they are an intriguing and mystical lot.

After exploring and soaking it all in for some time, I went back to the car to grab my camera. Pictures immediately began to reveal themselves. Isolating particular details yielded even more richness of the whole. After working for I don’t know how long, I stopped to take a break. While resting for a moment, I realized that I had not been this inspired to photograph for years.

We’ve returned many times to Sunset Junque Shop and found our share of treasures. Satch always finds objects to use in her art. Every visit is a new exploration - there are additional items, some things have sold and elements have been moved around on the property presenting a different perspective. Sunset Junque Shop’s property is indeed living performance art.

I invited my friend, Karen Bruner Stroup, who, along with her husband, Mike, has visited the Sunset Junque Shop, to join me with her poetry written in response to this place and the photographs in the forthcoming book. We'll post information about purchasing the book in the near future.

Ron Kern and Mike Stroup - Photographs

Through July 18, 2008, the Kern Gallery is featuring a selection of photographs from Ron Kern and Mike Stroup.  Ron Kern's photographs are from his forthcoming book, "Sunset Junque Shop." Mike Stroup is presenting a group of images from his recent work.

Big News - Satch (and additional gallery news)

"Feminism, in most of its forms, proposes or demands a political and/or ethical stance toward cultural experience..."

Amelia Jones, 2003

Satch has been accepted into a group exhibition juried by Joanna Gardner-Huggett at ARC Gallery in Chicago entitled "Feminist Interrogations." The piece that will be featured in the exhibition is "Safety First."

From ARC Gallery:

This exhibition seeks feminist art works by emerging artists (who are in the first five years of their career) that do not privilege gender but see it in conversation with questions of social justice in the global age. It is particularly interested in featuring art that utilizes a range of feminist strategies to contest issues such as, but not limited to, censorship, pollution, racism, sexual violence and war, as well as creating sites of resistance.

Exhibition Dates: June 4-28, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday June 6, 6-9 PM CDT
ARC Gallery & Educational Foundation
832 W. Superior Street., #204
Chicago, IL 60622
info@arcgallery.org
(312)733-2787

Feminist Interrogations is a MAAC/FAP sponsored event.

Satch is very excited to have her work included in this exhibition.

Also in conjunction with the exhibition - INTERVENING FEMINISM...

...SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE FEMINIST ART MOVEMENT" - A Graduate Student Symposium

It is the intent of the symposium to address the interrelated nature of feminism and social justice.

Presented by the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Corridor (MAAC) in honor of The Feminist Art Project, and held in conjunction with the "Feminist Interrogations" June exhibition at ARC Gallery, the symposium will be held at Intuit on June 7, 2008, with a closing reception at Woman Made Gallery.

In other Gallery News:

Mike Stroup and Ron Kern will be featured in an exhibit of photography at the Kern Gallery. Details will be forthcoming very soon.