Victoria Brace & Robert Grimes exhibit... with Harold Balazs

Victoria Brace & Robert Grimes exhibit... with Harold Balazs
2016-06-21 17:00 | The Art Spirit Gallery - 415 Sherman Avenue , Coeur d'Alene, ID USA 83814
Join The Art Spirit Gallery on Friday, June 10 for ArtWalk and the Opening Reception for Spokane artists Victoria Brace & Robert Grimes. Meet the artists and view their latest works. Also as part of this show, over forty works by Harold Balazs will be showcased in the mezzanine of the gallery. Enjoy a lively evening of fine art, fine dining and good friends in Downtown Coeur d'Alene. Everyone is welcome! The show runs from June 10 through July 2 and is sponsored by The Bluebird – A Midtown Eatery. We thank owners Viljo and Autumn Basso for their fine restaurants and continued support of the arts. Victoria and Robert will give an informal demonstration and discussion of their work starting at 1:00 on Saturday, June 11. Summer Hours begin on June 10: Open every day from 11-6. Victoria Brace Raised and educated in Russia, Victoria Brace relocated to Spokane in the 1990s and has been sharing her craft with audiences in this region since. She is well-known for her hauntingly beautiful local landscapes and cityscapes, figurative and still life works. Brace's figurative pieces are drawn from an internal point of reference, rather than directly from a model. She studies the faces of people she meets and then recaptures their essence from memory. Her formal education at the Moscow College of Art gives her a strong foundation from which to begin her improvisational process. "I start a painting with a visual story in mind - it's mostly the mood, the movement, the play of colors and shapes that I want to capture on canvas, usually no narrative at this point. It's rarely a straightforward process, most of my paintings are layers of images, where things get added or painted out, some many times over, until I hit just the right 'note' - it can be a certain color combination, a silhouette, even just a brush stroke, but when it happens, it feels true and it acts as a tuning fork for the rest of the painting. In short, I make things up, and then I paint them so they'd feel real. Memories, observations, thoughts and experiences combine in my mind, and the images form." Brace's cityscapes of Spokane are treated like portraits. She believes cities have personalities, distinctive moods, structure, and rhythm. "After a long period of time, a place develops its own character; there are enough layers of history, events, different aesthetics accumulated, so a city becomes similar to a living organism," she says. This year's exhibit includes some pieces with the theme of "bizarre carnival and masquerade characters," as the artist puts it, which grows naturally from her painting process. This theme has occurred many times over the years, but for this show, she embraced it; it allowed her the freedom to tell a visual story without the confinements of realism. Her most recent body of work will include upwards of 20 new pieces with a variety of subject matter. The Art Spirit Gallery has proudly shown Brace's work since 2008. Robert Grimes Robert Grimes' fifty years of exploration in the studio has produced a lifetime's body of work that is at once finely crafted and conceptually driven. His journey began in 1981 after picking up a sketchbook in order to "re-learn how to draw," and he has since developed a unique and disciplined practice. Beginning each time with what he calls "automatic drawings," Grimes begins to explore the sub-conscious, tapping into inspiration from Freud and Jung. He avoids literal depictions as long as he can, but eventually, "things come out." He feels that a piece has been successful when the viewer is unable to articulate the aesthetic experience in words. Born and raised in Colorado, Grimes graduated from the University of Denver with a BFA in painting and from Indiana University with an MFA in sculpture. Since retiring from a career in jewelry design 1998, he has been able to devote his full attention to an already thriving practice. He has had 11 solo exhibitions and has participated in 25 group shows at The Art Spirit Gallery in the last nineteen years. Grimes is adept in the use of a wide variety of media that allows him to experiment, almost scientifically, in a search for the materials and processes that will best communicate to the viewer. "My goal is simple – make an original expressive experience without describing one. I like to give clues to unexplainable mysteries within my work and make imagery believable enough to draw one into what is not believable." Like his work, Grimes' artistic style is free from boundaries. Formal education, cultural influences, and the long-standing practice of Automatic Drawing are consistent elements of Grimes' work as an artist. His choice of medium and the shape of his characteristically sculpted canvases are proof of his endless innovation. His goal has been to discover a sculpting medium and method that can be worked as intuitively as his drawings. The Art Spirit Gallery celebrates its extensive partnership with this talented artist. ………………………………………………………………… CURRENT AND UPCOMING SHOWS AT THE ART SPIRIT GALLERY July 8 - Aug. 6 Catherine Earle & Cary Weigand -acrylic painting and figurative clay sculpture -Opening Reception & ArtWalk: Friday, July 8 from 5-8 pm -Artist Demonstration at the gallery: Saturday, July 9 starting at 1:00 pm Aug. 12 - Sept. 3 Michael R. Lee & Carla O'Connor -trompe l'oeil clay sculpture & masterful paintings -Opening Reception & ArtWalk: Friday, August 12 from 5-8 pm -Artist Talk & Demonstration at the gallery: Saturday, August 13 starting at 1:00 pm Sept. 9 - Oct. 8 Mel McCuddin -unique figurative oil painting -Opening Reception & ArtWalk: Friday, September 9 from 5-8 pm -Artist Demonstration at the gallery: Saturday, September 10 starting at 1:00 pm -Show Sponsor: Anthony's Restaurant Oct. 14 - Nov. 5 Michael Horswill & Allie Vogt -favorite local artists & educators from NIC -Opening Reception & ArtWalk: Friday, October 14 from 5-8 pm -Artist Talk & Demonstration at the gallery: Saturday, October 15 starting at 1:00 pm -Show Sponsor: FIRE-Artisan Pizza Nov. 11 – 26 To be determined -Opening Reception & ArtWalk: Friday, November 11 from 5-8 pm -Show Sponsor: Le Danse, Presenter of Eugene Ballet Company's "The Nutcracker" Dec. 2 - Jan. 7, 2017 18th Annual Small Artworks Invitational -smaller than 12" by 36 artists -Opening Reception: Friday, December 2 from 5-8 pm -Downtown ArtWalk: Friday, December 9 from 5-8 pm
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