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You may not have heard of Syd Solomon (but we bet you have), but his presence, even posthumously (he died in 2004) still vibrates through Sarasota. He came to Sarasota because of the Battle of the Bulge. For real — he was an aerial camouflage specialist in WWII, and he came away from the Battle of the Bulge with a nasty case of frostbite. After that, no one could blame him from wanting to keep warm, and so, in 1946, he and his bride decided to call Sarasota home. 

He was the driving force behind the Fine Arts Institute at Sarasota's New College, not only helping to start the Institute but also encouraging his friends — all artists — to teach there. Those friends? Conrad Marca-Relli (1913-2000), Larry Rivers (1923-2002) and Philip Guston (1913-1980).

No shocker, then, that the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art accessioned his art — marking the first time that the Ringling accessioned a living artist. 

Come see Views from Above, a collection of Solomon's abstract expressionist work, at St. Petersburg's Museum of Fine Arts. The work starts in 1945 and runs through the 1980s, and it's all influenced by his chosen home (Florida!). One of his works ("Westcoastalscape") is pictured above and part of the MFA's permanent collection.

The American Abstract Artist movement was founded in 1936 in New York City, at a time when abstract art was met with strong critical resistance. Women played an integral part in forming the AAA, and Murray State's Clara M. Eagle gallery is housing an exhibit that honors these groundbreaking female artists. Emily Berger, an abstract artist featured in the exhibit, and T. Michael Martin, director of university galleries, visit Sounds Good to discuss the traveling exhibit. 

The Murray State University Galleries and the department of art and design present Blurring Boundaries: Continuity to Change - The Women of AAA 1936-2018through the beginning of November. In the first exhibition dedicated exlusively to the intergenerational group of women artists of American Abstract Artists, Blurring Boundaries traces the history of AAA's female founding members through present-day artists. The exhibition highlights approximately 45 works, emphasizing each artist's approach to central tenents of abstraction - composition, color, content, and material. Well-known founders and early members of AAA, such as Perle Fine, Esphyr Slobodkina, Gertrude Greene, Alice Trumbull Mason (featured above), and I. Rice Pereira, are included in the exhibit. Their classic works will be displayed beside contemporary abstract artists such as Sharon Brant, Merrill Wagner, Cecily Kahn, Alice Adams, and Emily Berger.

“Please Send To: Ray Johnson” is predominently a collection of “Mail Art” Johnson sent to Ted Carey, left to the museum by Tito Spiga as part of his bequest. “Syd Solomon: Concealed and Revealed” operates as a retrospective of the artist, who died in 2004, using his archive to provide new context to his output from his early days before and after World War II, when he devised camouflage techniques for the military, to late work from the early 1990s. Finally, “Sara Mejia Kriendler: In Back of Beyond” will showcase the artist’s Colombian roots with sculptures in terra-cotta, plaster, and gold leaf that also reference today’s consumer culture. Ms. Kriendler was the recipient of top honors in the 2016 members show.

Susan Vecsey in Chelsea

A solo show of paintings by Susan Vecsey, who lives and works in New York City and East Hampton, will open Thursday at the Berry Campbell Gallery in Chelsea with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. and continue through Nov. 10. 

Ms. Vescey’s recent abstractions call to mind both Color Field painting and landscapes. The woods, beaches, farms, and big skies of the East End inspire her, but her work strips those images of their specificity, resulting in “abstract art that looks familiar,” according to a release.

Berry Campbell: “Susan Vecsey”
October 11 through November 10, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 11, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Berry Campbell Gallery presents “Susan Vecsey,” featuring recent paintings by the artist. The exhibition marks the artist’s third solo exhibition since her representation by the gallery began in 2014. Referencing Color Field paintings, Vecsey’s landscapes are inspired by the East End of Long Island. The paintings act as elusive reminders of memories or recollections, according to the gallery, evoking calm and serenity. Susan Vecsey lives and works in NYC and East Hampton. Her art is held in numerous public and private collections including Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY.

Click here for exhibition details.

SYD SOLOMON and PLEASE SEND TO: RAY JOHNSON
Oct. 20-Dec. 17
Guild Hall

Through his New York Correspondence School in the 1950s, Ray Johnson started his own art movement — Mail Art. Johnson networked with other artists to whom he mailed drawings, poems and collages, asking them to add their touches and forward it to another member of the group. Guild Hall’s second major gallery will explore the career of Syd Solomon, self-described “Abstract Impressionist” whose paintings were inspired by the natural environment surrounding his homes in the Hamptons and Florida.

631-324-0806
guildhall.org

We are preparing for our Susan Vecsey exhibition, opening on September 6, 2018. Please read our online catalogue to learn more about the artist and his career.

Susan Vecsey
October 11 - November 10

Opening Reception 
Thursday, October 11, 2018
6 - 8 pm

June 14 - October 26, 2018
Luther W. Brady Art Gallery
The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design
The George Washington University

Art Miami, returning for its 29th edition on December 4 - 9, 2018, has announced its 2018 exhibitor list. Recognized as one of the preeminent international modern and contemporary art fairs, Art Miami will showcase an array of iconic and important art works, dynamic projects and special installations from more than 160 international galleries from nearly 30 countries representing 68 cities.  

What made Mike Solomon’s talk about Alfonso Ossorio and the Creeks so captivating was that, as he put it, “It is a personal as well as a cultural history.” An overflow audience packed the Baldwin Family Lecture Room at the East Hampton Library to hear Mr. Solomon, an artist and founding director of the Ossorio Foundation, discuss Ossorio’s art, his generosity, and his influence in the art world of the 1950s and beyond.

The Solomon family — Syd, an important abstract painter, his wife, Annie, and their two children, Mike and Michele — lived at the Creeks, Ossorio’s 57-acre estate on Georgica Pond in East Hampton, for three months in 1959. Thirty years later, Mike returned to East Hampton with his wife and 2-year-old son to work as Ossorio’s studio assistant. After the artist’s death a year later, he became the director of the foundation established by Ted Dragon, Ossorio’s life partner and heir.