Posts Tagged ‘Judith McGrath’

Hearing From Judith McGrath Again From Down Under

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Last month I received an e-mail from Judith McGrath – all the way from Western Australia. Why has it taken so long for her words to reach this blog? Well, I didn’t want to scoop my own paper.

Judith was wondering if I remembered her and sent along a few words from down under – as if. After I stopped laughing to myself, I sent her a return e-mail telling her that she was far from forgotten in the Carolinas. The entry page for her past comments places consistently in the top 20 pages selected by visitors to the Carolina Arts Online website and most of the time (not all) – one slot above the page for pulling up my past commentaries. Go figure! Here’s a link to her previous articles.

I told her to enjoy that fact for a few minutes, but then I told her most of my fans – whoever they are, had shifted over to my blog – Carolina Arts Unleashed – which has been the top page winner on our website, almost since it started in May 2008.

But I was glad to see her writing about the visual arts again. You see, about the time the bottom dropped out of the economy and shortly after for us and the art community – she and her husband, Owen – started their retirement. Judith took a break from writing and started teaching some art classes and taking some classes, but she had come to a point where she wanted to” keep a hand in the game.” And, I’m glad she thought of us when she started writing. Like many of those people reading or re-reading her comments made over the years on our website – I missed reading her views and observations too.

I’m not saying she’s totally back and I’m definitely not saying we’re back from the abyss we fell into, but it’s a nice sign that things are not as bad as they were. We have a long, long way to go to just get back to were we were several years ago, but it was nice to see McGrath’s words again on a page of Carolina Arts.

Here’s that article:

A Few Words From Down Under
About Life, Art and Money

by Judith McGrath

I recently attended an exhibition of ten, life-size figure sculptures. Some were cast in bronze while others were constructed by welding together a collection of organic shapes cut from metal to create lace-like forms. All were excellent in concept, construction and presentation. I have to admit, it was rather ‘spooky’ at first as the works were so realistic I thought some of the ‘solid’ exhibits might be mimes dipped in paint the colour of old iron.

However, strolling among the inert group of individuals, male and female, clothed and nude, standing on plinths, lying on the floor, leaning against the wall, and a few suspended from the ceiling, provided a rewarding experience. But when I learned about the project, I was even more impressed. It was not only the excellent construction and presentation of the works but how they came to life that had me regaining hope for the art world in my town.

The exhibition was the result of a group of ten art appreciators who, in a modern-day Medici-like manner, supported the artist financially and creatively in exchange for one work each, prior to it even being started. The group appreciated the artist’s style, and commitment to his craft, so having seen his concept drawings, felt secure in giving him the freedom to create ten unique, life-size figures, each reflecting a different aspect of the human condition, in any manner he chose. There were no constraints put on the artist’s creative decisions by the ‘contract’, he was free to follow his muse and work without any advice from his benefactors. Without the worry of supporting himself and his family, the artist was secure in home and studio so as to concentrate solely on his commitment.

As well as congratulating the ‘backers’ on their belief in the artist, I have to congratulate the artist for having the courage to commit to the plan. The sponsors trusted him so he had to trust his own creative and practical abilities so as to acquit his side of the bargain. Not that he is prone to do so; there would be no time for creative blackouts or tantrums. One has to admit, it’s easier for the wealthy to find cash than the artist to find his muse.

As luck (or perhaps good sense or pure talent) would have it, the backers approved the artist’s designs then stepped aside to let him do his thing while, I suppose, the benefactors had a wonderful time deciding who would get which sculpture.

My hope is that there are other Medici inspired art patrons out there, not just in my town but in yours and around the globe, as nurturing artists allows culture to grow. Remember, of all the creatures that were put on this earth, Humans are the only ones that can make art!

Do something humane today, buy a small work of art!

Judith McGrath lives in Kalamunda, Western Australia, 25 minutes east of Perth. She received a BA in Fine Art and History from the University of Western Australia. McGrath lectured in Art History and Visual Literacy at various colleges around the Perth area, and was an art reviewer for The Sunday Times and The Western Review both published in the Perth area. McGrath is currently a freelance writer and reviewer for various art magazines in Australia. She also co-ordinates the web site Art Seen in Western Australia found at (http://www.artseeninwa.com).

You can read about a trip McGrath made to Charleston, SC, in 2008 at this link.

I hope it’s not too long before we hear from Judith again.

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Thinking of Judith McGrath Down in Western Australia

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Yesterday, after another sweltering trip to Charleston, SC, I returned home to check my e-mail. While sorting through the days’ list of junk, outlandish offers, jokes about our Governor (no name offered) and even a few directed for Carolina Arts – I found myself gazing at a few e-mails I leave on my incoming list as a reminder of things – things to do, people to get back with, e-mails that I shouldn’t forget about, and e-mails kept for legal reasons. That’s right, I have to occasionally deal with some people who are down right nuts, so I keep their e-mails.

Among those e-mails was the last one I received from Judith McGrath down in Kalamunda, Western Australia, near Perth. This one is saved as a good reminder and as I looked at it I wondered about what it would be like to be there right now. You see, while we’ve been going through 90+ temps for several weeks, thunder storms, and near 90 percent humidity, Australia is going through its winter season. I know – the grass is always greener…

McGrath was a contributor to Carolina Arts for almost ten years, until the economy hit the fan and we had to cut back on expenses (even small ones) and space in the paper, but I miss her words about the visual art community in her corner of the world and most of the time about the visual art community in general. Through her writing we learned that it is a small world and things are not that different – no matter where you are.

So, I sent her an e-mail and woke up this morning and found the following response about what has been going on with her. She’s been teaching an Art Appreciation class at the local Learning Centre in her area.

Here’s part of her e-mail:

Talk about great minds thinking alike! I was just on your site the other day and enjoyed reading your blog about the National Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition in North Charleston. Also appreciated viewing the excellent pictures and deciding which ones I’d like to have in my own garden – when I’m rich and famous! I particularly liked the gentle flow of Pattie Firestone’s Thoughts Running Like a River, the contemplative aspect of Corrina Sephora Mensoff’s, Where I have come from, what will I leave behind?, and James Burnes’ Rich Sis which had me thinking of a retired race horse, worn out but still majestic. However, all were excellent presentations.

We have two similar sculptural exhibitions Down Under, both presented on the white sands of the beach, albeit each with a different ocean as a backdrop. One is on Bondi Beach along the Pacific Ocean near Sydney on the Eastern side of the continent, the other is held on Cottesloe Beach by the Indian Ocean near Perth in Western Australia. I always enjoy attending the latter and seeing families lounging on the sand, under the sun and in the company of monumental works of art in all manner of material. It reminds me that art should always be for the general public, not just the literati.

You may have noticed that I’ve been slack about posting reviews on my own site. My only excuse is that I’m finding precious little to write about when meandering through commercial galleries and local public venues. What I have found is how the rhetorical “there’s nothing new in art” has become the reality of “seen it all before”? As such I fear for the future of the visual arts due to the lack of inspirational and/or practical artistic education.

In my capacity as an art reviewer I have no problem with giving polite “corrective” criticism to aspiring artists who are happy to take it on board as they may benefit from it. However, I am not in the habit of writing “negative” reviews because, as an ex-art history lecturer, I am aware that anything written, be it positive or negative, is archived and available to future generations. My logic runs along the lines that if I name a practitioner in an article, whether I condemn or praise their work, it is proof that at one time, he or she existed as an “artist” therefore according them a place in future art history. With that in mind, I have banned myself from writing “bad” reviews, as there is already sufficient “equine manure” in print validating the artistic underachiever.

The ban became a real hurdle for me when viewing the latest exhibition of works by newly graduated art students. While walking through the exhibition the thought that if this is the “best” the schools have to offer had me fighting an urge to sit down and cry. The craft work was excellent while only a few sculptors considered their 3D constructions from all points of view. But it was the painting that brought tears to my eyes as they lacked an understanding of color usage and underlying compositional structure. It was so depressing I was sorely tempted to break my long held “ban on the bad” as I felt something had to be said publicly. And I would have overcome the temptation and ignore the show until I spotted one exhibit that was very familiar. I had seen something very much like it twenty-odd years ago in a different gallery. I knew who the artist was then, and I knew he was now a lecturer in the art school being represented by this student. As I stood in front of the work, I asked the gallery manager if teachers were exhibiting too. He knew what I saw, smiled enigmatically and shook his head.

There’s a saying in the art world in my town that goes; “Them that can, do. Them that can’t, teach.” It’s no wonder there is nothing new for me to say about art in my town. I do hope in your town, each year brings new and exciting aspects in the wonderful world of the visual arts.

Cheers

I’m hoping as the economy recovers and we get through this long summer, I’ll be able to offer McGrath’s writings again in Carolina Arts. You can still find the articles McGrath sent us archived on our website here, dating back to 2000.

Judith McGrath lives in Kalamunda, Western Australia, 25 minutes east of Perth. She received a BA in Fine Art and History from the University of Western Australia. McGrath lectured in Art History and Visual Literacy at various colleges around the Perth area, and was an art reviewer for The Sunday Times and The Western Review both published in the Perth area. McGrath is currently a freelance writer, reviewer for various art magazines in Australia and teaching. She also co-ordinates the web site Art Seen in Western Australia.

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Doing the Charleston with Judith McGrath

Sunday, October 19th, 2008

For any regular reader of Carolina Arts over the last eight years, commentary from Judith McGrath – all the way from Western Australia – has been a sort of sounding board as to what’s going on in the visual art community – around the world – or at least the other end of the world. Although Australia is 24 hours of flight travel away from us in the Carolinas, it seemed at times that McGrath was writing about the art community right here. I know there were times when I wondered if she had installed some kind of spyware in my computer to monitor my commentary. When her e-mail would arrive – out of the blue – it often mirrored what was on my mind. Believe me, it was spooky at times.

It all started when Scottie Hodge, owner of Tempo Gallery in Greenville, SC (now closed for some years) sent me an e-mail about an article she read that McGrath wrote for an online publication called, Art Thought Journal. After reading the piece I contacted the editor of that publication to see if I could run the article in our publication. He said I’d have to take that up with McGrath. I contacted McGrath and in our Nov. 2000 issue we offered a guest commentary entitled Visual Art vs Entertainment.

The reaction to that guest commentary was very favorable – mostly because of the article’s content and insight, and some as relief from my views. So, from that day on we have offered the occasional – View From Down Under. You can see that first article and all others she offered archived on our website at (http://www.carolinaarts.com/afewwordsfromdownunder.html).

Who was this voice from down under? We have posted this description after each installment: Judith McGrath lives in Kalamunda, Western Australia, 25 minutes east of Perth. She received a BA in Fine Art and History from the University of Western Australia. McGrath lectured in Art History and Visual Literacy at various colleges around the Perth area, and was an art reviewer for The Sunday Times and The Western Review both published in the Perth area. McGrath is currently a freelance writer and reviewer for various art magazines in Australia. She also co-ordinates the web site Art Seen in Western Australia found at (http://www.artseeninwa.com).

Well, as I mentioned in commentary in Carolina Arts a few months ago, McGrath was planning a trip to the east coast of these United States and was planning a trip to South Carolina. She was actually planning to visit Bonneau. When they asked about hotel info in Bonneau – when Linda (my better half) and I stopped laughing, we explained that we might have to direct them to another city close by.

Oh – how interesting that could be – Judith McGrath in SC – in Charleston! I didn’t get my hopes up as I know all the things that can happen to derail the best laid plans. Just look at John McCain. His “straight talk express” ran aground in Alaska – much like the Exxon Valdez did. They’re still cleaning up that mess.

But on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008, I was driving Judith and her husband Owen from Summerville, SC, to downtown Charleston for a look at what the visual art community had to offer.

I had made some plans as to what and where we would go, but like I said before – the best laid plans sometimes have to be adapted. We had to deal with what would be open on Sunday and Monday, and unfortunately, that took some galleries off my list. And, we found that some galleries are not going by the hours posted in Carolina Arts‘s gallery listings. And, on the other hand, fortunately some galleries that should have been closed were open.

McGrath’s tour of South Carolina began in Spartanburg, SC, where her visit was front page news, but in Charleston we would be traveling under the radar – much like I do. If you have followed my commentary about the good Mayor of Charleston, I have to look twice – both ways – before I cross the streets in Charleston.


First off, the weather was great the two days they were in Charleston. It’s like we were actually having Fall weather in South Carolina. Our weather is the complete opposite of what they have at the same time in Australia – our summer is their winter.

After a short driving tour of Charleston, our first official stop was at the Gibbes Museum of Art. Although the couple was somewhat fatigued in visiting Art Museums up and down the east coast, McGrath did fall in love with Alice Huger Ravenel Smith’s watercolor landscapes – not her works with people, but the landscapes. But, what she really wanted to see was the commercial galleries. So we headed out to see who was open.

The great thing about Charleston’s commercial art community is that it is concentrated in a few areas of the city. You can park in one stop and visit dozens of galleries in just a few blocks of each other.

After leaving the Gibbes we first ran into the sidewalk display by a few members of the Charleston Artist Guild – a Charleston Fall tradition. We next headed “by request” to Charleston’s Market area. McGrath had spotted the area on our driving tour around the city. At first I couldn’t think of what area she was describing – the Market is not usually on my tour itinerary for visitors, but I soon realized the McGraths were also interested in the full view of Charleston – including the Market and antique shops on King Street. I’m a flexible tour guide so we adapted some more.

The Market helped add to the McGraths’ worldwide collection of snowglobes.

From the Market we headed into the heart of the French Quarter Gallery Association’s district, but found few open galleries there. It’s a good thing we still had Monday for our tour. We then headed to Broad Street where we found more open doors. The couple’s favorite gallery of our first day of touring was the Mary Martin Gallery. They were really taken by some sculpture there of wooden violins made by Philippe Guillerm.

After walking and driving around one end of Charleston to the other in search of open galleries, we left Charleston heading to the promise lands of Berkeley County for some barbecued ribs and corn-on-the -cob at the headquarters of Carolina Arts in Bonneau, SC, on the shores of Lake Moultrie. The McGraths live at the edge of Australia’s OutBack and I explained that Linda and I lived in what most Charlestonians think of as Charleston’s OutBack – Berkeley County.

As it always happens – when it rains it pours. We didn’t know exactly what day the McGraths would arrive, but at the same time Linda’s sister arrived for a visit as well as some good friends from North Carolina who have a house at the lake, so Linda didn’t get to do the Charleston with us.

On our second day of touring Charleston art galleries we found more open doors, but there were still a few galleries that were supposed to be open but were not when we arrived at their door. And, we missed a few that don’t open until Tuesdays, but we visited 80 percent of the galleries in downtown Charleston in our two-day adventure. And, my feet were feeling it too. I’m used to trekking the streets of Charleston and many other cities in the Carolinas, but I usually don’t take in the antique shops too. But I learned some things in our travels that was well worth the effort.

Some galleries don’t seem to be displaying the copies of Carolina Arts we drop off every month. I made a list and will be checking this out and when we find that someone is not displaying the paper, we will stop leaving them there and take out the free gallery listing we have been giving them. Most galleries had them well displayed, a few had them hidden, but we made a game out of seeing who could spot the Carolina Arts first.

Highlights this day included a visit to Rhett Thurman’s studio where we were lucky to catch the artist at work, a visit to Nina Lui and Friends (all three floors), Plum Elements for a peek at some Japanese prints and what was hailed by McGrath as her favorite gallery in Charleston – the Eva Carter Gallery. It was a special moment of pride when I got to brag that we owned a work by each of the artists represented by the gallery. It was there that the couple almost purchased a work by Karin Olah – not having seen any work like it before. Now, that’s saying something from this world traveling couple.


Work by Karin Olah

But the joke of the two day tour was, “Owen, you’re gonna need another suitcase!” The McGraths were already going to have to purchase a very large suitcase to fit all their purchases made in the US while visiting. An extra suitcase on their 24 hour return flight home was going to be an expensive item. The thought of another one was an instant headache – for Owen.

The McGraths took lots of contact info from galleries we visited and they will let UPS do some deliveries for them once they get back home. After all, it is a small world these days.

After our second day of trekking we headed back to Summerville talking about some of the places we didn’t get to see, but I think Judith and Owen had an enjoyable tour and saw a lot of interesting art and got a small glimpse of Charleston. On the subject of the bad rap Charleston’s art scene often gets from some other areas of the Carolinas – the so called love Charleston artists have for painting the city and the surrounding environment – the two world travelers said that you see that everywhere you go around the world.

I don’t know if Judith McGrath will write anything about her visit to Charleston or what she will say. But, for me it was a great opportunity to have a give and take dialogue about what we were seeing, art in general, and various subjects covered in both our commentaries. It was also a great pleasure to meet the person who has contributed to Carolina Arts from afar for the last eight years and her husband. I hope the exchange will continue for many years.

Judith – Owen, thanks for coming to see us.

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