Photo Credit: Aurora Noctua; Drawing Volumes, Jonathan McFadden
​Jonathan McFadden is an artist who has traveled to many places and has experienced a variety of cultures. For the past few years, he has begun creating zines from his digital sketchbooks. In an interview with the Lexington Art League, he talked specifically about his zines, that are available through the League’s Gift Shop: “I’ve been making zines for three years now, and it started out with a residency in New York City, where I made the Losing and Failing zine. Since then, these zines have been an extension of my art practice. Since I work primarily digitally, I don’t have a physical sketchbook that I work in, so the zines are essentially the physical representation of my digital sketchbooks. I’ve been working with different risograph (printing) publishers while traveling for exhibitions and residencies. So most recently, Drawings Volume 1. was published by Druk Salon in Zurich when I was in Switzerland for a residency in Basel over the summer. Drawings Volume 2. was published with There There Now, in Columbia, Missouri, and I’m working on Drawings Volume 3. now, and that will be published with Corners in Seoul, Korea. The zines have become this means of bringing imagery to life, that isn’t necessarily going to make its way into print or installation, rather they allow for a physical object to be created that otherwise would not be”—Jonathan McFadden, 2020. 
Jonathan’s work with his zines seems to be a an extension of what he talks about with his print and installation work. In his artist statement, he states that: “My print and installation work interacts with, interprets, and processes fragments of personal narratives of the people we have loose associations with while finding ourselves as voyeurs in these personal moments. While these digital images appear in our social feeds temporarily, they have a permanence and history that exists beyond the brief moment we view them on our devices” (McFadden).

Links:
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Jonathan McFadden: 

Website: https://www.jonathanmcfadden.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathanmcfadden/

Gallery hours for the Lexington Art League are:
Tuesday - Friday [12-6pm] and Saturday - Sunday [1-4pm]

​Author: Aurora Noctua
Aurora Noctua is a local artist and intern of the Lexington Art League. She is currently enrolled at the University of Kentucky pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Digital Media and Design. 
Website: https://steamfly54.wixsite.com/noctua

Photo Credit: Aurora Noctua; Wondrous Things, Liz Swanson 

Liz Swanson is a long standing pillar of the community and Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Kentucky. She has worked on many projects with the goal of helping her community to develop and grow through illustrations, murals, installations, urban planning, and more. She is, as she put it: “an artist and human being with over 47 years of experience” (Swanson, lizswanson.com). Her new book stems from these same desires to bring about meaningful experiences through the combination of architecture, storytelling and illustration. Her goal for Wondrous Things, in particular is to empower the younger part of our community. She wants children to see and experience this book, and through that experience, gain a sense of ownership over their creativity and their talents and realize their potential for creative thought (Crouch, “Making a Difference: Project hoping to put a book in the hands of 200 kids”). The book is two books in one. On one side there is a full color, illustrated story, and on the other side there is a place for children and readers to express their own creativity and to collaborate. The design of the book is truly unique and takes the already physically interactive nature of a printed book to a whole new level and makes the audience an active part in the creation of the story through illustration. 
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Currently Liz Swanson’s book is available at the Lexington Art League’s gift shop, so when you come by to check out our range of exhibitions, be sure to also stop by and check out her meaningful and beautiful amalgamation of literature, art, and architecture. By helping to support local artists, you too can make a positive difference in your community.

Links:
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Lex 18: https://www.lex18.com/community/making-a-difference/making-a-difference-project-hoping-to-put-a-book-in-the-hands-of-200-kids

Liz Swanson: http://www.lizswanson.com

Gallery hours for the Lexington Art League are:
Tuesday - Friday [12-6pm] and Saturday - Sunday [1-4pm]

​Author: Aurora Noctua
Aurora Noctua is a local artist and intern of the Lexington Art League. She is currently enrolled at the University of Kentucky pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Digital Media and Design. 

Photo Credit: Aurora Noctua; Cards made by Viviantics

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and when looking for that special present for that special individual, be it friend or partner, don't forget about the Lexington Art League's brand new local artist gift shop. The gift shop features a wide variety of things from lovingly folded paper-heart greeting cards to meticulously crafted silver jewelry. Along with our selection in the gift shop, our January-February exhibition features Lori Larusso in the Lillian Boyer gallery. Her fabulously painted heart-shaped cakes come in wall decor as well as stickers. Each artist featured, whether it be in the gallery or the gift shop, has put their heart into their creations that are perfect for gifting to the ones you love. 

Gallery hours for the Lexington Art League are:
Tuesday - Friday [12-6pm] and Saturday - Sunday [1-4pm]

​Author: Aurora Noctua
Aurora Noctua is a local artist and intern of the Lexington Art League. She is currently enrolled at the University of Kentucky pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Digital Media and Design. 

For nearly 30 years the Lexington Art League has been hosting a yearly Kentucky Nude Exhibit. This year marks the first time that the exhibit has been hosted as a biennial. But that's not the only change that is happening with this iconic event.

Earlier in the year the Lexington Art League began a period of rebranding to focus on local and regional artists. Prior to this the League's events and exhibits were focused on bringing in national and international artists. This new direction allows the League to provide opportunities to local artists. The 2019 Kentucky Nude Exhibit is the primary example of this shift in focus.

With over 80 works by local and regional artists the 2019 Kentucky Nude Exhibit is filling the galleries of the historic Loudoun House, the League's historic home. From now until January 5 visitors will be able to explore the works of these artists. The show is a premiere example of local talent, further progressing Kentucky's position as an artistic leader in the 2020's.

The 2019 Kentucky Nude Exhibit will be open until January 5. Gallery hours for the Lexington Art League are:
Tuesday - Friday [12-6pm] and Saturday - Sunday [1-4pm]

The Lexington Art League will be closed December 23 - January 1 for the Holidays.

About the Artist
Andrew Brinkhorst is a photographer who has lived Lexington, Kentucky, for the last eighteen years. Strongly influenced by the classic documentary styles of photographers such as Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bruce Davidson, Bill Allard, Martine Franck, Danny Lyon, and Stanley Greene, his primary interest is in street and documentary photography.  He has studied with renowned Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey, and his work has been published in local and regional newspapers and magazines, and exhibited in festivals and public events. His current project explores and documents the seeming renaissance occurring in the live music, art, and small business environments in Lexington. ​

"That feeling of a great show, a song that works, a recording that captures exactly what you’re after. Pursuing your art. All of those things are the thing. This Is The Thing."

Lexington Art League (LAL): Could you tell me a bit about yourself and your background?

Annie Sprinkle began her life as Ellen Steinburg, but, over time, she recreated herself as the vivacious, voluptuous, fearless Annie Sprinkle; the complete opposite of timid, shy, conservative Ellen. Annie Sprinkle is a lot of things: an artist, an activist, a scholar, a thespian, and a sex-positive feminist, just to name a few. She has an extensive portfolio of work ranging from photography, books, films, performance pieces and lectures. Annie has spent much of her life as an advocate for sex education and equal rights. Nothing about her is conventional; a former prostitute turned porn star with a Ph. D. who explores sexuality and shamelessly shares her experiences through writing, visual art, and performances while teaching others to embrace a subject society considers taboo. She is as feisty and colorful as her name suggests. Throughout her life of work, she has always striven to entertain as well as educate.

A significant part of Annie’s work has been in the performing arts, traveling around the world sharing her experiences and thoughts about sex and sexuality through her one-woman shows. Her most notable performances include Post-Porn Modernist and Public Cervix Announcement. These controversial shows have garnered wide interest as well as notoriety, prompting riots and a debate in the U.S. Senate about whether or not the government should fund “controversial art”. But, likely, such reactions are what Annie hopes for. Her method is to present sexuality in a radical, uncensored way so that it cannot be ignored.

John Rivers Coplans (1920-2003) is a renowned English artist who we are very excited to have featured in our exhibition Artist: Body.

Coplans settled in London after World War II, deciding to become an artist. He had taken his first photographs in 1941 while in Ethiopia, serving in the King’s African Rifles. When he returned to London in 1946, he began to study painting, and eleven years later in 1957, Coplans was first featured in New Visions Centre Gallery in London for his tachiste-influenced abstract paintings.

Coplans moved to the United States in 1960, taking a position teaching at the University of California-Berkeley. In 1962, he moved to New York to co-found the art periodical Artforum, providing coverage on the ever-growing West Coast art scene. He held this position until 1977 when he returned to his love of photography while serving as head of the Akron Art Museum in Ohio. In 1980, he began taking nude self-portraits using a timer but became more serious about the idea a few years later, appointing an assistant to help with the photographs.

Said Coplans about the photographs, “I don’t know how it happens, but when I pose for one of these photographs, I become immersed in the past...I am somewhere else, another person, or a woman in another life. At times, I’m in my youth.”
Coplans began taking these photographs regularly in 1984, large-scale black and white, candid Polaroids usually presented from the neck down. He took these pictures from around the age of 60 and onward, giving a poignant study of aging, and often pull from his abstract art background, posing in different and unique ways.

Coplans’ art has received widespread acclaim and has been featured in various exhibitions and literature around the world. Four of his silver gelatin print photographs are featured at the Loudoun House during this exhibition: Back With Arms Above (1984), Interlocking Fingers #12 (1999), Hands Spread on Knees (1985), and Hands With Buttocks (1987). Each of these photographs provide a look at the human body in an almost surreal way. In Back With Arms Above and Hands With Buttocks, he contorts his body in such a way that makes himself look more like an object than a human body, curling his fingers into a fist, hunching his shoulders over so his heads or arms aside from the parts above his head are not visible.

Coplans’ art and the rest of the exhibition’s art will be available for viewing during gallery hours at the Loudoun House on are Tuesday - Thursday 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, Friday 10:00am - 8:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm through March 27. 

Written by Sammy Petitte, LAL Intern, University of Kentucky CLD Student

LAL presents Fourth Friday: Curator Discussion with Julien Robson and special guest, Michael Lowe on Friday, March 25.  This event will focus on Robson and Lowe’s personal experiences collecting artwork. Robson is the former curator of The Speed Art Museum and Lowe is the collector of fascinating works by artists including Cindy Sherman, Andres Serrano, Bob Stanley, Wiener Werkstätte, Art Nouveau Marcel Duchamp and Maurizio Cattelan.  

It is an honor to have Lowe as a part of the discussion.

Right when you walk into Lowe’s Cincinnati home, guest Curator Julien Robson says, “a replica of the world’s smallest exhibition space, a miniature glass door, with brick surround, that lights up when you open it, is the first work of art you see.”  It is the perfect introduction to the type of Conceptual artwork that has intrigued Lowe for the past twenty years.  

His wife, Kim Klosterman, describes Lowe as “a veritable art bloodhound who, once he gets the scent of something, will not let go.”  This tenacious spirit shows in the collection displayed throughout Lowe’s home. A 1964 painting of Mick Jagger by Bob Stanley hangs on the wall by the staircase which opens onto the main living space that is occupied by what Robson describes as “a variety of objects ranging from antiquities and Chinese objects to Wiener Werkstätte and Art Nouveau.”  

In this space, Lowe displays many impressive works like a 1967 abstract painting by Mario Yrisarry and a set of miniature canvases by painter Gene Davis, but his favorite is the sculpture by John McCracken. Lowe loves artists who have the artistic integrity and nerve “to do the work and persist with it,” which is exactly what the Californian “Fetish Finish” artist achieved.  

Lowe has always been a collector. Whether it was books about architecture or working as an antique dealer, he was constantly fascinated by artists’ multiples beginning in the 1980’s. His purchase of a small portfolio produced by William Copley led him to the discovery of Conceptual Art. S.M.S was only the beginning for Lowe. Robson says that after realizing the market for these works was inexpensive, he began to investigate, deal, sell and collect conceptual works, many of which are now held in his studio.   

Lowe and his wife share a unique interest and collection of art of the 60’s and 70’s. While he has a warehouse where he displays work from this period, he is more concerned about getting a bigger space so he can enjoy his collection himself instead of creating a museum that would put him in the pubic eye.  

We are very excited to have Lowe as a special guest and cannot wait to hear more about his personal collection.

The first hour of Fourth Friday will consist of the Curator Discussion and cocktails. After that, the evening will move into music by Nicholas Penn and light bites and a cash bar provided by Bella Notte.  

Come out to experience this special Curator Discussion on March 25th from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Loudoun House.

Written by Sheridan Fromm, LAL Intern, University of Kentucky ISC student

Francesca Woodman was beautiful and youthful with long, dark hair and a slim body. She was often the subject of her own artwork, but rather than focusing on her beauty, her photographs often elicit a haunting, somewhat unnerving mood. She created ghostly, blurred images with long exposure and her face was usually obscured or hidden in her photos. Her work commonly included symbols such as birds, mirrors, and skulls. Over the course of her life, Francesca created more than 800 prints. 
 
 Born to two artists, Francesca grew up surrounded by art, frequented art museums and was encouraged from a young age to foster her creativity.  She spent time in many different parts of the country; born in Colorado, attended boarding school in Massachusetts, and later was accepted into the honors program at the Rhode Island School of Design. She also frequently traveled to Italy, spending summers there at her family home in Florence and studying abroad in Rome her junior year of college. It was in a small bookshop/gallery in Rome that Francesca held her first exhibition. After graduating, she spent time in Seattle and eventually moved back to the northeast to New York. During this time, the first inklings of severe depression began to consume Francesca and it was there that her life would eventually end.
 
After college, Francesca pursued a career in photography but success did not come easily. Her portfolios were continuously rejected and this, along with a failed relationship, presented struggles Francesca could not overcome. In fall of 1980, Francesca attempted to commit suicide but failed. Seeking help, she moved in with her parents in Manhattan and her condition seemed to improve. She applied for a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts but was rejected. In January of 1981, Francesca committed suicide by jumping out of a loft window in East Side New York. Her father claimed her suicide was the result of severe depression and a series of rejections.
 
Although Francesca’s life ended at the age of 22, her work continues to receive acclaim over 30 years after her death. Her work has been featured in many major exhibitions across the United States from New York to Colorado to California and many places in between. Her work is also recognized internationally and has been displayed in numerous European countries. Her life has been chronicled in both print and film; the most notable being a full-length documentary directed by C. Scott Willis called The Woodmans.
 
Francesca’s work is remembered because of the many unique elements she incorporated into her photography. The frequent desolate settings and obscurity of her photos evoke disturbing feelings and fascination from viewers. Her work is often characterized by the theme of mystery, implying that photographs never tell the whole truth about the subject.
 
Artist: Body features two of Francesca’s pieces, Untitled, New York and Self Portrait (Providence, RI). Most of her photographs do not have specific titles, but rather are identified by the time and place they were taken. Francesca’s characteristic female subject and use of black and white film are present in both of these renowned photographs.
 
You can view Francesca’s work at the Loudoun House this Friday at Fourth Friday: Curatorial Conversation March 25th from 6pm-9 pm or during gallery hours Wednesday through Thursday 10am-4pm and Saturday through Sunday 1pm-4pm until March 27th.
 
Written by Caitlin Robinson, LAL intern, Eastern Kentucky University Recreation and Park Administration student