Artworks Gallery Blog

Here’s a reprint of an article run by the LA Times:

“Ali @ 70 on view in LA exhibition” by Max Emanuel Donner

When is an athlete a work of art? When the athlete is named Muhammad Ali, becomes a living legend, and interacts with a talented photographer on the other side of the camera to convey images that rivet attention and inspire others to achieve their dreams. The iconic portrait of Ali summoning up the extra energy to win over Earnie Shavers at Madison Square Garden in 1977 is now on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington D.C.

So this is an ideal time for the Creative Capital of the World to do something creative with the best photos of Ali and continue its respectable progress in elevating sports photography to museum quality status. Artworks Gallery of Pasadena is doing this as part of the series of tributes leading to Ali’s 70th Birthday celebration on January 17th, 2012.

The preview is on view this week in the Museum Square area at the spacious showroom of Design Within Reach. The retailer might not be the first place that the art world would think of for viewing or acquiring photography displayed at the Smithsonian. That’s actually one more reason to give Design Within Reach credit for being entrepreneurial and setting a good example that other high end retailers can follow when building on the public’s admiration for top athletes when presenting art and design concepts. One of the best success stories in this field is a bit of a drive, but well worth a visit by any marketing pros who want to see best practices before organizing their own sports art exhibition. That is Wyland Galleries in Laguna Beach, the official vendor of limited edition art for the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Design Within Reach hosted an opening reception with photographer Michael Brennan the evening of November 10. The turnout of several hundred admirers confirmed that sports photography has vaulted over the bar to become a serious business within the art and design communities. The primary reason was nearby — the long running and critically acclaimed exhibition of sports photography at the Annenberg Space for Photography in 2009 and 2010.

Brennan shared little known insights about the world of sports photography that are also good reasons to expect more exhibitions in this category soon. He explained that the “Ali Project” was a good example of entrepreneurial photography. Brennan completed over half the portfolio while covering his own expenses before finding publishers who would pay for them. He is now being handsomely rewarded, since he owns the copyrights to these museum pieces rather than the magazines who licensed the images from him. Brennan has also observed how the ubiquity of digital photography has lowered standards across the board so that classic images from the golden age of sports photography are valued even more highly by the market. This exhibition will provide an important test; the prints for sale are being sold in “very limited editions” of ten, each signed by Michael Brennan himself.

This special exhibition will open at Artworks in Pasadena next week and continue to January 17. Everyone who is interested in Los Angeles’ vision as Creative Capital of the World should see it, whether or not they are interested in sports photography. Seeing these works at an art gallery helps to incorporate the sports world into its supporting role in the Creative Economy. That is as a magnet for attention for large audiences whose first introduction to art and architecture is often sports photography and stadium architecture.

“It is not inconceivable that the fame of Muhammad Ali has reached more people than have been aware of any other man in history during one lifetime.” – Hugh McIllvanney

PASADENA, California (April 1, 2011) – Artworks Gallery of Pasadena is pleased to announce the release of a monumental limited edition photograph of Muhammad Ali entitled “1977.”  The image is a rare close-up that captures the fighter’s vitality and determination, taken by prize winning British Photographer Michael Brennan.  The picture was captured in Deer Lake, Pa while Ali was training for his amazing come from behind victory over Earnie Shavers at Madison Square Garden in September of 1977.

Michael Brennan
“1977″ Portrait of Muhammad Ali
Archival Fine Art Pigment Print
48 x 63 inches, edition of 20.
Signed by Muhammad Ali, signed by Michael Brennan.

Only twenty examples were printed for this special collector’s edition.  The images were created using the revolutionary printing process ‘True Black and White’, taken directly from the photographer’s negative.  Each archival print has been signed by both photographer Michael Brennan, and by Ali himself. The massive scale of the printed image brings viewers face to face with a man who was both a larger than life hero, and also a man of the people.  This limited edition is perhaps the most masterfully produced large-format photographic image ever done of the great Champion.

Ali, who was named by Sports Illustrated magazine in 1999 as the “Sportsman of the Century,” defeated every top heavyweight in his era, which has been called the “Golden Age of Heavyweight Boxing.” Ali is regarded as a leading American cultural figure, not just because of the grace and power he displayed in the boxing ring, but also because of the confidence, independence and candor displayed in public. “I know where I’m going and I know the truth,” Ali once said, “and I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be what I want.”  The “1977” portrait was taken at the pinnacle of the “Golden Age of Boxing”.

The original image resulted from a unique intimacy between Michael Brennan, and Ali, who wanted to be helpful to the young photographer. Brennan recalls: “Ali used to joke that he gave me access I could never expect from Barbra Streisand or Frank Sinatra.” As a result he was able to seize a rare opportunity while observing Ali in a training session:

“He (Ali) had been sparring and a television guy had been in the ring with him shooting film but for a few seconds he came into the corner of the ring where I was and I saw the expression on his face, I could see everything that lay behind it. In a hundredth of a second I shot the picture I had always dreamed of.”

From the moment Brennan snapped the shutter, he knew he had something captured something transcendent. Ali himself, when he first viewed the image, commented “I can feel the texture of all the sweat and hard work. I can feel my life.” Most other images of Ali capture either a more guarded expression or pull back to emphasize the champ’s physicality. Only Michael Brennan’s great photo caught the depth and determination that other fighters saw when they were face to face with Ali.

Observers have commented on the poignancy of the photo, in which the fighter’s distant gaze seems to indicate that he is looking beyond the immediate moment. Just days after the original photo was taken Ali travelled into the “belly of the beast” – Madison Square Garden – where he confronted the fearsome puncher Earnie Shavers. For fourteen lackluster rounds Ali was down on all the judge’s cards. Some seasoned sports writers regard Muhammad’s fifteenth and final round, in which he came from behind to steal the fight as one of his greatest achievements.

Using “1977” as a basis, Los Angeles sculptor Michael Kalish recently created a 3-dimensional image of Muhammad Ali made up of 1,300 speed bags, five miles of stainless steel cables and two miles of aluminum tubing. Artist Shepard Fairey, who became a national figure when his portrait of Barack Obama was featured on the cover of TIME magazine, has also used Brennan’s image as a starting point for portraying Ali. Clearly, this image of is on its way to becoming an icon that can rank with the best known portraits of Andy Warhol.

“Age is whatever you think it is” Muhammad Ali once said, “You are as old as you think you are.” In Michael Brennan’s amazing “1977” Ali himself lives forever, immortalized in all his grandeur and dignity. The Artworks edition of Brennan’s photo offers museums and collectors a once in a lifetime chance to possess the greatest image of Ali ever created, published with the most advanced technology available.

Five special new editions were published in connection with the “1977″ production.  Each of the following images were produced in two sizes, both from editions of only 10 examples.  Muhammad Ali has signed half of these editions.  In other words, only FIVE of each print has Muhammad Ali’s signature.

Don’t wait!  To reserve your copy — email us.

“EVERLAST” 32 x 42″ Archival Fine Art Pigment Print, edition of 10

“SHADOW BOXING 1″ 32 x 42″ Archival Fine Art Pigment Print, edition of 10

“ALI PORTRAIT PROFILE” 32 x 42″ Archival Fine Art Pigment Print, edition of 10

“SHADOW BOXING #2″ 32 x 42″ Archival Fine Art Pigment Print, edition of 10

“FIST WRAPPING” 32 x 42″ Archival Fine Art Pigment Print, edition of 10

“SUPERHERO” 12 3/4 x 26″ Archival Fine Art Pigment Print, edition of 10

For More Information:
Christopher Forney, Owner, Artworks Gallery – info@artworksgallery.com
Tel: (626) 229-0700  Fax: (626) 229-0715

The “1977″ piece has been featured this year in a March edition of The Star:

Artist: Yozo Hamaguchi

Personal Info:

Born in Wakayama, Japan, 1909

Hamaguchi died on December 25, 2000 in Tokyo, Japan

Education:

Hamaguchi’s early studies in sculpture were at the Tokyo Ecole des Beaux Arts.
At age 21 he studied painting, sculpture and drawing at the Academie Grande Chaumière in Paris

Print Media:

Copperplate etchings, black and white and color mezzotints

Selected Collections:

* The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
* The Museum of Modern Art, New York
* Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris
* The Art Institute of Chicago
* The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
* The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
* The British Museum, London
* The Wakayama Museum of Modern Art, Japan
* The Cleveland Museum of Art
* The Musée Hamaguchi Yozo
* The Yamasa Collection, Tokyo
* Yozo Hamaguchi: A brief biography

After studying to be an artist in Japan, Hamaguchi moved to Paris at age 21. There, he met many artists and writers who provided him with an exposure to modern western ideas about art and aesthetics. One of his friends, the poet e. e. cummings, introduced him to the mezzotint technique by presenting him with a set of tools. Although mezzotint had been in wide use in the 18th century, when it was used to reproduce images of paintings, the method had fallen into obscurity after the introduction of photography.
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Artist: Keith Haring

Personal Info:

Born:  May 4, 1958 in Reading, Pennsylvania

Died:  February 16, 1990 in New York City, of HIV/AIDS related disease

Education:

1976 – 1978: Studied at the Ivy School of Professional Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
He also studied in New York City at the School of Visual Arts

Print Media:

Lithography, Silkscreen, Etching and Embossing

Selected Collections:

* Art Center College of Design, Pasadena
* The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
* The Allentown Art Museum, Pennsylvania
* The Daimler/Chrysler Collection, Berline
* The Hyde Collection Art Museum, Glens Falls, New York
* Ludwig Forum for International Art, Aachen, Germany
* Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan
* New York University Library
* The State Museums of Florence, Italy
* Wake Forest University Fine Arts Gallery, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Keith Haring: A brief biography

Keith Haring grew up in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. At an early age he showed an interest in drawing and cartooning, and took a great interest in the works of Walt Disney and Dr. Seuss.

After graduating from high school in 1976 he enrolled in a commercial art school, but then dropped out after two semesters. In 1978 he moved to New York and enrolled in the School of Visual Arts. There, he discovered that a vibrant art scene was developing outside the gallery system. His career began when he started to create graffiti works in the New York subway system, and also as he took part in alternative exhibitions and performances.
Read more about Keith Haring...

Artist: Wayne Thiebaud

Personal Info:

Born Mesa, Arizona, November 23, 1920

Lives and works in Sacramento, California

Education:

Thiebaud graduated from Sacramento State College in 1941, took classes at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles in 1943 and then returned to earn his Master’s Degree at Cal State Sacramento in 1952.

Print Media:

Lithography, etching, aquatint, drypoint, linocut, silkscreen, color direct gravure and monotype

Selected Collections:

* The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.
* Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina
* Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover Massachusetts
* Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, New York
* Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University
* Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University
* Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
* Hirschorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
* Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri

Wayne Thiebaud: A brief biography

Born to Mormon parents in Mesa, Arizona in 1920, Wayne Thiebaud’s early memories include large family gatherings, and the home-cooked feasts that went with them. Always artistic, Thiebaud worked at art related jobs beginning at age 18, first as a sign painter, then an illustrator, cartoonist and then as an apprentice for Disney Studios.

Thiebaud joined the Air Force in 1942 and painted murals during his service. During this period he also took classes at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles.

Between 1949 and 1950 Thiebaud studied art at San Jose State University. He then studied at Cal State Sacramento from 1950 to 1953, and his first solo exhibition was held at the Crocker Art Gallery.Theibaud then became an instructor at Sacramento City College where he taught studio and commercial art and also became known as a producer of educational films. In 1959 he became a professor of art at UC Davis, where he continues to teach even though he officially retired in 1991. In 1988 he was awarded the UC Davis Prize for Teaching and Scholarly Achievement.
Read more about Wayne Thiebaud...

Artist: M. C. Escher

Personal Info:

Born – Maurits Cornelis Escher, June 17, 1898 in Leeuwarden (Friesland), the Netherlands

Died – March 27, 1972, in Laren (North Holland)

Education:

In 1919, Escher attended the Haarlem School of Architecture and Decorative Arts, where he studied both decorative arts and architecture.

He and his wife lived in Rome for ten years when newlywed, where Escher was exposed to Italian art.

Print Media: Lithography, Woodcut (Woodblock) and Mezzotint

Selected Collections:

* Escher in Het Paleis, The Hague, Netherlands
* The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
* The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
* The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

M. C. Escher: A brief biography

Escher was born in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands in 1898, the youngest son of a civil engineer. At the age of five Escher moved to Arnhem, where he spent most of his youth.

After failing his high school exams, Escher enrolled in the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem. After showing his graphic works to instructor Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita he was encouraged tofocus on graphic arts.
Read more about M.C. Escher

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Michael Kalish’s New Series of Sculptures ‘bloom’ in the City of Roses

“A rose is the visible result of an infinitude of complicated goings on in the bosom of the earth and in the air above, and similarly a work of art is the product of strange activities in the human mind.” Clive Bell

March 2010, PASADENA; Michael Kalish’s latest sculpture project  will ‘bloom’ for the first time on March 13  at his longtime collaborator Christopher Forney’s Artworks Gallery in Pasadena.  In the new series of 25 works he develops a theme that has been central to his work since he started working with cut metal license plates and the twisted remains of old automobiles, the tension between manufactured inorganic materials and the representation of natural forms.  This is even more apparent in the new series of sculptures on show at Artworks Gallery where the romantic and lyrical subjects of the rose and the bouquet of flowers are created from the rusting remains of old automobiles.  The floral theme has been a constant stimulus to Michael Kalish’s imagination since he first developed it in his early days with Artworks Gallery . A recent display of Japanese Geisha heads at Artworks revealed him cutting and bending metal to create the floral patterns on his subject’s kimonos.  In the new “Rose” series, which he identifies as  a “Rust Renaissance,” he reveals his developing approach to sculpting metal as it finds a new and nuanced beauty in the rose and the flower bouquet.

Kalish finds life and beauty in the decaying and tortured forms of old auto parts, mangled fenders and scratched hoods are transformed into organic shapes with a new and imaginative existence.  The alchemical transformation of the decay and destruction that forms the ‘history ‘ of his raw materials into a new poetic existence is at the heart of Kalish’s new work where the tension of the ‘rose’ and the ‘rust’ is exquisitely balanced in a newly discovered lyricism.
Read More About Michael Kalish's Rose Collection

Artist: Damien Hirst

Some bio info on the artist: Born June 7, 1965 in Bristol, England.  He lives near Devon in a 300 year old inn.

Education: Hirst attended Leeds College of Art and Design, although he was at first denied admission.

Hirst later studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, from 1986 through 1989.  While attending college he worked in a mortuary.

Print Media: Lithography, Silkscreen, Soft-Ground Etching, Aquatint, Engraving

Selected Collections:

The Museum of Modern Art, New York City

National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh

Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Norway

The Broad Art Foundation, Santa Monica

Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands

The State Museums of Berlin

Tate Gallery, London, UK

The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Damien Hirst: A brief biography

Damien Hirst was born in Bristol, England and grew up in Leeds, His father, an auto mechanic, left the family when Hirst was twelve, and his mother found it hard to control her adolescent son.

After attending Goldsmith College in London, Hirst first attracted attention as an organizer and participant in the exhibition “Freeze.”

It was at this exhibition, presented in an empty warehouse, that collector Charles Saatchi took an interest in Hirst’s work.

Hirst first received a nomination for the Turner Prize for his stunning work “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living.” which featured a 14 foot long shark floating in formaldehyde.

Another controversial work, created in 1990, was titled “A Thousand Years” and contained an actual life cycle. In this work, maggots hatch inside a white box, turn into flies and then feed on a bloody, severed cow’s head on the floor of a glass vitrine. The painter Francis Bacon wrote Hirst an admiring letter a month before his death, describing his admiration for this work.

Hirst’s 1994 work “Away from the Flock” featured a dead sheep floating in a tank. This work elicited controversy to the point that it was vandalized by a visitor who poured black into into the tank.

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The Artworks Gallery was established twenty years ago as a marketplace for American Contemporary and Classic Fine Art Prints.   We are located in Historic Old Town Pasadena and offer works for sale by leading artists of the late nineteenth and twentieth century such as Chuck Close, Wayne Thiebaud, Andy Warhol, Michael Kalish, Donald Sultan, Picasso, Chagall and many others.  We also publish works by contemporary artists and provide an extensive consultancy service for our clients advising them on purchases, building collections and developing their unique characteristics.

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