News and Updates on White Flag Projects Veterans

You may remember Craig Norton, a self-taught artist whose drawings and collages dealt with themes of social justice and racism, both current and historical. Norton’s solo exhibition at White Flag Projects in 2007 presented many of the same works currently on view at his most recent show at the Jim Kempner gallery in Chelsea, which was recognized in a New York Times review by art critic Roberta Smith.

Bill Smith, whose solo show at White Flag in September 2006 inaugurated the space, creates sculptural work that marries science and art. One of Smith’s kinetic sculptures featured in Pulse, an annual art fair held in New York City and Miami, was written up in The Huffington Post (and accompanied by a photograph! And video!) as a new media work that artist Erik Sanner would “remember for sure.”

Ian Weaver, who received his MFA from Washington University in 2008, recreates records of his family’s past by painting starkly realistic images of birth certificates and the like. His solo exhibition, Document, at the Saint Louis Art Museum contained the 10 paintings included in White Flag’s May 2008 show FastX2.

We’re pleased about the accomplishments of these local WFP veterans, and we’d like to wish continued success to all of our past artists.

For more details on past exhibitions, upcoming events, or our current exhibition Newtonland, visit www.white-flag-projects.org.

- Lynna Borden, Intern

• Art Organization: Mike Venso, Laumeier Sculpture Park, Mike Venso, Laumeier Sculpture Park

Building Built

The indoor galleries at Laumeier are abuzz with activity these days.  The time between exhibitions is always a bit chaotic as the previous show comes down, the walls are touched-up and repainted and the new exhibition rolls in.  However with the upcoming Built: Kranzberg Exhibition Series we have half a dozen artists working along side each other on five distinct installations.  I’ve attached a couple pix to provide a sneak-peak of the installations in process.

From the meticulous compositions of household ephemera or mounting of hundreds of computer keyboard keys by Sarah Frost to the deliberate swashbuckling of Cameron Fuller’s razor blade on a section of cardboard there’s no shortage of visual treats.
Each visit to the rooms where Mike Behle is constructing an interactive sound sculpture, where Stan Chisholm is transforming a staid white room with explosions of accidental color and Styrofoam and where Craig Norton’s amazing inkpen illustrations will hang brings a fresh affirmation of the creative vitality of St. Louis.
Don’t miss the June 5 opening from 6-8 p.m.!
http://www.laumeier.org

• Art Organization: Mike Venso, Laumeier Sculpture Park

Kranzberg 2009 Artists Announced

With the arrival of spring, the landscape at Laumeier Sculpture Park is bursting with life and color.  As visitors continue to enjoy the In Sight exhibition in the indoor galleries, the staff is hard at work preparing for the 2009 Kranzberg Exhibition.  I thought I’d share the names of the local artists whose work will blossom in the galleries this June. The six artists are busy creating five unique installations for the seventh edition of the Kranzberg series.

Sarah Frost will construct two large-scale, site specific sculptures of repurposed items from daily life.

Craig Norton will create an installation employing drawings, stencils and wooden sculptures that will focus on the continuing strife in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Stan Chisholm will construct an installation/environment using a variety of two and three-dimensional materials in a large narrative vignette filled with idiosyncratic figures.

Mike Behle will exhibit paintings and sculptures reflecting on emotional contrasts of the human condition.

Cameron Fuller & Sarah Paulsen will collaborate on an ambitious gallery installation merging Fuller’s architectural, sculptural trickery with animations by Paulsen.

Visit our website for more information and mark your calendars for the evening of June 5 and check-out these local artists on the rise.