Robert Jakob

Garden Notes, blossom #1, Itri

2010

Mary Borgman’s work captivates the viewer in several ways. First is their scale. They hang like medieval tapestries, with figures standing as tall as eight feet. There is also their texture – created by using charcoal on Mylar, and the results are richly gestural, with distinct charcoal strokes and eraser marks animating the figure and ground alike. With a flat surface, she creates volume and life. And perhaps the most powerful of all, the viewer is caught be the gazes of the models, who stare forcefully out of the picture. They seem to be examining us every bit as much as we are examining them. These larger-than-life portraits stem from chance encounters that grow into meaningful connections between the artist and her subject. Most are strangers that she approaches on the street. They capture her attention with expressive eyes that show experience and wisdom, distinctive shapes and a casual body language. “I try to honor the people I am drawing by centering them in the format and shooting from slightly below their eye level. I choose an expression that exudes intelligence, self-awareness and complexity. I try to convey their humanness. I want the viewer to feel this person might be someone interesting to know”, says Borgman of her subjects. The intensity with which she conveys the eyes may stem from her many years of communicating in sign language, which is based on sustained eye contact. Borgman loves the directness of drawing. It is immediate, there is no lag time. There is no time waiting for the paint to dry. She works solely in charcoal which she can manipulate to achieve varying degrees of darkness and opacity. It is messy and the artist loves that. Mary Borgman Portrait of Justin Shanitkvich, 2022 charcoal on mylar 53h x 40w in 134.62h x 101.60w cm MBG009 [This work is custom framed in shadow box style with non-reflective Tru-Vue Museum Glass] FRAMED DIMENSIONS 55.25h x 42.50w x 2.25d in 140.34h x 107.95w x 5.71d cm Mary Borgman b. October 4, 1959 St. Louis, MO SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 2017 Grand Opening: Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2013 SOFA Chicago 2013, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL Portraiture Now: Drawing on the Edge, National Portrait Gallery, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR 2012 Portraiture Now: Drawing on the Edge, National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C. SOFA Chicago 2012, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL SOFA NY, Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, NY 2011 Gallery Group Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL SOFA NY, Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, NY 2010 SOFA Chicago 2010: Special Installation at SOFA Café, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL What’s the Buzz on the Playground: Art of Today from St. Louis curated by Mary Sprague...

Yvonne Jacquette (American, b. 1935) Tokyo Diptych, 1985 Pastel on paper Overall 17 1/4 x 28 1/2 inches Signed lower center Provenance: Carey Ellis Company, Houston, Texas Brooke Alexander, New York Collection of an American Corporation Exhibited: New York, Brooke Alexander, Yvonne Jacquette: Tokyo Nightviews, April 5 - May 3, 1986, n.p., illustrated; this exhibition later traveled to Brunswick, Maine, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Yvonne Jacquette: Tokyo Nightviews, June 27 - August 24, 1986. Yvonne Jacquette has a preference for high places, a circling plane, a penthouse window, an aerie from which to watch the world. Her work has often depicted the city and man-made landscape from the vantage of angels. It is a privileged perspective, long loved by photographers, who were perhaps the first to recognize the geometric grandeur of the city below. That grandeur structures Jacquette's images but is not its full content. Her work attempts to resolve the visual and emotional pardoxes of the modern metropolis. Only from the tower is there the possibility of order and context. And unlaced beauty. Jacquette first visited Japan in 1982. Nighttime Tokyo, its cars and crowds and canyons of loud Vegas neon, made a vivid and bewildering impression on her. The neon signs, pulsing, scaling the walls of high rises, fascinated the artist, "like Times Square spread over miles." Her fascination was equal parts marvel, confusion, and curiosity—the sparks of art. She returned to Tokyo in May of 1985, choosing hotel rooms with expansive vistas. From these views Jacquette excerpted images for a series of pastel night scenes. The basic forms and colors of each drawing were blocked in during night sessions by the window. She worked in the dark, selecting colors by flashlight. In daylight, she sharpened the geometry and corrected ambiguous passages. She refined the drawings further in the studio until the images read clearly. Photographic correctness was not important. The finished drawings are complete statements, not simply preparatory sketches for paintings. They have the authority of expert witness. In clear, discreet jots of pastel they record the performance of seeing, each touch of color attesting to a moment's close scrutiny. Yvonne Jacquette was born on December 15, 1934 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and grew up in Stamford, Connecticut. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence from 1952 to 1955, when she moved to New York City. Her late husband was photographer Rudy Burckhardt, and the couple were part of a circle of artist friends that included Fairfield Porter, Alex Katz, Red Grooms, and Mimi Gross. She continues to live and work in New York City, as well as in Searsmont, Maine. A flight to San Diego in 1969 sparked Jacquette’s interest in aerial views, after which she began flying in commercial airliners to study cloud formations and weather patterns. She soon started sketching and painting the landscape as seen from above, beginning a process that has developed into a defining element of her art. Her first nocturnal painting...

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