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8.20.2012

Fifty Shades of Gray

Marketing Mondays will return in mid September
Color: Field and Form will continue next week
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Linda Cordner, Cinquefoil Gray, 2011, encaustic, 24 x 24 inches.


The buzz about Fifty Shades of Grey, the erotic romance with a surprisingly ardent audience, started me thinking about 50 shades of gray, the achromatic hue we are passionate about. I put out a call to my Facebook friends for images. Many responded. I added a few images from elsewhere on the Internet, and voilĂ , the post you see here. These tonalities of smoke and charcoal, fog and shadow, dust and ash invite intimate viewing. The difference, of course, is that the stimulation here is strictly retinal.  Thank you all for contributing your images. I wish I could have included them all.
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Lisa Pressman, Dream, 2012, mixed media, 5 x 5 inches
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Timothy Hawkesworth, Two Boats, 2012; oil, pencil, wax on paper,
40 x 36 inches. Courtesy of Littlejohn Contemporary, New York City
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Mark Creegan, Value Scale, 2007; used paint rollers, wood, bungee cord, 53 x 12 inches
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Nancy Natale, Dark Companion, 2011, mixed media on panel, 36 x 36 inches
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Denyse Thomasos, Yves Bleu, 1999, acrylic on canvas, 78 x 72 inches
Thomas was not a Facebook friends--indeed, I didn't know her, though I was a fan of her work--but I've included a painting here to acknowledge her untimely passing
Image and obituary from Hyperallergic.com
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Elisa D'Arrigo, Reconstructed, 2008; handmade paper, cloth, pigments, thread, acrylic medium,  15 x 11 x 8 inches
Image from the artist's website
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Lynn Basa, Disturbance, 2011, oil and beeswax on panel, 10 x 10 inches
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Stephen Maine, Vapors #V11-07909, 2011, ink on paper, 14 x 11 inches
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Jane Guthridge, Light Triptych, 2012, encaustic monotype, 36 x 12 inches each
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Lauri Lynxe Murphy, Hindsight 2, 2012, cut silk organza, 24 x 30 inches
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Howard Hersh, Associating, 2009, encaustic on panel, 40 x 50 inches
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Janet Filomeno, Delaware Series No. 12, 2007; mica, graphite, aluminum paint on canvas, 48 x 60 inches
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Julia Schwartz, Driving into Big Sky, 2012, oil on canvas, 60 x 48 inches
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Wayne Montecalvo, Dorothy's Landing, 2012, pigment stick on glass
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Sandra Quinn, Bija 2, 2010, ink on paper, 5.5 X 7 inches
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Sky Pape,  Untitled (Image 3913), 2012, water and sumi ink on paper, app. 12 x 16 inches. Image from Facebook
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Toby Sisson, Familiar Asylum VI, 2011, encaustic and graphite on wood, 12 x 12 inches
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Patti Russotti, Yin Yang VI, 2011, scan-o-gram printed on paper, 23 x 25 inches
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Laura Moriarty, Passed Scenes, 2009, monotype on gampi, 25 x 39 inches
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Diane Englander, White Forms, 2011, diptych, 14 x 11 inches each
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Cynde Goldman, Morning Light, photograph
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Gelah Penn, Polyglot #5, 2012; graphite, acrylic, monofilament on yupo, 23 x 21 x 2 inches
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Bryan Cypher, Untitled, 2012, acrylic and graphite on paper, 1ches
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Marc Cheetham, PW-30, 2011, acrylic on gozo moriki paper,  9
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Jeanne Heifetz, Surface Tension, Basalt Layers,  2007, glass rods and steel mesh, 10 x 10 inches
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James Austin Murray, I Could Look at You Forever, 2012, oil on canvas,  48 x 48 inches
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Altoon Sultan, Grays, 2012, egg tempera on calfskin parchment, 5 x 7 inches.
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Mary Bucci McCoy,  Sleeper, 2010, acrylic on plywood panel, 16 x 16 x 3 inches
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Susan Schwalb, Aurora 36, 2012; silver/gold/copper/aluminum/pewter/tinpoint, black gesso on paper, 9 x 9 inches
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Paul Behnke, Speeder, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches
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Elizabeth Sheppell, Fat Series, No. 24, 2012, acrylic on panel. 6 x 6 inches
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Julie Torres, Can't Stand Losing You, 2012, acrylic on panel, 8 x 8 inches
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Loouise P. Sloane, Gray Texture 23, 2009, latex paint, caulking on metal, 11 x 7 inches
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Lynette Haggard, Rhythmo No. 19, 2012, mixed media on Arches, 20 x 13 inches
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Mira M. White, Love the Earth, 2011, graphite and beeswax on 300 lb. hotpress, 11 x 15 inches
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Joanne Mattera, Untitled (for now), 2012, graphite on 300 lb. hotpress Fabriano, 22 x 30 inches
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James Erikson, IR, 2009, ink wash on Okawara paper, 8 x 12 inches.
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Louise Weinberg, Notice, 2006, collage and ink, 10 x 8 inches
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Gudrun Mertes-Frady, Orbits, 2012, oil and wax on wood panel, 18 x 18 inches
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.Larry Schulte, Untitled, 1998, woven and painted paper, 54 x 54 inches
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Laird Campbell, Untitled No. 53, 2012, multiple-pass inkjet print on canvas, 50 x 40 inches; image from Facebook
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Gregory Wright, Reaching Out, 2010, encaustic and mixed media on panel, 30 x 36 inches
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Marjorie Kaye, Proper Padding, 1996, graphite on bristol, 12 x 9 inches
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Martie Negri, Silent River Silver Garden, glass, 19 x 19 x 8
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Christine Aaron, Winter Trees, 2009, paperlith and encaustic on board, 12 x 12 inches
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Cherie Mittenthal,  Landscape with Mast, 2012, encaustic on paper, 12 x 9 inches
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Dorothy Cochran, Waiting, 1996, aquatint etching, 40 x 28 inches
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Linda Colsh, The Long Run, 2012, fiber, 40 x 40 inches
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With the preceding work called The Long Run, the one that follows could easily be called "The Last Stand."  It's not, it's Self Portrait, but it does take the last stand in 50 Shades of Gray, both the title and substance of this post.
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Marlk Staff Brandl, Self Portrait, 2009, oil on canvas, 75 x 32 inches
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Please consider a voluntary annual donation of $20. A post like this takes about three days of  full-time work to organize, edit and caption. If you scroll down the sidebar from the top, you'll find a Paypal link. Your donation will help me continue to maintain this blog. Thank you. And big, big thanks to all the readers who have done so already! 

22 comments:

Kesha Bruce said...

Pure eye candy! This may be my favorite post of the year so far.

Also, I was just talking to Sky Pape not too long ago about how much I'm swooning over her new ink drawings, so imagine my delight when I saw them featured here.

Love!

Richard Bottwin said...

GREAT POST!! What a fine show.

annell4 said...

What a beautiful post! Thanks.

Nancy Natale said...

Excellent collection! Your curating is mahvelous! I really like the flow from one piece to the next. And *your* new piece in graphite is outstanding. What a wonderful combination of the dark, rough diamond shape and the paler grid underneath - and the relation to your work in wax is very well done. Congratulations! (and thanks for including me.)

Toby Sisson said...

Mmmmmm...this is so lovely...I never tire of black, white and gray.

Anonymous said...

This is wonderful and now we're all wanting you to do a follow-up 50 More Shades of Gray!

Thank you!

Margaret and Bob said...

Inspirational

Elaine Mari said...

wow, very nicely done.

Joanne Mattera said...

Thanks, all. I loved curating this post.
Anonymous: As I was selecting images I thought about "50 More . . ." because of the image limitation defined by the title. However, this was a huge job--at least three days--so I can't do a post like this too often. We'll see . . .

Paul Behnke said...

Thanks for including my piece. So much great work here!

Debra Ramsay said...

I really enjoy the surprise relationships that appear as I scroll through the post.

Thanks for putting the curatorial work in so I could enjoy the "surprise."

An excellent post.

Unknown said...

Enjoyed this post Joanne. I'm sharing it with new students who groan and moan about not getting to use "color" in foundations classes. Just note all the shades and tones here!! A smörgåsbord for the eyes!!
BTW, I started the "Grey book" but the writing was so awful---before I even got to the erotica---I threw in the towel and didn't continue.

kim matthews said...

Any chance there'll be a Fifty Shades of White?

Larry Schulte said...

What a delightful sequence. Thank you for including my work and also the work of Denise Thomasos, who was a dear friend.

Harold Venable said...

Great show! Lots of surprising and inventive pieces!

Tamar said...

Another fine post--with so much to look at. I know I'll be returning for a second and third look. Thanks Joanne.

Anonymous said...

Joanne

Re "50 More..." How about doing something like this post on a seasonal basis? That way it's not too often and always a delightful surprise for your readers.

Anon again.

Susan Schwalb said...

Wonderful post. Thanks for including my work.

Anonymous said...

Terrific post, and I enjoyed seeing one of your lovely new graphite pieces. Thank you for including my work too.

Dorothy Cochran said...

I just looked at this inspirational post again for the third time. I have seen artists I know as well as ones new to me. There is nothing more compelling than a classic black, white and gray work. There is something so basic, intimate and visionary in the feeling. Think I feel a new series brewing. Thank you for including my work.

Joan Mellon said...

I love this post. For many years I have been interested (as have many) in the richness of grays. What a treat. I can't believe I'm not connected to you via Facebook.

Thanks again Joanne for this wonderful gathering and to all the artists in the dialogue.

lisa said...

Looking again at this post.Wonderful work. (and thanks for including mine)