Be sure to peer down the gullett of “WV Bone Fish with Trailer” by David Riffle. Photos of artworks by Sandy Fisher

IF YOU GO: The Allied Artists of West Virginia 65th Juried Exhibition, now showing through Nov. 3, at Parkerburg Art Center, 725 Market St. Call(304) 485-3859. Hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tues. to Sat.; Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.

By Sandy Fisher
For thegazz.com

Emerging artists join old-timers like David Riffle, Raymond McNamara, Caryl Toth and Chris Dutch and Robin Hammer at the Allied Artists Juried Exhibition, now showing at the Parkersburg Art Center. Crafts are engagingly displayed near paintings in this show of 67 works chosen from among 166 entries by juror Wallace Hyleck of Berea College. Wallace chose photographs, sculptiures, pottery, prints and acrylics that would usually be too diverse to be placed side by side. Thanks to the professional look of the art center and expert placing of the works, the effect is a seamless round of colors, textures and forms.

Diversity in style is matched by diversity of artists. Two newcomers are Debbie McHenry and Riley A. Vann. McHenry is an attorney and an acrylic artist. She works by trowling on acrylic paint then scratching into the canvas with toothpicks, forks and her own nails. The result is “Where Dreams Increase,” a colorful human head-like form from which dreams radiate, textured and hot pink, as delicately as flower tendrils. This is a second Allied Artists show for Vann and his patterned photo “Switches” is a striking work. Everday objects — in this case something as prosaic as a group of electric light switches — are given a real depth of meaning.

Young talent gives way to a tried and true professional. David Riffle delivers a mixed-media piece titled “WV Bone Fish with Trailer.” This sculpture literally hangs over your head. It’s fun to peer into the belly of the fish and see that it has eaten Riffle’s trailer. As a retelling of the story of Jonah and the Whale, the work is charming, even as it represents everyday objects we see in West Virginia. The day before seeing the exhibit, I’d spotted a blue heron while walking my dog alongside the Kanawha River and so especially enjoyed the small replica of a heron flying above Riffle’s fish. For me, this is part of the joy of viewing works of area artists– they resonate as I have experienced much that they interpret. Riffle deservedly won an Award of Excellence for his work.

My friends and I from Charleston piled into the car to see this exhibit and then ate dinner on the patio of the Blennerhasset Hotel down the street from the Art Center. The evening was exhilarating and we had fun discussing the art on view. With a show this large, there was much to discuss.

–Sandy Fisher is a Charleston resident.

Despite the diversity of art forms on view, the effect is a seamless round of colors, textures and forms.

“River of Dreams,” watercolor on paper, 11.5″ x 17.5″, 1959, by Felix Krasyk

OPENING: “Felix Krasyk: The New York Paintings,” opening reception 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 24, Gallery Discussion 6 p.m., at Frankenberger Art Gallery, on 2nd floor, Geary Student Union, University of Charleston. Runs through Nov. 22. Call 357-4795.

By Mark Tobin Moore
Frankenberger Gallery director

“I loved design. I wanted to create my own impressions, like Picasso, and not like Rembrandt or Rubens, who were about naturalism. I wanted to paint abstract impressions of the aura and spirit of a person to show what your eyes don’t see.” — Felix Krasyk

In 1952, Felix Krasyk left Charleston, West Virginia, to work and learn textile design in New York City. A year prior to leaving, he won two prizes in the 16th Annual Exhibition of Allied Artists of West Virginia. He’d never before exhibited his work. “My acceptance came only 14 hours before the show, and when ‘Passers By’ By won first place in the oil paint division, I was more surprised than anyone else,” he says.

In New York, he worked at B. Altman’s by day and painted at night. He used almost any materials he could find, bought inexpensively, or borrowed from a friend. He usually painted with oils or watercolor on canvas, paper, cardboard, or show card, a poster-like-surface used by commercial sign painters at the time. A large Picasso exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art affected his own paintings for years. There were no art classes available for Krasyk at Charleston Catholic High School; nor were there any art museums in Charleston when he was growing up, so this Picasso exhibition served as a revelation. It freed him to paint without questioning himself. Krasyk attended the Art Student’s League briefly upon arriving in New York but felt dissatisfied. “There were just too many rules,” he recalls. “I really just loved Picasso’s freedom of design. He could take a person and make him look like a balloon, and it was okay.”

He cites other influences including European painters like Paul Cezanne, Piet Mondrian, Salvador Dali, and American artist Stuart Davis. Cubism and Surrealism had a direct effect on Krasyk’s abstractions as well; but there is also a concern for story-telling narratives, including both documentary and fantasy imagery. And he had other motivations. “I painted to keep myself from going nuts. Whenever I went home at night I closed and locked the steel apartment door and it felt like I was in prison. After all, I am a ‘country boy’ and I missed West Virginia.”

In late 1959, Krasyk returned to Charleston to care for his ailing parents. He landed a professional design position at Woodrum’s Department Store and some years later became a co-founder of Interior Design, Inc. in Kanawha City. Krasyk never painted again and he has never exhibited these works in public, except for ‘Passers By’ and ‘Cockfight.’ It may be said that the works in this exhibition serve as a kind of time capsule of Felix Krasyk’s New York experience, as well as a visual diary, perhaps, of a young man’s search for himself and his artistic vision for one brief decade.

How much is art worth in West Virginia? Well, if it is the 31″ x 47″ pastel on paper painting “Winter Stripes” by Susan Poffenbarger (at right), the exact figure is $4,015. And it’s headed out of state. To Zurich, to be exact, says Ellie Schaul of The Art Store. We were curious about the painting, which we used in a post below to pump the opening of the store’s fall season this past Saturday, featuring nature-inspired works on display by homewoman Poffenbarger and Massachusetts artist Nancy Berlin. Oh, and it cost $300, Schaul says , to ship the work across the Atlantic to its new digs in Switzerland.

– by Douglas Imbrogno

The local sculpture some people like, others are indifferent to and some love to hate, “Festival delle Arti,” in front of the Clay Center, is going to take a bath. Well, the Clay Center folk are announcing that it will be cleaned, actually, by “metal specialist” Chip Schwartz today and tomorrow.

The interior of Gallery Eleven, one of the sites on this Thursday’s Art Walk in downtown Charleston

Take a walk. Not that kind, this kind– an Art Walk from 5 to 8 p.m. this Thurday (oct. 19). The monthly event in downtown Charleston keeps galleries open later, often with beverages and snacks and sometimes performers at hand, along with the art and the craft on display. This Thursday’s Art Walk features:

ROGER LUCAS GALLERY: New works by Kemp McElwee, Roger Lucas, Elly Rashid, and Mort Kunstler of landscapes, flowers, abstract, and wildlife. 1031 Quarrier St. Call: 344-2787. Hours: M-F, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Website: www.rogerlucasgallery.com.

SHOWCASE WEST VIRGINIA: “Scenes of West Virginia,” featuring photography by Bruce Haley, Thomas Fletcher, Frank Ceravalo, Steve Payne, Moriah Gioulis Scher, Bryan Lemasters, and Betty Rivard. Samples of West Virginia foods will be available during the Art Walk. Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10 to 6, and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 906 Quarrier St. Call: 342-8527. Website: www.showcasewv.com.

ANNEX GALLERY TAYLOR BOOKS: New collages by Eric Pardue, figure drawings by Rob Cleland, pastels by Dolly Hartman, oils by James Ferguson, & wood carvings by Charly Hamilton. 226 Capitol St. Call: 342-1461. Website: www.taylorbooks.com

ART EMPORIUM GALLERY: “West Virginia Landscapes” by Betty Rivard, Bruce Haley, Joel Sites, Laura Moul, David Fattaleh, Steven Rotsch, and Clayton Spangler. Artist reception night of ArtWalk 5-8 pm Allied Artists lower level. 823 Quarrier St. Call: 345-2787. Website: www.artemporium.net

GOOD NEWS MOUNTAINEER GARAGE GALLERY: “Bruce Haley’s Photographs.” 221 1/2 Hale Street. Call: (866) 448-3227. Website: www.goodnewsmountaineergarage.com

GALLERY ELEVEN: Watercolors of Frankie Wheeler capturing the spirit, beauty and nostalgia of Appalachia. A cooperative of 15 artists featuring fine crafts, glass, jewelry and cards. 1033 Quarrier St. Call: 342-0083. Hours: M-Sat, 1 a.m. to 4 p.m. Website: www.galleryeleven.com

ROBERT C. BYRD U.S. COURTHOUSE: “Charleston and Vicinity,” with David Fattaleh, Bruce Haley, Robin Hammer, Michael Keller, Thorney Lieberman, Laura Moul, Steve Payne, Betty Rivard, Mark Wolfe and Amy Williams. Hours: M-F 8 to 5 p.m.