> The Sum Of Its Parts 9/7/24- 11/2/24
Art haus SYR is proud to present > The Sum Of Its Parts (a group exhibition) featuring all local art by Penny Santy, Barry Grose, David Edward Johnson, Vykky Ebner and Mary Stanley. This show is on view at 120 Walton St #downtownsyracuse Tuesday- Friday 12-pm -8pm / Saturday 12pm-6pm through November 2nd. A meet the artsists reception will be held September 27th 6pm-8:30pm, all are welcome to attend.
About the Artists:
David Edward Johnson
I am most interested in exploring belief systems, the birth and death of the American Dream, the nature and validity of desire, as well as identity and loss on a personal level. Visually, my work lies at the intersection of the organic, the geometric, the iconic, the abstract, and the found. All of that takes shape into mostly large-scale assemblage pieces that hover in between mediums. I feel like my body of work can be encapsulated in three words :: abstraction, definition and deconstruction.
I have shown solo at The Everson Museum of Art, had works appear in juried art shows across the US, shown with selected galleries, have shown in several cities with The Other Art Fair, had my work featured on the album art for multi-platinum-selling musical artist Andy Grammer, been chosen from over 100,000 artists to be featured in the Saatchi Art catalog, had my work published in multiple art magazines and publications, and was selected for inclusion in the London Art Biennale.
Penny Santy
Penny Santy, an abstract figurative painter from New York State, earned her fine art degree from Syracuse University in 1988. With 36 years experience as a painter, her work is award winning with the most recent being a March 2024 Finalist in the Boldbrush art contest juried by Kathie Odom., and the 2022 Dorothy Bostwick Campbell Memorial Prize at the Cooperstown Art Association national juried show. She exhibits regularly across the northeast including at Dacia Gallery, New York City; Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY; Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY; and is represented by Hamilton Center for the Arts in Hamilton, NY. Her work has been published in 1340 Art magazine, April 2018, and has been accepted for publication in Stone Canoe Number 18, to be published in Spring 2024.
“My work often is an examination of trials, both human and natural, but in the light of hope. The works push boundaries of concept and form where imagination becomes reality. They are an investigation of resilience, vulnerability, cooperation and joy.”
Barry Grose
FROM LANDSCAPES, FLOWERS, SEMI-ABSTRACTS, AND PORTRAITS, HIS WORK BRIDGES THE SPECTRUM OF HUMAN EMOTION AND SENSES, AND THEIR OFTEN AMBIGUOUS SUM TOTAL.
I AM INTERESTED IN THE DUALITIES OF EXPERIENCE AND THE DYNAMICS OF UNCERTAINTY, INCLUDING FINDING HAPPINESS THROUGH SADNESS, WARMTH WHEN COLD, AND LIGHT AMID DARKNESS. SUCH JUXTAPOSITIONS CREATE AN EMOTIONAL NARRATIVE OF LINGERING AMBIGUITY THROUGH ALL OF MY WORK. AMONG MY ARTISTIC INFLUENCES ARE GEORGIA O’KEEFFE, ROTHKO, WARHOL AND CRISTO AND JEANNE-CLAUDE. YET MY WORK IS AS MUCH INFLUENCED BY ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN AND FASHION AS IT IS BY MORE TRADITIONAL PAINTERLY MOTIVATORS. MASTERS SUCH AS CHARLES AND RAY EAMES, JOHN LAUTNER, AND FILE SET DESIGNER KEN ADAM HAVE ALL SHAPED ME.
WHILE LARGELY A SELF-TAUGHT PAINTER, HE STUDIED AT THE SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, AND ALSO HOLDS A MASTER’S DEGREE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO AND A BACHELOR’S DEGREE FROM THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK.
ORIGINALLY FROM NEW YORK, HE TRAVELS EXTENSIVELY TO PROMOTE HIS WORK AND SPENDS THE MAJORITY OF HIS CREATIVE STUDIO TIME IN HIS ATELIER IN UPSTATE NEW YORK
Mary Stanley
I am a ceramicist and sculptor.
My artistic work reflects my life project, understanding the formation of identity in democracies and as conscious animals emergent from nature. My first career was as a social scientist; teaching, writing, and researching liberal democracy as a context for shaping human beings. I received fellowships, research support, and grants from Syracuse University, the US Department of Education, and foundations while at Syracuse University to explore the nature and meaning of citizenship and cultural identity. My dissertation on the evolving conceptualization of democratic citizenship won the Syracuse University Doctoral Prize in 1988. Since 2006 I have been an arts activist and after 2010, an artist, receiving local foundation and NYSCA grants for arts programming. I was the co-host and co-producer of the award-winning Women’s Voices Radio broadcast by Syracuse University’s NPR station.
I trained as a sculptor and ceramicist at Syracuse University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts. Professor Margie Hughto was my principal mentor. I began exhibiting my sculptural work in 2015. I have exhibited locally, regionally, and nationally. My multi-figure sculptural installations examine identity, often through the lens of miscegenation, “race mixing.” I employ chimeras, mixed species creatures, curious and beautiful or abominations, to engage the viewer. My installations and sculptures reflect the cultures and places I have explored during global travel. I live and work in Syracuse, NY. My work suggests that human identity is best explored by considering the relationship of humans to the natural world and by engaging diverse cultural understandings of human nature.
Vykky Ebner
My name is Vykky Ebner, and I am originally from and reside in the Syrsacuse area. I've taken courses in illustration and fine art at various institutions, but because of a psychotic break in 1998 I took a detour in my education and left art school to study theology outside of Philadelphia, Pa in the early 2000's.
Although I don't hold a degree, my work has been featured on the cover of Stone Canoe Journal, the SFMoMA's tumblr and instagram, and I have been shortlisted for Art Basel through primitives.xyz
I became focused on art when I was young and currently make mixed media pieces comprised of acrylic, ink, and collage. I sometimes use an obsessive writing technique to let out a stream of consciousness in my work. I find art to be a catharsis for my own personal experiences. I use what I have seen and been through as a muse. My art has touched on the subjects of mental illness, trauma, domestic violence, and dogma.
