Review: “Surface beauty goes a long way in Groveland and Circa shows in Minneapolis”

Mary Abbe of the Star Tribune calls attention to the “fabulous surfaces” on view in our current shows by Rod Massey and Tim Tozer. She applauds Rod Massey’s gritty urban landscape paintings of abandoned flour mills, boarded over windows, graffiti-covered steel doors and derelict warehouses that the artist “records with unsentimental honesty and affection.” She continues,…

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Painting Perceptions: An Interview with Andrew Wykes

Painting Perceptions, a blog written by San Diego artist and writer Larry Goff, “explores modernistic painting being done from life.” In this June post, Goff interviews Northfield painter and Hamline University art instructor Andrew Wykes about his education, influences, techniques and the role of observation in his work. Read the interview here.

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Review: “It’s unseasonably hot at four Minneapolis galleries”

Four Minneapolis galleries embrace summertime with bold and entertaining shows. As Mary Abbe of the Star Tribune points out, “summer sizzles this year at local art galleries. Often a slow season when galleries dust off old stock and settle in for a sales siesta, summer is seldom as dynamic as this month when experimental books, abstract paintings,…

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Seeworthy: “80 artists create ‘Love Letters’ for a summer show at Groveland Gallery”

Minneapolis Star Tribune art critic Mary Abbe highlights Groveland Gallery’s summer-long celebration of writing and receiving letters: “In these days of Facebook and text messaging, the notion of communicating by post seems a bit quaint and way too slow. For official documents and important sentiments, though, there’s nothing like an old-fashioned letter. Which is why St.…

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Review: “Minneapolis galleries showcase aerial paintings, abstractions and apocalyptic instructions”

Minneapolis Star Tribune’s art critic Mary Abbe praises exhibitions by Tom Maakestad and Wendell Arneson, simultaneously on view through June 6. Abbe congratulates Maakestad on his new perspective of the landscape, calling his aerial views of southern Minnesota a “breathtaking breakthrough.” Of his paintings, she writes: “though familiar, there is a quiet grandeur to these…

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Review: “Made-by-hand art at three Minneapolis galleries”

Minneapolis Star Tribune art critic Mary Abbe applauds current exhibitions at Burnet Gallery, Circa Gallery and Groveland, all of which “feature terrific work in such old-fashioned made-by-hand media as painting, drawing, cut-paper and sculptural ceramics, glass and metal.” Abbe alludes to Lyon’s unique, contemporary perspective of his historical subject (his paintings were inspired by inspired by Bernini’s sculptures of…

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Spotlight: “‘Rome: Traversing the Sacred’ at Groveland Gallery”

Minneapolis Star Tribune art critic Mary Abbe highlights Charles Lyon’s exhibition of paintings featuring Bernini’s dramatic statutes of angels on the Ponte Sant’Angelo. About Lyon’s paintings, Abbe writes: “The flow­ing forms of Roman Baroque sculp­ture are a nat­u­ral for a paint­er best known for big, lush, Pop-style im­ag­es of roses and oth­er blos­soms … In­stead of ruf­fled flow­er pet­als, Lyon evokes…

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Dan Bruggeman on MN Original

St. Paul artist Dan Bruggeman was recently featured on the TPT series MN Original. During his segment, he discusses the paintings he’s working on for his upcoming Groveland Gallery exhibition in October, 2015. His images of Valley Fair, Buck Hill and abandoned drive-in movie theaters – Bruggeman calls them “the places in between” – are largely…

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Gaylord Schanilec in The New York Times

Congratulations to wood engraver Gaylord Schanilec, who recently finished his most recent fine press book, Lac Des Pleurs. Nearly seven years in the making, the book explores the landscape and ecology of Wisconsin’s Lake Pepin. The book’s type is hand-set by the artist, and his illustrations are editioned wood-engraved prints, several of which can be seen in person…

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Joyce Lyon’s Upcoming Exhibition at the Nash Gallery

Groveland artist Joyce Lyon and her University of Minnesota art department colleague, James Henkel, will celebrate their artistic careers and upcoming retirement with the exhibition, The Longest Way Round is the Shortest Way Home. Opening February 25 at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery, the show will feature Henkel’s photographs and Lyon’s paintings and drawings. Henkel joined the university’s faculty in…

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New Work by Carol Lee Chase at The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery

Groveland artist and St. Catherine University painting professor Carol Lee Chase’s travel to Istanbul, Turkey in the fall of 2013 provided the inspiration and stimulus for her newest body of work. Souvenir, opening Saturday, February 7 at the Catherine G. Murphy Gallery at St. Catherine University, explores her interest in the depiction of light, color, repetition and pattern.…

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Ellen Heck’s “Forty Fridas” at the 2014 International Print Biennale

Congratulations to printmaker Ellen Heck, whose portfolio of prints, titled Forty Fridas, garnered her accolades at the 2014 International Print Biennial. The Victoria and Albert Museum awarded her the V&A Prize, and as a result, acquired the entire series of Heck’s Frida Khalo-inspired prints. Read the museum’s review of the series here. Print Quarterly reviewed the accompanying exhibit of…

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Robert Dorlac and Acadia National Park

Robert Dorlac recently sent us some new watercolor paintings he made during his artist-in-residency at Acadia National Park last summer. In a blog post for Acadia National Park on my Mind (acadiaonmymind.com), Dorlac tells bloggers Dolores Kong and Dan Ring, “although this was my first visit to Maine I somehow felt a very deep connection to this…

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Spotlight: “A Double Shot of Michael Kareken”

Minneapolis Star Tribune art critic Mary Abbe praises Michael Kareken’s show, PARTS, a joint exhibition of new work at Groveland Gallery and Burnet Gallery. She writes: “the stripped and rusting cars are incongruous subjects for Kareken’s huge paintings and delicate drawings, but they work thanks to his mesmerizing talent for reproducing mechanical details — belts, pulleys,…

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Michael Kareken and Marianne Combs on MPR

Marianne Combs interviews Michael Kareken about “PARTS,” his dual exhibitions at Groveland Gallery and Burnet Gallery. Kareken’s charcoal and conté drawings will be featured at Groveland Annex, while a simultaneous exhibition of his large mixed-media paintings will be displayed at Burnet Gallery at Le Meridien Chambers in downtown Minneapolis. Parts features Kareken’s paintings of automotive salvage…

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Review of Kit Wilson’s Show

Minneapolis Star Tribune art critic Mary Abbe writes, “Kit Wilson’s exhibition is a silent, stylized view of nature rendered with perfect polish and emotional restraint.” Read the rest of Abbe’s review here.

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Dan Bruggeman in the Drawing Studio

Dan Bruggeman was featured in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ Marks of Genius Drawing Studio on August 28, 2014 as part of the The Artist is In, a series of informal drawing demonstrations and gallery lessons by local artists. Dan’s essay, “Capturing Collateral Damage with a Conté Crayon,” explores one of his favorite pieces in the “Marks of Genius”…

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Plein Air SmackDown IV

On July 26, Groveland hosted its 4th annual Plein Air SmackDown. 16 gallery and guest artists spent the afternoon making paintings in locations throughout the neighborhood. Participating Groveland artists included: Fred Anderson, Michael Banning, Kristie Bretzke, James Conaway, Anthony Corsaro, Robert Dorlac, Susan Horn, Carl Oltvedt, Justin Terlecki and Tim Tozer. 6 guest artists joined…

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Robert Dorlac, Artist in Residence

From the Badlands to Iceland, gallery artist Robert Dorlac has traveled to remote locales, exploring their natural wonders through his paintings. During the summer of 2014, Dorlac was an artist in residence at Acadia National Park. Read more about his experience here.

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