"Heavenly Bodies -- Images of Men"
Little Gorgeous Things presents "Heavenly Bodies -- Images of Men," a selection of male figurative work by four esteemed artists working in a variety of media: Oil paintings by Michael Rogovsky; sculpture by Gary Wenc; photography by Tony Winthrop; and pyrographic (woodburning) drawings by Robert Sherer.
The show will open with an artists' reception from 6-8pm on Saturday, October 29, and will run through Friday, November 18, 2005.
Rather than concentrating on graphic depictions of male sexuality, the "Heavenly Bodies" in this special exhibit are primarily composed of erotic, playful, sensuous, and often humorous renditions of the nude male form. Last year's "Woof!" exhibit of male nudes, which opened the first weekend in November 2004, proved one of the most successful of the year for Little Gorgeous Things, and another capacity crowd is expected for this year's installation. For individual biographies of the artists, please see the following:
Michael Rogovsky
Known both for his monumental landscapes of the Outer Cape, as well as his work with the male nude form, Michael Rogovsky has been exhibiting his paintings in Provincetown, Massachusetts for over twenty-five years. He has also exhibited in New York, Boston, Beverly Hills, Providence, and Philadelphia. Michael's work is included in the permanent collections of the Stedman Art Gallery of Rutgers University, the university collection of the University of Maryland, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, and numerous private collections in the United States and Canada. In 2006, he will receive a one-person show of his work at the Cape Museum of Fine Arts in Dennis, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. Earlier this season, Michael received an acclaimed solo show of his landscape paintings at Little Gorgeous Things.
Michael received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland in Art Education and his Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Maryland in Painting and Drawing. Throughout the years, his paintings have been the subject of many reviews in newspapers, magazines, art guides, and radio talk shows. His paintings have also been included in Lois Griffel's book, 'Painting the Impressionist Landscape."
Gary Wenc
Sculptor Gary Wenc is known for his inventive use of tile and mosaics in his often humorous three-dimensional life-size constructions. Originally from Connecticut, Gary likes to 'tile one on" between Manhattan and Provincetown: these two towns are his bi-state residences and inspirations. Gary's motto is to tile the unusual, as well as the more conventional. Nothing is safe from tile in his eyes: guitars, Styrofoam heads, vintage chairs, shipping containers, shelving units, or pet mosaics. His work can be used as accent pieces or as major statements of eye-catching tile and paint. His inventive mind is always working; according to the artist, 'There is a second life in everything, if you have the vision."
Gary feels he is an 'accidental" artist, just beginning his craft at this stage of his life. "I ‘came out' as an artist in Provincetown," he states. "Who would have figured?"
Gary was born in Enfield, Connecticut, and graduated from college in Massachusetts. He has traveled cross-country and held many different jobs: club VJ/DJ, news floor director, bartender, model, and is currently a medical office manager and landscaper in New York City. A lover of animals, he has rescued and placed many pups, kittens and birds. According to Gary, 'Everything in life deserves an encore!"
Tony Winthrop
Tony 'Stone" Winthrop was born and raised in Washington, DC. A television cameraman by trade, Tony has spent over 22 years capturing the news for shows on BBC, CNBC, FOX, NBC, Azteca America and many more. He worked in the late eighties as a videographer for PM Magazine and worked on a variety of feature projects with actors such as Robin Williams, Sigourney Weaver, George Clooney, Fred Savage, Rue McClanahan, and Ricky Schroeder. He has credits for his sound production and videotaping such musical artists as Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Patty Labelle, Faith Hill, Travis Tritt, George Michael, Ricky Scaggs, and even Cher!
His years of work as a video cameraman are only part of his artistic passion. Tony has always had a major interest in still photography. Having moved from the 35mm camera to the digital photographic arts, Tony has a love affair with the lens. His eyes are attuned to capturing the natural beauty of the world around him. It can be the movement of ice formations on the Cape, to the human form captured in the beauty of shadow.
Robert Sherer
Robert Sherer is an internationally-recognized artist who studied the two-dimensional arts of painting, drawing, and printmaking at Walker College (Jasper, Alabama), the Atlanta College of Art, Georgia State University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Edinboro University (Edinboro, Pennsylvania) where he received his MFA degree in Fine Arts in 1992. He represented the United States in the Biennale Internazionale dell Arte' Contemporanea (also known as the Florence Biennale) in Florence, Italy, in 2001. In 2002, he represented the United States in the Triennale Internationale d'Art Contemporain (Paris, France). Over the past 25 years, Sherer has exhibited in numerous group and solo shows including the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, the Center for AIDS and Humanity (Atlanta), the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, The City of Atlanta Gallery, The State Museum of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, PA), The Butler Institute of American Art (Youngstown, Ohio), the National Arts Club Gallery (New York City), the Birmingham Museum of Art (Birmingham, Alabama), and The AIDS Cure Project (Atlanta). Over the years, the artist has also contributed works to numerous auctions in support of AIDS services, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the ArtCare Auction (Atlanta), ArtFest '97 (Atlanta), the Birmingham AIDS Outreach Auction (Birmingham, AL), and the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod (Massachusetts). The artist was born and raised in northern Alabama, outside of Birmingham, and currently lives near Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Sherer is a Professor of Art at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta. According to the national organization, People for the American Way, he is also one of the most censored artists in America (see section on "Censorship" below).
This past September, Little Gorgeous Things exhibited Robert's "Blood Works" -- his metaphorical series of botanical and anatomical illustrations rendered in both HIV+ and HIV- blood in response to the ongoing AIDS epidemic -- in a one-man show that drew much critical notice and large crowds to the gallery. The pyrograph-on-veneer works in "Heavenly Bodies" are from Robert's "Kitsch/Nostaliga" series. As stated by the artist: "Like many American boys I grew up in a world of sports, camping, scouting, and war gaming. The secret rites of passage and relationship intrigues played out in the locker rooms, pup tents, and tree houses helped to define me as a man. Because my youth most closely resembles the classic illustrations of camping guide books and scouting manuals of the 1950s and '60s, I have found it necessary to derive my biographical drawings from these visual resource materials.
"To imbue these wood-burned images with an air of authenticity, I render them with actual camp craft materials such as leather, rustic wood, tarpaulin, lanyards and grommets. I am adept with these materials because they were some of my most comforting diversions during those thrilling and perilous years of self-discovery. They also provided me with a sense of personal achievement because they earned me merit badges.
"It is my hope that these works will help others to reconnect with the springtime of life."
Censorship
Compiled, written and edited by Richard Melvin, Shane Harrison, and Robert Sherer. For the complete article, please see the artist's website, www.robertsherer.com. "In 1989, the American artist Robert Sherer publicly displayed for the first time a selection of paintings from his graduate school thesis project and immediately incurred the wrath of local conservatives. His thesis, titled ‘Re-Presentation,‘ was comprised of oil paintings of male nudes in famous female poses, mocking the sexism of Western art history. Since that first controversy, the artist's censorship battles in Ohio, Pennsylvania, his home state of Alabama, and most recently South Carolina have established him among the most censored artists in the United States.
"In addition to widespread national media coverage, his four incidents of censorship have been documented by many First Amendment advocacy groups and censorship watchdog organizations including The American Civil Liberties Union, ArtSave -- People For The American Way, the Individual Visual Artist's Coalition, Inc., and the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression. His 1995 out-of-court settlement of an ACLU-sponsored ten million dollar lawsuit against the Barnwell County Museum [South Carolina] marks one of the few cases where an American artist has received financial recompense for a First Amendment violation."
The show will open with an artists' reception from 6-8pm on Saturday, October 29, and will run through Friday, November 18, 2005.
Rather than concentrating on graphic depictions of male sexuality, the "Heavenly Bodies" in this special exhibit are primarily composed of erotic, playful, sensuous, and often humorous renditions of the nude male form. Last year's "Woof!" exhibit of male nudes, which opened the first weekend in November 2004, proved one of the most successful of the year for Little Gorgeous Things, and another capacity crowd is expected for this year's installation. For individual biographies of the artists, please see the following:
Michael Rogovsky
Known both for his monumental landscapes of the Outer Cape, as well as his work with the male nude form, Michael Rogovsky has been exhibiting his paintings in Provincetown, Massachusetts for over twenty-five years. He has also exhibited in New York, Boston, Beverly Hills, Providence, and Philadelphia. Michael's work is included in the permanent collections of the Stedman Art Gallery of Rutgers University, the university collection of the University of Maryland, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, and numerous private collections in the United States and Canada. In 2006, he will receive a one-person show of his work at the Cape Museum of Fine Arts in Dennis, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. Earlier this season, Michael received an acclaimed solo show of his landscape paintings at Little Gorgeous Things.
Michael received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland in Art Education and his Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Maryland in Painting and Drawing. Throughout the years, his paintings have been the subject of many reviews in newspapers, magazines, art guides, and radio talk shows. His paintings have also been included in Lois Griffel's book, 'Painting the Impressionist Landscape."
Gary Wenc
Sculptor Gary Wenc is known for his inventive use of tile and mosaics in his often humorous three-dimensional life-size constructions. Originally from Connecticut, Gary likes to 'tile one on" between Manhattan and Provincetown: these two towns are his bi-state residences and inspirations. Gary's motto is to tile the unusual, as well as the more conventional. Nothing is safe from tile in his eyes: guitars, Styrofoam heads, vintage chairs, shipping containers, shelving units, or pet mosaics. His work can be used as accent pieces or as major statements of eye-catching tile and paint. His inventive mind is always working; according to the artist, 'There is a second life in everything, if you have the vision."
Gary feels he is an 'accidental" artist, just beginning his craft at this stage of his life. "I ‘came out' as an artist in Provincetown," he states. "Who would have figured?"
Gary was born in Enfield, Connecticut, and graduated from college in Massachusetts. He has traveled cross-country and held many different jobs: club VJ/DJ, news floor director, bartender, model, and is currently a medical office manager and landscaper in New York City. A lover of animals, he has rescued and placed many pups, kittens and birds. According to Gary, 'Everything in life deserves an encore!"
Tony Winthrop
Tony 'Stone" Winthrop was born and raised in Washington, DC. A television cameraman by trade, Tony has spent over 22 years capturing the news for shows on BBC, CNBC, FOX, NBC, Azteca America and many more. He worked in the late eighties as a videographer for PM Magazine and worked on a variety of feature projects with actors such as Robin Williams, Sigourney Weaver, George Clooney, Fred Savage, Rue McClanahan, and Ricky Schroeder. He has credits for his sound production and videotaping such musical artists as Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Patty Labelle, Faith Hill, Travis Tritt, George Michael, Ricky Scaggs, and even Cher!
His years of work as a video cameraman are only part of his artistic passion. Tony has always had a major interest in still photography. Having moved from the 35mm camera to the digital photographic arts, Tony has a love affair with the lens. His eyes are attuned to capturing the natural beauty of the world around him. It can be the movement of ice formations on the Cape, to the human form captured in the beauty of shadow.
Robert Sherer
Robert Sherer is an internationally-recognized artist who studied the two-dimensional arts of painting, drawing, and printmaking at Walker College (Jasper, Alabama), the Atlanta College of Art, Georgia State University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Edinboro University (Edinboro, Pennsylvania) where he received his MFA degree in Fine Arts in 1992. He represented the United States in the Biennale Internazionale dell Arte' Contemporanea (also known as the Florence Biennale) in Florence, Italy, in 2001. In 2002, he represented the United States in the Triennale Internationale d'Art Contemporain (Paris, France). Over the past 25 years, Sherer has exhibited in numerous group and solo shows including the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, the Center for AIDS and Humanity (Atlanta), the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, The City of Atlanta Gallery, The State Museum of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, PA), The Butler Institute of American Art (Youngstown, Ohio), the National Arts Club Gallery (New York City), the Birmingham Museum of Art (Birmingham, Alabama), and The AIDS Cure Project (Atlanta). Over the years, the artist has also contributed works to numerous auctions in support of AIDS services, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the ArtCare Auction (Atlanta), ArtFest '97 (Atlanta), the Birmingham AIDS Outreach Auction (Birmingham, AL), and the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod (Massachusetts). The artist was born and raised in northern Alabama, outside of Birmingham, and currently lives near Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Sherer is a Professor of Art at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta. According to the national organization, People for the American Way, he is also one of the most censored artists in America (see section on "Censorship" below).
This past September, Little Gorgeous Things exhibited Robert's "Blood Works" -- his metaphorical series of botanical and anatomical illustrations rendered in both HIV+ and HIV- blood in response to the ongoing AIDS epidemic -- in a one-man show that drew much critical notice and large crowds to the gallery. The pyrograph-on-veneer works in "Heavenly Bodies" are from Robert's "Kitsch/Nostaliga" series. As stated by the artist: "Like many American boys I grew up in a world of sports, camping, scouting, and war gaming. The secret rites of passage and relationship intrigues played out in the locker rooms, pup tents, and tree houses helped to define me as a man. Because my youth most closely resembles the classic illustrations of camping guide books and scouting manuals of the 1950s and '60s, I have found it necessary to derive my biographical drawings from these visual resource materials.
"To imbue these wood-burned images with an air of authenticity, I render them with actual camp craft materials such as leather, rustic wood, tarpaulin, lanyards and grommets. I am adept with these materials because they were some of my most comforting diversions during those thrilling and perilous years of self-discovery. They also provided me with a sense of personal achievement because they earned me merit badges.
"It is my hope that these works will help others to reconnect with the springtime of life."
Censorship
Compiled, written and edited by Richard Melvin, Shane Harrison, and Robert Sherer. For the complete article, please see the artist's website, www.robertsherer.com. "In 1989, the American artist Robert Sherer publicly displayed for the first time a selection of paintings from his graduate school thesis project and immediately incurred the wrath of local conservatives. His thesis, titled ‘Re-Presentation,‘ was comprised of oil paintings of male nudes in famous female poses, mocking the sexism of Western art history. Since that first controversy, the artist's censorship battles in Ohio, Pennsylvania, his home state of Alabama, and most recently South Carolina have established him among the most censored artists in the United States.
"In addition to widespread national media coverage, his four incidents of censorship have been documented by many First Amendment advocacy groups and censorship watchdog organizations including The American Civil Liberties Union, ArtSave -- People For The American Way, the Individual Visual Artist's Coalition, Inc., and the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression. His 1995 out-of-court settlement of an ACLU-sponsored ten million dollar lawsuit against the Barnwell County Museum [South Carolina] marks one of the few cases where an American artist has received financial recompense for a First Amendment violation."
