Press Releases

Wendt Gallery Presents "The Art and Life of Frank Mason"

Sorrento_Bay_of_Naples_19_x_24

Sorrento Bay of Naples, 19 x 24 inches

 

Wendt Gallery is pleased to announce The Art and Life of Frank Mason, a retrospective exhibition of works by 20th century master, on view at The Wendt Gallery Laguna Beach May 1st through May 30th. The exhibition is curated by Serina Manqueros, a specialist in contemporary American art. An opening afternoon champagne reception will be held May 1st from 1 to 4 PM. To RSVP or for more information, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone (949) 497-4292.

The exhibition is being hosted in conjunction with the world premiere of Mason’s new documentary, “A Light in the Dark” The Art and Life of Frank Mason, a film by Sonny Quinn and Scott Mason. The film has been selected to be shown as a part of this year’s 2011 Newport Beach Film Festival. The film will be screened on Tuesday, May 3rd at 3:00 PM at The Triangle I Theatre. Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone (949) 497-4292 for more information and for tickets to the screening.

Frank Herbert Mason was born in Cleveland in 1921. The family, which included another son, Walter, moved in 1932 to New York City. By now, young Mason's talent as an artist had already become obvious. At the age of 16, Mason was granted a scholarship to attend the Art Students League of New York, studying under the well known classicist Frank Vincent Dumond. At the League, Mason found himself for the first time painting full time. Dumond's style of instruction was the venerable method of demonstration and example, a method which meshed perfectly with Mason's thirst to master the technique rather than the theory of painting.  He found in Dumond a revered teacher, a mentor, and finally a friend, as he continued to study with him until the latter's death in 1951.

 

A long-time teacher from 1951 at the Art Students League in New York City, Frank Mason had a forty-four year career in the classroom. In 1996, an exhibition of his work was organized and hosted at the G.C. Lucas Gallery in Indianapolis, Indiana.

 

As an artist, he embodied the methods and traditions of the Old Masters such as Michelangelo, Rubens, Vermeer and Velasquez. He was dedicated to the effective use of light and the appearance of it moving throughout the painting. He taught many of the great masters of the 20th century including David Leffel and Richard Schmid. He has had numerous church painting commissions including San Giovanni di Malta in Venice and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

 

The gallery is located near the corner of Bluebird Canyon Drive and Pacific Coast Highway, directly across from the Surf and Sand Hotel. Parking is available at the front of the building.

 

To view the exhibition online, please visit www.wendtgallery.com

Wendt Gallery is Pleased to Announce Ron Kent: Organic Compositions

April 9, 2011

Exhibition: Ron Kent: Organic Compositions

Where: Wendt Gallery The Fuller Building 41 E 57th ST 8th FL New York, NY

Date: April 12th through May 12th

 

Ad_Image_Web

Wendt Gallery is pleased to announce Organic Compositions, a solo exhibition of works by Ron Kent on view at The Wendt Gallery New York April 12th through May 12th.  The exhibition is curated by Serina Manqueros, a specialist in contemporary art.  A contributing essay for the exhibition catalog has been made by Ken Wallace, Director of Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts & Happy Valley Cultural Center.  An opening reception will be held April 14th from 6 to 8 pm.  To RSVP, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone (212) 838-8818.  An exhibition catalog is available upon request.

Ron Kent’s works are found in over 70 collections worldwide, including renowned museums such as The Smithsonian, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Louvre, as well as the collections of The White House and of The Vatican.  He is a self-taught pioneer in the art of wood-turning, with a technique and body of work that has evolved through a process of continual experimentation and exploration of artistic abstraction.  “The fact that I didn’t know, nor care, what other turners were doing helped me immensely,” Kent once said in reference his approach to his art, especially at the beginning of his career. “The best things in life you do with no agenda.”  This ‘lack of agenda’ is a recurring theme found in Kent’s work, and throughout the course of his career.  The artist never sets out to create something specific.  Instead, Kent allows experimentation of materials to provide the catalyst for his artistic path.

The Guardian Series re-examines a format Kent began in the 1960s and grew out of his interest in exploring the concept of negative space. As the title of the series suggests, these forms conjure a protective posture.   As a grouping, The Guardians project an even more commanding stance through their association with each other.

The idea for Post Nuclear Series, culminated from a single broken vessel.  Originally planning to repair the break, Kent instead opted to make it an artistic focal point of the piece.  The artist further explored the series through stitching, braiding, wiring, and scorching the surface of the vessel with a blow torch.  Since 2006, Kent has incorporated this method in several of his subsequent works.  Through The Post Nuclear Series, Kent was inspired to even further explore other forms of experimentation in his work, in order to shift his primary interest towards the exploration of artistic expression. Prior to this point, the artist’s prime motivation had been to maintain the sanctity of the vessel.

In Apocalyptic Series, Kent again experiments with new kinds of material and explores the natural and spiritual world of his homeland of Hawaii. Raw and primitive, works such as Asteroid are a notable result of his experimentation with Polyurethane Foam.

To view Organic Compositions online, please visit www.wendtgallery.com.  For more information please call (212) 838-8818.  Wendt Gallery New York hours are Monday to Friday from 10am to 6pm, and by appointment.

 

Serina Manqueros, Curator

Wendt Gallery Presents Cultural Bridge: The Changing Face of Jakarta


putu_wirantawan-the_wandering_soul_III_72

Wendt Gallery is pleased to announce Cultural Bridge: The Changing Face of Urban Jakarta, a premier exhibition of contemporary Indonesian art, on view in the New York gallery March 10th through April 9th.  An opening reception will be held March 10th from 6 to 8 pm.  To RSVP for this reception please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone (212) 838-8818.  An exhibition catalog is available upon request.

In honor of Asia Week New York 2011, Wendt Gallery will participate in an Open House on Saturday March 19th from 10am to 6pm.  The Open House will be sponsored by the Fuller Building, located at 41 East 57th Street, and will not only host exhibitions by galleries permanently located in Manhattan, but also galleries that have traveled internationally to participate in this special event.

Jakarta has been a burgeoning home for the arts and culture for the last 13 years.  The face of Jakarta has been transitioning as people from across Indonesia have migrated to this metropolis and formed small ethnicity based communities.  The multiple layers of regional and local identity found in Jakarta combined with the advances in technology; are creating a more globalized culture and an opportunity for a prospering artistic movement.  Artistic communities found throughout Jakarta are producing works that simultaneously represent not only the downtown regional diversities, but also its transitioning urban landscape.

Cultural Bridge will feature the front runners of the 2010 Jakarta Art Awards.  The theme, Reflection of Megacities articulates the challenges of urban life.  14 artists and 37 works will be presented by Wendt Gallery in this very special exhibition.

Putu Wirantawan’s Wandering Soul III (above), an ink and pencil drawing on paper, took the grand prize in the competition.  Employing pencil and pen and using a language of personal signs and marks, the artist creates a visceral illusion of rhymithic lines.  These lines produce quasi-ambiguous images that are further amplified through Wirantawan’s use of soft and sublime colors.  The incorporation of mechanical elements allows the more organic qualities to anchor themselves into a composition that is symbolic, suggestive and simultaneously futuristic.

Imam Abdillah’s, The Dimension of Hunting received a second place award after Wandering Soul III.   Allegorical in its compositional content, the work depicts a classic Indonesian story reinterpreted so that it is relevant to a contemporary setting of a busy, crowded city.  The scene depicts the fear and panic of the masses created by the presence of hunters pulled from the past as they swarm the streets. A dramatic and even cinematic quality sets the tone of the work and invites the viewer to evaluate the tension created by urban life in Jakarta.  The city’s impulse to develop and shift forward is set against the desire to adhere to the traditional concepts of old Indonesia.

Cubung Putro’s Ants, is a large grid-like multi media wall installation made of ants. Using the iconic imagery of the America flag, the artist meticulously assembles them into the symbolic image, with ants spilling outside of the borders and onto the floor. In addition to its pop-like quality, the work digs deeper with an important social message.  The artist uses the ants as a metaphor to represent the action of downtown Jakarta vs. progress, which is defining itself through the westernization of this urban megacity.

Cultural Bridge will also highlight additional works by Tato Suryanto, Ahmad Subandiyo, Angga Sukma Permana, Aditya Novali, Faqih Alfian, Farhan Siki, Hamzah, Masriel, Nugroho Heri Cahyono, and Sujarwo.

By presenting an international collection of innovative and forward thinking artists, Wendt Gallery’s interest is to bring attention to the significance of art as a vehicle for cultural exchange.   With Cultural Bridge and other similar exhibitions, the Gallery is actively developing a Southeast Asian art program as an important component of its international collection.