A quarter of a century celebration…
Back in May of 1998, we opened a little gallery on Decatur Square, which some of you might remember. 25 years (and 3 galleries) later, we’ll celebrate with a 3 day pop-up show at DIFFERENT TRAINS GALLERY, featuring a certain British artist whom I’ve had the privilege of representing (and partnering with) since day one - plus a few others who’ve joined us along the way.
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by Shawn VinsonDIFFERENT TRAINS GALLERY Director/Partner ![]() With only three days left until the M.C. Escher + exhibition comes to a close, we've been reflecting on the sensational response we've had to this outstanding show. It opened in conjunction with the 13th Biennial Gathering 4 Gardner on Friday the 13th of April, and we had the good fortune of hosting an international assembly of 300 mathematicians, polymaths and all-around-brilliant people for an afternoon street fair and Escher preview reception. The + in the exhibit's title refers to the group of acclaimed math artists whose work was also featured, adding a fresh perspective and verifying Escher's vast influence on artists and mathematicians worldwide. It was a joy to welcome Antonio Peticov, who travelled all the way from Brazil, and Akio Hizume from Japan. We spent time with George Hart, Paul Hildebrandt, John Miller, Robert Fathauer and Chaim Goodman-Strauss. Our friend Dick Esterle was here, and we introduced a new artist to the G4G circle, Atlanta's own Erin Sledd. We paid tribute to the late Marc Pelletier by showing his remarkable prints and his widow, Amina Buhler, kindly loaned us an Escher confectionary tin that was given to them by Donald Coxeter - who originally received it as a gift from Escher himself! Atlantan Eben Dunn, Colorado artist Clark Richert, Fabien Vienne from Paris, English painter Marek Tobolewski, and the late great French-Hungarian op artist Victor Vasarely rounded out the show... by Shawn VinsonDIFFERENT TRAINS GALLERY Director/Partner
by Shawn VinsonDIFFERENT TRAINS GALLERY Partner/Director ![]() We recently had the pleasure of hosting one of our favorite people for a ten-day visit to the Deep South. The force of nature that is Kosmo Vinyl had only just returned home to New York from a holiday in England and France. He celebrated Christmas in Normandie with his family and spent some time back in London catching up with friends, including his old mates Mick, Paul and Topper. A few days later, he was boarding a flight to Atlanta for his Cisco Kid vs Donald Trump one-man-show at DIFFERENT TRAINS GALLERY. The opening reception was scheduled for January 20, the one-year anniversary of the U.S. presidential inauguration. But before we could get to the festivities, there was work to be done, and less than 48 hours in which to do it... by Shawn VinsonDIFFERENT TRAINS GALLERY Partner/Director ![]() When bankers get together for dinner, they discuss Art. When artists get together for dinner, they discuss Money. - Oscar Wilde Earlier this year at the opening of the Decatur Art Festival Fine Arts Exhibition at Agnes Scott College's Dalton Gallery, I was introduced to a charming local banker from Cornerstone Bank. I didn't realize that we still had any community banks left and it was nice to meet Jamie Ensley. When he learned that I had just opened DIFFERENT TRAINS GALLERY his eyes lit up!
Do you want to open another gallery in our bank? he asked. Turns out that Jamie and his team were just discussing the best use of some extra space they had at their Decatur office. Ideas were floated: a community room? a wi-fi cafe? Jamie, who was once the chair of the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, had another idea: What about an art gallery? Ruth Franklin isn't trying to make art that is trendy or pretty. Every day (including weekends & most holidays), she arrives at her studio before dawn with a singular goal: to make a good painting. She has the inexhaustible & highly self-disciplined work ethic of a soldier (her father was a D-day veteran!). She doesn't require any creature comforts beyond a thermos of coffee and a pack of cigarettes. When Franklin is at her easel, she enters a zenlike state and exhibits a monomaniacal determination. Her pictures, whether created with charcoal, pastels or paint, are always discernable & distinctive. In short, Ruth Franklin is the real deal. Her current show at steve mckenzie's includes 20 new paintings & charcoal drawings.
The Record Shop is where I learned about the world beyond the one I had lived in. People like Curtis Mayfield, Lou Reed, Burning Spear and Fela Kuti showed me their worlds, its joys and struggles. I had never even heard the word "ecology" before Marvin Gaye introduced me to it! ![]() Record Store Day celebrates it's 8th year on Saturday, April 18th. The international 'vinyl holiday' has grown from less than 100 to over 3,000 participating, independent record shops. A press conference was held at Rough Trade Records in Brooklyn on March 10th to announce a colossal list of special releases and free schwag that will be available on RSD2015. Destined to be one of the most sought-after items, especially by fans of The Clash, will be a limited-edition art print by Kosmo Vinyl. 5,000 numbered prints will be given away at select record shops, along with 10,000 postcards that feature his artwork. Kosmo was commissioned by the folks at Record Store Day to create this piece, with support from Red Bull Sound Select. What do Winston Churchill, Kosmo Vinyl and Wreckless Eric Have in Common?They're all British... yes, that's the first thing that comes to mind. Churchill (1874-1965) was born in Woodstock, England; Kosmo Vinyl (b. 1957) hails from East London; and Wreckless Eric (b. 1954) is from Newhaven, East Sussex. You might also know that they're all artists, and yes, plenty of artists come from England, so what? Well...
Ruth Franklin (another superb British artist) and I recently had the privilege of attending the opening of 'The Art of Diplomacy: Winston Churchill and the Pursuit of Painting' at the Millenium Gate Museum in Atlanta. The exhibition features over 30 of Churchill's paintings, many of which have never before been displayed publicly. In short, it's a fascinating exhibit on many levels, and I highly recommend you go see it before it closes on February 1, 2015... The 10th & final SkaterAid "skateboard/music/art" festival is September 28 from 2 - 7PM at East Decatur Station in Decatur, Georgia. SkaterAid is produced by a dedicated group of volunteers, and 100% of the proceeds benefit the Georgia Chapter of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
A big part of the event is the 'Art Deck Auction'. Months before the festival, artists are invited to create original works using skateboard decks as canvases. Some paint, some draw, there's mixed media collages (as seen above), 3D works and the occasional 'functional' piece, such as a rope swing or a coat/hat hanger. It's been announced that this is the last SkaterAid, and a record 135 art decks have been donated this year. Today marks England's last official day at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, so I thought I'd go ahead and share our first 'guest blog' to mark the occasion. I've personally gotten over my disappointment at the 3 Lions early exit, thanks in large part to the unexpected success of my Team USA. I reckon most England supporters won't feel the same as I do, and the opinions that follow aren't likely to help. Chris Pig is one of the few Englishmen I know who who isn't bothered at all about football. He's more interested in art & culture, thank you very much. He's also busy being one of the best printmakers in the UK, if you ask me. If there was a World Cup for Printmaking, I've no doubt he'd fare better than the current English National Team, who couldn't even score in a brothel. - Shawn Vinson A 'guest blog' from London - by Printmaker Chris Pig: ![]() Last night I was out at a restaurant with my family to celebrate my partner’s birthday. At the end of the meal the waiter passed me the bill and solicitously said to me “England are losing one nil.” I tried to look as if I cared about this because, after all, he thought he was doing me a favour by supplying me with an update on a football match. I think he thought that, as a man, I would rather be watching the world cup than being out with my family. And that is what annoys me about football, not that people gather together to watch some men play a ball game either in person or on the TV, but that it is assumed that everybody shares their interest. Also a sinister undertone to this is that if you are uninterested in football, you are not patriotic. |
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