ViewPoint Show -- 49th Annual Art Juried Competition by Cincinnati Art Club
Cincinnati purchasers of fine art do not have to go far to find outstanding contributions for their collections.
Fifty of the eighty paintings and sculptures on display at the show at Greenwich Gallery in O’Bryonville are from area artists. Other artists in the annual juried competition sponsored by the Cincinnati Art Club come from as far as Texas to the West, New York to the North and Florida to the South. Altogether, it is one of the best opportunities to see a wide range of artists on display in Cincinnati in the past year. Best of Show by Jeff Morrow was awarded $3000.
The juried show winners were selected by Kay Worz, Dave Klocke and Roger Heuck—distinctive artists on their own as well as being past presidents of the Cincinnati Art Club.
The 2017 ViewPoint Award Winners are Christine Alfery, Birds On The Fence; George Bodine, The Shunned; Jamie Green, Untitled; Ray Hassard, Watching the Boys Swim 2; Carolyn Hibbard, Savannah Blues; Setsuko LeCroix, Sushi Chef; Jeff Morrow, The Designer; Tom Post, Awaiting the Bride; Tom Tarvin, Portrait of Dan R; and Michelle Walker, Married to Henry 60 Years
The featured work of artists such as Ray Hassard, Don Schuster, and Mark Daly have long been favorites of mine.
As I walked around Greenwich Gallery, two paintings jumped off the walls at me: The Shunned by George Bodine (30 x 24 oil on linen) and Jubilant by Ken Buck (38 x 31 pastel)—both northern Kentucky artists.
These figurative paintings instantly tell the stories of two very different women--one rejected and the other joyful. Both are technical masterpieces with compositions that pull the viewer into the story, only then to discover the supporting elements in the paintings
The Colonial woman in The Shunned carries a deep sadness as she climbs a ladder to the loft of a barn. You can feel her rejection as Bodine's fine brushwork and his sensitive eye for color create the atmosphere from a true story teller. I could stand and watch this painting for hours and still find something I did not see before.
The swimmer in Jubilant is quite the opposite of the saddness. Buck's figure is captured as she pulls up to the edge of a swimming pool. Water streams downward from her head and a look of complete satisfaction on her face says happiness all over her. Few artists compare to Buck's ability to depict figures immersed in water -- crisp blues and violets and bright highlights creates a sense of depth and movement with the swirling reflections surrounding each figure he paints. This fairly large pastel hangs in the Greenwich lobby..
A Few More of My Favorites from the show. . .
Two other paintings in the show also feature women, in this case both are standing on the beach looking outward to the water: Ray Hassard’s Watching the Boys Swim (18 x 24 pastel) and Carol MacConnel's Beautiful Day (30x40 oil).
How often do we parents have to take this guard position to make sure our kids are safe while they jump around in the ocean-- or just standing there watching them having fun? And how often do we stand humbly on a shoreline to gaze out at the immensity of God’s incredible creation?
Hassard's piece centers on a colorfully dressed mother who is both apprehensive and happy to watch her boys playing in the waves.
MacConnell's Beautiful Day captures the back of a woman against a brilliant blue ocean and sky.
Don Schuster’s A Higher Calling features a plein air artist at work on a cityscape from a location in front of a retail clothing store window. The painter is set back in a shadow of blues while violet tones play across the dresses in the window. Nice combination of color and composition.
Jeff Morrow won Best of Show with his The Designer, a stunning 24 x 30 oil portrait that hits your eyes just as you enter Greenwich Gallery's lobby.
No surprise that Mark Daly was in the show with his Distant Sails. I have long followed Mark's cityscapes of New York streets and his boat scenes from Maine.
Art thrives in our home town. There are so many excellent paintings and sculptures in the 80 on display in the Cincinnati Art Club's 49th annual ViewPoint competition. If you cannot get to Greenwich Gallery by November 4, take a look on the Art Club's website for all the winners. Pick out your favorites and let me know which others I should have included in this brief recap.