Artist of the Month: Wayne Forte
On Wayne Forte’s website, along with over a hundred of his paintings, is an invitation to send the painter “suggestions, comments, concerns, questions, rebukes, rebuttals and replies,” with a link that lets you send email to Forte’s personal account. Probably Forte is the only painter in America who issues viewers a standing invitation to rebuke him—and gives them such a direct way to do it. The offer gives a fairly accurate illustration of the man and the artist. He produces paintings on his own—he’s monstrously prolific—as well as in collaboration with the arts group at the megachurch he attends in southern California, and to a degree he is willing to give the community influence over his paintings, which appear in worship services there. Sometimes they’ll ask him to change things, and often he’ll do what they ask. He sees it as an intrinsic part of his calling as a painter that he has what he calls “a necessary role within the community of the faithful”—which means that the church needs him, but also that he needs the church. In the art world, where the individual ego generally rules supreme and unsettling the viewer is often part of the plan, the idea that an artist would change something because it makes a viewer uncomfortable seems almost heretical. Forte, on the other hand, refuses to take himself so seriously. His paintings are full of light and playfulness, but at the same time they’re unshakably grounded and solid. His canvases teem with motion, life, and color. In service of his community, he strives to find a balance between common symbols and fresh vision: Wristwatches, fruit, animals, plants, angels, cityscapes, and superman form exuberant constellations in these joyous collages of color and symbol. And everywhere throughout is the human figure: blocky, earthbound, fleshy, and beautiful. Here is a vision driven not by ego but by humility and love.

Visit Wayne Forte’s artist of the month page here and his official website here.

16 Horsepower, Woven Hand, and Lilium: An Update
After a fruitful ten years together, alt-country trio 16 Horsepower (see ImageUpdate #36) has recently decided to call it quits. “We have shared some unforgettable moments,” the notice on the band’s website announces, “and hope to have given you all we could. An accumulation of differences, mostly political and spiritual, separates us today and prevents us from honestly going any further.” Somewhat of a surprise—though the band nearly made a similar choice in 2001—the decision follows a productive four years. In addition to releasing Olden (2003), 16 Horsepower was filmed for the wonderfully odd documentary, Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus (ImageUpdate #99). Although only David Eugene Edwards appears in the final cut, the band’s performance can be seen as part of the DVD’s special features. The band also released two of their own DVDs—16HP DVD and 16 Horsepower Live—both of which include music videos, interviews, and live footage shot mainly during their European tours. Additionally, band members have been busy with side projects. Pascal Humbert and Jean-Yves Tola formed a band called Lilium, which has released two albums: the mainly instrumental Transmission of All the Goodbyes (2000) and Short Stories (2003). And David Eugene Edwards, 16 Horsepower’s principal singer/songwriter, formed Woven Hand. The band has released two acclaimed albums in the past few years—Consider the Birds (2004) and Mosaic (2006). Released last September, Mosaic finds Edwards continuing to build on an already-original catalog of material. Evidencing a variety of influences—including the music of Eastern Europe and the Middle East—the songs range from the moody opener, “Breathing Bull,” to the ethereal “Twig.” In addition to another offering of biblical, lyric-based pieces, the album includes eclectic instrumentals, notably the sanguine “Bible and Bird,” and the album’s closer, “Little Raven/Shun.” Woven Hand plans to tour this summer with Brother Danielson, founder of the band’s label, Sounds Familyre. The tour begins at Cornerstone Music Festival, June 30, 2007, and will be followed by shows in Chicago, IL, Arlington, VA, and Northampton, MA.

For more information on 16 Horsepower & Woven Hand, click here.

Twilight Innings by Robert A. Fink
The poet Robert A. Fink begins his first collection of personal essays as a bloody mess. Somewhere on the back roads of his beloved west Texan prairies, Fink’s marathon training is punctuated by a nasty fall. "I'm pathetic," he says. "I suddenly feel as if I'm in a commercial for incontinent older adults." Never mind that at 57, Fink’s 8-minute mile is still faster than most twenty-somethings’. His comic humility is what makes readers at home in Fink’s stories; we cozy up beside him in his favorite seat, four rows back from home plate, and enjoy the view. As one might suspect, Fink sometimes uses baseball as a unifying theme for his essays, but Twilight Innings is hardly an anthology of fresh-cut grass and blooper anecdotes. As the poet-professor slips back and forth between the pitcher’s mound and his university classroom, he also shares stories of suffering: a master sergeant trembles in a dark corner somewhere in Vietnam, two of his friends struggle with terminal cancer, 141 women jump from the 8th floor windows of a shirtwaist factory. There is a long winter of pain in Fink’s twenty-four essays, but they still manage to communicate hope and healing, preserving a sense of humor and hard-won wisdom.

Look for Robert Fink’s essay, “Pilgrims,” in the upcoming issue of Image, issue #53.

To buy Twilight Innings, click here.

Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak:
The Monograph
If you know anything about the world of the visual arts, you know how rare it is for any artist short of celebrity status to have a hardcover monograph published about his or her work. In the case of Houston-based Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak, a happy set of circumstances has led to the publication of a beautiful volume chronicling two decades of her creative output. Born in Cleveland, Lydia is the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. As an adult, she has been able to travel to post-Soviet Ukraine and meet a number of people in the arts community there. The late critic and publisher Mykola Marychevskyy decided to include Lydia’s work in a series of monographs entitled “Testimonies of Spirit,” containing the work of artists of Ukrainian descent working outside of their homeland. Hence this gorgeous volume. The work covered therein extends across an astonishing range of styles, media, and moods – from dozens of realistic portraits in her earlier career to more recent mixed media pieces, large and small, employing embroidery, torched wood, photocopies, gold leaf, and more. Whether in portraits or box constructions, metal gates or large-scale pieces employing the vestments of priests, a profound inwardness marks these works – what the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins called “inscape.” The deep suffering of the Ukrainian people also permeates many of these pieces, from the genocidal famine engineered by Stalin in the 1930s to the nuclear meltdown at Chornobyl. And yet the sacred realm is never far from her vision, perhaps because it is so often glimpsed in and through suffering. To help unfold all this artistic richness, this monograph includes several short essays and interviews, both in Ukrainian and English, along with photographs and a bibliography. As wonderful as this volume may be, however, it is not widely available, so your best bet is to order it directly from the artist.

Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak is available for $40.00 (U.S.), including shipping and handling. For orders of five or more books, there is a 20% discount. To order, please include your mailing address and send a check made out to the artist to: Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak, 2476 Bolsover - # 517, Houston, Texas 77005. For further information, please contact the artist at BBLydia@aol.com or visit her website http://www.lydiabodnarbalahutrak.com/ and click on Book/Links.

Discount Fireworks and Fresh Roasted Coffee
Over the Rhine, one of our all-time favorite bands, is celebrating fifteen years of songwriting with the release of their first ever career retrospective: a handful of songs selected by the musicians themselves to represent their long journey of making music together. They’re calling the album Discount Fireworks, perhaps because it collects a little of everything—vintage tracks, well-loved contemporary songs, and even a brand new song as the album’s opening track “Last Night on Earth Again.” Running the gambit from the experimental “Sleep Baby Jane” to the haunting “Ohio” to a live, folksy rendition of “Lookin’ Forward,” Discount Fireworks displays a diversity of sound that Over the Rhine’s newer fans might not even know exists in this lovely duo’s musical portfolio.

And speaking of new ventures, we just had to tip off our readers to something else brewing with Over the Rhine these days: coffee beans. At the Image headquarters, we understand the crucial place for good coffee in our lives—and it’s not just because we live in an espresso-obsessed city, nor because one of us is a former barista. There’s simply an undeniable relationship between the creative spirit and a palatably-delivered dose of caffeine—which is why we were delighted to taste a cup of this delectable coffee “specially blended for artists, writers, musicians, day dreamers, and night walkers,” roasted by Chuck Roast especially for Over the Rhine. It’s organic, fair-trade, fresh-roasted to order, and available for purchase by the pound online. Is this the secret to 15 years of brilliant songwriting? You never can tell.

For the Discount Fireworks album, click here.

For exclusive Over the Rhine blend coffee, click here.

Damien Hirst at Wallspace
Wallspace, a new London exhibition venue dedicated to exploring the intersection of art and spirituality (see ImageUpdate #110)), will launch with Damien Hirst’s provocative show “New Religion.” Running from Wednesday, March 7 to Wednesday, April 4, the exhibition highlights the conflict between science and religion, questioning the certainties both may be said to offer. The show includes the skull of a child cast in silver, a heart pierced with syringes and razor blades, paintings, sculpture, and silkscreens. Says Hirst, "People tend to think of [science and religion] as two very separate things, one cold and clinical, the other emotional and warm and loving. I wanted to leap over those boundaries and give you something that looks clinical and cold but has all the religious, metaphysical connotations too." Wallspace is located at All Hallows on the Wall, 83 London Wall, London EC2M 5ND. The exhibit’s opening times are Monday-Friday 12-6; Thursday 12-8; Saturday 10-4; Sunday by arrangement. For more information, visit www.wallspace.org.uk or email info@wallspace.org.uk. Some of the exhibition images can be viewed at www.paulstolper.com/hirst.php.

A Variety of Gifts
The New York Chapter of ECVA (The Episcopal Church and Visual Arts, www.ecva.org) will have an exhibition "A Variety of Gifts" hosted by the parish of Trinity Church-St. Paul’s Chapel at the Trinity Museum, Broadway and Wall Street, New York City. The exhibition will run from April 1 to June 5, 2007. The reception will be on Palm Sunday, April 1, 1- 4 p.m. All are invited. For more information contact: John Moody or Krystyna Sanderson.

If you have information other ImageUpdate readers might find interesting, share it here! Do you have a question that you hope a member of the ImageUpdate community might have the answer to? Ask it here. Have your messages posted by sending an email to gwolfe@spu.edu.

Bethany Arts College 2007
The Bethany Arts College is a series of classes relating to arts and culture offered by members of Bethany Community Church in Seattle. Examples of classes include a stained glass workshop, swing dancing, art history, various music and cooking classes, improvisation, and more. Classes are free (or almost free) and open to the public. The purpose of the Bethany Arts College is to build community and enable participants to experience new dimensions of faith through the exploration of art and culture. Most classes take place at Bethany Community Church in Seattle’s Greenlake neighborhood, at the Green Bean Coffee Shop (on 85th Street in Greenwood), or at instructors’ homes. To browse class offerings and to enroll, go to www.bethanyartscollege.org.

Writers Workshop in Ohio
The Write-On Writers’ group of Coshocton, Ohio is sponsoring a conference April 28th from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Location is Coshocton Senior Center, 201 Brown’s Lane, Coshocton, Ohio. Conference plenary sessions  and workshops led by published authors and editors will focus on a variety of topics including: Writing the Personal Memoir; Self-Publishing and Copyright Laws; Turning your Profession into a Writing Career; Writing for Newspapers, Good Grammar Matters; Writing and Marketing the How-To-Book;  Poetry: Contemporary and haiku; Moving from Irresistible Query Letter to Publication. Keynote speaker Joanne Lehman is the 2004 winner of the Wick Poetry Competition, Kent State University for her poetry chapbook, Morning Song. A communication specialist, she is the author of, Kairos: A Novel and Traces of Treasure (Herald Press). Her writing has been published in Farming Magazine, Artful Dodge, The Mennonite, DreamSeeker Magazine and Rejoice! She facilitates the Wayne County Writers’ Guild and teaches writing workshops and classes on memoir and poetry writing. Cost of the workshop (including lunch and continental breakfast) is $40.00. Early-bird registration (by April 1) is $30.00. Senior (65+) and teen rate is $25.00. Registration deadline is April 15th.   For conference brochure, questions or to register, email:  sfmooney@parakrisis.com or call Sharon Mooney at 740-623-8348. 

Pamela Nelson’s Six Pak Exhibit combines bits of paper, mirror, and other mixed media in color-coordinated geometric patterns at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas through April 8th.

Abstract Realities: Robin Haines Merrill: The Upper Room Art Gallery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, presents artist and social justice advocate Robin Haines Merrill’s exhibit, Abstract Realities through April 30.

Register Now for the 2007 Glen Workshop!
"God of the Desert: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam through the Prism of Art"
July 29 - August 5, 2007

The Glen Workshop is an illuminating conference on the arts and religion, where participants practice and strengthen their craft and vision in community. This weeklong event combines the best elements of a workshop, an arts festival, and a symposium. By exploring this year's theme, "God of the Desert: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam through the Prism of Art," participants will share a common ground for discussion during the week. This year's faculty includes illustrator Barry Moser, playwright Mark St. Germain, poets Scott Cairns and Daniel Tobin, musicians Linford Detweiler and Karin Berquist of Over the Rhine, fiction writer Moira Crone, calligrapher Timothy Botts, ceramics artist Ginger Geyer, and spiritual writer Ann McCutchan. A seminar class, "Peoples of the Book," will be led by Rodger Kamenetz. Afternoons and evenings at the Glen feature faculty readings, lectures, and presentations. Guest speakers Jamal Rahman, George Dardess, Rodger Kamenetz, and Scott Cairns will explore the relationships among the three Abrahamic traditions and the role art and story play in each during selected evening sessions. Each evening concludes with an ecumenical worship service that incorporates the arts. This year's musician-in-residence, Pierce Pettis, will be giving a concert as well as playing during worship throughout the week. Please note that class sizes are limited: don't wait too long to register!

To register for the Glen Workshop, or to find out more information, click here

A brochure will be printed and mailed in early February. If you are on the Image subscriber list, you'll automatically receive a brochure. If you'd like to have one mailed to you, send us an e-mail by clicking here.