INAUGURAL EVENT PROGRAMNOVEMBER 8-11, 2017 • MIAMI

magazine presents

™

#FACE2017

The Figurative Artist’s Handbookby Robert Zeller

“Robert Zeller’s book is a welcome reminder of the ongoing importance of igurative art, and the many masterful igurative artists working today. It is at once a comprehensive, practical guide to the construction of the human body... and an informative, incisive, critical account of the history of igurative art... The book has encyclopedic breadth and analytic depth, and is beautifully illustillustrated with drawings and paintings, all presenting the body in one or another of many possible positions and situations, all suggesting that we need the mirror of art to insightfully attune to our own bodies.” —Donald Kuspit

Basic Human Anatomyby Roberto Osti

Lessons in Realistic Watercolorby Mario Andres Robinson

“I love this book. Mario Robinson is a contemporary master. With humility and virtuosity he adeptly guides us through every step of how to make a painting. He is giving a great gift by sharing his working practices and secrets.... In the tradition of the great American classical watercolorists, Lessons in Realistic Watercolor offers an uncompromising approach to pushing the limits of the medium for contemporary artists of all levels.” —Bo Bartlett

monacellipress.com

BOOKS FOR FIGURATIVE ARTISTS

“Readers can lip to just what they need or study the work as a whole, a lexibility that makes the book valuable as both a textbook and a reference tool. Osti's skills as an artist and instructor are abundantly clear throughout the book, and the many excellent illustrations showcase his credentials well.... What sets Osti’s title apart is its simplicity and the clarity of its prose.” —J. C. Burns, Choice magazine

Platinum Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Media Sponsors

Expo Hall Vendors

How to Get the Most Out of Your Convention Experience

Welcome! We are HONORED that you

have made the trip to join us at the very

first Figurative Art Convention & Expo.

We want this to be a great experience for

you. Here are some tips to make this a

wonderful experience:

Take lots of notes. You can’t remember it all. Refer to your notes when you get home.

Create an “ACTION ITEMS LIST” in your notes. Every time you get an idea you want to apply, place it in action items. You’ll then have an actions list to refer to when you get home.

Go to Home Room every morning so you don’t miss changes, prizes, or important announcements.

Take lots of photos. You’ll remember more of the experience! Use #FACE17.

Step out of your comfort zone. Be open to different ideas and styles. Consider a new medium. We have sculptors doing demonstrations in the Expo Hall — check it out.

Introduce yourself to others. Have lunch with your new friends, trade contact info, and stay in touch.

Introduce yourself to FACE team members. We want to know everyone here!

Introduce yourself to faculty and ask your burning questions!

If you need anything, please ask. We’re here to make your experience as much fun as possible.

Most important: Keep it fun! As Eric says, “No drama.” Keep in mind, you learn more if you’re having fun.

Thank you to our sponsors

3

PAGE TITLE

Welcome to Miami, to the historic Biltmore Hotel, and — more importantly — to the first

Figurative Art Convention & Expo (FACE)! We could not be more excited to have you here.

After launching the Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE), we realized that it was such a

wonderful experience that we needed to do something similar for the representational art

world. In 2010 we started planning it, and even held an advisory meeting. Soon afterward,

Michael Pearce and his colleagues at California Lutheran University launched The

Representational Art Conference (TRAC). Though it differed from what we had envisioned,

it was a success, and we did not want to step on their toes. But when we heard TRAC was

winding down, we decided to move forward, and the first thing we did was invite Michael

Pearce to chair a new edition of TRAC’s superb papers and lectures within our new event.

In conceptualizing FACE, we realized that there are lots of people who don’t have the

opportunity to study in an atelier. We’ve hand-picked the best teachers, ones who are

encouraging and inspiring. This is going to be so much better than a workshop. It’s like a

sampler box of chocolates. Attendees will observe different styles and approaches, learn

from all of them, and then decide what works for them.

Here at FACE you will enjoy a combination of on-stage demos, talks, and conversations,

plus three powerful pre-convention workshops so people can get up to speed in drawing,

color, or painting. We have an optional studio for those who want to apply what they have

learned immediately; at PACE, we have found that when you watch demos, you immediately

want to try out what you’ve seen yourself. And of course, you will meet and converse with

the extraordinary firms participating in our Expo Hall.

Most important, we want to create a community, a gathering of like-minded people who

share ideas, philosophies, and passions — who can ensure that figurative art sustains its

remarkable growth.

In particular, FACE is going to be welcoming. Eric’s experience of being intimidated when he

first wanted to learn is what we want to avoid. Many who attended the inaugural PACE have

come back every year. They first came for the art instruction, but now they return because

it’s fun to be a part of a community, to get to know other artists, to sit up at night laughing

and hanging out with others.

There are some people who don’t like change, or who think we’re trying to commercialize

this art, which could not be further from the truth. Eric read one post that said, “Why would

I come? I already am an excellent painter.” He thought, “You mean you could watch such

masters as Juliette Aristides or Daniel Gerhartz and not pick up some useful tips?” There is

so much to learn, and we all should strive to be better all the time.

But it’s just as important to anchor ourselves within a supportive community. FACE is an

ideal place to do just that.

B. Eric Rhoads Peter Trippi

Chairman and Publisher Editor-in-Chief

Fine Art Connoisseur Fine Art Connoisseur

B. Eric Rhoads

Publisher/

Chairman

Peter Trippi

Editor-in-Chief

4

Ask our team about any questions or needs you may have. We’re here to help.

Christina Angelo Social & Community Coordinator, Streamline Publishing, Inc.; FACE Store

Ali CruickshankExecutive Assistant, Streamline Publishing, Inc.; Event Coordinator

Tom ElmoChief Operating Officer, Streamline Publishing, Inc.

Jason KelleyDirector of Sales, Streamline Publishing, Inc.; FACE Store

Nic KuperProduction Director, Streamline Publishing, Inc.; Main Stage Manager

Richard LindenbergNational Sales Manager, Streamline Publishing, Inc.

Jaime OsetekAccounting, Streamline Publishing, Inc.; Registration

Nia Raeford Order Fulfillment, Streamline Publishing, Inc.; FACE Store

Eric Rhoads Chairman and Publisher, Streamline Publishing, Inc.; Host

Peter Trippi Editor-in-Chief, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine; Host

Turner Vinson Director of Video Operations, Streamline Publishing, Inc.

Sarah Webb Sales Assistant, Streamline Publishing, Inc.; Help Desk

Dear Colleague,

As you know, our world needs beauty and art

more than ever, and we each have a role to play

in furthering them.

The mission of The Representational Art

Conference (TRAC) has always been to

encourage appreciation of the best historical

and contemporary representational art, not only

among those who have attended our events, but

also among readers of the proceedings that we

have published after each gathering.

Over the years, TRAC has made a huge

difference in this field, and I am very glad that

its good work is continuing. We are thrilled

that TRAC has its own space within the

Figurative Art Convention & Expo (FACE). In

light of FACE’s similar mission and focus on

world-class representational artists, California

Lutheran University is fully in support of TRAC’s

continuance in this exciting new context.

I am truly pleased to be working again

alongside Peter Trippi, editor-in-chief of Fine

Art Connoisseur magazine, and Eric Rhoads, its

chairman and publisher. (Some of you may recall

Peter’s lively talk about the art market at the

March 2014 edition of TRAC in Ventura Beach.)

Here at the Biltmore Hotel, the TRAC session

room is right around the corner from FACE’s,

so you will always have full access to all events

and speakers under one roof. We are particularly

pleased that all attendees will get to hear

three of our TRAC faculty: Prof. Donald Kuspit

(Stony Brook University), Dr. Elliot Bostwick

Davis (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), and Prof.

Stephen Hicks (Rockford University).

Welcome to Miami, and thank you for your past,

present, and future support of TRAC!

Dr. Michael J. Pearce

Associate Professor

California Lutheran University

Dr. Michael J. Pearce

Associate Professor

California Lutheran University

TRAC2017

TheRepresentationalArt Conference

5

GROUND FLOOR

StonemanDouglas Merrick

TuttleBowman

CCA Cou

DanielsonGallery

Cutler

Lightburn

FountainFlagler

Deering

Brickell

Terra

ceTe

rrace

Country ClubCourtyard

CountryClub

Ballroom

Fisher

Laguna

Terrace

Alhambra Ballroom — FACE StageFlagler Room — TRAC sessions and also Jordan Sokol Pre-Convention WorkshopTuttle Room — Daniel Gerhartz Pre-Convention WorkshopMerrick Room — Graydon Parrish Pre-Convention Workshop Majorca Room — VIP LoungeCountry Club Ballroom — StudioGranada Ballroom — Expo Hall

M A I N B U I L D I N G

C O N F E R E N C E C E N T E R

TRAC2017

TheRepresentationalArt Conference

6

Register for the 7th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo.

WE TRUST YOU’LL ENJOY THE LOCATION.

SANTA FE • APRIL 16-20, 2018 REGISTER AT PLEINAIRCONVENTION.COM

OR CALL 561.655.8778

Join us in Santa Fe for the world’s largest plein air paint-out — demonstrations by many of the world’s top artists • four stages featuring instruction in oil, watercolor and pastel • and much more • Seating is limited, so sign up now!

KEVIN MACPHERSONSign up for a special

pre-convention workshop with painting legend Kevin Macpherson

(additional fee is required)

80% SOLD OUT

as of late October, 2017

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7PRE-CONVENTION

Tuttle Room Flagler Room12PM-5PM Figures and Portraits with Daniel

Gerhartz, Day 1*12PM-5PM Basics of Drawing the Figure with

Jordan Sokol Day 1**Fee required

DAY 1: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8 Expo Hall: Open 2PM-3PM to VIPs only – 3PM-9:30PM Open to all

PRE-CONVENTIONTuttle Room Flagler Room Merrick Room

9AM-3PM Figures and Portraits with Daniel Gerhartz Day 2*

Basics of Drawing the Figure with Jordan Sokol Day 2*

Color School with Graydon Parrish*

CONVENTIONFACE Stage

4PM-4:30PM Opening Ceremony – Eric Rhoads, Peter Trippi, and Dr. Michael J. Pearce

4:35PM-5:15PM Donald Kuspit Keynote Address: The New Objectivism

5:20PM-6PM Panel discussion with Daniel Graves, Graydon Parrish, Patricia Watwood, moderated by Peter Trippi: Looking to the Future

6PM-6:15PM Eric Rhoads – Introduction of scholarships and words from scholarship recipient Fina Mooney

6:15PM-7:45PM Max Ginsburg Demo: Truth Is Beauty

7:45PM-8PM Closing remarks by Eric Rhoads, Peter Trippi, and Dr. Michael J. Pearce

8PM-9:30PM Cocktail Party

*Fee required

DAY 2: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9Expo Hall: Open 8AM-6PM

FACE Stage TRAC Room

8AM-8:20AM Home Room No Programming

8:30AM-11:20AM Sherrie A. McGraw Demo: Concept: The Magic of Painting

8:30AM-9:10AM Amanda Theis Paper: The Da Vinci Initiative: Changing the Culture of Art Education

9:15AM-9:55AM Saskia Eubanks Paper: Contrapposto and the Tectonics of Gender

10AM-10:40AM William Oberst Paper: What the Painted Figure Says About the Artist

10:45AM-11:25AM Drake Gómez Paper: Nathan Goldstein and the Education of Vision

AGENDA

8

FACE Stage TRAC Room11:30AM-12:30PM Elliot Bostwick Davis Presentation:

The Place of Figurative Art in the Americas: New Acquisitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

No Programming

12:30PM-2PM Lunch (on your own)

2PM-3PM Jacob Collins Presentation: An Art World in Crisis

No Programming

3:10PM-5:50PM David A Leffel Demo: Edges: The Soul of the Painting

3:10PM-3:50PM Shannon Robinson Presentation: The Changing Global Art Market and the Future of the Professional Artist

3:55PM-4:55PM Eric Rhoads Presentation: Marketing for Figurative Artists

5PM-5:50PM Peter Trippi Presentation: The Challenges of Being an Artist Today

6PM-7PM Dinner (on your own)

7PM-7:45PM David A Leffel & Friends Panel Discussion: What Makes a Painting a Work of Art, moderated by Dr. Michael J. Pearce

No Programming

7:50PM-10PM Special viewing of the documentary David A Leffel: An American Master, followed by a Q&A with David A Leffel

STUDIO: Country Club Ballroom6PM-11PM Studio open with mentors and models. Mentors are Ryan S. Brown, Graydon Parrish,

Michael Mentler, Greg Mortenson, Patricia Watwood.*

*Fee required

DAY 3: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10Expo Hall: Open 8AM-6PM

FACE Stage TRAC Room

8AM-8:20AM Home Room No Programming

8:30AM-11:20AM John Coleman Demo: Evolving Head

8:30AM-9:10AM George O’Hanlon Presentation: Painting Best Practices

9:15AM-9:55AM Randall Van Schepen Paper: Dis/Appearing: Tentative Figural Practices

10AM-10:40AM David Molesky Paper: Real-Photoism

10:45AM-11:25AM

Aihua Zhou Paper: Chinese Face and American Body: Uncovering Images of Masculinity in Late 19th to Mid 20th Century Chinese and American Painting

11:30AM-12:30PM Steven Assael Presentation: Evolution

No Programming

AGENDATHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9 (continued)

9

12:30PM-2PM Lunch (on your own)

FACE Stage TRAC Room2PM-3PM Stephen Hicks Presentation: The

Flight from the Figure – and Back: Human Significance in Art

No Programming

3:10PM-5:50PM Juliette Aristides Demo: The Fine Art of Figure Drawing

3:10PM-3:50PM Justin Kunz Paper: Culture, Allegory, and Ethnicity in Contemporary Representational Art

3:55PM-4:35PM Suzy Hart Paper: The Figure as Communicator

4:40PM-5:50PM Joseph Bravo Paper: Skilled Representationalism, the Contemporary Art Canon, and the Dynamics of Institutional Power

6PM-7PM Dinner (on your own)

No Programming 7:30PM-8:25PM Panel Discussion: What Does Victory for Representational Art Look Like? moderated by Dr. Michael J. Pearce

8:35PM-9:30PM Panel Discussion: Is This a Movement? If So, What Now?, moderated by Peter Trippi

STUDIO: Country Club Ballroom8:30AM-6PM Studio access available; no mentors or models present.*

6PM-11PM Studio open with mentors and models. Mentors are Ryan S. Brown, Graydon Parrish, Michael Mentler, Greg Mortenson, Patricia Watwood.*

DAY 4: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11Expo Hall: Open 8AM-3PM

FACE Stage TRAC Room8AM-8:20AM Home Room No Programming

8:30AM-10:30AM Daniel Gerhartz Demo: Training Your Eye to See

8:30AM-9:20AM Dr. Michael J. Pearce Paper: Throwing Down the Gauntlet

9:30AM-10:10AM Virgil Elliott Paper: Aspire to Inspire

10:40AM-11:40AM Daniel Graves Presentation: Our Way Forward Is in the Past

No Programming

11:50AM-1:50PM Michael Mentler Demo: Life Drawing from the Ground Up

11:50AM-12:35PM Max Ginsburg Presentation: Multifigure Paintings and Realism

12:40PM-1:20PM Brian Curtis Paper: Beauty, Quality, and the Good: Art as a Material Reflection of a Spiritual Reality

2PM-2:30PM Closing Ceremony

STUDIO: Country Club Ballroom8:30AM-2PM Studio access available; no mentors or models present.*

*Fee required

AGENDAFRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10 (continued)

10

Juliette AristidesJuliette Aristides is a Seattle-based painter who seeks to under-

stand and convey the human spirit through art.

Actively dedicated to rebuilding a traditional arts education in the United States, Aristides is the founder and director of the Aristides Atelier at the Gage Academy of Fine Art in Seattle, Washington. She teaches workshops both nationally and internationally. She is the author of The Classical Drawing Atelier, The Classical Painting Atelier, Lessons in Classical Drawing, and Lessons in Classical Painting, all published by Watson-Guptill. Aristides is recog-nized as a Living Master by the Art Renewal Center.

Steven AssaelSteven Assael is an American painter recognized nationally as one of the leading

representational figurative artists of his generation.

Born and raised in New York, New York, Assael showed an enthusiasm for art at a young age, taking art classes at the Museum of Modern Art at the age of 4. He attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York and at the New York Academy of Art.

Joseph BravoJoseph Bravo is an independent curator and arts writer. With a master’s degree in art

history and over 25 years working in museums and as a university art history instructor, Bravo brings unique insights to the interpretation and contextualization of fine art. For the last 15 years, Bravo has focused his attention on issues in contemporary art, particularly those relating to the dynamics of the creation of art canon

and the inclusion of marginalized aesthetic optics. Bravo has made it his life’s pursuit to share the intrinsic value and illuminating power of fine art with anyone who would aspire to perceive it.

Ryan S. BrownRyan S. Brown received his B.F.A. in illustration from Brigham Young University and studied

drawing at the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. Upon his return from Florence, he opened his own drawing school, the Classical Drawing Academy, and taught at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, Brigham Young University, and Utah Valley University. Ryan finished his painting studies at the Florence Academy in 2008, and then opened the Art Renewal Center-approved Masters Academy of Art.

John ColemanJohn Coleman was born in 1949 in California. His subject matter is based on American mythology,

where mood and symbolism are paramount.

Last November marked the opening of Past/Present/Future, a retrospec-tive spanning 50 years of John’s career at Scottsdale’s Museum of the West that culminated with a sold-out one-man show at Legacy Gallery.

John is a member of the Cowboy Artists of America, a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society, a Signa-ture Member of the California Art Club, and a Prix de West artist.

Jacob CollinsJacob Collins is a leading figure in the contemporary revival of classical painting.

He earned a B.A. in history from Columbia College and attended the New York Studio School, the New York Academy of Art, and the Art Students League.

His work has been widely exhib-ited in North America and Europe and is included in several American museums. Collins is the founder of the Water Street Atelier, the Grand Central Academy of Art, the Hudson River Fellowship, and the Grand Central Atelier.

Nilda ComasNilda Comas is an international artist.In 2017, Comas was commissioned to create

a new statue for the National Statuary Hall inside the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Comas’s works have been exhibited and are part of public and private collections worldwide.

Comas believes that technical mastery is vital to creating fine art. She has studied the techniques of Classical, Renaissance, Baroque, and Modern sculpture.

Brian CurtisBrian Curtis currently holds the position of associate professor of drawing and painting

at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. He wrote, designed, illustrated, and produced an introduc-tory perceptual drawing text, Drawing from Observation (2010).

Throughout most of Brian’s painting career he has focused on psycho-mythological figurative narratives that explore the transitional, tentative moments occurring between times of purposeful human activity.

Elliot Bostwick DavisElliot Bostwick Davis, John Moors Cabot Chair of the Art of the

Americas Department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston since January 2001, came to the MFA from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In her position as chair of the MFA’s Art of the Americas Depart-ment, Davis oversees the museum’s

FACULTY BIOS

11

extensive collection of art of the Americas.

She is a trustee of MassHuman-ities, a councilor for the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, and an overseer of the North Bennett Street School in Boston.

Virgil ElliottArtist Virgil Elliott is the author of Traditional Oil Painting — Advanced Techniques and

Concepts from the Renaissance to the Present, published by Random House, and is ranked a Living Master by the Art Renewal Center, where he serves as technical adviser. He is an active member of the ASTM Subcommittee on Artists’ Paints and Materials, and is widely acknowledged as an expert on oil painting materials and techniques. Virgil has taught art for the last 35 years, privately and in various institu-tions. His primary focus throughout his long life, however, has always been on creating his own artwork.

Saskia EubanksSaskia Eubanks is a figurative painter from New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition to painting

and exhibiting, she has worked in museum education, art conservation, as an independent curator, and as an arts writer, and has taught studio painting, drawing, and sculpture at a number of institutions, as well as writing seminars on art at Boston University. Her most recent solo exhibition took place in New Orleans in October of 2017. She is currently teaching painting at Tulane University as well as the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts.

Daniel GerhartzDaniel Gerhartz’s skillful and technically adept work celebrates the created world, the

human form, and personal rela-

tionships. Many of his figures are dressed in dramatic clothing, which he often invents for its aesthetic appeal and lyrical quality so as to achieve a sense of otherworldliness.

About his work, Daniel has said, “My goal is to effectively record the richness of our human experience, the contrasts between life and death, the beautiful and common, joy and sorrow, while in the end, offering a message of hope.”

Max GinsburgGinsburg’s paintings are in many museums and private collections, including the Butler

Institute of American Art, the New Britain Museum, and the Society of Illustrators Museum. Ginsburg taught art over 50 years and has given many workshops around the world. In 2011 he published the book Max Ginsburg — Retrospective.

Over the years he has received many awards; most recently, he was awarded the William Draper Grand Prize at the Portrait Society of America 2015 Competition, the Gold Medal Award at the California Art Club for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts, and Best in Show in the Art Renewal Center’s 2011 International Salon Competition.

Drake GómezDrake Gómez is an artist, curator, and educator, currently serving as professor in

the Visual Arts Program at Keystone College in Pennsylvania.

Gómez has curated over 50 exhibitions of work by artists from throughout the U.S. and other coun-tries, and has written numerous critical and interpretive essays on the work of contemporary artists. In 2007, he received the Arts Commentary Award from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He is currently curating a national exhibition of paintings and drawings by the late Nathan Goldstein.

Daniel GravesGraves traveled to Florence in the ’70s in search of the tech-niques of those masters

who inspired him most: Rembrandt, Titian, Velasquez, and the French Academic painters. He studied under Nerina Simi and met Pietro Annigoni. He found a personal style that fuses the richness of 19th-century Italian painting with academic draftsman-ship. Graves founded the Florence Academy of Art in 1991 to keep alive the tradition of great painting and sculpture. The Academy has three locations: Florence, Italy; Mölndal, Sweden; and Jersey City, New Jersey.

Suzy HartBorn in England, Suzy Hart grew up in Montreal and South Carolina. She is a Life

Member of the Art Students League of New York, where she spent several years studying with Frank Mason, N.A., and Gustav Rehberger. She earned her B.A. in sculpture with a minor in art history at Montana State University. A lifelong and devoted portraitist, she primarily paints commissions and figurative imagina-tive works. She has taught at the Greenville Museum of Art and other venues, and is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and of the Appalachian Pastel Society. She has received several awards from the Portrait Society of America.

Stephen HicksStephen R.C. Hicks is professor of philosophy at Rockford University, Illinois. He received his

bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Guelph, Canada, and his Ph.D. from Indiana University, Bloomington. In 2010, he won his university’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

He was a visiting professor at Georgetown University, visiting fellow

FACULTY BIOS

12

FACULTY BIOSat the Social Philosophy & Policy Center in Bowling Green, Ohio, and senior fellow at the Objectivist Center in New York.

He has published four books, and his work has been published in academic journals such as Review of Metaphysics and other publications such as the Wall Street Journal.

Lee HuttLee Hutt studied painting in Belgium, where her love of clas-sical traditions in art

was encouraged.She earned an M.S. in science from

Columbia University, and studied art at the New School and sculpture at Mount Holyoke College and Lyme Academy.

Lee Hutt combines psychological insight with an intuitive response to her subjects. Her work ranges from straightforward portraits of people and animals to figurative compositions.

Hutt is a fellow and member of the board of the National Sculpture Society, a member of the board of the Allied Artists of America, and a member of the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club.

Justin KunzJustin Kunz is an artist, educator, and designer of American coins and medals. Kunz holds a

Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from Laguna College of Art and Design. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Design at Brigham Young University, and his paintings have been included in exhi-bitions throughout the United States.

As a master designer in the United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program, his numismatic design credits include the 2017 American Liberty 225th Anniversary Gold Coin, 2016 American Liberty Silver Medal, and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe Code Talkers Congressional Gold Medal, among others.

Donald KuspitDonald Kuspit is one of America’s most distinguished art critics. He is the Distinguished

Professor Emeritus of Art History and Philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the senior critic at the New York Academy of Art. He has doctorates in philos-ophy (University of Frankfurt) and art history (University of Michigan). He was the editorial adviser for European Art 1900-50 and art criticism for the Encyclopedia Britannica (16th edition), and wrote the entry on art criticism for it. He serves as a contributing editor for several art magazines, and has published several books of poetry.

David A LeffelDavid A Leffel is not only recognized by his peers as a painters’ painter, he is consid-

ered by many to be no less than the artistic reincarnation of Rembrandt. In New York he became a revered instructor at the Art Students League, where he shared his special under-standing of painting with thousands of students from all over the world. Colleagues and collectors alike recognize Leffel as a modern master.

Leffel has written two books that have met worldwide acclaim for their ability to integrate his understanding of technical aspects of painting with his philosophy and humor: An Artist Teaches and Self-Portraits: A Visual Journey of Insight.

Sherrie McGrawSherrie McGraw studied and taught painting and drawing at the legendary Art Students

League of New York. Recent recogni-tions include an honorary doctorate from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and a rare medal from the Butler Institute of American Art, recognizing her Lifetime Achievement

in American Art. Her work has shown in major museum shows for years, and she is recognized as a prominent artist of our time.

An accomplished writer, McGraw authored The Language of Drawing and has made contributions to two comprehensive books on Nicolai Fechin’s drawings and paintings. McGraw continues to teach world-wide through The Artists Guild online.

Michael MentlerMichael Mentler had his first solo exhibition of works at age 14. He would later study at the

Layton School of Art in Milwaukee and Washington University in Saint Louis, where he taught figure drawing and classical design. Michael’s work was most recently featured in Amer-ican Artist Drawing Magazine in an article titled “Learn From the Sketch-books of a Modern Day Leonardo.” Michael is also featured in Juliette Aristides’s book Lessons in Classical Drawing (Essential Techniques From Inside the Atelier). He is the founder and director of the Society of Figura-tive Arts & Artists.

David MoleskyDavid Molesky is a New York City-based painter and writer. Molesky received his B.A. from

UC Berkeley in 1999. Over the past 25 years, he has painted a variety of subject matter in oils, including turbu-lent seawater, forest fires, archetypal narratives, and most recently, riots. He focuses on universal humanistic themes and the experience of the sublime and beautiful. These paint-ings have been featured in museum exhibitions across the globe, and are in public collections on both coasts and in Europe.

0.5986

13

Fina MooneyFina Mooney is a 13-year-old aspiring artist. After starting classes at the Art

Academy at age 5, she honed her skills in mixing values and copying great educational works. She then progressed to more advanced work and entered the world of oils. Her assignments have grown to Bargue studies, glazing studies, live model work, sight-size techniques, alla prima, and direct painting.

She has won several first prizes and a State Fair Grand Prize award for her work. In 2017, she was awarded a scholarship for a summer work-shop of her choice at the Florence Academy of Art.

Gregory MortensonGregory Mortenson is a classically trained artist. After receiving his

degree in art, he studied life drawing and painting, then moved to New York to further his education in classical technique at Water Street Atelier at the Grand Central Academy of Art.

The majority of the figure paintings Mortenson creates are presented to the viewer as simple half-length or bust portraits. What is most impres-sive is the artist’s ability to utilize a subtle downward glance, a slight part in the lips, or a tilted chin to convey reflections of inner life. Mortenson teaches portrait drawing and painting at Grand Central Academy.

William OberstWilliam Oberst holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Claremont Graduate University

and an M.F.A. in painting from Stony Brook University. At Stony Brook he taught painting and drawing courses and directed the University Scholars program. He has been selected as one of Today’s Masters by Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, and his

paintings reside in collections in the U.S. and abroad. He was a principal contributor to The Mill Children exhibition (still touring). Recent significant commissions include the Boston-based Massachusetts Laborers’ Benefit Funds (2017). Oberst’s research into the founda-tions of representational painting has resulted in convention papers at The Representational Art Conference and the Science of Consciousness confer-ence.

Graydon ParrishGraydon Parrish is a realist painter living in Austin, Texas, trained in and an exponent of the

atelier method. His parents, collec-tors of 19th-century American and European art, influenced his choice to pursue an academic figurative style.

After graduating high school in 1988, he learned of the newly formed New York Academy of Art created by Andy Warhol and Stuart Pivar. There, Parrish joined other students who have become leading figures in the classical art revival.

Since then Parrish has remodeled color theories by Albert Munsell and Josef Albers to fit traditional painting methods. Parrish is an instructor at the Grand Central Academy of Art.

Michael J. PearceMichael Pearce is a popular and influ-ential leader of the

international representational art community. His Secret Paintings exhibition is currently on a tour of the United States. In addition to being an accomplished painter, he is author of Art in the Age of Emergence, a book describing the relationship of representational art to the philosophy of emergence. In 2012 he co-founded The Repre-sentational Art Conference (TRAC), bringing artistic heavy hitters such as Odd Nerdrum and Roger Scruton

to California to meet their American peers. He is an associate professor at California Lutheran University.

B. Eric RhoadsEric is the founder of, and your host for, the Figurative Art Conven-tion & Expo. He is the

chairman and CEO of Streamline Publishing, Inc., which produces Fine Art Connoisseur and PleinAir magazines, Streamline Art Video, the PleinAir Salon, the Plein Air Conven-tion & Expo, the Figurative Art Conven-tion & Expo, and the Publisher’s Invi-tational events, as well as magazines and websites in the radio broadcasting field. He is the author of Art Marketing Boot Camp I, II, III, IV, and V, as well as a blogger on art marketing and radio broadcasting. Eric also produces the weekly PleinAir Podcast, avail-able on iTunes and heard by about 40,000 people weekly. He is an active member of the Salmagundi Club, the National Arts Club, and the California Art Club. His work has been exhibited by five galleries.

Shannon RobinsonShannon Robinson is a former corporate litigator who retired to

become the president of a non-profit foundation known as Windows to the Divine, which promotes patronage and philanthropy through the arts. In 2015, the foundation launched a new national network of artists and collectors called Collectors for Connoisseurship. Through exhibi-tions, symposia, and salons hosted in collaboration with museums and other non-profits, the foundation encourages everyone to become a patron of the arts by collecting original art and supporting the voca-tion of the living artist.

FACULTY BIOS

14

Subscribe today. 800-610-5771 pleinairmagazine.com | fi neartconnoisseur.com

Jordan SokolJordan Sokol is a graduate of the Flor-ence Academy of Art whose work focuses

on the human figure. After a decade of studying and teaching in Florence, Italy, he moved to Spain and began teaching from his studio in Madrid. Jordan returned to the United States to open the U.S. branch of the Flor-ence Academy of Art in Jersey City, New Jersey, and he serves there as academic director.

Jordan has taught extensively throughout the United States and Europe, and has been featured in numerous publications including the two most recent books by Juliette Aristides.

Amanda TheisMandy Theis (Hallenius) is a classically trained artist who graduated from the Aristides Atelier

in Seattle, Washington. She has also studied with Kamille Corry, Jeffrey Mims, and Paul Ingbretson. She holds a B.A. degree in art education and co-founded the non-profit art education organization the Da Vinci Initiative with Kara Ross in 2014. She regularly travels the country exhibiting her artwork and hosting workshops for art teachers in order to bring atelier training into K-12 art classrooms.

Peter TrippiPeter Trippi is editor-in-chief of Fine Art Connoisseur, the magazine that serves

collectors of historical and contem-porary representational art. He is also president of Projects in 19th

Century Art, a firm he established to pursue research, writing, and curating opportunities. Previously he served as director of the Dahesh Museum of Art (New York) and vice-director for development at the Brooklyn Museum. Last year Trippi co-curated an exhibition about the Dutch-born, London-based painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema, which was recently on view at London’s Leighton House Museum and is accompanied by a book published by Prestel.

Randall Van Schepen Randall K. Van Schepen is associate professor of art and architectural

history in the School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation at Roger Williams University, Rhode Island. Focusing on modern and contempo-rary art and architecture as well as

FACULTY BIOS

15

critical theory, his research ranges chronologically over the 20th and 21st centuries with occasional forays into the philosophical foundations of modernist thought in the 18th and 19th centuries. Conceptual themes that pervade his work include studies of the role of memory in art, the philo-sophical and spiritual background of modernist criticism, contemporary artists’ approaches to memorializing or addressing tragedy/terror, and the ambiguous status of the photograph in contemporary and modern theories of art.

Patricia WatwoodPatricia Watwood’s paintings explore transformative narra-

tives and mythological archetypes, and prioritize aesthetic principles and technical rigor, balancing percep-

tion and design. Her most common subject matter is the nude, particu-larly women, in images that convey the sacred feminine.

Watwood earned her M.F.A. with honors from New York Academy of Art, and studied as a founding member of the Water Street Atelier. Watwood has been an adjunct professor of drawing at New York Academy of Art, has given lectures and workshops across the country, is a featured art instructor with Craftsy.com, and has produced two art instructional DVDs.

Aihua Zhou Aihua was born in Beijing, China. She pursued a profes-sional education at the

China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. After immigrating to the United States, she studied figurative

art at California Lutheran University and classical figurative sculpture at Academy of Art University, San Francisco.

Aihua has read widely in philos-ophy, the history of art, and aesthetic theory. She is currently attending a doctoral program in art history and visual culture at the University of Exeter, England, focusing on the rela-tionship between the art and culture of the East and West.

She teaches drawing at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.

• Aspen’s Bristle Helps Paint Glide• Virtually Refreshes Itself After Every Use• Durable Synthetic Retains its Shape• Holds and Releases Color Like Natural Bristle

Premium Bristle for Peak Performance

TM

Discover Aspen at your local retailer or find out more at princetonbrush.com

“Aspen has found its

way into my treasured

pouch of brushes for

both studio work and

painting plein air.”

MARK KEATHLEY

11600-PB-Aspen-SponsorAd-[7.5x4.875]Oct2017-FNL.indd 1 2017-10-17 3:58 PM

FACULTY BIOS

16

FACE Sessions FACE Stage (Alhambra Ballroom) All FACE sessions are open to TRAC attendees.

Wednesday, November 84PM – Eric Rhoads, Peter Trippi, and Dr. Michael J. PearceOpening Ceremony of Inaugural FACE (Figurative Art Convention & Expo) and TRAC (The Representational Art Conference)

4:35PM – Donald Kuspit The New ObjectivismThe basic argument is that the old “subjec-tivism” — broadly, art that eschewed “external necessity” for the sake of “internal necessity” (Kandinsky’s terms) — has exhausted itself, and a new “objective” art is displacing it (without denying its art historical significance). Kuspit will trace, in summary form, the idea motivating the modern “turn to subjectivity,” which begins with the romantic emphasis on feeling and climaxes in the conviction that expressing the unconscious as directly as possible is the goal of art, suggesting that art that doesn’t do so is inauthentic; and the idea motivating the “return to objectivity,” which involves the “post-modern” idea that the unconscious has been strip-mined by modern art, climactically in Abstract Expressionism, so that an art grounded in consciousness has become a new neces-sity, and is freshly authentic.

5:20PM – Peter Trippi with Daniel Graves, Graydon Parrish, and Patricia WatwoodLooking to the Future — PanelJoin Fine Art Connoisseur Editor-in-Chief Peter Trippi for an informal and lively conversation with three of our field’s leading artists: Daniel Graves, Graydon Parrish, and Patricia Watwood will assess the current state of contemporary figurative art and where it is likely to go in the decade ahead.

6PM – Eric RhoadsIntroduction of Scholarships and Words from Scholarship Recipient Fina Mooney

6.15PM – Max Ginsburg Truth Is BeautyPainting a Head Study from Life: Join Max Ginsburg as he paints, alla prima, a portrait study of a model. Starting on a blank canvas, Ginsburg will block in the basic shapes and then develop the forms using color, essentially mixtures of cool and warm colors, and thicker paint. HIs goal will be to capture the unique character of the model through the relationship of forms he can

see rather than the forms he knows or has memorized.

Closing Remarks to follow Ginsburg Demonstration.

Thursday, November 97:30AM – Stand-up breakfast in Expo Hall

8AM – Home RoomCome to Home Room at the start of each day — it’s the time when we give away door prizes and make important announcements.

8.30AM – Sherrie A. McGrawConcept: The Magic of PaintingWhen a painting mesmerizes the viewer, the effect can be magical. It is this magic that most artists crave. But it doesn’t always happen — and definitely dies with the use of formulas. Why doesn’t magic happen more often? A painting reflects a profound meeting of artist and subject. That sensi-tivity, that immediacy, is what moves the viewer most, and when extraneous information is eliminated, a door is left open for the viewer to enter into a visual dialogue with the artist. This is part of the mystery, the indefinable beauty that a work of art can achieve.

McGraw will work from a costumed model and show that when the insignificant is removed, the viewer sees the unencum-bered beauty the artist sees, and the effect can captivate audiences for centuries.

11:30AM – Elliot Bostwick Davis The Place of Figurative Art in the Americas: New Acquisitions at the Museum of Fine Arts, BostonFACE coincides with the seventh anniver-sary of the MFA, Boston’s Art of the Amer-icas Wing, a new paradigm for thinking about the art of our nation in a more global context. Davis will discuss what recent acquisitions of figurative art say about the role of one of the oldest, most comprehen-sive art museums (founded in 1870) and the narrative of the art of our nation.

12:30PM – Lunch (on your own)

2PM – Jacob CollinsAn Art World in CrisisJoin Jacob Collins, artist and founder of the Grand Central Atelier, as he shares his thoughts on the situation in contemporary traditional realism.

Over the past 25 years, there has been a growth in the practice of realism and traditional painting. The various art schools and art markets have reflected this devel-

opment. There are many more aspiring realist and traditional painters, as well as a widening awareness and appreciation for these artists.

But this art world is in crisis. There is no structure of patronage to support these new artists. Nor is there a critical language or cultural sensibility to embrace and form this growing art scene. The danger we face is of another lost generation, artists without direction or market.

The art market and critical language we have inherited from the last century seem ill-fitted to the task. Already we see signs of fracture and failure, bad taste and cynicism. What is to be done?

3:10PM – David A Leffel Edges: The Soul of the Painting“Edges have more to do with the interior, the soul, of the painting rather than the exterior.” — David A LeffelThought by many to have achieved “rock star” status in the realist art world, Leffel is arguably a master at using edges to create mystery in a painting. As well, he is a master at conveying this knowledge to others. With his humor and intelligence intact, Leffel will paint a portrait discussing the use of edges to create a sense of his subject, using edges to subtly control the viewer’s eye and give a sense of reality through the scrim of an artist’s vision.

6PM – Dinner (on your own)

7PM – David A Leffel & Friends panel discussion: What Makes a Painting a Work of Art, moderated by Dr. Michael J. Pearce

7:50PM-10PM Special viewing of the documentary David A Leffel: An American Master, followed by a Q&A with David A Leffel

Studio (Country Club Ballroom) 6PM – Studio open with models and mentors Ryan S. Brown, Graydon Parrish, Michael Mentler, Greg Mortenson, Patricia WatwoodPre-paid Studio Pass required.

Friday, November 107:30AM – Stand-up breakfast in Expo Hall

8AM – Home RoomCome to Home Room at the start of each day — it’s the time when we give away door prizes and make important announcements.

SESSION INFORMATION

17

8:30AM – John ColemanEvolving HeadStarting from scratch, painter and sculptor John Coleman will sculpt a 5-year-old Navajo girl, then will show the transfor-mation of that work into a teenage Hopi maiden, and another transformation into a 70-year-old Sioux warrior with full regalia. Coleman will discuss design concepts and how sculpture and painting share the same compositional vocabulary, such as surface texture, hard and soft edges, and value changes. A key theme of his demo is to show the value of quick clay sketches to fluidly explore compositional choices.

11:30AM – Steven Assael EvolutionRecognized nationally as one of the leading representational figurative artists of his generation, Steven Assael will show a selection of drawings and paintings span-ning from his early development to his more recent works and discuss his process of techniques and the development of ideas that have evolved over his career.

12:30PM – Lunch (on your own)

2PM – Stephen HicksThe Flight from the Figure — and Back: Human Significance in ArtAs individuals, artists make philosophically pregnant choices with each work they begin: What do I want to express? What do I think and feel is significant? What do I want to see made real? What experiences do I want to generate in my viewers? What is worth spending my valuable time on? Yet artists also work within a broader culture that encourages or discourages their individual decisions.

In this talk, Stephen Hicks will speak of philosophy’s role in first developing the artistic culture in which modernism and postmodernism arose — but how philosophy has now moved on to new themes and priorities, ones that work well with the art world’s felt weariness with postmodernism’s cynical repetitiveness and its resurgent humanism.

3:10PM – Juliette AristidesThe Fine Art of Figure Drawing Drawing is the foundation of art and is at the center of learning to see. The imme-diacy of a drawing allows you to hear the artist’s thoughts and brings you closer

to the source of their inspiration. Many drawings are done as preparatory works, a means of thinking aloud, but some are done as finished pieces in themselves. In this demo Aristides will do a finished drawing in trois couleurs and discuss the essential qualities of good figure drawing.

6PM – Dinner (on your own)

Studio (Country Club Ballroom) 8:30AM – Studio open but no models or mentors

6PM – Studio open with models and mentors Ryan S. Brown, Graydon Parrish, Michael Mentler, Greg Mortenson, Patricia WatwoodPre-paid Studio Pass required.

Saturday, November 117:30AM – Stand-up breakfast in Expo Hall

8AM – Home RoomCome to Home Room at the start of each day — it’s the time when we give away door prizes and make important announcements.

The Finest Quality Handmade Artists’ Brushes

SESSION INFORMATION

18

SESSION INFORMATION8:30AM – Daniel GerhartzTraining Your Eye to SeeIn this portrait demonstration, Daniel will verbalize his train of thought through every stage of the painting, establishing the key concepts to guide the artist to distill the many decisions throughout the process.

10:40AM – Daniel GravesOur Way Forward Is in the PastUnderstanding why great works of the past were created is essential to our own work. Master artist and Florence Academy of Art founder Daniel Graves will share his personal journey, mixed with those of various artists of the past 2,300 years. Graves will touch on the process of making a work of art, and why it’s essential to the quality of the result. 11:50AM – Michael Mentler Life Drawing from the Ground UpFounder and director of the Society of Figu-rative Arts Michael Mentler will deconstruct and reconstruct the massed human form in the Renaissance tradition.

Mentler will demonstrate how to start with the mass conception, chisel out the planes, and define with line, and also how to use the orientation, rotation, and juxtaposition of the major masses to create the sensation of rhythm and movement. Learning to draw the figure from life and imagination is the foundation for creating masterful figurative art, and these priceless life lessons will show you a time-tested path for success.

2PM – Eric Rhoads, Peter Trippi, and Dr. Michael J. PearceClosing Ceremony

TRAC SessionsTRAC Room (Flagler Room)

All TRAC sessions are open to FACE attendees.

Thursday, November 98:30AM – Amanda Theis The Da Vinci Initiative: Changing the Culture of Art EducationThe Da Vinci Initiative (DVI) is a non-profit educational institution that provides visual literacy training to art teachers in order to foster a skill-based approach to contempo-rary art education. DVI outreach programs include workshops, conference sessions, and online resources.

The focus of this paper is on the many ways individuals passionate about art education can support the work of training art teachers in skill-based methods, and thus contribute to the movement to create a meaningful shift towards skill-based art education

9:15AM – Saskia Eubanks Contrapposto and the Tectonics of GenderExploring the figure and the contrapposto offers ideological questions that have the potential to bring classical concerns into the present day. As current views of the body continue to change, maintaining a system for interpretation is vital for preser-vation and evolution alike.

The contrapposto pose depicts change and movement from one psychological, intellectual, or emotional state into another. Its physical morphology depicts motion, the process of transition, and suggests symbolic meaning that transcends common definition. Many familiar pieces that attempt to depict both a point of departure as well as a destination suggest binate meaning. These challenging pieces do not exist by the denial of their opposites, and shatter the idea of existence in only one state. They defy gravity, time, and structure in their technique. How can we consider the meaning of this morphology with the contemporary arguments on gender?

Examining the Reclining Hermaphroditus from ancient Greece as a reclining contrap-posto and applying the criteria it inspires to an exploration of androgyny and hermaph-roditism, we will find the contrapposto pose resonates in history regarding movement and change while simultaneously inspiring a subset of symbolic articulation relevant to contemporary questions and conversations on gender.

10AM – William Oberst What the Painted Figure Says About the ArtistA 1909 female nude by Oskar Kokoschka offers clues to the artist’s state of mind while confronting his model: the stress he depicted in the way she grasps an elbow and withdraws her arm suggests that Kokoschka felt stress while scrutinizing her body; the obvious labor he expended in capturing the detached expression on her face — an area so overworked that it appears rendered by another artist — suggests a separation of mind from body Kokoschka himself felt. But what supports such claims? What supports even more complex claims that a particular feature depicted in a painting points to both the artist’s psyche as well as the sitter’s? I intend to explore the way knowledge of the paint-er’s psyche is different from knowledge of the sitter’s. I’ll argue that direct communica-tion of experience from painter to viewer can occur in art, making painters’ consciousness something public, rather than private. This denial of subjectivity — which isn’t how we customarily think of consciousness — undergirds the psychological authority we can attribute to paintings of the figure.

10:45AM – Drake Gómez Nathan Goldstein and the Education of VisionThe late Nathan Goldstein (1927-2013) was the author of several of the most important texts on traditional drawing, painting, and composition. Beginning with the acclaimed book The Art of Responsive Drawing (now in its 6th edition), and continuing with his Figure Drawing: The Structure, Anatomy, and Expressive Design of Human Form (in its 7th edition), along with five other widely used texts or instructional resources on art, Goldstein influenced entire generations of students in this country and abroad.

This paper examines Goldstein’s writings and artwork as a product of American Midwestern midcentury art instruction. Following his service in the Second World War, he attended the Art Institute of Chicago. In the 1960’s, Goldstein’s teaching — and later his writings — stood as a bulwark against the sway of Abstract Expressionism and other modernist movements in art school and university programs. The paper concludes with a discussion of Goldstein’s relationship to the Boston-area realists and figurative expres-sionists of the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s. The camaraderie and mutual influence of these artists produced one of the most vibrant centers for figurative art in the 20th century, and one whose influence continues to the present day.

TRAC2017

TheRepresentationalArt Conference

19

Michael and

Daniel are waiting

next door.(Better hurry)

Stop by the FACE Store in the Expo Hall and pick up these exceptional instructional DVDs by masters Mentler and Gerhartz, and others by members of our seriously talented faculty.

Figure Drawing in the Renaissance Tradition™ by Michael Mentler, Torian’s Smile™ by Daniel Gerhartz, Liliedahl Art Instruction Videos™, ©/TM Streamline Publishing, Inc. 2017. All Rights Reserved. HOME USE LICENSE ONLY: DO NOT COPY, DISTRIBUTE, RENT, OR PERFORM. For licensing information, contact 561-655-8778 or licensing@streamlinepublishing.com.

12:30PM – Lunch (on your own)

3:10PM – Shannon Robinson The Changing Global Art Market and the Future of the Professional ArtistWith galleries closing and markets changing, what do artists need to know to position themselves for success in this quickly shifting landscape? Shannon Robinson, chairperson of Collectors for Connoisseurship, a new national network of artists and collectors, will provide a big-picture look at today’s global art market — its strengths, weaknesses, and areas of opportunity for artists.

3:55PM – Eric RhoadsMarketing for Figurative Artists Publisher Eric Rhoads is interviewed by Fine Art Connoisseur Editor-in-Chief Peter Trippi about what artists need to do to build a posi-tive future, plus ideas they can implement to grow their art sales and collector awareness. The audience will be encouraged to submit specific marketing challenges.

4:40PM – Peter Trippi Presentation: The Challenges of Being an Artist Today

Friday, November 109:15AM – Randall Van SchepenDis/Appearing: Tentative Figural PracticesThe current paper is a survey of how the figure in contemporary art moved through three conceptual stages. These three stages cannot conceivably represent all possible recent figural strategies in art; my only aim in suggesting such a lineage is to suggest how such a potential iterative process may shed light on other practices.

The three stages I wish to discuss move from an implied figure with the birth of contemporary art practices in the 1960’s, to actual figures in the performance art practices of the 1970’s-90’s to more recent approaches that construct what I will call a “tentative figure” by complicating representations of the figure through processes of occlusion. These recent “tentative” representational practices seem to acknowledge the complica-tions of contemporary figural practice by using indistinct effects and also by acknowledging the virtual omnipresence of photographic imagery.

10AM – David Molesky Real-PhotoismAs the digital age continues to ramp up, 3d scanning and printing are making it easier to create what looks like a hand-made painting. Many artists working today use forms of digital printing to create works that are placed on the market as oil paintings. Some of these artists are forthright in revealing their process, while others fraudulently mislabel the work. Adding paint over a printed image on canvas does not make it an oil on canvas. While labeling it mixed-media is a little better, it still does not identify the process or materials. These art objects appear to be made with incredible skill, resembling photorealism paintings. However, they are barely handcrafted at all, and I suggest that they belong to a genre that could be called Real-photoism; it’s really photo with paint on it.

In the following lecture, I would like to look at how several artists use Photoshop and photography to create their artworks, while sharing a few anecdotes from my experience in art world journalism that involve the representation of overpainted digital prints as paintings. Some of the

SESSION INFORMATION

20

SESSION INFORMATIONartists whose work I will discuss include: Gottfried Helnwein, Robert Craig, Dan Witz, and Thomas Kincaid.

10:45AM – Aihua Zhou Chinese Face and American Body: Uncovering Images of Masculinity in Late 19th to Mid 20th Century Chinese and American PaintingMale images in Chinese and American academic painting share the same roots in the late 19th Century French academy, but because of their differing cultural and social backgrounds, each developed their own trajectory of image into the 20th Century.

In late imperial China, following the banning of Confucian philosophy, traditional culture was either ignored or completely abandoned. The male image in China was submerged, as it was thought more indispensable to bring man’s face back at the time for the nation. On the other hand, during its nation-building period, America was transformed from a small agricultural nation into one of the great industrial powers of the world: physical strength was necessary at the time for the country, and was celebrated in images accordingly.

Combining visual and textual analysis with an examination of social and cultural aspects surrounding these works, I uncover how Chinese and American artists redefined their cultural identities in relation to their own cultures, to other cultures, and to global culture generally. In both cases, bringing male images to the surface not only reinvigorated interest in masculinity but also created the possibility of a new balance between the masculine and feminine that could move the culture forward.

12:30PM – Lunch (on your own)

3:10PM – Justin Kunz Culture, Allegory, and Ethnicity in Contemporary Representational ArtThe human figure has long provided a powerful visual device for allegorical representations of the values we share. How do we as contemporary artists represent our beliefs and values through figurative allegories and visual narrative systems today? For example, how might we portray a precious ideal like liberty? We recognize that Modernism happened, bringing visible changes to our art forms and ways of life. But has essential human nature changed?

What about the diversity inherent in our unity — the ideal of e pluribus unum? Can we as figurative artists attempt to speak

authentically for, or about, other people and cultures in our work? Are there any reasonable limits to cultural influence and adaptation in our artistic forms? Or does the attempt to define such rules contradict principles of free speech? How can we play a positive role in preserving our values and inspiring a healthy, vibrant culture through the work we create?

I will seek to address these questions and more from my own perspective as a figurative painter, narrative illustrator, and designer of American coins and medals.

3:55PM – Suzy Hart The Figure as CommunicatorThe human figure and face provide a powerful means to communicate emotion, expression, and narrative. It is means for psychological exploration, release, allegory, and social comment. The canon of this century will certainly include fascinating current approaches in figurative art as well as the new realism as it assigns historical importance. Realists should be taking an active part in this discussion in order to define this movement. Artists have a critical role in shaping the way people think about the urgent challenges posed by a cybernetic, pluralistic, environmentally and martially challenged world.

The evocative potential of the figure as communicator will be discussed as exemplified in the work of several artists; we will look at the narrative symbolism of Odd Nerdrum, the emotional rescue studies by Cynthia Sitton, alienation in Julio Reyes’ industrial landscapes, John Brosio’s ironical environmental commentaries, the religious iconography of Rigoberto Gonzalez and Regina Jacobson, as well as social commentary by Max Ginsburg.

4:40PM – Joseph BravoSkilled Representationalism, the Contemporary Art Canon, and the Dynamics of Institutional Power Since the advent of the Postwar period, skilled representational artwork has been largely marginalized from the academic aesthetic dialogue and is rarely exhibited in first-tier museums or institutions dedi-cated to the exhibition of Contemporary fine art. The reasons for this are complex, and cultural relevance of any aesthetic preoccupation ebbs and flows according to sociological factors and academic fashion.

As a marginalized group, skilled representationalists have understand-ably reacted to their relative ostraciza-tion from high culture with the same

overt frustration, emotional vitriol, and reactionary intellectual response as one would expect from any social cohort who have experienced being other-ized and its corresponding political disempowerment within the halls of the Academy. Over the last few decades, as representational rendering skills were largely deprioritized in the typical university art department curriculum, those skills virtually disappeared.

It is my contention that a cultural window of opportunity is opening and the problematic aesthetics that have dominated the last few decades are vulnerable to having their hegemony challenged. But if skilled representa-tional artists are to take advantage of this emerging opportunity to re-enter the Academy and the museum, then they must pursue effective intellectual and political strategies that will regain them a seat at the table where cultural and institutional power is allocated.

It is my intention to propose intellectual modes of inquiry and political strategies that will more effectively enable those representationalists who seek to be included in the critical dialogue and who wish to achieve canonical recognition to attain a more profound and enduring cultural relevance in institutions, the marketplace, and in the society at large.

7:30PM – Panel Discussion: What Does Victory for Representational Art Look Like? moderated by Dr. Michael J. Pearce

8:35PM – Panel Discussion: Is This a Movement? If So, What Now? moderated by Peter Trippi

Saturday, November 118:30AM – Dr. Michael J. PearceThrowing Down the GauntletHaving passed through the furnace of the 20th Century, representational art has emerged triumphant and is finding its proper place in the emergent art world after postmodernism. However, represen-tational artists continue to find difficulty in gaining attention and respect for their work, despite its technical excellence.

In this paper I will explore possible directions for representational art in the coming decade, discuss creativity using the ideas of psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and consider the importance of imagination.

21

O

R

D

E

R

N

O

W

So simple, yet so practical. Clip your

brushes within view. No more falling

off trays or tables. Studio or outdoor

eaeasel. Watch the video at

THE COOL

TOOL FOR

ARTISTS.

Professional sculptors from the National Sculpture Society will be participating in FACE and bringing a third dimension to the convention. NSS Fellow Lee Hutt and Elected Sculptor Nilda Comas are faculty members, and featured artists include John Coleman, who is also a master sculptor and Fellow of the National Sculpture Society. NSS Executive Director Gwen Pier will be present to share information about sculp-ture programs and resources.

The sculptors will be in the Expo Hall and available to demonstrate and explain the process of modeling clay, answer questions about various sculpture media and processes, and encourage participants to try their hand at sculpting.

Members of the NSS create, collect, interpret, exhibit, and support the evolving practice of American sculpture. An open level of membership embraces emerging sculptors and arts enthusiasts. To encourage the next generation of sculptors, each year the organization provides financial support through scholarships to young and emerging sculptors and sponsors a Modeling Competition for young sculptors. The NSS also offers awards and prizes designed to recognize outstanding sculpture and the artists who create it.

National Sculpture Society (NSS) at FACE

9:30AM – Virgil Elliott Aspire to InspireIn today’s world, fine art painting and sculpture are more easily overlooked than in former times, due primarily to the prominence of television, movies, electronic communications, and social media, which have in great measure usurped the territory once occupied more exclusively by the fine arts, yet interest in the more traditional forms of art continues despite all the competition. I attribute this entirely to the visual quality of the best examples of painting and sculpture, quite aside from critical acclaim or the lack thereof, quite aside from market consider-ations, publicity, or promotional hype. The best artwork ever done has the power to inspire, all by itself. It needs no support, but only to be seen, to work its magic.

The artist must understand what makes an image visually compelling above all. This knowledge is what sets the great artists apart from everyone else, and what gives their artistic creations their power; the power to inspire.

To create compelling visual imagery, I maintain, is itself an intellectually chal-lenging endeavor worthy of the utmost respect. Enough talk. Let’s create compelling artwork.

11:50AM – Max Ginsburg - Talk Multifigure Paintings and RealismJoin Max Ginsburg for a talk and slide-show presentation of some of his paintings showing his expression of social issues, multifigure paintings, and how he strug-gled to develop his realism skills during the “modern” 20th Century. Ginsburg will outline how the works of the the Old Masters influenced his own painting.

12:40PM – Brian Curtis Beauty, Quality, and the Good: Art as a Material Reflection of a Spiritual RealityArt is an implicit, intuitive, metaphorical, spirit-enhancing sensory experience that nurtures the soul and drives life’s evolutionary arrow forward. Tragically, art is rapidly disappearing from our contem-porary cultural landscape. Its status as a keystone of cultural coherence is being diminished by hyper-rational, material-istic, technology-obsessed, pop-culture attitudes that are leveling our cultural aspirations and dulling and diluting our aesthetic sensibilities.

In such a deskilled and dematerialized environment, the urgent question facing us then is whether there is a way forward that can revive and restore humanity’s faith in and appreciation for the life-affirming experience of sensuous knowing that is unique in its ability to provide a pathway to the ineffable wonders and sublime mysteries of life. Fortunately, the answer is a resounding “Yes.”

SESSION INFORMATION

22

Take a faculty member home with you.

We’re honored to have these FACE™ faculty members on the stage... and on video. Choose your DVD in the FACE store and take it home with you.

Painting The Figure In Nature™ by Ryan S. Brown, Realistic Self-Portraits™ by Gregory Mortenson, Secrets of Classical Painting™ by Juliette Aristides, Creating Portraits from Life™ by Patricia Watwood, Old World Portraiture™ by Daniel Graves, Legacy of an American Painter™ by Max Ginsburg, Classical Realism Masters Series™, Master Artist Legacy Series™, Streamline Premium Art Video™, ©/TM Streamline Publishing, Inc. 2017. All Rights Reserved. HOME USE LICENSE ONLY: DO NOT COPY, DISTRIBUTE, RENT, OR PERFORM. For licensing information, contact 561-655-8778 or licensing@streamlinepublishing.com.

Some people see colour. You see your obsession.

Everything you do revolves around colour. That’s why Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oils are

formulated using the purest, highest quality pigments. Meticulously tested for tonal consistency

and permanence. And created to have a buttery, easy to work texture. No wonder you’ll find

our paints in the hands of great artists everywhere. And gallery walls the world over.

See colour obsession at www.winsornewton.com

W&N Artists' Oil Ad_paint swish8.5_11.indd 1 10/5/17 9:22 AM