Saturday December 1st, 2007 from 1 - 3pm

There is a one-day trunk show, Saturday December 1st from 1 - 3 pm of Bonnie Buck jewelry. Meet the artist and preview the new sterling silver and pearl designed jewelry by contemporary Providence artisan Bonnie Buck. Elegant, affordable and quietly sophisticated, Bonnie’s jewelry makes the perfect addition to your holiday shopping list. Holiday refreshments will be served.

About Bonnie Buck:
Bonnie Buck is an artist of many talents. But as a silversmith she has a special aptitude. In the late 1970’s she relocated to Providence. Originally from Ohio, Buck received a BFA from Ohio State University and went onto Rochester Institute of Technology to study at the School of American Craftsman. The result is a twenty year history as a metal smith traversing the commercial arena and the fine art world.

Artists’ Statement:
I enjoy the paradox of creating comfortable accessories out of hard metal by using shapes which compliment the human body, and by the use of fabric techniques in metal. The pieces are hammered, cast or crocheted, and move freely with the body. I am an artist who makes objects that are intended to be worn. The most common compliment is that, “Bonnie Buck’s work feels good on and is meant to function with the lifestyle of the individual who wears it.”

I have worked extensively within the fashion and jewelry manufacturing industry making products for reproduction as well as creating special runway items for the NYC fashion market. My work is high fashion jewelry and accessories of original sophisticated style; work which exudes flair and originality. It is art, craft and fashion that has been transformed into wearable ornament.

taking a look
2007 Theme series

Bert Gallery Program – Round Table discussion with three contemporary artist couples
during “Artists who Marry Artists” Exhibit.

Thursday – September 20, 2007, Gallery Night Providence
at Bert Gallery starting at 6:30pm

Artists as couples pose one of the most complex of human psychological drama. They make Freud’s Oedipus complex seem like child’s play. Just think of international Abstract Expressionist artist couples such as Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner or Elaine and Willem de Kooning. Both couples are well recognized for their individual achievements but their personal and professional lives read like a Marilyn Monroe biography.

Bert Gallery will exhibit two twentieth century artists couples in the September/October show “Artists Who Marry Artists” and explore the competitive, yet successful pairings of Rhode Island artist couples, Florence Leif (1913-1968) and Gordon Peers (1909-1988) along with Percy Albee (1883-1959) and Grace Albee (1890-1985). How did they negotiate home life and the world of art? Did they exhibit together or paint together? Does one artist dominate or influence the other? Visit the exhibition, look at their art and resumes to decide for yourself.

What about artist couples today? A September program will ask artist couples practicing in Rhode Island today to comment on their lives together. Artist couples include – Kenn Speiser, sculptor and Constance Brown, photographer; Jonathan Bonner, sculptor and painter Jacqueline Ott; and Craig Masten and Gail Armstrong, painters. All have been married many years and negotiated two careers in one household. Moderator, John Tessitore will lead a discussion among the couples about their successful marriages.

The program is in conjunction with the Bert Gallery exhibit “Artists who Marry Artists”
• Exhibit on view September 4th – October 26th, 2007
• At Bert Gallery, located along the Providence waterfront at Corliss Landing, 540 South Water Street in Providence, Rhode Island
• Open Gallery Night: September 20tth
• Gallery Hours are Tuesday – Friday from 11 – 5pm, Saturdays 12 - 4pm or by appointment.
• Exhibits are free and open to the public.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION

John Tessitore is Executive Editor of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs (New York City), and a Communications Consultant to the United Nations Development Programme and other UN agencies worldwide. From 1986 to 2001 he served as Executive Director of Communications of the United Nations Association, where he worked with the international media and diplomatic community. In 1995 he was Executive Producer of the feature documentary film “In Search of Peace: 50 Years of the U.S. in the U.N.,” narrated by Paul Newman and shown on over 600 Turner broadcasting stations nationwide. A native of Rhode Island (LaSalle ’69), John returned to his home state in 2002, where he appears as an “occasional contributor” to the editorial pages of the Providence Journal.

Kenn Speiser (married to Constance Brown) Born in New York City, Kenn Speiser has had a thirty-five year career living and working as an artist, sculptor, and printmaker in Providence, Rhode Island. With a degree from the Rhode Island School of Design, Speiser has an extensive background working on commissioned projects for corporations and public institutions from Miami, Florida to Boston, Massachusetts, and as far away as Finland. As an artist, Speiser’s primary interests lie in the discovery, alchemy and process, of transforming generally ignored and overlook common objects and materials into something thought provoking and beautiful. Kenn Speiser is currently working on a design project with a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts: www.safetyenvelopes.com.

Constance Brown (married to Kenn Speiser) After studying painting at Lake Erie College, Constance discovered the camera and never looked back. More importantly she discovered that there was a way to make a good living with the cameras that was still creative and challenging. Commercial photography. After attending the Art Center of Design in Los Angeles to further develop her skills and portfolio and a brief fling with Film and Hollywood (where she worked on two documentary shorts nominated for academy awards and one nominated for an Emmy) she came back and set up her own studio in 1977. Since then she had worked producing Executive portraits for many of the leaders of this community, annual report images, capability brochures and public relations work. She has developed a niche specialty working with politicians and in a political year is often “on the road” photographing various politicians during their campaigns including the last two Presidential Elections.

Jonathan Bonner (married to Jacqueline Ott) Jonathan Bonner has had over 40 solo shows and is represented in many public and private collections throughout the United States. The work includes sculpture, installation and works on paper. Bonner has also completed many large-scale site-specific commissions. Recently he has installed work at Nashua Street Park in Boston, the Colorado Convention Center in Denver and the Rhode Island School of Design Campus.

Jacqueline Ott (married to Jonathan Bonner) received an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA from University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has exhibited extensively in the Northeast, participating in recent shows at the Miller Block Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts; the Danforth Museum of Art, Danforth, Massachusetts; risd/works, Providence, Rhode Island; and the Bernard Toale Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts among many others. She has received grants from the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts (Painting Fellowship, 2000; Artist Project Grant, 1991), the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work is in numerous collections, including those of the Newport Art Museum and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum.

Craig Masten (married to Gail Armstrong) is an award winning artist member of the Providence Art Club, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, Wickford Art Association, South County Art Association, Cape Cod Art Association, Newport Art Guild and Newport Art Museum. He has shown his work in numerous juried shows and exhibitions at these organizations, as well as at the DeCordova Museum, the Warwick Art Museum, the Newport Art Museum, BFA Studioworks Gallery, and Spring Bull Gallery.

Gail Armstrong (married to Craig Masten) received a Master’s from Rhode Island School of Design in 1980 and a BFA from Hartford Art School in 1972. She taught art for over thirty years, mainly at North Kingstown High School in R.I. Memberships include the R.I. Watercolor Society, Providence Art Club, Wickford and South County Art Associations, the Newport Art Museum, Newport Artists’ Guild and the Cape Cod Art Association. Gail has exhibited and received awards in numerous open juried shows, including “Best of Show” in “Scenes of R.I.-2005”, an exhibit sponsored by Governor Carcieri and the R.I. State Council on the Arts.

Don’t worry if you missed our most recent Round Table Discussion on “Who really creates the art market?”. Please click on the link below to see photographs of the panelists during the program.

http://flickr.com/photos/bertgallery/

The promised podcasts are right around the corner. No really, they are!

And we would love to hear feedback from anyone that attended. Please email bertgallery@conversent.net. Thanks.

For more information on our upcoming program “Fine Art Digital Printmakers,” a talk by Susan Fader of Ditto Editions please see the blog entry below.

taking a look
2007 Theme series
Bert Gallery Program

Talk by Susan Fader of Ditto Editions on Fine Art Digital Printmaking

Thursday, July 19, 2007
during Gallery Night Providence
at Bert Gallery starting at 6.30pm

Providence, RI. Artists, art collectors and dealers will not want to miss an informative lecture by Susan Fader, co-owner of Ditto Editions, one of the country’s leaders in Fine Art Digital Printing, located in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

In her talk, Susan will unravel the mysteries surrounding the fine art digital print process, explaining that it is more than scanning an image, color correcting and printing on a digital printer. She will demonstrate how recent technological advances will impact the understanding and positioning of digital prints not only as a reproduction method but also as a way that many artists create new work.

The program is in conjunction with the Bert Gallery exhibit “What is original art? Is it a giclee?”
• On view July 10 – August 24, 2007
• At Bert Gallery, located along the Providence waterfront at Corliss Landing, 540 South Water Street, in Providence, Rhode Island
• Open Gallery Nights: July 19 & August 16
• Gallery Hours are Tuesday – Friday from 11-5pm, Saturdays 12-4pm or by appointment.
• Exhibits are free and open to the public.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION OF SUSAN FADER

Ditto Editions is owned and operated by Nick and Susan Fader. The Fader’s have over 50 years experience in painting, graphic design, marketing, print production and color management. As artists themselves, Nick and Susan uniquely combine their appreciation of art and the needs of their clients with their knowledge of art reproduction.

Susan Fader attended Rhode Island School of Design and graduated from Philadelphia College of Art with a BFA. Before Ditto Editions, she worked in Advertising (including opening her own company, Design Studio Two), marketing consumer brands and pursuing her interest in fine art through Chinese watercolor, traditional western fine art and decorative painting. Her work was recently selected for a thirty minute segment by HGTV. In addition to owning Ditto Editions with her husband, Susan manages, serves on the board of LynnArts and is Vice President of the Creative Economy of the North Shore (CEANS).

taking a look
2007 Theme series
Bert Gallery Program: A round table discussion exploring the topic, “Who creates the art market?” from the perspective of the commercial gallery, art critic & artist.

Tuesday – June 12, 2007 at
Bert Gallery starting at 5.30pm

The art world is made up of a variety of factions that create and effect the market. How do you measure success in the art world—is it really about the art itself, those who create the art or the handlers of art? If an artist has a museum exhibit, does it increase the value of his or her art? Who reads the art critic’s review and what is its impact on an artist’s career? A dealer represents an artist: what does that mean? Once an artist sets an auction record, are they then ‘discovered’? Come to a round table discussion at Bert Gallery and witness the debate. Space is limited—please call for reservations.

Moderator:
Patricia McLaughlin: Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement for Johnson and Wales University and former Director of Administration for the City of Providence. Ms. McLaughlin was instrumental in creating the arts district for Providence.

Panelists:
Berge Ara Zobian: Owner/Director of Gallery Z
John Pantalone: Professor of Journalism and former regional editor for Art New England
Lisa Utman Randall: Arts and Entertainment Writer for the Newport Mercury
Paula Martiesian: Providence artist and co-founder of Gallery Night Providence
Nick Paciorek: Providence artist

The program is in conjunction with the Bert Gallery exhibit “Who really creates the art market – museums, auctions, curators, critics, artists, collectors or galleries?”
• On view May 8 – June 22, 2007
• At Bert Gallery, located along the Providence waterfront at Corliss Landing, 540 South Water Street in Providence, Rhode Island
• Open Gallery Night: June 21st
• Gallery Hours are Tuesday – Friday from 11 – 5pm, Saturdays 12 - 4pm or by appointment. Exhibits are free and open to the public.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION

Patricia McLaughlin is currently the Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement for Johnson & Wales. Previous experience includes serving as the Director of Corporate, Foundation and Government Relations for RISD and various positions for the City of Providence, including Director of
Administration and Deputy City Solicitor. She currently resides on the board of WaterFire Providence, The Providence Center, Splendor of Florence USA and is a member of the Executive Committee for the Rhode Island Foundation’s initiative, Housing Works.

Bérge Ara Zobian is a Providence-based photographer and Owner/Director of Gallery Z, a fine art gallery that features Armenian, European and American artists. Gallery Z is dedicated to the community by presenting meaningful artistic expression that engages a diverse clientele and acting as a center for experiencing art and supporting artists by offering an intimate setting to share their artistic expression.

John Pantalone is a professor of Journalism at the University of Rhode Island and the former regional editor for Art New England. Prior, he was the editor of Newport Life Magazine and Newport This Week and arts editor for the South County Independent.

Lisa Utman Randall recently received a Rhode Island Press Association award for her arts and entertainment writing in the Newport Mercury. She was the co-founder of Island Arts, a non-profit art gallery in Newport, and spent 14 years as Executive Director.

Paula Martiesian is a practicing Providence artist, represented by Bert Gallery, and Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Gallery Night Providence. Other professional experience includes Curator of BankRI Galleries, Editor and Co-Publisher of Quix Art Magazine and Chairman and Founder of Center City Contemporary Artists. She states of her own artwork “I have always figured my personality was a contradictory mix of subtlety and mack truck, and my paintings are beginning to reflect that rather unlikely combination.”

Nick Paciorek is an internationally-known artist for his work done at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy. He aligns himself with a new generation of Fauvists by using broad strokes of brilliant color for their emotional impact. He loves large cities with active skylines, busy streets and the relationship of one building to another.

Catherine Bert’s Lecture on:

Auction History: Gender Differences in the Auction Market

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Thank you for stopping by this afternoon for my discussion on gender differences in the auction market, a good topic to explore for Women’s History Month.

Before I delve into the details of gender differences, it is important to mention that you first need to understand the basics of bringing an artist to auction before thinking about our topic.

This current exhibit helps to highlight the varying conditions for each artist (both male and female) and how it reflects in the auction market. I have lots of documentation on issues to consider when looking at an artist in auction or understanding their auction prices. There are several factors or determinants of the value of an artwork by an artist. So heed this warning that you need to consider all of these determinants in order to interpret the auction numbers.

As you will find out shortly, there are dramatic differences between comparable male and female artists in auction.
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