I will try to spend more time in the studio and keep you updated on what ensues. I am taking a hiatus from exhibitions and open studios after this May 18th Cornelia Open House. I do hope that you will be able to stop by (from 6pm – 10pm) so you can get your fill of original Rapport masterworks before I retreat from the Art Worlde.

This large painting – something like 50″ or so tall – is of the recent addition to the Art Institutes collection and building: The Modern Wing. It may not look like much now but subscribe to the blog feed here or join my mailing list for updates.

That’s all for now. Hope to see you all on Friday, May 18, at the Cornelia Arts Building. I know not when we may meet again…

-Emily

DETAIL - "Electric Night," 24x36in, © 2012 Emily Rapport

Electric Night (tentative title), oil/canvas

Electric Night (tentative title), oil/canvas

Electric Night (tentative title), oil/canvas

Painting over a painting that wasn’t going anywhere. Good to be back in the saddle again. Watercolor is fine but you just can’t get the intensity of  these night/electric light scenes unless using oils.

Over 25 local artists have been hard at work over the past few months creating new works of art for your viewing pleasure: painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry design and more. I will be showing recent watercolor paintings and oil paintings in the 1st floor hallway.

The open studios at the Cornelia Arts Building are a unique opportunity to see “Where Art Works,” to meet local and emerging artists, and to explore art at your own pace. No pressure, no pretension. Family friendly.

The Cornelia Arts Building is located at 1800 W. Cornelia Ave., Chicago. Parking is available and the open house is 100% free to enjoy. Close to CTA brown line stops. Click here for directions.

Portrait photography © Birkenheuer Photography • Poster design by Eat Paint Studio

Delilah's, Winter 2012

Just completed this 30×40″ oil painting for a couple from Buffalo, New York. Delilah’s was the site of their marriage proposal, a Buffalo Bills flag is in the window. Congratulations Ryan and Sarah!

Where: 1325 W. 18th Street , Downtown Pilsen
When: Friday, February 10th, 1-night only, 6-10pm

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Explore working artists’ studios, see new works in a variety of media, enjoy refreshments and mingle with the artists of Cornelia. I will be showing oil paintings in the 1st Floor Hallway gallery along with watercolors and works on paper by international artist, Leo Kogan. My new studio share (STUDIO 113) made possible by the generosity of talented Jewelry Artist, Alley Maranto.

Guest artist, Leo Kogan, has sent a selection of works on paper all the way from Amsterdam. Leo and I studied together at the Cooper Union for Science and Art in New York and, as it turns out, Leo also spent some time in Rochester, NY (studying at RIT, just down East River Road about 20 minutes from my parents house)!

Opportunities to win an original piece of artwork by this talented and ambitious artist/curator during the show Friday night. Visit leokogan.com and see just what is happening in visual art today…

(Shown: Marina del Ray, watercolor on paper, © Leo Kogan)

Alley Maranto’s  jewelry designs and pretty darn awesome. Featuring found objects, sterling, resin, moss, lichens, sea horses, peruvian opal, gold, coral, and more. As you become mesmerized by the worlds within Alley’s work and you may start to feel like you’ve gone through the looking-glass and landed in a Jim Jarmusch film… its all part of the show, folks.

(Shown: SteamPunk Resin jewelry, © Alley Maranto)

Alley’s new website, www.AlleyMarantoStudios.com, debuts this Fall and you’ll be able to register for classes in jewelry design and knitwear design/construction with the Master.

Getting Here:

The Cornelia Arts Building, located at 1800 W. Cornelia Avenue, is just steps from the Addison Brown Line, free parking available. View a map & get directions here.

Photography for the Cornelia Open House Poster, by Birkenheur Photography. Doug Birkenheuer’s studio, located in #108 at Cornelia and he will be open for this event so stop in and check out his fine art photography.

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Returning to the studio after some period of neglect is just like an athlete returning to training after being sedentary. Gestural strokes are hard: my forearm is weak and my endurance for more than 2 or 3 hours at the studio is pathetic. But, I just have to work through that and get myself back in shape. My brain knows how to do things but the coordination and muscle memory are a little slow to cooperate. Even though I can not paint every day (as I would like) I do find that I am always looking at the world as a painter and that store of information becomes a resource when I am back behind the easel. Light, shadow, color, shapes – how these things can be built up in paint is always on my mind.

Maybe that’s why being a web designer is generally unsatisfying to me  - there is nothing real, it is all flat. Art may be an “illusion” but design I find very analytical – and, probably most significantly, design is always created for a particular audience. It has to be tailored to their needs and expectations. With painting, it only matters what I think (and the artist must be completely honest with themselves because we will often try to be lazy and get by on what comes more easily).

The difference between painting and design is not that one is work – they are both “work”. I don’t paint for fun or leisure or to “express” myself. Self-expression without intent is meaningless (witness the plethora of personal blogs, hobbists encouraged by friends/family to exhibit in cafes, to write poetry and create photo-albums on Flickr). Good and thoughtful design is an essential part of painting. It is the structure that allows for the communication of the Big Idea. But, design by itself is not necessarily “art”.

I know all creative activities are supposed to be “art” these days: cooking (culinary artist), crafting, design and architecture (which now have their own exhibit halls in art museums). But, they just aren’t. Art is a spiritual thing – it is more than the sum of its parts. It is not always efficient or useful – but it is always moving, thought-provoking and very real.

WTTW Chicago Tonight Story about Ameya Pawar highlights OpenWall! Ash-har Quraishi profiles Ameya Pawar of the 47th Ward and he gives a shout out to OpenWall.

Visit the 47th Ward Office of Alderman Ameya Pawar, relax and bring your art-loving friends! Revolving exhibition of local artists. Featuring work by:

Andrew Steiner
Ann Ponce
Bill Bartelt
Bill Moran
Emily Rapport
Hiroshi Ariyama
Hugh Spector
Jane Rickard
Larry Zgoda
Mary H. Phelan
Meredith Dytch
Nico Camargo
Patricia Larkin Green

http://openwall-forartists.blogspot.com/

You know how if you have to go to a party or wedding and you look in your closet to find it is stocked with nothing but euro track suits and pajamas…? I kinda felt like that when a friend from Cooper Union (Collegiate connections not a myth? Alright!) invited myself and some former alums to exhibit with him in Amsterdam this Summer and I realized I have absolutely nothing to show (that can be mailed)!

I guess I have to make new art…

Fresh from the studio: Yellow House, 10.5 x 14.5in, watercolor/arches

Completed today!!! Damen Sunset, watercolor/arches, 10.5 x 14.5

Having never traveled past Canada, this is very exciting. I have read of the World and seen it on TV – very glad that at least my art will get to experience it and come back with some grit and debris from the Old World. Or, old world money. Thank you Leo Kogan for thinking of us and creating this exhibit and opportunity.

You can view Leo’s work at: http://www.leokogan.com/ and discover just what is happening in visual art today…

SICK! is a multi-disciplinary international group show featuring:

Inga Cholmogorova (Vilnius/Amsterdam)
Charlie Citron (Amsterdam)
Thomas Draschan (Vienna/Berlin)
Eric Fertman (New York)
Ryan Foley (Philadelphia)
Grady Gerbracht (New York)
Annelien Kers (Amsterdam)
Eric Knoote (Amsterdam)
Leo Kogan (Amsterdam/Los Angeles)
Carlos Little (New York)
Max Miller (New York)
Manfred Peckl (Berlin)
Emily Rapport (Chicago)
Kim Reinhardt (New York)
Antonio Serna (New York)
Raaf Van Der Sman (Amsterdam/Berlin)
Jeremiah Stewart (New York)
SWIFT (Los Angeles)
Rob van der Schoor (Amsterdam)
and others

Old-timers say that art shows in dilapidated squat houses were the thing in the 70’s and 80’s. Nowadays in Amsterdam exhibitions of this kind have almost entirely disappeared, replaced by characterless white boxes of various dimensions. One would have to go to Berlin or further East to see an exhibition space with unplastered, unpainted walls.

With this international exhibition we’re taking you back to those days when content mattered more than the package, when it was all strictly about art and the creative process. For some of the artists in this show this is their European debute. For several others, their first show in the Netherlands. We welcome all those that do not believe in packaging and false appearances! – Leo Kogan

Opening: Saturday, June 25, 2011
Exhibition runs through August 2011

www.leokogan.com