Even a small sample of the tour shows the diversity of the local art scene, from monumental metal sculptures to jewelry, with a variety of sizes of paintings, sculptures, drawings and crafts in between.
Artists on the tour come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Ulf Loven, in his studio on Dock St., has traveled extensively to paint landscapes; mainly in Greece, but also in France, Southeast Asia and Bali. He built his studio in Saugerties ten years ago and is doing less traveling, he said.
Robert George sculpts his nude figures in a two-story garage at his Main Street home. The upper story is heated for work in the winter, and the lower story is cooler in summer. “I’ve been working with clay since I was six years old,” he said. “I used to be a famous sculptor.” He’s lived in Saugerties for the past two years, and has lived in Mexico, Italy, and several places in New York State. Now with a three-year-old son, he’s more settled.
Jeff Schiller’s front lawn resembles a sculpture garden, with huge metal figures dominating the landscape. He was a painter, and when he decided to work in metal, he went to work as a welder for a shipbuilder, he said. Working from a small initial sketch, “I let the piece develop,” he said.
Many of the artists on the tour work in a variety of media and styles. Isaac Abrams, for instance, is known for his psychedelic paintings, but also produces etchings on glass, metal sculptures and films. His work has been shown in galleries in Europe as well as the United States, and he has had work commissioned by major corporations. “If you don’t see what you want to see, create it yourself,” he said. At the same time, “I let the material determine what it will become.”
His wife, Yvette Lewis, said she mainly paints “abstractions of natural forms.” Her paintings contain recognizable subjects, but they are more or less distorted to incorporate her vision, as with a trio of pots that appear to float one above the other. “I draw abstracts from still lifes, and express the ambiguity of space,” she said. She also produces etchings and makes prints from her work.
Ana Bergen’s work starts with photographs, but the finished products don’t look like conventional photos. “I don’t like having photos behind glass,” she said. Photos are the basis of her “body-scapes,” she said, but she modifies the images on a computer. “I start with a realistic photo, and then manipulate it,” she said. Bergen is also working with metal, and “I like to combine media,” she said. “I like working with metal because I prefer not to be in front of a computer all day.” Photographic prints on fabric are another specialty, creating unusual translucent images.
Viorica Stan also started as a photographer, handling her own darkroom work. Her display includes photograms—prints made by placing objects on photographic paper and exposing it to light. Her work now includes mixed media. “I like discovering new ways of seeing and new materials,” she said. When she’s not in Saugerties, she teaches visual arts in New York City, where she and her husband “live in a community of artists in the West Village.”
That aforementioned husband, Hugh Morris, is a painter and printmaker, who also creates frames that are an integral part of the overall work. His paintings are dramatically different from Stan’s, as different as the frames on his own work and the more conventional frames he makes for his wife. “I come from a theater background,” he said. “I think of the frames as the sets. The frame emphasizes the painting.” Morris paints sets for the Public Theater, which among other work produces the Shakespeare in the Park performances in the city.
Alex Kveton’s work is featured in galleries throughout Europe and the United States. However, when he first arrived in the United States, he was not immediately able to make a living as an artist, he said. He translated the ideas of some of the leading artists into finished metal works while building a reputation here.
Kveton’s mother, an amateur actress, “opened his eyes to the possibilities of artistic imagination,” according to several online biographies, while his father taught him the skills of working in wood and metal. He studied at the Technical School of Machinery Construction in Prague, and later received a master’s degree in sculpture and industrial design from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.
Kveton produces his complex sculptures by bending the metal between rollers; pounding metal into shape reduces its strength and leaves marks so he doesn’t do it, he said. His sculptures are produced first in cardboard, and each piece is numbered. Then the metal is cut and rolled to match, and the parts assembled. The original cardboard models are preserved.
