Susan Hensel Gallery

Windows on Cedar is coming together

2011-12-06T16:58:00.004-06:00

The Windows on Cedar project is coming together. The windows are tentatively scheduled through next fall. They will be filled, soon, by the work of Sarah Claire Ahlers, a local photographer who has taken portraits around the Corcoran Neighborhood of South Minneapolis and will be posting them around the neighborhood starting here, soon. What she is doing is similar to the INSIDE OUT PROJECT.

In March and April, in honor of Reader's Art 12, I will show Northfield artist Sharol Nau.

A conversation, but not a closing

2011-11-11T22:00:00.003-06:00

Tonight we had a conversation, wide ranging, fun, about the return to physicality in art . Jeff Rathermel, Paulette Myers -Rich and Marianne Combs led the discussion with much response from the audience.

Perhaps Jeff looks like he is pontificating and perhaps Marianne looks a bit incredulousBut, really, we were having a great discussion that ranged across history and media.

The show continues next week, through Friday, November 18. The gallery is open Monday, 10-5 . Other days, you should call ahead to set a time. I have a few appointments off site, but would love to have you in to see the show.

Time Consumed!

2011-10-25T16:03:00.003-05:00

Though Jeff's show project gutenberg project continues, and people do come by to see it, my time has been consumed with saving the building!

It was time to attack stucco repair, before winter heaved more off. As is the usual nature of stucco repair, issues were revealed and the repair quickly doubled in scope and price. There was rotting along the foundation line...now fixed. Phew! It could have been so bad! Really bad!!! But Donnelly Stucco found it in time.

READER'S ART theme chosen

2011-10-13T16:22:00.000-05:00

Reader's Art, an annual survey show of artists books, is entering its 12th year. .

The theme this year is :

LONGING FOR HOME

What does home mean to you? is it a place, a building, a feeling, a belief system,a family, a way of being in the world? What are you longing for?

This is show of ARTISTS BOOKS. All media and structures that can be construed as a book or refer sufficiently to bookness will be considered. Artists should send between 3-10 jpg's and a resume and/or artists statement. Please download the How to Apply document from the website for other instructions.

Applications are due Jan 15, 2011

Lots of news here!

2011-10-13T13:38:00.001-05:00

Corcoran Neighborhood, is pleased to present the 8th Annual Book Sale, October 15, 9am-4pm,at the Neighborhood Office, at the corner of Cedar Ave and 35th St, South Minneapolis.

Every Fall, the Corcoran Neighborhood puts on this one day sale, with refreshments, to raise money to support the neighborhood organization and especially the expenses associated with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps year-long volunteer position.

I have donated 7 boxes of art books to the sale this year! There are some real plum finds in the lots...some rare books, some odd books, contemporary art criticism, exhibition catalogs, graphic design, artist monographs, art history, and a large group of books on ceramics.

So why have I donated so many books?
When I lived in Michigan, the library system was weak, with inter-library loan largely unavailable. In order to continue my lifelong learning, I had to BUY the books I needed. By comparison I now live in library heaven. So, I am moving books out to make room for more! And to make room for my retirement business: Sue's Luxury Fibers.

Susan Hensel Gallery will soon change its footprint in the neighborhood. The month in month out exhibition schedule is nearing its end with the current show. Monday hours will continue, but the space will become my working studio. Come in on any Monday to see what I am up to. I may be up to my elbows in paint and charcoal.

On Mondays you can see my work in process or you can come shop Sue's Luxury Fibers for yarn and materials for spinning, dyeing, weaving, knitting and felting.

In March, 2012, the show Reader's Art will return for the 12th year! I am committed to keeping that show alive and will continue presenting in this space for the forseeable future.

The Project Gutenberg Project by Jeff Rathermel continues at Susan Hensel Gallery through November 18. This show can be seen as an overall installation, a faux library, a cabinet of curiosity all focused on the idea of the book. The gallery is always open Mondays, 10-5 or viewings can be arranged by appointment.

A special event is being offered: Keep in Touch: Physicality in Contemporary Art , on Friday November 11, 7-9pm. Jeff, will be joined in conversation by Marianne Combs and Paulette Myers-Rich. Free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

I am re-launching my exhibition career with this show

Flow Art Space is a new gallery in the basement of the Keg House Building in NE Minneapolis.

This group show runs October 19-30, with a reception for the artists October 21, 5:30-9pm.

Gallery hours:
Oct 19,20,26,27- 4-7pm
October 21 and 28- 5:30-9pm
October 22 and 29- 1-4PM
or by appointment

Flow Art Space
34-13th Avenue NE, Suite B002B
Minneapolis
612-564-FLOW(3569)
SiP Coffeebar is in the front of the building.

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Another Opening, Another Show

2011-09-24T11:29:00.002-05:00

project gutenberg project proved to be a very busy opening with lots of "red dots." So many red dots that I really did not have time to shoot photos of the crowd until we were down to the few lingerers!

They were really NICE lingerers...writer Betty Bright, artists Paulette Myers-Rich & Jodi Williams, gallerists Steve and Karen Sugarmen.

project gutenberg project opens FRIDAY, SEPT 23, 7pm

2011-09-22T19:47:00.000-05:00

project gutenberg project opens TOMORROW!
Friday, September 23, 7-10 pm. The food and beverages are chilling. The lights are set, the floor needs sweeping, the trim on the new shop windows is painted.

Now: BEGIN!

I am so excited! It is a simply beautiful show.

You must come see to believe it. Jeff Rathermel has created an installation that is a cross between a bookstore, a library and a cabinet of curiosity!

project gutenberg project

by Jeff Rathermel

Sept 23-November 18

About installing art

2011-09-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

Jeff Rathermel is a master! His show, project gutenberg project, is a series of groupings around a topic. The green sheets are the titles of the series. The red sheets are cut to the precise size of the artwork being installed. They are laid out in their precise grids before any artwork actually is hung.

project gutenberg project

by Jeff Rathermel

September 23- November 18, 2011

Opening Reception Friday, September 23, 7-10pm

An orderly procession

2011-09-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

Project Gutenberg, the online archive of literature, ironically destroys printed books in order to salvage the information. Ironically, the process turns well ordered, collated text into a collection of dis-bound, chaotic materials that may or may not convey conventional information to us.With the project gutenberg project Jeff Rathermel has collected this discarded material and compiled and re-oredered it into comprehensible collections of information. He has reconsidered the book in all its parts and has chosen attributes to highlight.

project gutenberg project

by Jeff Rathermel

September 23- November 18, 2011

Opening Reception Friday, September 23, 7-10pm

Gotta Love that Laser Level!

2011-09-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

Jeff has the coolest tools!

What a cool laser level!

Without a laser level, this is how I would have hung the show!

project gutenberg arrived today

2011-09-17T12:41:00.004-05:00

Boxes upon boxes and bags upon bags of artwork arrived today. It is always hard to believe that a well ordered show comes out of the chaos of an install...But then there are people like Jeff Rathermel who are so organized and so experienced that anything other than order is unimaginable.

project gutenberg project

by Jeff Rathermel

September 23- November 18, 2011

Opening Reception Friday, September 23, 7-10pm

PROJECT GUTENBERG PROJECT

2011-09-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

PROJECT GUTENBERG PROJECT

Saved words, broken books, new appreciation

September 23- November 18

Jeff Rathermel is the executive director of Minnesota Center for Book Arts. But he is also an artist. Running a non-profit often saps his energy and thought processes for studio work. It is with great relief and excitement that he presents the Project Gutenberg Project, opening Friday, September 23 at Susan Hensel Gallery.

More and more, we are giving up the tangible for the digital. Project Gutenberg Project responds to this by celebrating the material beauty of the book and the value of tactile experience. Using book remains to create two and three dimensional work, this project both embraces and criticizes the power of technology to shape our understanding of the world.

The idea for the project grew out of a donation received by the Minnesota Center for Book: broken, dis-bound, trashed books. There were great works of literature, minor literary works, beautiful papers, illustrations, bits and pieces of varying quality that were the remains of the process of digitizing libraries undertaking by Project Gutenberg. In order to save the words, the books were destroyed. The organization could use little of what remained. Jeff Rathermel looked at these remains with the eyes of an artist who has been devoted personally and professionally to book and paper arts for years.

Project Gutenberg Project may be viewed simply at face value - a commentary on digital libraries and the "demise" of physical books - but it also has deeper underpinnings that explore notions of aesthetics, immediacy, cultural values and the basic human need to engage all senses to most effectively and satisfactorily experience the world they live in. And the reasonably priced objects and publications are just plain beautiful.

The show opens at Susan Hensel Gallery Friday, September 23, with a reception from 7-10pm. Also join Jeff for a closing event ,Keep in Touch: Physicality in Contemporary Art , on Friday November 11, 7-9pm, when he will be joined in conversation by Marianne Combs and Paulette Myers-Rich.

What: Project Gutenberg Project, by Jeff Rathermel

Where: Susan Hensel Gallery, 3441 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis

When: September 23-Nov 18

Opening Reception : Friday, September 23, 7-10pm

Closing Conversation : Friday, November 11, 7-9pm

A certain nostalgia is in the air

2011-08-30T13:23:00.002-05:00

Jeff Rathermel's show, project gutenberg project, opens September 23. It successfully combines a certain nostalgia for old books, the irony of their destruction in service of salvation, and a new appreciation for the beauty of their materiality, even in their broken status.

About Project Gutenberg Project

2011-07-30T11:25:00.000-05:00

Project Gutenberg Project Description: Commentaries on the pace of everyday life are far from unique but remain important as humans increasingly forfeit physical relationships for digital immediacy. The Project Gutenberg Project celebrates the beauty of book structures, honors traditional book art processes, exposes overlooked materials, and draws attention to the gratification that comes from tactile experiences. Using the remains of books scanned into digital libraries, Project Gutenberg Project speaks to the lack of physicality in contemporary art and the trend toward fetishizing book objects. Full of irony, the project both embraces and criticizes technology while elevating and violating its subject matter. Equal parts commentary, prophecy and preservation, the Project Gutenberg Project compels viewers to reflect on their interactions not only with books, but with all physical objects in their lives.

Project Gutenberg Project?

2011-07-27T11:13:00.003-05:00

Jeff Rathermal, Executive Director of minnesota Center for Book Arts, stopped by the other day to show me how his exhibition, The Project Gutenberg Project, was coming along. He has been hard at work in his studio, working with the detritus from the Gutenberg Project. The Gutenberg Project disassembles old books, of varying value and states of repair, and digitizes them for posterity. You can actually download some from the internet. The gathering of the information is laudable, but the destruction of the books is sad. He has been examining the scraps, working with them to make beautiful objects that also comment on the irony of destroying to preserve.

Project Gutenberg Project

opens September 23, 2011

reception 7-10pm.

Shadows of My Father's Religion

2011-07-09T14:19:00.003-05:00

My Father's Religion, by Carolyn Halliday, drifts to a close, July 12. Do call to squeeze in an appointment.

The trees cast their mesmerizing shadows at all times of the day.

As summer slowly arrives...

2011-06-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

The coming months at Susan Hensel Gallerywill be pretty quiet...

Well, not exactly quiet. A lot will be going on, but there will be no exhibitions scheduled for a couple of months. My summer exhibitor had to cancel for various reasons, leaving a hole in the schedule. Rather than fill the hole, I will be using the time and space to rest and spend time making my own art. I'm thinking of it as a trial run for my retirement! There will also be workmen around replacing windows!

What will I be doing? Well, any number of things. First I will be filling the empty walls ( No, they are not empty yet! Carolyn Halliday's show continues until July 12) with huge sheets of paper so I can make really BIG drawings! But mostly I will be working on a couple of sculptures and installations. I will continue to dye and spin wool...Some will be for sale here and in my ETSY shop. Some will be used in my artwork.

I will still keep Monday hours. The wool shop will be more open. It won't have to hide to prevent competition with the exhibitions.

The What and Why of retirement

2011-06-20T15:34:00.010-05:00

After the summer hiatus, the gallery will reopen , as a gallery, in September for an exhibition by Jeff Rathermel, the executive director of Minnesota Center for Book Arts. At the end of his show, toward the end of October, the space will slide back into studio space for a bit.

A lingering question remains, however. Why retire?

When I opened Susan Hensel Gallery, I gave up a robust exhibition career( over 100 regional and national exhibitions, many collections, a museum or two...) in order to create a space for experimentation where unconventional artists could give voice to their ideas.I have worked hard and loved every moment of it. And I will miss the dailiness of it and the times I get to meet new people. So I am NOT closing entirely.

What will retirement look like in Susan Hensel Gallery?It is more a change of material state than a retirement.

In the fall of 2011, I will reduce the exhibition programming of the gallery to one or 2 shows per year. The windows and the yard will be available for installations. I will make a tremendous mess in the main gallery space, as it will become my studio and I am a tremendously messy artist.

In 2012, I will curate and exhibit Reader's Art 12.

Regardless, I will remain open on Mondays, for wool sales and the curiosity seekers.

Past that? We'll have to wait and see.

The reception of the art was magnificent!

2011-06-20T14:50:00.003-05:00

The reception for My Father's Religion coincided with dulcet, balmy weather and the weekend of the Minnesota Quilt Conference. My friend Debra, an art quilter, had come from NYC to see the quilts.
And a group of Korean art quilters were invited to exhibit at the convention. Their work was outstanding! And, they came to meet Carolyn at her reception. We ate cake for CR's birthday, drank wine, listened to live music next door at the Crown Cafe and generally had a wonderful evening!

The show continues through July 12. Do come by.

Hours are Mondays 10-5 and other days by very generous appointment.

Opening Reception June 17

2011-06-15T03:22:00.003-05:00

Carolyn Halliday uses the vocabulary and skills of textiles to sculpt forms that often reference body and/or nature. She hand knits wire and other nontraditional materials into forms that often grow from simple elements of nature and life’s daily debris. With her work, she magnifies nature,and references concepts of the feminine through the female form and domesticity.

My Father’s Religion grew from her experience growing up with a father who loved the woods. Her father’s religion was in the woods. The family spent all of their free time in the Northern Woods. At the time Carolyn would have preferred to stay in a hotel. Nonetheless, her father passed his religion onto her.

My Father's Religion is an installation that explores the calligraphic nature of a knit line, pays homage to the sanctuary of the woods, and questions if art, as in the Byzantium, can transform life. This installation is laid out like a Byzantine church(cross shape)The reference to the Byzantine church comes from her fascination with the idea that the images created for the church, during the Byzantium, were allegedly so powerfully beautiful that they converted people to Christianity. Can art or the beauty of nature transform one today?

Opening Reception, June 17, 7-9pm

shown in conjunction with:

Trees in the windows

2011-06-13T17:11:00.003-05:00

June 9th the gallery was a featured stop on the gallery tours of the Surface Design Conference. Carolyn and I greeted attendees from all over the country.

The conference was amazing, exhausting, over-stimulating! The post conference workshops continue.

My Father's Religion
June 4-July 12
Opening reception June 17, 7-9pm

(Psst! There will be cake!)

shown in conjunction with:

My Father's Religion will be open SUNDAY

2011-06-10T21:58:00.002-05:00

I have been attending the International Surface Design Conference today. It is wonderful and continues through Sunday, June 12, noon. I will open the gallery up as soon as I get home...sometime around 1pm...and remain open until 5pm for SDA latecomers.

Wire and clothing?the continuing interview

2011-06-09T10:32:00.000-05:00

As long as I've known you (8 years?), you've been involved with ArtWear. How did that start?

Around 1996, when Minneapolis was hosting Convergence for the HGA, I was very involved (as a volunteer) with the art wear show. A woman named Kerry McDermot from Arizona, had 2 machine knit copper garments in the show. Something clicked for me and I thought that was the coolest thing ever.

I made my first wire vest because I wanted to wear it to an art opening of my sculptural work. People loved it, so I made a few more art wear pieces off and on, for art wear shows, and for some sales (not that they were ever big sellers, or I would have made more)

But you continue to make wire clothing...
My interest was in the sculptural end more than the fashion end. BUT, I'm very interested in the roles of women, domesticity, expectations of appearance, beauty---all those classic feminist issues----my own struggles of being taught I was never thin enough, pretty enough---so with my figurative work, I like to fold in those societal issues. Of course the choice of rigidly adhering to textile techniques, is a kind a way of wanting to emphasize or elevate "women's work". I intend to make garments that are sculptural, or sculpture, so all of my art wear I want to be displayed as sculpture as well as wearable. That being said, I think fashion is fun. It's fun to wear something unusual. It's a shame that it causes so much misery and over consumption.
Open now!
My Father's Religion
June 4-July 12
Opening reception June 17, 7-9pm

shown in conjunction with:

It is a process

2011-06-06T09:46:00.003-05:00

Carolyn Halliday loves process. She emailed me last week about how much fun she was having in the studio, knitting trees, getting ready. Of course, that was before the usual pre-show panic that all of us artists experience....the sense of running out of time, the self doubt, the tired body, weird dreams.

The main exhibition is complete.The temporary hooks are removed, the lights are adjusted, the shadows are cast. This week, in the run-up to the Surface Design Conference visits on Thursday, Carolyn will be working on the window installation of silver trees.

And I will be ironing muslin to drape the table and the various distracting aspects of the studio. And, making ice for the hot days ahead.

Susan Hensel Gallery is open on Mondays, 10-5. Other days it is wise to call ahead and make an appointment.
The gallery will also be open Thursday, June 9, 10-5.

Open Now: My Father's Religion June 4- July 12 Opening Reception: June 17, 7-9pm

shown in conjunction with:

Of nature and manmade materials...

2011-06-05T03:04:00.002-05:00

Silver Birch Coffee Pot by Carolyn Halliday

Tell me about the role the natural world plays in your work.

I've been inundated my whole life with nature; grew up in a family that spent all of our free time outdoors, camping, etc. All we ever talked about was what bird we had seen, or what might be blooming. I birthed a son who has been obsessed with nature since her was 8 months. So the natural world is a constant source of material and inspiration for my work. Now that I have 2 ecologists/biologists in my family----my son and his soon to be wife, I am actively collaborating with them on work. They inspired the work Druse, referencing the danger of zebra mussels as invasive species. (Made of knit wire with zebra mussel shells) And I am very currently working on pieces that reference Darwin. Part of the point of My Father's Religion, is the necessity of preserving woodlands.

Where does the title My Father's Religion come from?

My Father’s Religion grew from my experience growing up with a father who loved the woods. My father’s religion was in the woods. The family spent all of their free time in the Northern Woods. At the time I would have preferred to stay in a hotel. Nonetheless, my father passed his religion onto me.

Open Now: My Father's Religion June 4- July 12 Opening Reception: June 17, 7-9pm

shown in conjunction with:

Installation is nearly done!

2011-06-03T13:23:00.004-05:00

Installing My Father's Religion, is not difficult, but it is slow and painstaking.

It involves wire, tools, plumbing pipe, picture wire, monofiliment, a level...and forming, re-forming, frogging and knitting.
The day was made much easier by the participation of Mark Carlson.

My Father's Religion is showing in conjunction with :

Opening Soon:

My Father's Religion

June 4- July 12

Opening Reception: June 17, 7-9pm

The interview continued...

2011-06-02T02:57:00.002-05:00

Mango Seed Quilt by Carolyn Halliday

When did you become interested in knitting with wire?

Around 1996, when Minneapolis was hosting Convergence for the Hand weaver's Guild of America, I was very involved (as a volunteer) with the art wear show. A woman named Kerry McDermot from Arizona, had 2 machine knit copper garments in the show. Something clicked for me and I thought th

at was the coolest thing ever. I went into our basement in search of wire, found some florist wire, and knit a doll.

Dolls? Where did that lead?

So then I got intrigued with non traditional materials. Because I am frequently outside walking and grew up often in the woods, I started collecting stuff that might be used for knitting (tree roots) or was inspired by stuff to work into knitting (sticks, rocks). The tradition of basket making, and the range of materials being used in that textile medium, has influenced me. I also was intrigued with the challenging of shaping and knitting----for example--hmmm-how would I knit that vase shape; how would a make a knit box, etc. The transparency, shadow play,and rigidity of wire were all exciting explorations for me.

Somewhere in all of this, I moved away from the folk art sensibility into work that was increasingly conceptual. I was always seeking and learning and looking for the melding of textile and craft into the world of fine art---a split that continues to intrigue me.

Opening Soon:

My Father's Religion

June 4- July 12

Opening Reception: June 17, 7-9pm

shown in conjunction with:

A Little Background, Please

2011-05-31T14:47:00.003-05:00

Love Song, by Carolyn Halliday

Carolyn Halliday, whose upcoming show My Father's Religion, hangs this week, responded to some questions I emailed her. So, over the next few days, I will share her responses with you.

When did yo learn to knit?

My mom taught me the basics of knitting when I was 8. I don't remember knitting particulars, other than a sweater of sorts for the cat, who preferred not to wear it. As a girl, I was expected to learn the domestic arts, and I did and wanted to learn them all, although I was always pretty imperfect in my skills. In JH home ec, I was told I knit wrong, and relearned knitting. Being left handed, I apparently developed a left handed way to knit (which is now handy to use) but I ripped out the whole sweater that I was working on for the school assignment, so I could re-knit it "correctly".

I remember seeing a spinning wheel at your house. Do you spin?

I saw someone spinning for the first time when I was 17, and I thought it was sheer magic. I was smitten with the idea of making thread from a scrap of fluff. But I didn't see anyone spin again until I learned to spin around 1978, and began using my hand spun for knitting and weaving. (I learned to weave around the same time, in the Portland Parks and Recreation Dept---they offered weaving!) Around 1988, I made a teddy bear of my hand spun for a pregnant friend, and got interested in dimensional knitting. So I started doing other animals, especially fueled by my son, who would tell me, "Now make a cow." I made a few different animals and dolls of hand spun and started to sell them at craft shows, like St Cate's. I should mention that when I moved back to Mpls in December of 1981, I immediately joined the Weaver's Guild of Minnesota, and have been forever grateful for the welcoming community and many classes and opportunities that grounded my early artistic attempts. Through the Weaver's Guild of Minnesota, and then the Textile Center, I learned much about dying, surface design, spinning, felting, paper making.

Opening Soon:

My Father's Religion

June 4- July 12

Opening Reception: June 17, 7-9pm

Peace Fibres- stitching a soulful world

2011-05-26T21:06:00.003-05:00

Serendipity has been such a strong feature of my life. When one is able to cultivate to attitude of welcome, of "yes", one can see the connections and the offerings that the world has to give. Today was another opportunity of "yes." While working diligently on number crunching and financial projections ( yuck!), I received a phone call from a Minnesota author wishing to see the current exhibition.

While Libbie Soffer was here, I attended Shepherd's Harvest and she went to the Textile Center and we both met Karen Lohn, the author of Peace Fibres. Karen and her friend Katie, a contributor to the book, spent time among Libbie's textile stories. A thoroughly delightful respite from numbers!

Self Portraiture

2011-05-25T14:15:00.001-05:00

Carolyn Halliday has done several self portraits in knitted wire. It should come as no surprise that they are non-standard. She translated her body measurements into these forms.

My Father's Religion

June 4-July12

opening reception June 17, 7-9pm

Ars domestica ending soon

2011-05-24T14:20:00.000-05:00

Libbie Soffer returns to Philadelphia but her art work remains for a bit more time. Please call or email and set a time to see the show. I will be IN most of the time. The show runs through May 28.

ars domestica

by Libbie Soffer

through May 28

Suited for Metaphor

2011-05-23T10:04:00.004-05:00

Suits for lean times.
A suit for the runway.

Libbie Soffer and Carolyn Halliday work at times along the edges of fashion, fashioning wearable and unwearable suits for metaphor.

ars domestica by Libbie Soffer

through May 28.

My Father's Religion by Carolyn Halliday

June 4-July 12

reception June 17, 7-9pm

Reader's Art 11:urban/urbane

2011-05-21T15:29:00.001-05:00

Reader's Art 11:urban/urbane, a set on Flickr.

Did you know that you can see ALL the photos from Reader's Art 11 on flikr? I just learned how to post this was from flikr. I have a new respect for the site now!

Susan Hensel Gallery's photostream

2011-05-21T15:26:00.001-05:00

Susan Hensel Gallery's photostream on Flickr.

Hands at Work at the Mending Soiree

2011-05-21T13:55:00.005-05:00

Hands, hands, hands

Friday evening, the Mending Soiree met as the spring rain pelted the windows. Libbie shared her stories, people knit, sewed, operated cameras...hands always at work.

Zach Pearl was here for a wedding and a few days break from his studies in Toronto. We had a wonderful lunch together, talking about his experiences in grad school, the past, present and future of art and art criticism. Then he came by for the first part of the Mending Soiree and, just like the old days when he still worked for the gallery, he took pictures.

There is ONE MORE Mending Circle opportunity:

Monday, May 23, noon-5 pm

Fashioning the unwearable

2011-05-20T13:17:00.001-05:00

Fashioning the unwearable

Between the dress for two with no hem and the kimono from sharp brass flashing, Libbie and Carolyn both share a love of fashion as metaphor.

ars domestica, by Libbie Soffer continues through May 28. The last Mending Circle Monday, May 23, noon-5.

My Father's Religion by Carolyn Halliday runs June 4-July 12, with an opening reception June 17, 7-9pm.

Her show is in conjunction with:

Piecework- as textiles grow

2011-05-19T12:56:00.000-05:00

Textiles have always grown incrementally, piece by piece. When it was industrialized, workers were paid by the piece. The work of Libbie Soffer and Carolyn Halliday both reflect the reality of the repetition, the piecework inherant in women's production. In the tiny little picture of Carolyn, you see her working slowly, with both her arms in casts. She broke both her wrists during the production phase and had to piece-out some of the work to family members.

ars domestica

More Mending Circles:

Daytime circles: May 23, noon -5pm

Evening Circle: May 20, 5pm

My Father's Religion

by Carolyn Halliday

June 4-July12

opening reception June 17, 7-9

My Father's Religion is shown in conjunction with

threads and nets and wires...knitting a life

2011-05-18T09:07:00.000-05:00

As Libbie Soffer's work in ars domestica continues to question the threads of relationship and women's work through the ages...

Carolyn Halliday's work picks up the thread and makes it hard and soft at once, knitting in copper wire of various guages, entangling nature and definitions of body and self. Carolyn will lead a dialog with Libbie Soffer on Friday, May 20, around 7pm, as part of the Mending Circle Soiree that begins at 5pm.

Carolyn will open My Father's Religion on June 17, shown in conjunction with:

There is a certain mystery that lurks here...

2011-05-15T07:15:00.000-05:00

Just off the center of the gallery lurks a mystery: a house that neither hides, nor quite shelters space. Enclosed in this house is our basic human vulnerability. It stands like a ghost, a chimera, a reminder that our sense of control and safety is a necessary trope that allows us to live in this world. When you look through it, it softens our vision like sweet nostalgia.

ars domestica continues through the end of the month, May 28.

More Mending Circles remain. Bring your mending and your stories. Libbie Soffer will provide company, expertise or her own nimble fingers, as needed.

Mending Circle times:

May 16, 17, 18 & 23, noon-5pm

Friday, May 20, 5pm until around 7 pm when Carolyn Halliday will lead a discussion with Libbie about her work.

And, remember, the Susan Hensel Gallery is always open Monday 10-5 and on other days by very generous appointment.

A lovely opening for a lovely show

2011-05-14T11:45:00.004-05:00

ars domestica opened Friday, May 13, to a lovely crowd. Ella Fitzgerald played in the background as stories were shared and old friendships were re-kindled.

Darning, day dreaming, sewing

2011-05-11T03:41:00.001-05:00

Doing what our forefathers and foremothers have done...meeting together, in a circle, to mend our socks and dainties. It has always been a time to catch up on the news, the families, the stories.

It is a time to reflect on what has been and what lies ahead.
Wisdom is shared in the quiet times between the laughter.

Don't forget the opening reception of ars domestica, Friday May 13, 7-10pm.

More Mending Circles:

Daytime circles: May 16, 17,18 & 23, noon -5pm

Evening Circle: May 20, 5pm

Old Sewing Baskets

2011-05-10T03:36:00.001-05:00

Old sewing baskets.
Well worn jeans and old stories.
Laugher, always laughter!
Old darning eggs.
Pretty, tiny things, held safely since adolescence.

Don't forget the opening reception of ars domestica, Friday May 13, 7-10pm.

More Mending Circles:

Daytime circles: May 16, 17,18 & 23, noon -5pm

Evening Circle: May 20, 5pm

Sewing Circles began

2011-05-09T15:28:00.003-05:00

The Sewing Circles began last Friday with much storytelling, much darning of socks and a few jeans patched.

More than anything, the pleasure was in the shared time together, linking ourselves to the history of making do.

Don't forget the opening reception of ars domestica, Friday May 13, 7-10pm.

More Mending Circles:

Daytime circles: May 16, 17,18 & 23, noon -5pm

Evening Circle: May 20, 5pm

Unmending-Libbie Soffer

2011-05-07T09:00:00.001-05:00

ars domestica

by Libbie Soffer

May6-28

opening reception May 13, 7-10pm

Mending Circle

May 6,9,16,17,18 & 23, noon-5

Mending Circle Soiree: May 20, starting at 5pm. A dialogue led by fiber artist Carolyn Halliday will begin around 7pm.

Ceramic Art of Libbie Soffer

2011-05-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

They are not yet installed and not all can be seen here, but ... as we began installing on Tuesday May 3, Anonymous Under Shelter appeared,
as did Tools of the Trade.
These will both be installed in the windows.

ars domestica

by Libbie Soffer

May6-28

opening reception May 13, 7-10pm

Mending Circle

May 6,9,16,17,18 & 23, noon-5

Mending Circle Soiree: May 20, starting at 5pm. A dialogue led by fiber artist Carolyn Halliday will begin around 7pm.

ars domestica- the red dress in waiting

2011-05-05T09:46:00.001-05:00

Out of the chaos of boxes come wonders. This red dress awaits our ministrations. It is a show stopper!

ars domestica

by Libbie Soffer

May6-28

opening reception May 13, 7-10pm

Mending Circle

May 6,9,16,17,18 & 23, noon-5

Mending Circle Soiree: May 20, starting at 5pm. A dialogue led by fiber artist Carolyn Halliday will begin around 7pm.

Shirts in Waiting

2011-05-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

On day one of the installation, the sun is shining brightly...finally! And the shirts await their solution. Libbie told me that the "unmended" shirts began when she was keeping her mother company through months of medical waiting.

ars domestica

by Libbie Soffer

May6-28

opening reception May 13, 7-10pm

Mending Circle

May 6,9,16,17,18 & 23, noon-5

Mending Circle Soiree: May 20, starting at 5pm. A dialogue led by fiber artist Carolyn Halliday will begin around 7pm.

ars domestica- simple forms

2011-05-03T09:45:00.001-05:00

ars domestica

by Libbie Soffer

May6-28

opening reception May 13, 7-10pm

Mending Circle

May 6,9,16,17,18 & 23, noon-5

Mending Circle Soiree: May 20, starting at 5pm. A dialogue led by fiber artist Carolyn Halliday will begin around 7pm.

ars domestica-mystery

2011-05-02T09:41:00.001-05:00

ars domestica

by Libbie Soffer

May6-28

opening reception May 13, 7-10pm

Mending Circles:

May 6,9,16,17,18 & 23, noon-5

Mending Circle Soiree: May 20, starting at 5pm. A dialogue led by fiber artist Carolyn Halliday will begin around 7pm.

A PRE_PRE_PRE_preview?

2011-04-29T20:54:00.002-05:00

Ok, it is months from now...

But Debora Miller, whose photographic projects have graced the windows of Susan Hensel Gallery on multiple occasions, will be part of the Northern Spark Festival in June.

Check it out! http://northernspark.org/projects/murmur-2.html?org=a

She is also working on a new site specific piece for Susan Hensel Gallery for July and August.

Libbie Soffer-balancing act

2011-04-28T13:49:00.000-05:00

How have women balanced all the cares and necessities of their lives?

Libbie Soffer contemplates women's caregiving role through simple means, simple forms.

ars domestica

by Libbie Soffer

May6-28

opening reception May 13, 7-10pm

Mending Circles:

May 6,9,16,17,18 & 23, noon-5

Mending Circle Soiree: May 20, starting at 5pm. A dialogue led by fiber artist Carolyn Halliday will begin around 7pm.

Libbie Soffer - mending

2011-04-26T09:23:00.003-05:00

Pockets and parts

Often ripped, rarely thought about unless they are absent or full of holes.

Removed from their mooring, they are myterious

As part of ars domestica Libbie will be hosting Mending Circles. You are invited to bring your clothing that needs mending and sit a while with Libbie as they are mended.

May 6,9,16,17,18 & 23 noon-5

ars domestica
by Libbie Soffer

May6-28
opening reception May 13, 7-10pm

Mending Circles:
May 6,9,16,17,18 & 23, noon-5

Mending Circle Soiree: May 20, starting at 5pm. A dialogue led by fiber artist Carolyn Halliday will begin around 7pm.

ars domestica-remains of the day

2011-04-25T09:16:00.002-05:00

Quotidian objects

skeletal remains

the remains of the day at the office

Libbie Soffer's artwork, in this rugged economy, expresses the stress and the strain of families trying to feed and clothe...

Libbie Soffer and light

2011-04-23T09:11:00.001-05:00

When Libbie Soffer works with the detritus of our daily lives, she not only sheds light on embedded stories, but she uses light to sculpt and define.

ars domestica
May6-28
opening reception May 13, 7-10pm

Mending Circles:
May 6,9,16,17,18 & 23, noon-5

Mending Circle Soiree: May 20, starting at 5pm. A dialogue led by fiber artist Carolyn Halliday will begin around 7pm.

Libbie Soffer- Mending Soul

2011-04-21T09:01:00.001-05:00

ars domestica

May 6-28

I love seeing Libbie Soffer in her studio. She works with such simple means: discarded clothing, paper,pencil, hangers...things so commonly overlooked. Yet from these ordinary objects, she wrests meaning.

ars domestica- COMING SOON

2011-04-19T20:57:00.000-05:00

City: A language we Spoke!

2011-04-09T15:45:00.003-05:00

It was a good problem to have! Rosemary Ann Davis curated and organized a reading for the Susan Hensel Gallery last night. Twelve readers, including Susan Hensel, read about cities they have known and loved.
There were actually too many people to all fit inside for the festivities. Luckily, it was our first balmy night of spring. Crown Coffee, the new shop next door, stayed open late selling their Fair Trade coffee and putting out lawn chairs for the overflow.Reader's read. Listeners listened. Jaipur, Seoul, Istanbul, San Francisco,Buenos Aires, McMurdo Station, Cairo, Quetzaltenango,Paris,St. Petersburg and The Cities That Marco Polo Left Behind were all represented.Don't let the serious faces fool you. There was, as usual, much laugher, much levity.

Calls for Art in South Minneapolis

2011-04-05T13:34:00.002-05:00

Call for PAVEMENT MURAL designs

Call for "BOULEVARD ART" designs

The Corcoran Neighborhood in South Minneapolis has received a sizable grant to develop 10 public artworks over a two year period. The calls for proposals are in the above links. These are paid positions worth applying for!

Norma Olson writes about Reader's Art

2011-03-28T11:00:00.002-05:00

Many thanks to Norma Olsen for writing such a nice story about Reader's Art in the April edition of the Women's Press

Reading at Reader's Art

2011-03-28T10:44:00.004-05:00

Towns, Villages, Cities

We've all been there, we live there. On April 8, writers will be reading about the various cities they have been in. I'll be doing something about Alice Springs...gulp! I've started the work, but I am no writer! So, expect some images f rom me;-)

Cities: A Language We Speak

hosted by Rosemary Davis

April 8

7-9pm

City: A Language We Speak

2011-03-15T15:01:00.001-05:00

CITY: A Language We Speak

A reading

April 8, 7-9pm

Poetry and language are often featured at Susan Hensel Gallery, especially during National School Library Month, and Reader’s Art, the annual artist’s book show that Susan has curated for eleven years. On April 8, a few days before the official start of National Library Week, Rosemary Ann Davis will host the reading City; A Language We Speak.

Ten local writers, and one artist, will perform readings about cities they have known and loved.

Wendy Amundson an award-winning Twin Cities marketing writer, took a trip to India that combined tiger watching at national nature preserves with the explosive color and cacophony of some of India's largest cities, including Jaipur.

Eileen Beha the author of Tango: The Tale of an Island Dog (Bloomsbury, 2009,. lives in Minneapolis with her husband, where she currently is working on her second novel for middle grade readers. Eileen lived in Seoul, Korea from 1986-1987.

Lisa Calame Berg is a long-time resident of Minneapolis,writes poetry and fiction and teaches English at Brown College when she is not traveling, gardening or hanging out with her dog (and family). She spent some time in Turkey, mostly Istanbul, a beautiful, mysterious, compelling city, to which she hopes to return some day.

Rosemary Ann Davis has lived in Tucson, Washington, D.C., and her beloved San Francisco.. Rosemary has been in a travel-writing group for 10 years. Her love of place, territory and geography make her a grateful host of this reading series. San Francisco is her city of choice.

Larry Englund, long time host of “Rhythm and Groves,” a classic and contemporary jazz program on KFAI radio, started life in the Bronx, New York. He has been in marketing communications for over thirty years. Larry will be reading about Buenos Aires and providing music for the City: A Language We Speak reading.

Mary Ellen Evans is a food writer who divides her time between Minneapolis and Provence. A former cooking school director, she enjoys sharing her passion for food with others. Mary will be reading about her time in Cairo, part of a wish-list trip inspired by reading Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile.

E.S. Fletcher earned her M.F.A. in Writing from Hamline University. Her writing has appeared in The Literary Bohemian and Confrontation. She is currently writing a spiritual memoir about her travels in Guatemala.

Rachel Gabriel is currently working on a memoir about being a Francophile despite her Midwest roots. Essays have appeared in Let Them Eat Crepes: Stories of the French Pancake and My Red Couch and Other Stories on Seeking a Feminist Faith, of which she is co-editor.Her reading will be about the City of Lights: Paris.

Susan Hensel, raised in the Finger Lakes of New York, traveled as a young teen, living in Taiwan in 1962, stopping in Hong Kong, Bangkok, New Delhi, Cairo, Athens, Rome, Frankfort, Stuttgart, Baden, Paris, and London before she entered high school. Susan, will be sharing writing about her recent journey in Australia.

Joyce Kennedy’s Ghost Lamp, published by the Laurel Poetry Collective, is her first collection of poetry. Joyce lives in Richfield near the Wood Lake Nature Center where she and her husband, Wallace, walk the paths. After a long career in education, the reading and writing of poetry has now become an integral part of her life.

Christine Stark is a writer and visual artist. Her work has been published in numerous periodicals and anthologies. She collaborated with Fred Ho and others on Momma's Song and Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon, a CD/manga book recently released by Innova Recordings. Her first novel, Nickels, will be published in June, 2011. She will share recollections from St. Petersburg, Russia.

The readings are always fun, often uproarious and never stuffy. Published authors will have their books available for purchase. Light refreshments are always served and attendance is free…although the writers would love a few donations .

Come and have fun. The doors will open April 8, at 6:30, the reading will run from 7-9, more or less.

_________________________________

What: Reader’s Art11: Urban/Urbane

When: March 4-April 23, 2011

Where: Susan Hensel Gallery, 3441 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55407

Poetry Reading: City- a language we speak, hosted by Rosemary Davis, Friday, April 8, 7-9pm

Book Bombing, in situ

2011-03-11T14:51:00.003-06:00

Carolyn Halliday, who will be our June artist, helped disseminate a Book Bomb! She picked up a copy of Hydrologies from Mary Tasillo at the opening of Reader's Art 11: urban/urbane on March 4.
Carolyn had been building in installation by Minnehaha Creek, with her knitted wire trees.
She hung Hydrologies in a tree, it fell, she re-hung it...
The book was installed on her site, March 5. By March 8 it had been taken by an unknown artlover and now resides in a new home.
Go to Book Bombs for more information about the project created by Mary Tasillo and Michelle Wilson.

Radio coverage of Reader's Art 11

2011-03-09T14:37:00.003-06:00

Jodi Reeb-Myers and I were interviewed by Jessica Folker of KFAI radio just before the opening of Reader's Art 11. The interview should air next Monday at 7:40am during the show Takeaway, and either Monday or Wednesday of next week from 7:30-8pm during the show MinneCulture. The station is at 90.3 fm in Minneapolis and streams live online.

Reader's Art opening

2011-03-04T22:51:00.004-06:00

The opening was wonderful tonight! There was such a crush of people that I could not take pictures after the first half hour or so. In these pictures you see the first little bit, when Mary Tasillo arrived for Book Bombing, and old friends met up and caught up. Then I was off, welcoming people, giving them gloves, writing up sales, and keeping an eye on refreshments , etc. Now to settle down and rest for a day or two.

Reader's Art is ready to be seen!

2011-03-03T22:05:00.005-06:00

It is always exciting! The work is hung, the labels are attached, the lights are balanced! It's another opening! Another show! Sing, everybody! Sing! All that's left to do is a little housecleaning!

Reader's Art eleven opens Friday, March 4, 7pm!

Reader's Art 11 installation begins

2011-03-02T20:42:00.006-06:00

The boxes are stowed, the tools are laid out, the artworks are more or less sorted by how they will be displayed. So, we begin.

post-its alert me to titles I might find obscure when I affix the wall labels.

I answer the phone, give in person interviews, check for accuracy in the records.

Coco Mault from the City Pages wrote a very nice piece about the show. Thanks Coco!

{note: one of the images in athe masthead is complements of photographer Michael Shapiro.}

A Lesson about Shipping

2011-02-28T15:21:00.009-06:00

I shipped two of my small works to a show in Michigan last week. They fit in one modest box. The cost of it horrified me! Wow, I had been out of the shipping loop for a while. I thought about changing the shipping policy of Susan Hensel Gallery...But then my post office began behaving (again) as though delivery of boxes were optional.

I have been asked, more than once, "Why on earth do some galleries (like me) require artists to ship UPS or Fed Ex when the post office is so much cheaper?" Well, here goes:

•Delivery to the gallery is more reliable; My post office sometimes behaves as thought delivery of boxes is optional. In fact, that happened over the past weekend. In the past they have occasionally made no attempt to deliver boxes AND left no notice of the boxes being held at the post office.

•You cannot get return pre-paid postage labels from the post office. Stamps you can buy and enclose.

•The post office does not generally pick up boxes, nor is their parking set up for me to bring in up to 50 boxes for a show of this size.

•Both UPS and FedEx have relatively easy online procedures for setting up your own account from which you can ship & return ship your work. It costs you nothing to set up the account and it costs you nothing until the boxes enter the system. In other words, if you are lucky enough to sell your work, the return label can be cut up and thrown away.

•UPS and Fed Ex will both pick-up at the gallery. Fed Ex Ground will not.

It seems that large cities are having more and more problems with the postal service. I know that stories from New York city mirror mine. So, do I ever ship my artists books via the postal service? Sure. But if I am particularly concerned about delivery to a large city, I check my bank balance and use UPS.

House Party!

2011-02-26T19:07:00.004-06:00

The weather turned colder than the Grain Belt Beer, but we dressed warmly and drank the delicious donated beer. Thank you Grain Belt Brewery!
Hearty souls joined us to watch Dean's videos one last time and listen to Jennifer Markey and the Tennesee Snowpants.
Video projected over pale skin and dark jackets.
Songs sung with heart.

There are more pictures on the website.

Stay tuned for Reader's Art info!

House Party!

2011-02-18T15:56:00.002-06:00

In the House of the Mineral Spirits: PHOTOS! VISITS!

2011-02-11T16:21:00.004-06:00

I just heard from Dean Ebben, today. He will be coming back into town later this month, arriving sometime on February 22. If you want to actually meet the artist, make an appointment between February 23 and February 28 before we take the show down!

Remember, the gallery is ALWAYS open 10-5 on Mondays and by very generous appointment on other days. We just compare schedules and, voila! you can see the show.

IN THE HOUSE OF THE MINERAL SPIRITS

video, installation, works on paper

Dean Ebben

through February 28.

Behind the FAULT

2011-02-06T20:20:00.001-06:00

There are hidden treasures in Dean Ebben's show In the House of the Mineral Spirits.
Behind the screen of Fault are cyanotypes, drawings , small rusty objects, lit by the projection on the front.

FAULT

2011-02-03T19:07:00.000-06:00

The video FAULT, by Dean Ebben is projected onto the shaped screen of In the House of the Mineral Spirits.It is an evocative video, roughly 7 minutes, in roughly 5 parts. It begins with Dean rolling on a clear, old, wood floor.The soundtrack is both ambient, using the sounds found in the environment and additive and evocative using the jingling and jangling of silverware. As the video progresses, new sounds and new actions surround the newly discovered fault. Bread and water, staff of life, the stuff of memory and the stuff of the present.

In the House of the Mineral Spirits runs through the end of February at Susan Hensel Gallery. Open Mondays, 10-5 and by very generous appointment.

A Language Beyond Words

2011-01-31T20:00:00.004-06:00

In the House of the Mineral Spirits

The performance is past, but the show continues. There are multiple videos to be seen. On opening night, in conversation, an onlooker and I agreed that there is "something there" that we could not quite describe in Dean Ebben's videos. There is vulnerability, at times innocence and almost always mystery. We agreed that his work is full of a language beyond words.

Pictured above is a still from the video If I Could Roll It Out Of Me. This is the video that convinced me to invite Dean to create a show here.

The show continues to the end of February.

Susan Hensel Gallery hours: Monday 10-5 and by very generous appointment.

Dean Ebben Video "Bound" Susan Hensel Gallery

2011-01-21T16:21:00.001-06:00

In the House of the MIneral Spirits: PHOTOS!

2011-01-17T17:03:00.005-06:00

The opening was very well attended.
The videos were beautiful!

Tomorrow, I will begin to show you how this corner was used!

Meanwhile, rest is in order. If you cannot wait for the upcoming photos on the blog, go to the website and see more!

The Performers introduce themselves

2011-01-12T17:21:00.005-06:00

The performance this Friday is entitled Bound

Performers Biography

Jon Wickham, Rolling in Plastic Tapestry

Northeast Minneapolis resident Jon Wickham has lived in Minnesota all his life; he grew up in a small agricultural community but moved to the city in 1992 and has been around the local musicscene for many years. In his spare time he enjoys gardening and riding his motorcycle. This is his first time participating in performance art.

Jennifer Markey, Playing Silverware

Country singer-songwriter Jennifer Markey can frequently be seen playing with her band, the Tennessee Snowpants, at clubs around the Twin Cities. They put out two albums in 2010; "We're All Going To Hell!" and "The Sparta Session." They will be back in the studio in summer 2011 to record their third release.

Website http://www.myspace.com/jennifermarkey

MC Hyland, Aggressive Bread Kneader

Poet MC Hyland’s chapbooks include “Every Night in Magic City” (H_NGM_N, 2010), “Residential, As In” (Blue Hour Press, 2009) and “the hesitancies” (Small Fires Press, 2006, with Kate Lorenz and Friedrich Kerksieck). Her first full-length collection, “Neveragainland,” is forthcoming this winter from Lowbrow Press.

Read some poetry here:

http://slantpoetry.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/dysfunctional-batch-14-mc-hyland/

Hyland lives in Minneapolis, where she runs DoubleCross Press and the Pocket Lab Reading Series and works as an administrator and occasional letterpress instructor at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

Tom Evans, Portable Victrola Scratching

Lives in New York City he is the assistant to the artist and has hitched himself to a runaway train.

Nancy Morris, Kick Drum

In the House of the Mineral Spirits

by Dean Ebben

opens Friday, Jan 14

6-10pm

performance begins at 7pm

Progress & Thank you! City Pages!

2011-01-12T17:07:00.004-06:00

Coco Mault at CityPages wrote about the show as did Jessica Armbruster. We could not be MORE pleased!

The "house " is complete...well, maybe, except for the chimneys. It is the screen for In The House of the Mineral Spirits, Dean's newest, just completed video. The video is stunning!

In the House of the Mineral Spirits

opening Friday, January 14

6-10pm

performance begins 7pm

Progress toward performance

2011-01-11T10:11:00.006-06:00

Intrepid. Deliberate. Calm.

The steps toward the performance Friday are being taken. Rather like planning for a mountainous trek, the Sherpas are gathered (Dale Kennedy, Dean Ebben Senior, Me), the materials organized and assessed. Weights and measures are taken.

The scene, from the metaphoric peak I seem to have imagined, is being set.

Ebben has Deep ties to Minneapolis

2011-01-10T11:39:00.000-06:00

Dean Ebben has deep ties here. Although he has lived and worked in NYC for years, be grew up in the Twin Cities, graduating from Perpich Center for Art Education(lucky guy!). Through out his educational and professional career he has always returned.

He has been a frequent instructor at Minnesota Center for Book Arts. I think he interned at

Cave Paper (It that right, Dean?).

In the House of the Mineral Spirits, opening January 14, is inspired and fueled by his relationship with the Twin Cities. It is a truly diverse show, as diverse as the community that formed him. It will have drawings on over beaten flax handmade paper from Cave Paper.

In the House of The Mineral Spirits

Jan 14-Feb 28, 2011

opening reception Friday, Jan 14, 6-10 with a performance commencing around 7pm

Ebben Install Begins

2011-01-09T20:09:00.007-06:00

I am excited! This show will grow as the week proceeds. Today, the first load of parts arrived and the primary screen was built. It always begins as a mess! Bags of parts and tools, boxes of framed gouaches.

What will tomorrow bring?

In the House of the Mineral Spirits

installation, performance, works on paper

Dean Ebben

January 14- February 28, 2011

OPening performance and reception for the artist

Friday, January 14, 6-10pm

Dean Ebben, mystery & Eva Hesse

2011-01-08T08:00:00.002-06:00

I was excited to see these images in the inventory that Dean sent me prior to the show. This series, the "F" series, each approximately 15 inches square, is watercolor on translucent Belgian flax handmade paper. I love how this lustrous, hydrophilic, translucent paper, pulls and buckles in response to water media. Belgian flax makes wildly crackly paper, a wildly reactive paper that paradoxically looks like fine parchment, scraped to near transparency. The drawings remind me of Eva Hesse...clean, subtle, deceptively simple. They are ghosts, chimeras, holding their mystery close. But make no mistake, there is mystery here.

In the House of the Mineral Spirits

Jan. 14-Feb 28, 2011

at Susan Hensel Gallery

Opening reception Friday, Jan 14, 6-10pm with a performance commencing at @7pm.

In the House of the Mineral Spirits

2011-01-06T16:24:00.001-06:00

takeanotherstep_corcoranad
Originally uploaded by Susan Hensel Gallery

Using Flikr posting for the first time! I consider this a test! But, here is the ad from the Corcoran Neighborhood News. The show opens very, very soon!

Entropy

2011-01-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

As I look over the exhibition history of Dean Ebben, it seems that entropy plays a part...the assembling and disintegration of our best laid plans, perhaps. In the House of the Mineral Spirits, opening January 14, 6-10 pm.

Dean Ebben: rolling in the dark

2011-01-05T08:00:00.001-06:00

It seems to me that Dean Ebben's mythology is one of mystery, struggle and redemption.This was the reason I invited Dean Ebben to develop a show for Susan Hensel Gallery. I had seen his video If I could roll it out of me (still from the video above). In this video a man, Dean, places himself in a "wilderness" to roll until he could physically roll no more. It captured my attention on a deep level. It began as child begins, with a simple joyful act. I remember ecstatically rolling down cool grassy hills as a child, smelling the earth, the worms and beetles, the new growth under a warm summer sky. But we grow and we grow-up and the simple acts change. They are more difficult and fraught with meaning and mystery. Come see this video and more :

In the House of the Mineral Spirits

installation, performance, video,works on paper

by Dean Ebben

Jan 14-Feb 28, 2011

at Susan Hensel Gallery

opening reception Friday, January 14, 6-10pm with a performance commencing @7pm.

Rolling with Dean Ebben

2011-01-04T11:14:00.004-06:00

When Dean was at St. John University last year, he wove a protective blanket that became part of the performance.

Our space is smaller, more intimate with warm, hardwood floors. But Dean has been weaving another blanket, just for us...for you. The new blanket will be part of the new performance, Friday Dec. 17, 7pm at Susan Hensel Gallery.

Will it be orange?

I do not know.

Will it go home with you?

I do not know.

But I do know that some of the materials of the performance will be transformed during the evening into individual artworks that will go home with you, free of charge.

In the House of the Mineral Spirits

installation, video, performance & works on paper

Dean Ebben

Jan 14-Feb 28, 2011

opening reception Friday, Jan 14, 6-10 pm with a performance beginning around 7pm

A GRAND RE-OPENING

2011-01-01T08:00:00.001-06:00

A RE-GRAND OPENING

SUSAN HENSEL GALLERY

In the House of the Mineral Spirits

Jan 14- Feb 28

The Susan Hensel Gallery has been quiet for the last six months, but that is about to change. On January 14, a new show In the House of the Mineral Spirits, by Dean Ebben, will kick off the final full season of Susan Hensel Gallery before retirement, with performance, installation and works on paper. A reception for the artist will be held Friday, January 14, 6-10pm, with a performance that begins at 7pm.

It will be a visually, aurally rich evening with a gift at the end. Much of the evening will be given over to a performance and series of video projections with live and recorded gamelan music. The central performer of the evening will interact with woven structures, symbolic ice, a starlit sky and sound. In the end, the pieces of the performance are ephemeral and will be transformed on site into free gifts. But the videos and the installation will remain, looping and interacting with the local environment for the duration of the show.

In The House of The Mineral Spirits is a play on words and meanings. The idea of the house is a metaphor of one’s inner-self. “We all have spirits, ghosts, even demons that haunt us in our past, present, and future. The mineral spirits are poison, alcohol, things that evaporate. They are ethereal and clear.”

Dean Ebben’s work always begins as a biographical narrative, taking on a life of its own, building with the response of the viewers. He sees this show as a “wisdom work," seeking wisdom through the exploration of ideas, materials, mythology, and narrative. By using his own observations and experiences in a subtle visual context, he requires the viewers to look carefully and ask themselves what they find significant

Dean Ebben grew up in the Twin Cities, graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Pratt Institute. His media is drawing... but not in the way that most people think of drawing...as an elegant line of pen or pencil. He works with multi-media in a meditative manner akin to the discovery process inherent in drawing. In this show you will see video, performance, artists books, sculpture, gouache paintings, and cyanotype.

In a world of mass culture, which inflicts sensory overload, people tend to become desensitized to visual culture. Ebben asks the viewer to stop and look closely to find what is significant. Finding wisdom through observation and reflection.

As things in the show transform themselves, as videos loop to provide different glimpses into new realities, this show will be an exciting and apt beginning to a transitional year in the life of Susan Hensel Gallery.

WHAT: IN THE HOUSE OF THE MINERAL SPIRITS

Installation, performance and works on paper

Dean Ebben

WHEN: January 14-February 28, 2011

Reception: Friday, January 14, 6-10pm

Performance at @ 7pm, Jan 14

WHERE: Susan Hensel Gallery

3441 Cedar Ave S

CONTACT: Susan Hensel 612 722-2324

Color of Conflict closes soon

2010-12-29T18:37:00.002-06:00

The show is nearly done! Only a few days remain to see this powerful show...it comes down January 1!

A sleepy John Hensel, just after arriving from Michigan on an AMTRAK bus.
The opening was a blast. Many people braved the cold, slippery roads and the ubiquitous holiday parties to welcome John "home" and to celebrate his achievements as a photographer.

Color of conflict nears...

2010-12-06T16:23:00.002-06:00

At the core of COLOR OF CONFLICT, at the heart, at the start:

COLOR OF CONFLICT

a collaboration between Susan Hensel and John Hensel

The subject is war. The object is yarn. The exhibit is photography.

COLOR OF CONFLICT, now on exhibit at Susan Hensel Gallery

reception: DECEMBER 17, 7-10pm.

Color of Conflict opens soon

2010-11-16T18:24:00.006-06:00

COLOR OF CONFLICT

A new exhibit at Susan Hensel Gallery

Dec 1, 2010-Jan. 1, 2011

reception on Friday, December 17, 7-10pm

The object is yarn. The subject is war.

Color of Conflict, opening at Susan Hensel Gallery December 1, is a collaboration with photographer John Hensel, my son

Always a multimedia artist who seeks narrative, I brought the world of fiber into my studio practice. Color of Conflict is a show of photographs that wrest the meaning from a series of yarns spun during my sabbatical. These yarns, containing army toys and the colors and forms of armed conflict, can be knitted. But their true horror is revealed in the photographic display.

In the art world, one talks about transgression. Transgression can be loosely defined as breaking expected boundaries or expectations. Yarn is expected to be soft, warm, useful, at times even life saving. It is often associated with leisure, craft and women's work. Rarely is it thought of as an object, a material or a subject of fine art. In this project, yarn paradoxically uses its traditional softness to express a hard/harsh/violent reality. It uses its allusions to its life saving properties( warmth, padding, protecting) as a field of discussion about war and death. It uses a "women's art" to discuss a "man's pursuit."

This body of work was completed during a six month sabbatical from gallery life. I took the risk of closing Susan Hensel Gallery for six months in order to return to studio practice and research. During the sabbatical I spent much time exploring the narrative capabilities of fiber. I have become part of the artyarn movement, a radical group of spinners who push the idea of what yarn can be to its maximum. Usually, it is a lighthearted game, spinning Christmas baubles and Halloween eyeballs into fluffy masses of wool. It’s mostly about process and fun. I love process as much as the next person, but process alone does not satisfy me in the long-run. I have been adding, multiplying, accreting and inserting meaning wherever I can in handspun yarn.

There will be a reception for the us on Friday, December 17, 7-10pm. Come see the yarn. Come meet the photographer.

The gallery is stirring, with much new work

2010-10-22T16:53:00.009-05:00

The gallery is stirring and a re-birth of sorts is underway.

My personal work is all over the walls. I have begun working with four of the upcoming artists who have shows here in 2011, beginning with Dean Ebben. Then will come Reader's Art 11: Urban/Urbane, followed by Libbie Soffer, Carolyn Halliday and Debora Miller.

In addition to the wool market tomorrow, Sat, Oct 23, 10-4....

You can see a show of what I have been doing during this sabbatical! The walls are covered, nearly to the ceiling, with new work. Come and see!