CHARLIE EMMERT
LASANSKY
528
Iowa Avenue
Iowa City, IA 52240
tel 319-330-9227
Born:
September 16, 1960, Grinnell Iowa
EDUCATION:
B.F.A
University of Iowa
1993
GROUP
EXHIBITIONS:
2007
Glen Town Center Showcase, Des Moines, IA
2007
Rare Gallery, Jackson Hole, WY
2007 Faust Gallery, Scottsdale,
AZ
2006 Faust Gallery, Scottsdale,
AZ
2005 Lasansky Gallery & Studio,
Iowa City, IA
2005 Faust Gallery, Scottsdale,
AZ
2005 "Art For The Living Center, Jane T. Walsh Juried Art
Show'', Burlington Art Guild,
Burlington, IA
2004 Lasansky Gallery & Studio,
Iowa City, IA
2000
“Spaces/Faces” Percival Galleries,
Des Moines, IA
1999
“Two Man Show” Java House, Iowa City, IA
1998
“Prints & Painting” Java House, Iowa City, IA
1997
“Art Guild of Burlington, Third Annual Juried Show”,
Burlington Art Guild, Burlington, IA
1996
“Art Guild of Burlington, Annual Juried Show”,
Burlington Art Guild, Burlington, IA
1996
“Twentieth Annual Rock Island Fine Arts Exhibition”,
Augustana College Art Gallery, Rock Island, IL
1996
“Eleventh Annual Iowa Exhibition”,
Polk County Heritage Gallery, Des Moines, IA
1995
“First Annual Competitive Exhibit”,
Burlington Art Guild, Burlington, IA
1993
“University of Iowa Student Art Exhibition”,
Old Brick,
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
1992
“Members Annual Exhibition”,
Johnson County Art Center,
Iowa City, IA
1990
“University of Iowa Student Art Exhibition”,
Old Brick, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2007
One
Person Show, West
Valley Art Museum,
Surprise, AZ
2006 ''Recent Works ",
Lasansky Gallery & Studio, Iowa City, IA
1999
“Figurative Works” Percival Galleries, Des Moines, IA
1997
“Recent Paintings”, The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar
Rapids, IA
1996
“Recent Works”, Project Art Gallery Space,
University of Iowa
Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City,
IA
1995
“Portraits”, Southeastern Community College Gallery Space,
West Burlington, IA
1994
”Prints and Paintings”, Great Midwestern Ice Cream Company,
Iowa City, IA
1993
“B.F.A. Show”, The Checkered Space Gallery, University of
Iowa, Iowa City, IA
THE
ARTBOOK
OF THE NEW WEST
Spring/Summer 2006
Charlie
Emmert
Captivating Portraiture
By Rory Lasansky
Charlie Emmert’s intrinsic
creativity and natural ability to link color with emotion perfectly
complements her dexterity and enthusiasm for the paint and brush. The
Iowa born artist has demonstrated, with the unveiling of her recent
work, that she can fuse thought and feeling in the studio to produce
paintings of stunning originality.
“Albert Einstein Number 3,” is a captivating and somewhat
abstract portrayal of the brilliant thinker. It is the most recent in a
series of portraits aspiring to capture the essence of Einstein’s
character, his unique appearance, and explosive intellect. The painting
clearly communicates Emmert’s belief that all of her work should possess
“content, meaning and expressive form.” She acknowledges Einstein’s
scientific achievement with a solid red disk in the bottom left hand
corner of the canvas. The disk represents a solar eclipse, the natural
phenomenon that provided proof for Einstein’s groundbreaking theories.
The orientation of the disk in the space separating the edge of the
canvas and the cropped red bars addresses the subject’s exceptional
ability to think outside the box.
Emmert’s skill as a colorist
has always been the focal component of her expressionistic portraiture.
“Color,” says Emmert, “corresponds to the complexity of life.” In
“Einstein Number 3” we see the artist looking at earlier works in
the series to choose a predominantly blue and white palette. The colors
suggest guilt and remorse, feelings that plagued Einstein after working
with the U. S. to fabricate the Atomic Bomb. With touches of somewhat
arbitrary color to the face and hair, Emmert was able to create a
balanced and aesthetically pleasing image, which commemorates the most
brilliant icon of the 20th century.
Emmert’s
enthralling portraiture, always appealing to the eye, is generally bold
and colorful. They are visually attractive but also are compelling
psychological portraits, intimating the inner life of the subject. The
preliminary sketch on a fresh canvas, done entirely with the brush, lays
the foundation for numerous layers of paint. The layered pigment, often
applied with the palette knife, creates texture, contrast and depth.
This can be seen in Emmert’s distinctive rendering of the artist Frida
Kahlo. In this painting Emmert constructs a fictive space, which
separates her subject from the aura-like background. “Frida’s image is
carefully placed within the painted frame for intimate viewing.” Points
out art historian David Heffner, Ph. D. “Clearly there is an intimate
connection between the artist and her subject.”
Charlie Emmert’s recent works showcase her ability to layer and
manipulate paint. She communicates with vibrant color in place of words
what she considers to be the true essence of her subject. Her innovative
approach to portraiture publicizes her potential to be a significant
artist in the future, and reveals her eagerness to be working in the
studio.
Charlie has had numerous one-person shows and has participated in
various group shows. Her work is in private and public collections. The
Faust Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona carries her work, and the West
Valley Art Museum will feature her work in a one-person show in March of
2007.
Charlie Emmert’s
work is available through the Faust Gallery 7103 E. Main St.
Scottsdale, AZ. Tel. (480) 946-6345
Charlie Emmert
Creating Visual Paths to the Viewer’s Inner Perception
By Oriana Parker
The paintings of Charlie Emmert challenge the viewer to look
again and again. At first glance, you see the finished image.
However, with continued viewings, the outer layer becomes
transparent and allows you to see into the next layer. (Just as
getting to know someone better reveals different aspects of their
personality.)
Her technique of painting in layers allows Charlie to
explore the essence of the person being captured on canvas. This
“more than first meets the eye” quality is uniquely rewarding. You
may be intrigued by how many resounding chords these painted images
strike. Surprised by how many thoughts, even emotions they inspire.
People are amazed by the depth of the feelings and range of
experiences awakened by these works of art. “I want the viewer to
engage in their own intellectual and emotional ‘dialogue’ with my
paintings. I do not want to tell them what to think, what to feel,”
Charlie stresses. “Once I have finished with a piece, I no longer
regard it as mine. The heart and soul of it really belong to the
viewer,” she adds.
Some compare these works to those of Cezanne, Soutine, and
Kokoscha as well as Rouault. Certainly Charlie’s dramatic use of
color and bold execution are reminiscent of these masters. Yet her
paintings are unique and totally distinctive.
Until recently, those living in the Midwest have somewhat
monopolized firsthand viewing of Charlie’s works. Thanks to the
Faust Gallery as well as the West Valley Art Museum (who will stage
of solo exhibition of her paintings next spring), this situation has
changed. Much to the delight of art lovers living in or visiting
the Southwest.
Especially those individuals who enjoy paintings that
inspire the exploration of inner perception.
Charlie Emmert
By David Heffner, Ph.D.
EVOCATION OF
THE SOUL
Rarely have I seen an artist more drawn to portraiture than Charlie
Emmert. Whether historical figures, family members or friends, her
portraits are not renderings of a specific point in time. Her portraits
are generalized and evolutionary, monumental and iconic. She evokes the
essence of the sitter as she develops a deeper relationship or
understanding of the person through her carefully meditative approach to
creating and painting.
Never satisfied with drawing as rendering, Charlie was naturally drawn
to the freedom of painting. In her early paintings of the mid-1990s
Charlie drew inspiration from the likes of Kokoschka, Modigliani, Roualt
and Soutine. Her response to these artists makes sense; a painter in
love with painterly paintings. Charlie's response to painting is
synonymous with her life; in painting as in life she organizes and makes
structure out of life’s uncertainties. Within this self-imposed
structural framework, Charlie freely sketches with paint building up
layer upon layer thickening and enriching the surface as she builds up
emotional depth as well. You see this in Charlie's earlier work as well
as her latest pieces; a strong sense of character and space matched with
vibrant colors. Each painting is an evocation of the soul. She molds
shapes in fictive space by pushing pigment around, thus her paintings
are sculptural. The paintings are thick. They evolve in a slow but not
necessarily methodical way.
In Charlie's latest pieces she does not rely upon past artists for
inspiration; rather her paintings are self-referential and evoke
internally. She lets the paintings happen. With maturity, Charlie
seems at peace with composition. Her approach seamlessly matches her
subject. You see this in her portrait of Edgar Allen Poe. His stories
are bold, colorful, and eery. An avid reader of Poe, Charlie has
captured these precise characteristics in her rendering of the famous
author. Often full frontal and closely cropped, her paintings do not
scream novelty but rather whisper subtlety. This subtlety is seen in
the image of Frida Kahlo. Here we have a gentle, feminine and almost
familial portrait of this well known artist. Clearly there is an
intimate connection between Charlie and her sense of Frida. This is
suggested in the careful rendering of the crimson frame that surrounds
this delicate and beautiful figure. Frida's image is carefully placed
within the painted frame for intimate viewing.
I see in Charlie's work the evolution of an artist and a person. Her
paintings have changed yet intrinsically remain the same. They are
warm, intimate, and life-affirming. Seeing her work develop over time,
I can only look forward to seeing future paintings of Charlie Emmert.
Charlie Emmert has had numerous one person shows and has participated in
various group shows. Her work is in private and public collections.
The Faust Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona carries her work as does the
Lasansky Gallery & Studio in Iowa City, Iowa. The West Valley Art Museum
will feature her work in a one person show in March of 2007.
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Iowa City artist in Cedar Rapids
exhibit
Paintings by Iowa City
artist, Charlie Emmert will be featured in
an exhibition opening July 12 at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art.
Emmert paints portraits,
using oil on paper. The
technique Gives her work rich texture and a
different surface quality than oil on canvas.
The combination of paint, personality and the artist’s perceptive
eye produce evocative, often haunting essays in the portraiture.
The public is invited to a
reception for the artist from 5 to 7 p.m. on
July 17. Charlie
Emmert: Recent Paintings will remain on view in the
museum’s Iowa Gallery through Aug. 24.
|
