New Artist February

Mansky "Castle Rock"

Munazza Naeem "Day Series"

Matthew Sarnette "Bouquet 11"

At TRA we are always looking for new artists and new art. I enjoy discovering new talented people, and most of the time they enjoy being discovered too. One of the great joys of running a gallery is giving excited new artists a chance to show their work to a new audience. The design community does not always get a chance to see new artists. Many galleries tend to show people who are “cutting edge”; art that is fun so talk about but sometimes difficult to look at, and definitely hard to sell. TRA tries to float somewhere in the middle. We try to find quality. We try to show art that maybe falls through the cracks. We show art that is enjoyable to view and to own.

Paul Mansky is a local dentist. You read that correctly. I am trying to come up with an art for dental work barter system. He doesn’t know about this idea yet… In his spare time between kids and work, he shoots photos. Like many photographers he is drawn to the landscape. Mostly he spends his time in Michigan, but there are shots of Canada, and numerous national parks. Now the difficult thing about being a landscape photographer is that there are so many people doing that subject matter that it tends to be a cliché.

I meet photographers all the time who show me great work, but it really does look the same as everybody else’s. Mansky sets himself apart.

Mansky "Mount Sinopoh with Tour Boat"

His method is different from anything I’ve seen. In fact I didn’t know it existed until he explained it to me. He uses an archaic process call “platinum palladium printing”. It is the oldest exposure process in the world. Platinum printing’s origins come from a man named Sir John Herschal, who in 1832 discovered that when you expose certain platinum compounds to light they can be reduced. In 1873 William Willis was able to create the process of platinum exposure and printing, so much so that he got a patent for it. Of course by then photography was a well known process, but the use of platinum as an element of exposure was dabbled with before the first photograph was ever made. What does this all mean? I don’t know, but I like the story. The moral is, that the process is ancient, difficult, time consuming, and expensive. The final product however is quite amazing. The photos I show here do not convey the unreal amount of detail in these prints. Paul tells me that the ink actually soaks into the paper instead of floating on top. This gives the image a great amount of depth and detail. In the world of digital manipulation, instant gratification, and anyone with a camera phone who can claim they are a photographer, Mansky is a breath of fresh air. He is doing this because he loves the art of photography, and he enjoys the tedious process of the dark room. Bravo Paul!

Mansky "Old Tree Lake Superior"

Mansky Collection of photos at TRA Art Group

The next artist is Munazza Naeem. She is a Canadian painter who got her Fine Arts Degree from Wayne State. She has been in a few competitions through out the Detroit Area, and she found us on the internet. When I spoke to her the first time over the phone I was taken back by her soft spoken-ness, and once I saw her work I realized that it did all of the talking for her. Her paintings are intimate, quiet, and at first glance serene, but if you look longer a narrative starts to show up. The images start to tell a story of some sort, but not in a preachy or didactic way. The underlying subject is as subtle as the art itself. I have always had a fondness for small paintings. They have a way of naturally drawing in the viewer. You must lean in and look closely. I was amazed by the technical ability shown in these works, which is matched by a depth of subject matter and underlying tension between the image, the viewer, and the narrative. Again what does this all mean? I don’t know. That’s why I like these paintings. They don’t tell me what to think. No one likes to be preached to, do they?

Naeem "Day Series"

Naeem "Day Series"

Naeem Day Series grouping at TRA

Our final artist is Matthew Sarnette. Of the artists I speak of today, his paintings are the simplest in subject and application. Only a few block of color and a classic subject of flowers. Now if you are looking at these images to see flowers you are missing the point. He wants to you see the paint. The goopy, sticky, color blocks. The paintings again are smallish 12 x 14 and 16 x 20, but they appear as solid things. They are sculptural in approach. They take up more visual space than their size lets them. The paint is slathered on, yet they are not slopped on. He paints just enough. And that’s enough for me.

Sarnette "Floral 5"

Sarnette "Floral 6"

Sarnette "Floral 7"