"Lioness," Kate Wagner

FOR EVENT SUMMARY AND ALL REVIEWED ARTISTS CLICK HERE

Continuing looking into some of my favorite highlights from Oranje 2009, this time around we have Kate Wagner. Kate, who’s paintings (and, apparently, mixed-media works) took up most of the wall outside the X103 / Indy Uprising stage area, seems to keep her online stuff through artifolio. Having somehow missed grabbing her card at the event, I’ll have to rely on Google to be correct in that.

Kate apparently runs a therapeutic art program for adults with developmental disabilities, which is basically one of those noble gestures that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to rise to, and would feel guilty even if I was for trying to rob Kate of the recognition she’s due. Bravo, Kate, and keep up the good work.

Kate describes her work as being her “electric honey,” which is an odd phrase that I’m not quite sure how to interpret yet, and which I’m not sure entirely meshes with the rest of her statement (although I’m notoriously sketpical of artist statements and whether they even can mean anything). But, whatever “electric honey” does mean, her work is a loose and energetic blend of styles and frequently mediums. A lot of her work uses loose and colorful brush strokes to define the canvas plane, upon which the figural subject matter is superimposed through a separate series of loose and scribbled outlines.

Most of her painting and mixed media work deals with the female form, and most of it seems to deal with ideas of isolation and introspection.

Also on her portfolio site is a body of photography which I don’t remember from Oranje, and which I’m not sure I entirely like. It strangely lacks the color of energy that defines her painting, focusing on somber still-life compositions and desaturated or monochromatic palettes.

At any rate, her profile statement is here: http://www.artifolio.com/artist/missionart/

And her portfolio is here: http://www.artifolio.com/missionart/gallery/

[EDIT]: View the pictures from Oranje 2009 here: http://zedmartinez.com/2009/09/pictures-from-oranje-2009/

So, my thoughts on Oranje  2009 you (don’t) ask? Well, let’s see here:

Venue: Let’s start with the venue first, because it’s what makes the first impression. An old, empty warehouse in the not-so-hot-but-not-really-awful fringe of downtown? Nice ambiance. It’s safe enough to merit attendance, edgy enough to give things that feel the organizers were clearly going for. Plus, the driving ramp as a way to get to the second floor was awesome.

The Art: So, safe to say, the art was kind of a big deal at Oranje. I know, I know, “Derek!”, you say, “That’s crazy talk!” I know, right? But so it was. I count 33 artists/galleries/groups on the map, not counting the bands. I count 40 bands on here. i spent too much time hitting the art booths, so i didn’t catch many of the bands, so I don’t have as much to say about them as I would like. I do, at least, have a list of artists and groups I’m going to discuss over the course of the week. They are (drumroll, please):

• Michael Altman
• Cameron Oehler
• Jennifer Parker
• Nathan Monk
• The McFee Gallery
• Kate Wagner
• Stuart Sayger

So, keep your eyes peeled here.

All that said, I agree with Aud that it sounded like it would be bigger. Mind you, it was two stories of art and 40 friggin’ bands, but it still seems like they could cram more into it if they wanted. But ti was certainly enough to kill four hours on the weeknd.

Refreshments: I’m going to come right out and say it: anyplace that charges me $3 bucks a pop for PBR has some concession-related issues I’d like to see worked out. Profit is nice, but yowza. Can I get something… better, for those prices? Please?