Alan Ilagan

A good friend of mine, Jim Masters, will be presenting his first solo show at the Romaine Brooks Gallery this Friday, September 3, from 5 to 9 PM. This is also the 4th anniversary of 1st Friday Albany, so it is a doubly special occasion. Toss in the fact that musician Vinny d’Andrea (pictured below) will be performing at the gallery from 7 to 9 PM and you have an artistic triumvirate that is sure to result in an impressive evening of art, music, and some wonderful people.

Here is the story I had the pleasure of writing about Jim for Community:

During the few short years he’s been on the Albany gay scene, Jim Masters has quickly become an institution unto himself. Grandfatherly in deportment, kind and gentle in communication, and always ready with a smile or laugh, Jim is someone you simply enjoy being around (a lost art for so many today). He has devoted many hours to the Capital District Gay & Lesbian Community Center, and in September he will premiere his first solo exhibition, “Rejoicing in Beauty Everywhere” at the Romaine Brooks Gallery.

I first met him when I started helping out at the Gallery, when he made it up and down the three flights of stairs carrying trays of cookies, bags of garbage, and any number of other items that had to be transported. More than the extra hand, it was his conversation and kindly whispers about the people I had yet to meet that won my heart. He never said a cruel word about anyone, though it was clear if something didn’t quite agree with him. He had a wealth of knowledge about the world, from years of traveling and teaching, and was ever-ready with an interesting tale or recounting of his journeys.

He is a born story-teller, as evidenced by the explanations that accompany his work. This time around, however, he’s doing much of the tale-telling through his artwork.

“My understanding is that human beings were doing art long before they were writing, and I believe they were probably singing before they were speaking, too,” Masters says. “Their art expressed their feelings about the world and the mysteries of the world. That’s what my photographic work is all about, too.”

From his early life in Kansas City, Missouri, to the majority of his adult life in Billings, Montana, he has amassed considerable wisdom and knowledge over almost 82 years of living, yet maintains a childlike wonder at the world. As he puts it, “I received no pressure from my parents to decide what I wanted to be or do when I grew up. I guess that’s why even today when I’m almost 82 years old, I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.”

            Within those eight decades, Masters sought out art, and ended up living in a house full of artists. To this day he is surrounded by the artwork of his family.

“I was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1928. Kansas City was my home except for a stint in the USAF from 1950 to 1954, when I was in San Antonio, Texas, Syracuse, New York, and Anchorage, Alaska. In 1970 my wife, children, and I moved to Billings, Montana. That was the end of my life in Kansas City.  My Dad was very good at cartooning, but in those days of the Great Depression he was so busy making a living that he never had the time or inclination to teach me to draw. When I was five years old the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art (now called the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) was opened not far from where I lived in Kansas City, Missouri. From the beginning it has always been a superb, world-class place to see art, and I visited it many, many times before 1970, when I moved to Montana. On Saturday mornings the Nelson Art Gallery had classes for children in various artistic and crafts activities. I still have a little Navaho-type rug that I wove in one of those classes. During the 55 years of my marriage I lived with artists—my wife and my three children. The walls in my house are decorated with their art work.”

It was his wife who may have taught Masters the most about art, and it was she who planted the seeds that resulted in his current show. “The art classes in school did not do much for me as far as helping me do any art that I felt very happy with,” he admits. “The main way I learned to do photography was working with my wife photographing here and there over the years.”

There is an ease and peace to his life, and a matter-of-fact analysis to his work. A collection spanning so many years is no mean feat, and Masters spent an exorbitant amount of time getting this one just the way he wants it. Fellow artists supported and offered advice along the way, encouraging him and helping him sort through what worked and what didn’t.

“The artist whom I’ve come to know best in recent years is Kevin Bruce. I’ve watched him paint and have seen the intensity of the creative process in his face and hands as he works. And I’ve talked with him about his own work and the work of many other artists. He’s a walking encyclopedia of art.”

            That kind of openness and curiosity about others is the main part of Jim’s appeal. He will talk to anyone, and gets people to open up because he is so interested in the world around him. His views on society are refreshingly straight-forward and to-the-point. There is never any edge of cynicism and certainly no room for sarcasm; in the world of Masters that makes no sense. If there’s one thing for which I am most grateful to him, it may be that bit of inspiration. Whenever I’m with him, I get the feeling that he has somehow found the key to true happiness and contentment, and whereas I search for the where and how, he simply goes about his life not even seeming to worry about such matters. That’s the simplicity, and the grandness, of Jim Masters. Unlike some people who can’t move on, he doesn’t look at the past with any sense of regret or bitterness. He celebrates it for what it was, and looks ahead with promise at what is to come.

Jim Masters will be presenting his exhibition, “Rejoicing in Beauty Everywhere”, at the Romaine Brooks Gallery on Friday, September 3 2, 2010 from 5 to 9 PM as part of Albany’s 1^st Friday Events. The Romaine Brooks Gallery is located on the third floor of the Capital District Gay & Lesbian Community Center at 332 Hudson Avenue, Albany, NY 12210.

It seems like we just had the Pride Show at the Romaine Brooks Gallery, so I am somewhat taken by surprise that the July Show is already upon us. James Juron will be premiering his solo show, “Heads of Force” at the Gallery tomorrow from 5 to 9 PM. Please join us for a great exhibition, especially if you’ve been pining for paintings.

Tomorrow marks another 1st Friday Albany at the Romaine Brooks Gallery. Please stop by to see the work of Scott Bowman. Here’s the profile I did of him for the latest issue of Community:

When many of us were kids, the best time of the week was Saturday morning. The television programming was made just for us, and the shows brimmed with colorful cartoons, obnoxiously cloying sitcoms, and worlds of fantasy and make-believe. How many of us spent our Saturdays waking up and watching the morning cartoons, escaping into those fantastical realms and flying away from a mundane, if not outright hostile, existence? Scott Bowman certainly did, but along with the enjoyment and artistic inspiration he found there, there was always something missing.

“When I first tried to develop a theme for the show I wasn’t sure what I wanted,” he explains. “I just knew that I wanted it to be mostly done with crayon. I also wanted to reflect something gay-related. I began to think of how much time I spent drawing in front of the TV or movies at a very young age. I got to thinking just how many TV shows and movies are based in a straight world. How many images have we viewed about relationships that didn’t exactly follow our wants or desires as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people?”

It’s a question he challenges in his show, “Saturday Morning Daydreams”, opening at the Romaine Brooks Gallery this month. The exhibition focuses largely on his work with crayons, a fitting instrument when dealing with cartoons and Saturday morning memories.

“I am very much a mixed medium artist,” Bowman claims. “However, the majority of the pieces were done with crayon, just what a child would use when coloring a coloring book. I found an artist that was using this medium. I felt I could do that. The learning process has been extensive: requiring the use of layering the crayons, finding cardboard that worked the best, and adjusting my techniques.”

The most seemingly-silly works of art often require a deft and serious hand, particularly in their execution, and cartoons are increasingly being considered a relevant, and lasting, art form. For Bowman, it comes naturally: “Being interested in cartooning has a big influence on my art work. There have been times that I have started a piece of art work with the intent of doing it in a more serious or classical style only to find myself reverting to a more “cartoony” way. I am envious of those artists who seem to have a very loose and free-flowing style. My work is generally very tight.”

Influenced by a variety of media, Bowman found himself drawn to a number of different styles. “I have many interests and I take this approach to my art. I get inspired by many sources some of which include movies, TV, magazines and books and even sports. It is not unusual for me to have several projects going at the same time. I am probably most inspired by comic books. My partner and I have very large collection. If there is an art genre that inspired me it is comic books and science-fiction related art.”

Alienation is not just a major theme for many science-fiction buffs, but also for gay men and women. Bowman has found a supportive collection of fellow sci-fi fans with whom he cultivates his artistic expression. As he says, “A good share of my friends are into writing, reading and gaming. Science fiction is a big interest among us. Sometimes we will spend hours discussing plots, creative ideas from books and movies. The writers of our group write such visuals with their words that I can’t wait to illustrate them. In fact, in the near future a group of my friends and I have a creative day planned, bringing whatever creative thing we happen to be working on at the time and working on it all day. This usually involves sharing ideas and closing ourselves off from the rest of the world. This really inspires the creative process.”

Along with the shared enthusiasm for science-fiction, Bowman’s day job as a teacher’s assistant is further inspiration. “Working in a daycare is another big influence on my creativity. I work in a drop-in daycare with children ages six-weeks to twelve years old. Being able to draw just about any cartoon character has come in handy.”

The unabashed excitement for cartoon characters is something that Bowman has retained despite the passing years, and is an integral part of his artistic passion. Though he has not had any formal training, he has taken a number of classes at the Troy Art Center and the Albany Art Room. Perhaps more importantly, Bowman was raised with regular access to the artistic world of his grandmother and great grandmother.

“I grew up in a small rural town,” he begins. “Most of my family lived nearby. Both my great grandmother and grandmother introduced me to art when I was younger. Most days I would walk to my great grandmother’s house and she would give me lessons. She would teach me about different mediums and instruct me to create different pictures with them. I credit her for my interest in mixing different mediums together to get desired effects. My grandmother was a talented artist who went to school for art. She would paint large murals on the walls of her house.”

                  It was that early brush with art that revealed a world of possibility for Bowman, opening up the way for art to be an accessible and enjoyable path to creative fulfillment and evolution. According to him, “Art for me is about learning, evolving and growing toward your true self. I don’t agree when anyone says, “I don’t have an artistic bone in my body.” It is important to remember that there are different forms of being creative or artistic. For example, athletes can be creative with the sport they participate in, a carpenter works to master his or her craft, and a teacher always has to find new and creative ways to convey what they’re teaching.”

Scott Bowman’s exhibition “Saturday Morning Daydreams” will open at the Romaine Brooks Gallery on Friday, March 5, 2010 from 5-9 PM as part of 1^st Friday Albany. It will run throughout the month. The Romaine Brooks Gallery is a program of the Capital District Gay & Lesbian Community Council and is located on the third floor of the community center at 332 Hudson Avenue, Albany, NY 12210.

Last night’s 1st Friday exhibition at the Romaine Brooks Gallery went splendidly, and I was glad to see so many friendly and familiar faces. Now it’s back to the weekend wedding grind, as I begin to churn out a bazillion intricately-detailed wedding invitation packages. There may or may not be tulle involved – I haven’t decided yet.

Andy has managed to come up with amazing seats for Spring Awakening when it comes to Proctor’s this month. (I think we’re fifth row center – after Wicked we decided front row at that theater was sorrowfully over-rated.) I actually purchased the Spring Awakening soundtrack when it debuted on Broadway a few years ago, but after one or two half-hearted (and half-heard) spins in the CD player it went onto the rack and never surfaced until this morning. I was pleasantly surprised (and relieved) by how much more I liked it this time around. It’s just further commentary on second chances, first impressions, and blah, blah, cliched blah.

Next weekend I’ll be back on the road, resuming the 21st Century Renaissance Tour down in New York City with Suzie and Chris. Until then, it’s all work and little to no play.

The Romaine Brooks Gallery of the Capital District Gay & Lesbian Community Council will be premiering a group show this Friday, February 5, 2010 from 5 to 9 PM. Entitled “Pathways & Portals”, the exhibition features the work of ten local ladies and is the perfect antidote for the winter blahs.

You are invited to stop by while making your 1st Friday rounds (there will be cookies and wine!)

Romaine Brooks Gallery

Capital District Gay & Lesbian Community Center

332 Hudson Avenue – 3rd floor

Albany, NY 12210