Alan Ilagan

The Romaine Brooks Gallery at the Capital Pride Center will be celebrating 1st Friday Albany tonight, August 5, 2011 from 5 to 9 PM. This month’s artist is an old friend of mine – René Capone. An upstate NY native, René currently lives in San Francisco, CA and will be unable to make it to his opening, but the work more than speaks for itself. Here’s the profile I wrote on him for Community:

Romaine Brooks Gallery Artist Profile: August 2011

It is a story steeped in unfathomable abuse, horrific depression, and the darkest of childhoods. It has local beginnings and universal resonance – and it has a protagonist who moves from Albany to New York City to San Francisco, California. It is, above all else, a story about the redemptive and healing power of art – as escape, as therapy, as a means of life-saving transformation. Now, René Capone is coming back to where it all began – to the area where he was born and raised – to the very Center where he attended Teen Support meetings as a gay teenager – only this time he is the featured artist at the Romaine Brooks Gallery for the month of August.

Coming back home is not always easy, especially when the memories aren’t all happy ones. “Growing up was very hard,” he admits. “I was an abused child to a degree that was frankly sort of terrifying and it took me a long time to have the courage or even the knowledge that I could be something more than that. However, it is a part of who I am. I think it does make me a little more likely to look for the light in things and in people rather than the dark. I would like to inspire any one abused to stand up for themselves and dare to be better than what the world gave them.”

For Capone, the way to the light would be found in his artistic expression, and art became both a method of survival, as well as a way of dealing with the pain. The purpose of his art was, “To make a mirror of the self and of the world around you for the viewer to see. A good artist is a mirror for any audience looking to find themselves, and the truth is we’re all trying to find ourselves.”

I first met René a number of years ago in San Francisco. I was writing a piece on his ‘Hedgehog Boy’ art project, and we met at his studio/apartment. There were paintings – some finished, some still in progress – all over the walls and the floors, anywhere there was space. There was artwork and the artist’s tools spilling from corners and closets –yet it was neither cluttered nor claustrophobic. We spoke of many things, but it was clear that he was most passionate about his work as he described a new line technique he was experimenting with or his preference for certain colors.

According to Capone, “My proudest accomplishment is doing what I was told could never be done – to be a working artist in the face of a corporate brain-washing that would tell us that art is nothing more than a luxury. Making anything beautiful is an accomplishment. Art is not a luxury, it is the only thing that connects us to the past and the future, it is also the only part of a civilization that is kept when we are gone.”

More than that, art was a way for Capone to have control over something – to a certain extent – after coming from a place where he had little to no control. The fact that he favors watercolor as a medium is also both telling and perplexing. “Watercolor I think is a force of nature, and it interesting to me to see if I can bend it to my will and where I simply cannot and have to let the water take over. It’s a very delicate balance that involves a lot of trust.”

Much of Capone’s work is whimsical, with a very dark edge. Here, humans can transform into animals – both vicious and kind – almost as if the artist is trying to discern which world has the most, and least, compassion. The idea of transformation informs the title and theme of the show as a whole. “It just seemed natural as these are the paintings and drawings I’ve been making after completing my graphic novel that’s all about rebirth and acceptance.”
As he returns to upstate New York for this exhibition, Capone does so with a hard-earned wisdom and philosophical grace. In many respects this is an artist coming full circle – artistically, emotionally, and physically. When recounting those early days on his website, Capone wrote a heartrending piece that gives but a small indication of his world:

“While living in NYC, someone whom I remember as being very special and magical said to me (in response to a heated relationship conversation), “It’s not your fault… You don’t know how to be loved.” Never will I forget that, and never do I want it to be true. He was right, but it’s not the way I’m going to end up.”

René Capone will be the featured artist at the Romaine Brooks Gallery for the month of August 2011. His show, ‘Transformations’ premieres on Friday, August 5, 2011 from 5 to 9 PM as part of 1st Friday Albany. Further information about the artist can be found on his website at www.renecapone.com. The Romaine Brooks Gallery is located on the 3rd floor of the Capital Pride Center at 332 Hudson Avenue, Albany, NY 12210.

This year’s Award Recipients from the Capital Pride Center were just announced, and I happily offer my congratulations to the recipients:

Judy Disco, recipient of our highest award given, the Harvey Milk Award

Bomber’s Burrito Bar, Business of the Year Award

Lily Langford, Nancy Burton Straight But Not Narrow Award

Alan Ilagan, Volunteer of the Year Award

Joshua Dunning Powell, Paul Postiglione Youth Services Award

Yes, rewind and check it out – I was actually named as Volunteer of the Year. It is the only reward I’ve ever received (aside from the Best Dressed Man of the Capital Region). I hold both close to my heart, and this one is especially an honor, as I am in the company of some amazing people (which merits the post title of ‘I’m Not Worthy’).

That’s not false humility – I don’t play that game. In fact, if anything, I am guilty of inflating my image beyond the too-often-dismal reality of my world. But my work at the Pride Center – at the Romaine Brooks Gallery – is not a labor at all – it’s a love, it’s a passion, it’s a fulfilling part of my life that has come to mean the world to me. To be recognized for that is a wonderful bonus for what I would do no matter what.

My heartfelt congratulations goes out to all the deserving recipients, as well as a genuine sentiment of thanks and appreciation to those at the Capital Pride Center who felt I was worthy of the Volunteer of the Year. That means more than I can put into words.

Now the only question is: what to wear to the dinner?

(If youre interested in attending the Awards Dinner, here is the info from the Pride Center: Tickets will be available to purchase for this amazing event starting September 1, 2011 via our website www.capitalpridecenter.org or by calling the Pride Center at 518-462-6138. Tickets are $95 each, or $75 for students/seniors.)

Usually I post the 1st Friday Albany info the day before a show, but this month the exhibition looks to be so good that I wanted to get the word out a little early. The Romaine Brooks Gallery will be featuring the works of Tim Schapker in his first solo exhibition, ‘Mere Mortals’. Here’s the artist profile I wrote:

Never regret thy fall,

O Icarus of the fearless flight

For the greatest tragedy of them all

Is never to feel the burning light.

~ Oscar Wilde

            Some of our greatest artists are those who are not afraid to crash and burn. To risk ruin, to flirt with failure, to burn so brightly that there is nothing left – this is the tricky terrain for those who dare to conjure beauty. It is a gamble that pays off in Tim Schapker’s solo exhibition, “Mere Mortals”, on display through the month of July at the Romaine Brooks Gallery.

The story of Icarus provides the main inspiration of this exhibit – a fitting subject for both  literal and metaphorical interpretations.

            “The very brief version of Icarus is that he and his father Daedalus were imprisoned in a Labyrinth,” Schapker explains. “In order to escape, Daedalus constructed wings for them from feathers and wax. Although his father warned Icarus not too fly too close to the sun, Icarus – giddy from the exhilaration of flying – rose higher and higher. His wings melted and he fell to his death. So I suppose the lesson is about failed ambition or an overestimation of one’s competence. The problem I have with that message is that we humans love to play it safe, so we usually stop far short of our actual potential. I think it’s a much better thing to shoot for Mars and only make it to the moon, than to shoot for Detroit and reach my goal. I prefer the approach of Samuel Beckett: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” I think we all know we could do really great things if we could just get rid of that voice that says we can’t do it. Icarus says, “all limits are self-imposed.” I know in the story that Icarus ended up dying, but he also flew… So half of the photos for “Mere Mortals” are very modern takes on Icarus – they’re beautiful nude portraits of men falling through the heavens. In the other half of the photos the people are slightly more – but not entirely – grounded. Classic nude men float just a few inches above the earth. They transcend the classification of mere mortals and fly, even if only a few inches of the ground.”

            A sense of classical beauty runs throughout Schapker’s work, along with a few whimsical flourishes and perfectly-rendered surroundings. That perfection is entirely intentional, and key to the message of this show.

According to Schapker, “This current body of work is certainly very idealized and deals with going beyond our human limitations. I suppose that transcending limitations is personally important to me right now while I’m trying to create a career in the art world. The cards are pretty much stacked against me making it, but I’m not going to let that stop me from trying. If I try to become a great artist, and I only become a decent artist, oh well. It’s better than not trying and being no artist at all.”

There will always be those who criticize artwork and artists, and across-the-board adoration is often suspect. Dealing with such opinions is the nature of the beast, and Schapker is prepared for whatever judgments may be cast.

“I really don’t like to analyze my own artwork too much past its form,” he claims. “I don’t like to deal too much with my own personal reasons for doing art. I think the important thing is what the audience thinks, what they take from it without my input. ‘Don’t complain, don’t explain’ is my approach. That said, I think the least useful purpose of art is as a framework for judging the value of creation. That kind of judgment, especially when done internally, impedes the creative process. Unfortunately I think art criticism that determines what is “good” or “bad” can stifle creativity and puts up barriers to prevent everyday people from creating art. I think people (including myself) should just stop listening to those voices, both internal and external that say, “You’re not a true artist, you don’t have the skill.” I think there’s much more value in me doing something, and doing it badly, than in me doing nothing, but doing it really well.”

Further information on Tim Schapker and his work can be found on his website, www.schapker.com.

Tim Schapker will be presenting his first solo exhibition, “Mere Mortals”, at the Romaine Brooks Gallery on Friday, July 1, 2011 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 Region Pride Center at 332 Hudson Avenue, Albany, NY 12210.

Today from 5 to 9 PM I’ll be hosting 1st Friday at the Romaine Brooks Gallery (sorry for the short notice – blame it on vacation back-up). The featured exhibition is the annual Pride Show – a group show featuring various artists – and all of them are pretty impressive. Here’s the roster:

Sebastien Barre
Bennett Campbell
Kevin Miller
Antoine Rivera
Thomasa Dwyer Nielsen
John J. Bosko

This is one of my favorite Pride Shows. Some years we’re so low on entries I have to come up with creative ways to fill the space, but this time we had just enough work for a great show. Be sure to check out the complete line-up of Albany Pride Events here.

Tomorrow marks Albany’s 1st Friday for May, and the Romaine Brooks Gallery will be presenting the oil paintings of Rob Martin in his solo exhibition, ‘H2O’. I have one of Mr. Martin’s works in my home, and they are sublimely evocative of a number of seascapes, most notably those found in Provincetown and Ogunquit. If you’ve felt any affection for either of those places, check out the show tomorrow from 5 to 9 PM.

It has the power to change the world. It can give life or take it away. It can render steel into rust, break boulders, or smother fire. It can be found from the highest clouds of the sky to the deepest ravines of the ocean. It is water – and it is a subject that many artists have courted. To some of us, art is like water – necessary for survival, integral for life. That exploration of water and art as a life force is explored in Rob Martin’s first solo exhibition, appropriately titled “H2O”, on display at the Romaine Brooks Gallery for the month of May.

As a child, Martin grew up on a lake, but it was his family vacations to the ocean that fueled his love for the water. To this day he makes annual trips to the coast: “My love of the ocean, and the coastline which I travel to every year influences my work. Not only do I use these visits as a source of leisure but as inspiration.”

That inspiration comes partly from the primal power that water has, and the way it can build, destroy, and sustain. Water also the capacity for change and evolution – it is rarely one thing and one thing only – and it can mean drastically different things at different moments. That notion runs parallel with Martin’s take on art.

“I think the purpose of art is to allow an expression to those who might not have had the same experience,” he explains. “As humans we all can interpret something so dramatically different… What’s marvelous is that two people can view the same subject but express it in two different ways. I hope my art evokes people to think about things they have done or want to do.”

While it is said that oil and water do not mix, Martin has crafted a collection of oil paintings that celebrate and honor the wonders of water, and he favors the malleability of working with oil. “Currently, my medium is oil paint, which I love,” he says. “I find oils to be a terrific medium to mix and change while on the canvas. Because of the slow drying you can make all kinds of changes in color and texture sometimes to the point that the piece is more sculpture than painting.” That sort of flexibility comes in handy when your subject is so changeable. As Martin puts it, “Water is such a powerful force that is difficult yet challenging to capture on a canvas.”

There is a danger inherent in water – in its power and capability for destruction. Like the snow, ice, and freezing rain it constitutes, water has a hazardous element associated with it – not unlike the risks often attributed to art. Martin has his own fears and challenges, but faces up to them with this exhibition.

“I think my proudest accomplishment was not to let my own fears prevent me from creating art. It is always with trepidation that I begin a piece not knowing if I will succeed or fail. Sometimes it may be easier to not do it and not take the risk, or allow people to critique what you have done. But I know that when I do succeed or fail I shall have no regrets.”

Rob Martin will be presenting his first solo exhibition, “H2O”, at the Romaine Brooks Gallery on Friday, May 6, 2011 from 5 to 9 PM as part of Albany’s 1st Friday Events. The Romaine Brooks Gallery is located on the third floor of the Capital Region Pride Center at 332 Hudson Avenue, Albany, NY 12210.

Babies, drag queens, Madonna, Tibetan poppies, Tom Ford, saffron vodka, David Beckham, Burberry bags, and a husband named Andy  – this blog has it all! Originally I was going to make a big plea for votes in the Times Union “Best of 2011” contest currently going on HERE. It’s not that I want to win, but it would be a thrill and honor simply to be nominated – you know, just to get on the map. (A far cry from my bid for Best Dressed Man in the Capital Region – that was something that was meant to be mine, and rectified an egregious oversight in high school…) So if you think I should be, oh, let’s say, “Best Local Blogger”, I’d be much obliged.

Seeing as how there are a few local blogging behemoths, all of which I read religiously – Kristi at On the Edge, Steve Barnes at Table Hopping, Amanda Talar, Kevin Marshall’s America, All Over Albany, and a certain Popular Pooch – I’m not counting on even making the mention-list, but after doing this for over eight years – yes, since 2003 – surely it deserves a longevity award or mini-Oscar or consolation booby prize.

But unlike the rest of this site, this post is not about me. It’s really a push for the Romaine Brooks Gallery as “Best Art Gallery” because for obvious reasons I think it should win that one. We’re up against a few formidable choices – all of them much bigger and better-known – but we’ve got heart, and it would be great if this was the little gallery that could. Since its inception, the Romaine Brooks Gallery has consistently offered a space for artists to display their most daring work, regardless of its nature. It has become a bastion of the 1^st Friday Albany scene, where one can stop by every 1^st Friday to see a new artist, check out the Pride Center, and enjoy a treat from Scratch Bakery.

There, you’ve been given two great choices (okay, one great choice, as this crazy-ass site doesn’t stand a chance, even if I do post on weekends too…)  Click HERE to vote and exercise your rights as Capital Region Readers.

Everybody wants to be a superhero. Whether it’s the ability to fly, the power to bend steel, or simply the art of looking good in unforgiving lycra, it’s the dream ideal to which we each aspire in some way. Beyond the anatomical bulges, the rippled muscles, and the square-jaw perfection of the typical superhero, the one thing they provide to all is inspiration. Sean Breen is putting that inspiration on display at his first solo exhibition, “Superb Men”, at the Romaine Brooks Gallery in April 2011.

“My love of comic book characters results from a desire to be more than I am,” Breen explains. “I love the characters and the confidence and ideals they espouse, the power they wield that I long for and feel I have never had… Continuing to draw these characters into my adult years is a way for me to hold on to the excitement, wonder and imagination of my youth. My life in all other ways is ordinary…art allows me to be extraordinary.”

“When I discovered comic books, I discovered a world that, although not inclusive of gay people at the time, was void of anything derogatory towards us. The colorful costumes, the abilities, the secret lives, the strong morals and desire to protect the weak and innocent… it all resonated [with] me. I was always drawing superheroes and then began to sexualize my drawings (in secret of course) as a way to express the hidden thoughts and feelings I had. I’d draw ripped or revealing costumes, male heroes kissing each other and, eventually, I just started drawing the men completely nude as I embraced more of who I was and what I liked.”

Breen’s confidence is apparent not only in his subject matter, but in the way he lives his life: “I am very proud of (and highly support) being completely out and visible, even in and through my artwork. Some people feel their sexuality is only a small part of who they are; for me, my sexuality informs much of what I am. I would not be the person I am or create the artwork I do, if I were not a gay man. To demote it to some insignificant part of my persona would be disrespecting how it has influenced my personality, shaped my life and art, and how I experience the world. If my art is a reflection of me, it has to reflect my homosexuality or it isn’t really coming from me at all.”

It takes a strong and secure individual to own his sexuality so proudly and openly, and that is what Breen has done since coming out at the age of eighteen. There’s something of the superhero in that – during an oppressive time, coming from an unaccepting family, and faced with a fearful world, to live unabashedly as a gay person is often an act of defiance, and sometimes it takes superhuman strength and resistance simply to survive. Yet even superheroes have their weaknesses, and for Breen that may be the idea of presenting his work to the world.

“My artwork is the hardest part of me to share because it is one of the most revealing things I do. I am pouring myself into creating something that others will see and have or express opinions about; it is extremely personal and special to me and is, therefore, the most vulnerable to scrutiny and criticism. It may be easy for some onlookers to dismiss my art as just simple drawings on paper, deem it good or bad art and walk away unmoved; but every image is something I created with my time and effort and it is a piece of me, so it means a lot more to me and I internalize the reactions to it. That exposure is exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.”

Sean Breen will be presenting his exhibition, “Superb Men”, at the Romaine Brooks Gallery on Friday, April 1, 2011 from 5 to 9 PM as part of Albany’s 1st Friday Events. The Romaine Brooks Gallery is located on the third floor of the Pride Center at 332 Hudson Avenue, Albany, NY 12210.