Claes Gabriel (Claes is pronounced “Clays”) makes bright-colored totemic shapes from stretched canvas over wood armatures. The works show the artist’s attention to detail in crafting and painting. The artist, who was born in Port au Prince, Haiti in 1977 is not making “black art” but rather painting his feelings, he says. He’s the son of a famous Haitian artist, Jacques Gabriel, and yes, he was named after Claes Oldenburg. Claes came to the US in 1989 and studied at Maryland Institute College of Art (BFA 1999) and while right now he’s in Philadelphia, his long-range plans involve living in Europe.
Read MoreEvery time we see Frank Bramblett, we feel like we have been handed a gift. This time, we bumped into him at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Tuesday. We’ve known Frank since he had something to say to us the first year of Artblog (2003), and then we taught a class with him at Tyler. Sure enough, seeing him Tuesday was also a gift. But here’s something he mailed to us shortly afterward. It is an amazing present from him to us. And we are re-gifting it to you.
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