Art News: Nude art website announces calendar contest winners for April, scores 1,000,000 hits, 117,000 page views in 2007.
New York, NY – March 30, 2007 – Barebrush.com is pleased to announce the results of the eighth calendar contest, April N*des-of-the-Month. Traffic in March approaches 400,000 hits, a 400% increase since December and has exceeded the 1,000,000-hit milestone in 2007. Page views are in excess of 117,000 for 2007 with over 15,000 unique visitors.
The April calendar, comprises 30 artworks (one for each day of the month) by 29 artists. It was selected by guest curator, Mikaela Sardo Lamarche. The calendar is international in scope, including artists from Canada, Mexico, UK, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, as well as around the US. N*des-of-the-Month April 2007 is in previews for members only and viewable by the public beginning April 1, 2007 at www.barebrush.com.
About Mikaela Sardo Lamarche and ACA Galleries
ACA Galleries, established in 1932, specializes in 19th and 20th century American Art, Modern and Contemporary paintings, drawings and sculpture including American Impressionism, Stieglitz Circle, Ashcan School, 14th Street School, Regionalism, WPA, American Abstraction, Social Realism and Abstract Expressionism. ACA Galleries is located in the Chelsea art district of NYC.
Mikaela Sardo Lamarche is responsible for organizing all special thematic and historical exhibitions as well as traveling shows for ACA Galleries. Since 2004 she has curated numerous exhibitions including the first retrospective in over 40 years of the artist, Francis Luis Mora, as well as Continuum: Celebrating the 130th Anniversary of the Art Students League of New York and Masters of Tempera, a survey of 20th century American tempera painters. Currently she has two traveling exhibitions on view; African American Masters at the Morris Museum in Morristown, New Jersey and Jon Schueler: The Sign of the Gale, at the Opalka Gallery of the Sage Colleges in Albany, New York.
When asked to provide some insight into her approach to the April calendar, Mikaela had written, "For the April exhibition on barebrush.com, I am looking for originality among the individual artists. I would like to see artworks that enlarge the boundaries of the genre and somehow move beyond the classically inspired and stylized nudes that we typically associate with the genre."
After she had selected the show, Mikaela said, "The thing that is most striking is the diversity of the responses. These artists are exploring the nude in new and inventive ways. We have a tendency to think, 'well, you've seen one nude, etcetera,' but that wasn't the case at all. It was a real eye-opener. The work is exciting and fresh.”
About the Artists and the Show:
Mikaela selected Donna Cleary's Monoprint installation for the honor of launching the month. Mikaela felt that the huge piece (8 x 14 feet) thematically echoes the variety of work for the rest of the April. Donna Cleary is a New York artist who was similarly honored by barebrush in January, when her charcoal drawing of a pregnancy, Doubled, was selected by the January curator, Miyako Yoshinaga to launch the year 2007.
Mikaela chose two pieces for her jury of selection. Cupid and Psyche is a work of contemporary allegory by Jerome Witkin, who was featured in the March issue of Art in America Magazine in an article by noted art historian Peter Selz. Paleo Girl is an unusual piece made with bones found in owl pellets by Irene Hardwick Olivieri. Mikaela felt that the non-traditional materials were in keeping with the spirit she wanted for the April N*des-of-the-Month.
Chanit Roston, a NY artist, has the distinction of being the only artist in the April calendar with two pieces selected. Mikaela felt that Chanit’s On Two Chairs was just the sort of inventive image which is keeping the nude fresh and interesting. When she saw Danish artist Frank Olesen's piece, Sex, she remarked, "Now that's on the edge of the genre." The painting Laying Body, by Francien Kreig (Holland) made her laugh out loud.
In February, barebrush introduced “My Favorite Nude,” a people’s choice poll to determine each calendar’s most popular artwork. Frank Olesen has another distinction at barebrush.com, as his painting, Red won 1st place in the poll for February 2007. The March 2007 poll is open to all (closing April 15th). Early results show that Annette Ashton (New Zealand) and Héctor Olvera "Etor" (Mexico) are in the lead.
April N*des-of-the-Month artists (with day of the month): Oudi Arroni (11), Deborah Jane Batt (18), Donna Cleary (1), Rene Hinds (30), Kasper Holten (8), William Kaminski (16), Kaya (29), John Woodrow Kelley (21), Francien Krieg (17), Linda Krieg (20), Jean Marcellino (4), Lael Marshall (12), Jacqui Morgan (2), Ephraim Natkins (6), Frank Olesen (22), Irene Hardwick Olivieri (28), Héctor Olvera "Etor" (24), Paul Rapoport (9), Joost Remeeus (13), Jon Rettich (10), Jennie Rosenbaum (23), Chanit Roston (5, 26), Anthony Santella (19), Ilene Skeen (3), Suzanne Stacy (14), Nishiki Tayui (15), Randy Thurman (27), Haydee Torres (25), Jerome Witkin (7).
About barebrush.com
barebrush.com is an international marketplace dedicated exclusively to the art of the nude. Membership on the site is free, and listing art on the site for 30 days is also free. The N*des-of-the-Month is a virtual juried exhibition of the art selected from the “Art Log” by a different guest art professional each month. The exhibition is presented on the web in a unique calendar format and for each day of the month, the nude of the day is featured on the barebrush home page. Free printable versions of all calendars are available at the website in both one-page-per-month and weekly planner (seven-days-per-page) formats.
The N*des-of-the-Month exhibition series began in September 2006 with an exhibition curated by Brigitte Saint-Ouen, founder and director of Gramercy 32 Fine Arts. All previous calendars and the details of the art represented are available in the archives of barebrush.com.
Art can be uploaded to barebrush at any time. Art uploaded now will be automatically in consideration for the N*des-of-the-Month May 2007. The official “Call for Entries” along with the announcement of the May guest curator will be released Thursday, April 5th.
Contact information:
Ilene Skeen
372 Fifth Avenue, Suite 7D
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 917-806-7992
Email:
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www.barebrush.com
dedicated to the art of the nude
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