Intaglio
Prints and Paintings
August 1 - 31, 2014
Recent Works
from Curt Labitzke
Chair, Printmaking Program
University of Washington School of Art
Reception with the Artist:
First
Friday, August 1, 6-8 pm
In
Concert on the Plaza
Ranger and the Re-Arrangers
Location: The Island Gallery, 400
Winslow Way E., #120, Bainbridge Island , Washington
About the Artists:
Curt Labitzke was born in New York in 1958, his father an
illustrator and his mother a quilt-maker. He received his Masters of Fine
Arts from the University of Notre Dame in 1984 with a concentration in
Painting, Printmaking and Drawing. Upon completion of his degree he
joined the Studio Art faculty at the University of Washington, Seattle. Curt is
currently the Chair of the Printmaking and Interdisciplinary Visual Arts
Programs and regularly teaches in the School of Art’s study abroad program in
Rome and Florence, Italy.
His work is influenced by his extensive travels and reflects
a passion for the sensuous quality of Etruscan art, the beauty of the
Renaissance, the poetic storytelling of the Greeks and the brut directness of
the German Expressionists.
The intaglio prints, often built of iconic figures inspired
by ancient Greek and Roman portrait busts, peer from their ambiguous space
seeking empathy as they passionately engage the viewer.
Curt’s artistic process involves several stages: sketching,
etching the sketched figure onto a copper or plexiglas plate, inking the plate,
running the inked plate through a vintage press onto archival paper,
distressing the printed paper with a variety of tools and adding pigment, again
inking the plate and running the initial printed paper through the press again,
repeating the distressing, pigment and print steps up to five times. The resulting print resembles a treasure unearthed
from an archeological dig.
Curt’s work has been exhibited
internationally in Italy, France, Mexico and Chile, across the United States,
and locally at venues such as the Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, and
the Jacob Lawrence Gallery.
Ranger and the Re-Arrangers: Bainbridge Island’s own Gypsy Jazz
band! Playing in the upbeat style created
in the 1930s by Django Reinhardt and other European string players who embraced
American jazz, fiddling phenomenon Ranger Sciacca fronts this sizzling hot
fivesome of violin, mandolin, bass, percussion and rhythm guitar as they play
their award-winning originals, swing standards, and traditional Gypsy tunes.
Ranger’s creative, syncopated leads complement the band’s steady, swinging
rhythms.
About the gentlemen:
Ranger
Sciacca’s performances and
compositions reflect his extensive studies in classical, jazz, and folk music.
His Suzuki teacher, Alice Kanack, publishes books and CDs on improvising
classical music. Ranger also studied folk and dance music for seven years with
renowned Seattle fiddler Stuart Williams. Ranger’s main influences include guitarist
Django Reinhardt and jazz violin greats Stuff Smith, Claude Williams and
Stephane Grappelli. A Bainbridge Island native, Ranger studied jazz theory and
history at Whitman College.
Michael
Sciacca, Ranger’s dad, has been his
rhythm guitarist for years; they have performed as a swing jazz duo since 2001.
Bassist
Todd Houghton has had an extensive career in performing, teaching, and
producing music. Todd is an advisor to Jack Straw Production’s Blind Youth
Audio Project and has hosted an “open mic” on Bainbridge Island, Washington
since 1993.
Percussionist
Jeffrey Moose has a 30-year career in both music and fine art. His
collaborations and band projects include work with Joined at the Head,
Heliotroupe, Dog Superior, Stiff Kitty, Atoke, Zayah Emmanuel, and Sam Andrews,
founder of Big Brother and the Holding Company. He is currently director of
Jeffrey Moose Gallery in Seattle.
Mandolin player Dave
Stewart is also a classically-trained pianist.
