IOWA CONTEMPORARY ART | 58 North Main Street, Fairfield, IA 52556 | 641-919-6252 | bill@icon-art.org | iconbillteeple@gmail.com
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IOWA CONTEMPORARY ART
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New Exhibit in the Hudson Collection Gallery at ICON
The Hudson Collection Gallery on the mezzanine at ICON has an all new exhibition,
opening on First Friday in Fairfield, October 1. The gallery was created to be the
permanent home for the prestigious Hudson Collection of Shiva Linga paintings
donated to ICON in 2018. The exhibition was organized by David T. Hanson.
This exhibition brings together a selection of anonymous Shiva Linga paintings from
ICON’s Hudson Collection, five anonymous Tantra paintings from the collection of
David T. Hanson, and a group of Tantra-inspired paintings by Charlotte Cain. The
Shiva Linga paintings shown here reproduce the selection and sequence of images
chosen by Hudson and Feature Inc. to represent the entire collection of 71
anonymous Shiva Linga paintings on the gallery’s website.
The exhibition is dedicated to the late Frank Andre Jamme (1947 - 2020), who is
responsible for introducing this art to the west. Frank Andre Jamme was a French
poet, artist, and translator. Jamme published numerous poems and fragments, as
well as multiple limited-edition books. A specialist of Indian Tantric, Brut, and Tribal
art, he was also praised for his work as an international curator. Working with
Hudson and Feature Inc., Jamme assembled the series of Anonymous Shiva Linga
Paintings in he Hudson Collection. We are deeply indebted to Frank Andre Jamme.
“We’ve paired the Tantric art with paintings by Charlotte Cain,” says ICON Director
Bill Teeple. “Charlotte drew inspiration from Tantric painting and Indian miniature
painting. She was highly trained in the art of the west having graduated from the
Rhode Island School of Design. She went on to study miniature painting in India with
one of the great masters of that art form, Bannu Sharma. She was a bridge between
cultures.”
Next 2022 ICON Exhibits:
20th Century Japanese Prints
August 5 to October 22, 2022
The centuries-old Japanese art of woodblock prints underwent a major paradigm shift in the
early 20th century. Prior to 1900, the production of woodblock prints was a cooperative affair,
with the tasks of designing, drawing, carving, and printing being each handled by a different
artist or craftsperson skilled in that phase of production. Beginning in 1904, a group of modern
artists formed a new movement, known as sōsaku hanga, or "creative prints," whose founding
principle stated that the true creative artist should be responsible for each and every stage of
the woodblock process.
In addition, these modern Japanese printmakers freely looked to their Western counterparts,
particularly among the French post-impressionist and modernist artists, to further enrich their
own art practice. Many traveled to Europe to study the emerging trends of modern art. The
result was a great flowering of Japanese prints that transformed not only the style and content
of the woodblock print, but also raised all printmaking media, including etching, silkscreen,
stencil, and others, to a status of fine art that they had not previously enjoyed in the eyes of
the Japanese public.
In this ICON exhibition, we'll showcase works in the collections of a few Fairfield residents,
representing over 30 prominent Japanese artists from the 1920s onward, in a wide range of
styles, content, and media. It promises to be an exciting and eye-opening cultural adventure
of a type we haven't undertaken before. A walk-through is planned with Bill Teeple and guest
curator Chas Hall, along with a slideshow featuring additional works by artists represented in
the show and their contemporaries. We hope to see you there!
David Kupferman
LIGHT WAVES:
MOMENTS OF BEING
From his earliest years, David Kupferman was surrounded by paints, brushes, and the scent of linseed oil.
Born into a family of professional artists, David inherited a deep love for painting and ended up becoming
an artist, too. On any day of the week, he can be found working in his studio in the old St. Mary’s building
in Fairfield, visually expressing the subtleties of his daily meditations, the true subject of all his artwork.
Kupferman’s work is the subject of an upcomoing solo show at ICON Gallery in Fairfield, opening May 6
during Fairfield First Fridays. A large grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) through the
Iowa Arts Council has helped launch Light Waves: Moments of Being, which runs through July 23.
Kupferman aims to offer viewers an exhibition that reflects peace, joy, and harmony, a beautiful experience
that transcends the contagious fear and divisiveness brought about by the pandemic.
On display are about 50 colorful paintings, with most pieces representing recent work from a series begun
last summer. These acrylic paintings are lyrical abstracts on canvas and paper of various sizes. With a broad
stroke, Kupferman describes his paintings as “celebrations of the mystery, magnitude, and dynamism of life.
They are expressions of the infinite flow of light and the expansion of inner consciousness through free-
flowing color, movement, and geometric compositions.”
Kupferman is interested in space, form, light, color, and movement and the conversations these elements
have between them. His paintings are layered and transparent, created in a spontaneous, improvisational
manner. The shapes are scraped over, a technique used to reveal remnant images below or the memory
of what went before. These images are combined with geometric linear structures that create patterns
and an overall atmospheric and compositional order. Thin white lines (and other colors) often define space
boundaries, creating “windows” that serve as portals to a deeper perceptual dimension. Though sometimes
asymmetrical, the shapes and the weight of colors bring balance and stability to the picture plane. Some
paintings have landscape references, suggesting ocean and sky, or even drifting cloud formation.s
David explains that his paintings are derived from a “unique fusion of Eastern and Western aesthetics and
philosophy.” One important aspect of this fusion comes from painting while listening to the rich improvised
melodies of classical Indian ragas and the rhythms of modern jazz. He conducts the flow of wet paint,
listens to the elevating music, improvises, and becomes a visual player in the ensemble. With this spon-
taneous collaboration, “the music gets infused into the art.”
In this new collection at ICON, we see the results of David’s ongoing exploration into nature’s eternal
rhythms and patterns that underlie everything as vibrating energy waves. This is Kupferan’s familiar,
personal experience, and the artist hopes that viewers will resonate emotionally with the artwork and enjoy
a shared feeling of harmony and unity, light waves and continuous moments of being.
A gallery walk-through with the artist will be held at ICON Gallery, 58 N. Main, Fairfield, Friday, May 20, at 8 p.m.
Highlights from the current exhibit: Light Waves/Moments of Being with David Kupferman….
