MAY 2008

View Brian Smith's contemporary paintings featured in Senator Claire McCaskill's office in Washington, DC.

Eastman's Eyes
By Stephen Shenkenberg
St. Louis Magazine
Photographer Michael Eastman has lived nearly his whole life in St. Louis, a city that has both nurtured his work and in some ways held it back. With the publication this month of Vanishing America, which collects three decades of his photographs, Eastman reflects on receiving greater international recognition, what it took to earn it and why it was worth the wait...

At the end of the Road
by Douglas Brinkley
Los Angeles Times
A photographer captures the emptiness and essence of the countless little Main Streets we've left behind.


APRIL 2008

Works by Ronald Christ and Ken Anderson • St. Louis Art Capsules • April 30, 2008
By Malcom Gay
River Front Times
Duane Reed Gallery presents the works of two Midwestern artists whose styles are quite different. Christ, an art professor at Wichita State University, paints imagined scenes that he insists are "possible but not probable." His gorgeous, calming, dreamlike canvases call to mind the work of Giorgio de Chirico and the early Renaissance painters who, having freshly discovered the technique of perspectival painting, imagined pristine cityscapes of impossible symmetry. Anderson concerns himself with earthier issues in his mixed-media series of low-relief abstract wood assemblages. Drawing heavily on the world of textiles, Anderson, an art professor at UMSL, uses a muted, earth-toned palette as he arranges strips of painted wood into abstract patterns that begin to resemble woven rugs. Through May 3 at Duane Reed Gallery, 7513 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-862-2333 (www.duanereedgallery.com). Hours 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat. and by appointment.


MARCH 2008

Stochastic 2 and Mutable/Mutability • St. Louis Art Capsules • March 12, 2008
by Malcolm Gay
River Front Times
Working with wax and oil paints, New Mexico artist Larry Fodor creates richly layered pictures whose deep, soothing colors intersect, interrupt and modify one another. The effect is an entire canvas composed of a seemingly infinite number of artistic choices. In Mutable/Mutability, meanwhile, ceramic installation artist Laurel Lukaszewski continues her exploration of extruded forms. Reminiscent of calligraphy in three dimensions, Lukaszewski's works — freestanding, hanging or wall-mounted constellations — are built by interlocking twisty ceramic forms around a core. That core may stay the same, but each time Lukaszewski installs one of her creations, the artwork shifts ever so slightly, allowing the artist to never exhibit the same piece twice. Through March 29 at R. Duane Reed Gallery


JANUARY 2008

Michael Eastman's "Vanishing America - The End of Main Street" book release April 29, 2008. Join us for an exhibition and book signing Friday, May 16th from 5 - 8 pm. Books available for sale at the gallery.


NOVEMBER 2007

After-Dark Arts • November 21, 2007
By Jeannette Kozlowski
River Front Times
Just as the last flicker of light fades on the fall horizon, another equally illuminating vision will be aglow at the Saint Louis University Museum of Art (3663 Lindell Boulevard; 314-977-2666 or www.slu.edu/sluma). Art After Hours allows museum guests to explore three exhibits while enjoying complimentary A-B products and Gus' Pretzels. In the main gallery, Elusive Light: Michael Eastman Retrospective features an amalgamation of early photographs by Eastman, a St. Louis native, along with his more renowned works from the America, Cuba, Horses, Rodin, Abstractions and Palladiums series. Next, venture to the third floor and see an 89-year-old's ink illustrations of the book of Revelation in Revelation: The Religious Imagination of Russell Kraus. Additionally, Reflections: The Paintings of Nancy Newman Rice displays the Wash. U. alum's fascinating use of colored dots on canvas in the Community Gallery. Stop by the final Art After Hours Friday, November 30, from 5 to 7 p.m. All exhibits mentioned run through Sunday, December 16. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
Fri., Nov. 30, 2007


MAY 2007

Michael Lucero: Seated Totem Series and Paul Dresang • May 17, 2007
By David Bonetti
St. Louis Post Dispatch
Friday should be a highlight of the craft season when a number of promising shows open at two craft-oriented galleries. "Mapping the Territory," at Craft Alliance, is a fiber show featuring artists who use fabric to "explore individual concepts of place and demonstrate the power of cloth to express ideas." It features seven artists, including Canadian Dorothy Caldwell, who says she's interested "in the contrast between the personal maps we carry in our heads and conventional maps, and how the two play agains one another." Showing separately is local metal artist Noel Leicht. Duane Reed is shoing two ceramics artists. Michael Lucero, one of the leading ceramists of his generation, explores surrealism in his complex and sometimes psychically disturbing works, juxtaposing extremely unlikely images. Southern Illinois U niversity Edwardsville professor Paul Dresang explores a fool-the-eye aesthetic inhis work. Both artists will be present at the opening.


APRIL 2007

Art gallery owners have to have sense of style and business • April 13, 2007
By Rebecca Roussell
St. Louis Post Dispatch
At a passing glance, an art gallery might appear to be like any other store with products inside for sale. But it's not. It's a much riskier business than trying to sell brooms, vacuum cleaners or hammers. Each day is a grab bag for art gallery owners.

Mary Sprague: Six Foot Chickens • Spring/Summer 2007
Seasons Magazine
Duane Reed Gallery is excited to present the works of internationally acclaimed artist Mary Sprague. Mary Sprague, longtime Professor Emeritus of Art and Art History at Meramec Community College, is a printer, painter and ceramic artist. After completing her Bachelor and Master of Arts at Stanford University in California, she moved with her husband and four children to the Midwest and has been immersed in the St. Louis art community for the past forty years.

Chicken or the Sprague? • March 29 - April 4, 2007
By Paul Friswold
Riverfront Times
Which came first? Mary Sprague's not fooling anyone. Her series of large-scale, mixed media drawings, Six Foot Chickens, doesn't really depict chickens. Granted, at first meeting, those feathery upsweeps and beaked faces certainly approximate t he outline of chickens - but look deeply into the eyes of these birds. The boundless vitality that animates each bird? The"you-can-drop-dead-right-there-buster " glare of Seething Chicken? The iron-spined beauty of the strutting bird in Full Regalia? The sense of wonder the mother hen in Pipping Sound reveals in the cast of her head and shifted-to-the-side weight at the sight of yet another flawless creation? That's Mary Sprague inside the plumage. Every one of these would-be chickens breathes and primps and lives with a bit of that old Sprague spirit, the tough old bird who keeps greeting each spring and each new batch of chicks with generous amounts of enthusiasm and corrective pecks. Six Foot Chickens is a self-portrait show, no doubt about it...

Playing Chicken • April 2007
By Susan Caba
St. Louis Magazine
Artist Mary Sprague's fowl paintings came after a cross-country trip and a particularly inspired trip to an ostrich farm...

Mary Sprague: Chickens • March 29 - April 4, 2007
By David Bonetti
St. Louis Post Dispatch
Although diminutive, Mary Sprague is the kind of artist who doesn't take any guff. Not that she isn't a pussycat underneath the bluster. But it makes sense that the subject of her current show is, of all things, chickens. These are birds that will peck your eyes out without thinking about it twice, and why not? For all her collegiality, Sprague is not given to suffering fools gladly. These are also big chickens - some of the drawings are more than 5 feet tall. On the announcement card, one giant fowl, titled "Seething Chicken," looks as if she had just about enough of everything and you better get out of her way.


MARCH 2007

Ruffled Feathers • March 28, 2007
By Kara Krekeler
West End Word
Local artist Mary Sprague probably wouldn’t mind if you called her a chicken. In fact, she’d probably embrace the label.
“I’ve always thought of myself as a fussy old hen,” she said.
It’s only fitting then that Sprague’s upcoming exhibit of large-scale drawings at the Duane Reed Gallery is filled with chickens. Mary Sprague: Six Foot Chickens opens March 30 and continues through May 12.

Drawn and Feathered • March / April 2007
By Susan Caba
Stanford Magazine
Mary Sprague, whose artwork infuses the ordinary with the portent, turns her gaze on giant chickens. The sound in Mary Sprague's studio is a s oft scritch as she sweeps a stick of marigold-orange pastel across the rag paper pinned on her drawing wall, the gestures revealing the feathery form of an emerging character. The occasional huff of traffic rises from city streets below her third-story artist's loft; the St. Louis sky - striated by slowly passing clouds - consumes three-fourths of the view from her south-facing windows. Sprague, 72, has artists' hands, well-muscled and unmanicured, and her light hair frames gently lined cheeks. Short and sturdy, there's nothing particularly vivid about her - until she opens her mouth...

Get the Picture • March 11, 2007
By Deb Peterson
St. Louis Post Dispatch
Our town's photography star, Michael Estman, signed a contract Fridady for a coffee table book of his work, "American Images" that will be released in spring 2008. What makes this boo - Eastman's fourth - particularly hot is that the publisher is Rizzoli, the grand art book, publishing house out of NY. The company will use 250 images in the book. That puts Eastman on the very, very short list of area artists with such success. He is represented locally by the Duane Reed Gallery.


FEBRUARY 2007

All Aboard • February 2007
American Style
Art sets sail this summer on a floating gallery that will bring works from some of the world's finest galleries to port of call from Massachusetts to Florida. The maiden voyage of SeaFair's "Grand Luxe" launches from Long Island Sound on June 5, and continues down the Eastern seaboard with tour dates scheduled through spring of 2008. Stops include Cape Cod, MA; New York, NY; Baltimore, MD; Washington, DC; Miami, FL; and Savannah, GA among others. The luxury megacycle features restaurants, bars, and three decks of gallery space where work from international art galleries, such as the Silver Fund in London, England; Marlborough in New York, NY; Duane Reed Gallery in St. Louis, MO; and Hackett-Freedman in San Francisco, CA. The boat will remain docked at each destination. Admission to the yacht is by invitation-only and is limited to qualified collectors, designers, consultants and others. To request an invitation and view the complete tour schedule, visit www.expoships.com

Scene + Heard • February 2007
Alive Magazine
Succulent Palladiums at Duane Reed Gallery ...November 30 Guests braved the ice storm for the grand opening reception for Michael Eastman at the Duane Reed Gallery to benefit the Missouri Botanical Gardens' Cactus House. Guests took a sneak peek at Eastman's unique palladium prints of cacti and succulents while enjoying cocktails and appetizers from BARcelona.

The Hot List 5 • February 2007
Alive Magazine
"Elusive LIght: Michael Eastman Retrospective" - Internationally renowned St. Louis photographer Michael Eastman has shot many subjects over his 30-plus-year career from old buildings in New Orleans to horses in Santa Fe to beautiful flowers and cacti. For the first time, you can view works from most of his photography series archives at "Elusive Light: Michael Eastman Retrospective," which opens this month at the Saint Louis University Museum of Art. Don't miss a reception and chance to meet this self taught photographer Friday, February 23 at 5:30pm. For more information visit sluma.slu.edu or call 314.977.3399 (3663 Lindell Blvd., Grand Center).


DECEMBER 2006

Seductive Beauty • December 24, 2006
By David Bonetti
St. Louis Post - Dispatch
Montana-based ceramist Rudy Autio, 80, is one of the last of the greats of the post-World War II ceramic revival still practicing. Several recent pieces at Duane Reed's reveal that he is still working at the top of his form. Autio's contribution to the movement that redefined the role of clay in contemporary art was to integrate modernist drawing with three-dimensional form. Here, Matissean nudes fill the contours of the vessels that contain them. "Gala" is particularly successful. On one side, a blue-black figure stands out against two others with white-orange-pink skin tonalities. On the other side, the contrast is reversed. A light figure is outlined against two dark ones. In one wall-hung plate, "Desert Isle," three pale nudes highlighted against the blues and greens of the sea fulfill the Matissean drive toward "luxe, calme et volupte."

Reed is also showing new palladium prints by local photographer Michael Eastman. His subject is cactuses and succulents; his intention is to raise awareness of the need for a new Desert House at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The images are large - larger than the subjects are in reality. Eastman isolates the simple natural forms of the plants against a neutral ground, letting the forms expand beyond the edges of the print. There is nothing new about Eastman's imagery - Imogen Cunningham and Edward Weston made similar images in the 1920's - but they are seductive and beautiful in their own right.


OCTOBER 2006

The List • October 2006
St. Louis Magazine
Fine Art Photography: Michael Eastman is a nationally renowned photographer who calls St. Louis home. Catch Eastman's current Ameriana exhibit at the Duane Reed Gallery through October 21. His photographs of decaying yet stunningly beautiful buildings are nothing short of spectacular.


SEPTEMBER 2006

Business Focus • September 22, 2006
Ladue News
Duane Reed Gallery, a nationally recognized mixed media fine art gallery, has announced the promotion of Gaby Schaefer to gallery director.

Current Shows: Robert Duffy encapsulates the St. Louis art scene • September 13, 2006
By Robert Duffy
River Front Times
Michael Eastman: America Series Michael Eastman has employed technical virtuosity time and again to impress his keen sensibilities as images on paper. With the exception of an equine detour I never quite got in the saddle of, his eye and intelligence have been trained toward buildings and built environments. Although few human beings physically appear in these images, they're palpably present. Look, for example, at Eastman's photograph of a New Orleans library, an accommodation of a diverse accumulation of books and pictures and Mardi Gras regalia and other shards of an existence's mirror. This and similarly affecting images reveal Eastman's ability to evoke the sad and silent eloquence of rooms and buildings, and to observe them not simply as material and space but also as resounding symbol. Through October 21 at R. Duane Reed Gallery, 7513 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-862-2333 (www.duanereedgallery.com). Hours 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat. (RD)

Top Picks • September 13-19, 2006
West End Word (Cover)
Michael Eastman: Americana Series. The Duane Reed Gallery presents the work of photographer Michael Eastman. He presents his exhibition about preserving a vanishing American landscape during the opening reception at 5 p.m. September 15 at the Duane reed Gallery, 7513 Forsyth Blvd. This exhibition runs through October 21. Call 862-2333 for information.

Vanishing Act • September 2006
by Stefene Russell
St. Louis Magazine
Michael Eastman captures a darker, stranger America on film as it disappears before his lens
"The Christmas tree has a function,” Michael Eastman explains. We’re touring his basement studio, where he and his stepdaughter, Lilla, are working together to produce large-scale palladium prints, a chemically and technically complicated process. “The amount of light that comes through those branches is what’s allowed when you’re working with a piece of paper that’s been exposed,” he says. That is, bathed in light inside the industrial film-exposure unit behind the tree. “That machine is from one of those type-production houses, before everything went digital,” Eastman says. Though he digs retro photo-processing equipment, Eastman doesn’t snub technology. The negative that’s on the exposure unit was created upstairs, on a computer; he tweaks images in Photoshop.

“It’s neat, because I’m one of these guys that’s old enough to do the old traditional stuff, but I still do the digital,” he says. “Most of the old guys turn their back on that and say, ‘Oh, it’s not the way it was.’” Eastman does, though, have a use for a certain kind of nostalgia. His prints, which range from swooshing stretches of Montana sky to the crumbling interiors of Havana apartments, have the power to make you feel as if you’re on the verge of recalling a very important memory, though you’re not sure what it is. This month, the Duane Reed Gallery shows prints from Eastman’s America series, which captures a landscape that’s shrinking as fast as a sugar cube in tonic: beauty parlors, chop suey joints, roadside attractions, Odd Fellows halls. As a slide show of these images flash across his computer screen, Eastman notes where the building was shot and whether it’s still there: “That’s gone; that’s gone. That one’s still there—but that one’s not.” (continued)

Q+A Michael Eastman • September 2006
by Cristy Miller
Alive Magazine
Internationally acclaimed photographer and St. Louis native Michael Eastman has traveled the world, from Europe to Cuba to Middle America shooting landscapes, horses and historic architecture. Here, Eastman shares the inspiration behind his newest exhibition, "America Series," and why the concept of a "vanishing America" captured his heart. (continued)


AUGUST 2006

Calendar: September 15 • August 2006
United Hemispheres
A Vanishing America: Over the past 30 years, Michael Eastman has produced a body of fine-art photography on subjects including European and Cuban architecture, landscapes, and horses. Americana Series, his current exhibition at the Duane Reed Gallery, documents and preserves a vanishing America. "I love these old buildings and how they make me feel," he says. "I need to photograph these places while they are still here." The exhibition runs through October 14. Tel: 314-862-2333 or rduanereedallery.com

Schaefer Promoted to Gallery Director • August 23, 2006
St. Louis Post Dispatch
Schaefer promoted to Gallery Director: Gaby Schaefer of Webster Groves has been promoted to gallery director of Duane Reed Gallery in Clayton. Schaefer joined the gallery as an intern in 2004 and was hired after she graduated from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., with undergraduate degrees in art history and fine art.


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