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An example of work by Tina Blondell
Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| Tina Blondell Artist Statement, December 2003
I uncover and retell stories of historical and mythological women to address the basic question of humanness in a feminine form. I present the viewer with lives wiped free from the dichotomy of virgin and whore. Venus cannot be stifled as Botticelli's waif or as the nubile-prehistoric figure of Willendorf. The women in my work are archetypical, embodying contradiction without the need to explain. They contain an undercurrent of deep transformation - both a tectonic shift of the psyche and a yearning for cognate evolution. These women have consciously chosen a path of exposure; the map of their experience has reached the surface, symbolically revealed on their bodies. The women's stories and my method reflect the gamble of transforming pain into beauty.
In my early works, the chasm between the fragility of watercolors and these dermal motifs was cathartic. Now it has become a creative reservoir of reclamation. The visual language has remained the same but the story has shifted from autobiographical to fiction.
On my journey of reclamation I have found feminine universalities to be a fertile crossroads for exploration. When I paint women with their children the pattern sometimes covers the children, reflecting the imprinted memory of our ancestors with which I believe we are born. Historical baggage has been turned inside out - the tattooed lattice visually links each figure with the power of ancestral females. As I shift between watercolors and oil, I strive to realistically capture the human form and to elevate the women of our lives from the mundane to the essence inherent in the human form.
RESUME
Born: 1953 Salzburg, Austria
1957-1971 Tuscany,Italy
1971-1992 Washington DC
1992-1996 New Mexico
1996-2003 Minnesota
Solo Exhibitions
2003 Shelley Holzemer Gallery, Minneapolis, MN.
2002 Shelley Holzemer Gallery, Minneapolis, MN.
2002 Fraser Gallery, Washington D.C.
2001 Shelley Holzemer Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2000 Atwood Memorial Center Gallery, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN
2000 Shelley Holzemer Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2000 The Temptaion Series, The Women's Club, Minneapolis, MN
1999 The Temptation Series, Minneapolis Government Center, Minneapolis, MN
1999 Shelley Holzemer Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1998 Joan Polk Interiors, Washington, D.C.
1997 Occupied Space Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1996 Olympics Celebrate Faith & Arts Atlanta, Central Presbyterian Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1996 Minneapolis College of Art & Design Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1994 Indian Center/Multicultural Awareness Center, Lincoln, NE
1994 Galerie Peter Ohrfandl, Vienna, Austria
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS PRIOR TO 1994
Buffalo Gallery, Alexandria, VA; Thomas and Fiske Attorneys at Law, Alexandria, VA; RLP Associates, McLean, VA.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2003 Weisman Art Museum, Art Expo, Minneapolis, MN
2003 Fraser Gallery, 100th Exhibition, Washington D.C
2003 Shelley Holzemer Gallery, Five Women Explore the Figure, Minneapolis, MN
2002 Shelley Holzemer Gallery, Celebrating Light, Minneapolis, MN
2002 Fraser Gallery, The Figure in Painting, Washington D.C
2002 Shelley Holzemer Gallery, We Are Here, Minneapolis, MN
2001 Shelley Holzemer Gallery Winter Group Show, Minneapolis, MN
2001 Fraser Gallery Summer Group Show, Washington D.C.
2001 Fraser Gallery, The Figure in Painting, Washington D.C
2001 Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Recent Acquisitions, Minneapolis, MN
2000 Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Foot in the Door, Minneapolis, MN
1999 Lexington Art League, The Nude '99, Lexington, KY
1999 Telling It Like It Is, Minneapolis Government Center, Minneapolis, MN
1997 Brenau University Galleries 1997 Gala Exhibition, Gainesville, GA
1997 Brenau University Galleries Illumination Show, Gainesville, GA group
exhibition
1997 Vision Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1995 Nina Bean Gallery, Albuquerque, NM 202/Small Works
1995 Nina Bean Gallery/Arts Crawl, Albuquerque, NM
1995 Galerie Peter Ohrfandl, Vienna, Austria
1995 Buffalo Gallery, Alexandria, VA
1995 Gallery of the Repressed, Albuquerque, NM
1994 Salzburger Messe, Salzburg Austria
1994 Galerie Peter Ohrfandl, Vienna, Austria
1994 Madrid Supply Co. Gallery, Madrid, NM
1994 Buffalo Gallery, Alexandria, VA
SELECTED EXHIBITS PRIOR TO 1994
Klagenfurt Messe, Klagenfurt, Austria; Nina Bean Gallery, Albuquerque, NM; Fairfax County Council of the Arts, Fairfax, VA; The Art League, Alexandria, VA; Madrid Supply Co. Gallery, Madrid, NM; Presden Gallery, Santa Fe, NM; Buffalo Gallery, Alexandria, VA.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
2002 Weisman Art Museum, permanent collection
2000 Minneapolis Institute of Arts, permanent collection
2000 Hennepin County Commissioners Office, Helping Hands painting
2000 Hennepin County Government Center, Hennepin County History Mural
1996 Albuquerque Zoological Park Aquarium, Albuquerque, NM, Underwater
Seascape Mural
PUBLIC ART EVENTS
2000 Atwood Memorial Center Gallery, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN
2000 The Women's Club, Minneapolis, MN
1999 Hennepin County Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1999 The Temptation Series, Minneapolis Government Center, Minneapolis, MN
1999 Telling It Like It Is, Minneapolis Government Center, Minneapolis, MN
1999 Telling It Like It Is, Shelley Holzemer Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1998 WomenVenture Conference, Minneapolis, MN
1996 Minneapolis College of Art & Design, Minneapolis, MN
1996 Central Presbyterian Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1995-96 Art for Heart's Sake auction, Albuquerque, NM, annual charity gala/All Faiths Receiving Home
1995 Gallery of the Repressed, Albuquerque, NM, fundraiser for the Women's
Theater
1995 Full Circle bookstore, Albuquerque, NM (February), presentation and
booksigning on "The Temptation Series"
1995 Page One bookstore, Albuquerque, NM (January), presentation and
booksigning on "The Temptation Series"
Selected public art events prior to 1995: Unitarian Church of Santa Fe, Santa
Fe, NM; Architect Marjorie Viguers-Lacovara; Art Auction for the Homeless,
Washington, D.C.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2003 dialogue Magazine, (September/October 2003) Editors Pick
2003 Twin Cities Fine Arts Folio, (February 2003) cover image
2003 The Rake, (February 2003) profile of artist
2003 Pulse of the Twin Cities (Aug. 27, 2003) Five Women Explore the Figure
2203 Southwest Journal (Aug. 21-Sept.3, 2003)Five Women Explore the Figure
2003 Minnesota Women's Press (Aug.13- 26, 2003)Five Fine Figures
2003 Art & Antiques (May 2003) Traveling Collector: Northern Exposures
2002 Pulse of the Twin Cities, (October 23, 2002) Tina Blondell @ Shelley
Holzemer Gallery
2002 MOCA Show, (April 2002) Tina Blondell @ Fraser Gallery
2001 Minneapolis City Pages, (September 26, 2001) A' List Editor's Pick
2000 Southwest Journal, (November 20, 2000) Art Condition
2000 Channel 9, 10 o'clock news (October 19, 2000) The Buzz: Tina Blondell"
1999 Channel 9, 10 o'clock news (May, 6, 1999) Telling It Like It Is
1999 KFAI radio, 6 o'clock news (May 11, 1999) Telling It Like It Is
1999 MOAPPP newsletter (July, 1999) Telling It Like It Is
1999 Southwest Journal (May 12-25, 1999)Healing Arts
1999 Minnesota Women's Press (April 28-May 11, 1999)Telling It Like It Is
1999 Southside Pride (May 11, 1999)Telling It Like It Is
1997 Minneapolis Star Tribune (Sept. 20, 1997)Strong Shows Kick Off the
Season for Galleries
1997 Annual report cover and illustrations, Hazelden Foundation
1996 Southwest Journal newspaper (Nov. 27-Dec. 10, 1996) review of The
Temptation Series
1996 Minnesota Daily newspaper (Nov. 14, 1996) calendar
1996 Albuquerque Journal newspaper (October) Arts Bits profile of The
Temptation Series
1996 Minnesota Women's Press (October 2-15, 1996) review ofThe Temptation
Series
1996 Albuquerque Journal newspaper (August, 1996) features Underwater
Seascape" mural at aquarium
1996 The Atlanta Journal/The Atlanta Constitution newspaper, (July 25,
1996) review of The Temptation Series
1996 Albuquerque Journal newspaper (May) Arts Bits, profile of The
Temptation Series
1995 Brochure cover illustration, Indian Child Welfare Act
1995 Albuquerque Journal newspaper (Sunday, January 8, 1995) review of The
Temptation Series
1995 Albuquerque Monthly magazine (January/February, 1995) review of The
Temptation Series
1994 The Temptation Series publication of folio
1994 Albuquerque Journal newspaper Friday, (November 25, 1994) profile of
artist and book
1994 Lincoln Journal-Star (Sunday, September 11, 1994) profile of artist
1994 Vernissage magazine, Vienna, Austria (March, 1994) profile of artist
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| The following information, "Tina Blondell:100 Creatives" is from CITYPAGES Blogs, published online February 9, 2012:
There are no pop-culture icons featured in Tina Blondell's portraits. Instead, she chooses to capture regular folks in a moment in time. Recent pieces have included a gleeful female drummer ready to jam, a man casually enjoying a beer, and a family in swimsuits, the bulging belly of the mother suggesting that there will be a new addition any day now. They are the folks you sit next to in a bar, you pass on the sidewalk, and you smile at while riding the bus. They are Midwestern performers, parents, and craftsmen (sometimes they are all of the above). Some occasionally dress like super heroes, others prefer to chill on a couch. The subjects of her oil paintings are varied, and sometimes even unexpected, yet her works often contain narratives that are familiar.
Some of these works are currently on display in "Lace and Gunpowder," a group exhibition at the Bloomington Art Center pairing male and female artists in their medium of choice. Meanwhile, Blondell plans to continue her series celebrating the average American, and she plans to eventually expand her collection to include people from all over the country.
Name three things that are inspiring your work right now:
1. The diversity of the people who make up the broad term "Americans."
2. My family, friends, neighbors, and brilliant people whose impact is taken for granted or even unnoticed.
3. Because I live in Minneapolis all my subjects thus far are residents of the Twin Cities. So this particular segment of my work is specifically a story about Minnesotans.
Name three things that inspired and/or motivated you as a budding creative type:
1. My parents. They were very interested in exposing us to opportunities that would broaden our minds and creative processes. Starting when I was five, my father spent time teaching me to draw from life, and we spent many hours in art museums.
2. My environment. I grew up in several different countries where I had to learn different languages and customs. All this made me acutely aware of human behavior that transcended language. It is probably the reason I am so interested in people and telling their stories.
3. The early discovery and lifelong knowledge that I had an outlet for my passion and imagination. Again, I owe this to my parents who encouraged my interests.
What was your last big project?
I am always most excited about the thing I am currently working on. I am in the process of documenting people who are overlooked by our media, though who, in fact, represent the larger percentage of what I would consider Americans. These are not the manicured, perfectly coiffed subjects Hollywood and mainstream media would like the world to believe is representational of who Americans are, but the real people who live and breathe among us every day. Though my long-term plan is to include subjects from coast to coast, for the past four years I have concentrated on people living in the Twin Cities, so this first chapter is definitely about the local culture.
What do you have going on now or coming up in the near future that should be on our radar?
I have taken the past four years to build up a strong body of work that is representational of my current direction. I now feel ready to begin approaching venues that are willing to showcase this work. I have secured one solo exhibition at the Phipps Center for the Arts in Wisconsin in the spring of 2013, and hope to secure more venues in the months ahead. I am also one of the eight artists exhibiting with a traveling exhibition titled "Lace and Gunmetal" curated by John Shuerman.
Creative/career high point (so far)?
I have been very fortunate of being able to make my creative outlet my career. I have worked as a professional painter for over 30 years, and made it my full-time career in 1992.
I have had a number of recognitions, but among the top I would count my two museum acquisitions: one to the permanent collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the other to the Weisman Art Museum. My work has been highlighted in such publications as Gustav Klimt, published by the Neue Galerie New York Museum for German and Austrian Art; and a 14- page essay, "Living on the Outside of Your Skin: Gustav Klimt and Tina Blondell Show Us Judith," by Sarah Henrich published in Visual Theology: Forming and Transforming the Community through the Arts. Most recently, my work was included in an exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, titled "Beware Her Wiles: Woman as Temptress in the Renaissance Tradition" (August-December 2010).
What has been your biggest challenge as a creative type?
I think that would probably be the fact that I have remained a painter my entire artistic career, even during the decades when it was not fashionable to be a painter -- especially a figurative realist. But I stuck with it in spite of the fact that I was often ridiculed for continuing on this path. I often found it frustrating that there is a common assumption that if your creative process takes you outside that which is currently in vogue you are ignorant to the current trends. Yes, I do visit museums, galleries, and read. I am aware, and have chosen this as my vehicle of communication. Fortunately for me, there has been a renewed interest in figurative painting in the past five years.
ince I first moved here 15 years ago many exhibition venues have shut down, which has left artists with very little opportunity to showcase their work. Minnesota is filled with talented people who are underrepresented and under recognized for the wonderful creative people they are, so I am happy to see things like this list. There is so much positive energy within the art community here, and artists have been very creative about opening alternative exhibition spaces which often can be more interesting than commercial venues. I have faith that in time more exhibition spaces will reemerge.
Name another local creative type that you're currently excited about:
In all fairness, I can't just list one person. I know so many creative people in Minnesota. This is after all what my current work is about -- the unrecognized talent that surrounds us. So, I would say any of the people I have chosen to paint, and the ones I have yet to paint would all be great candidates.
Source:
http://blogs.citypages.com/dressingroom/2012/02/tina_blondell_100_creatives.php
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