Visible Music
1821 Gallery, Fresno, CA
May 7 – June 13, 2015
An exhibition of artworks by Jeremy Sutton and Peggy Gyulai, relating to, and inspired by, music.
1821 Gallery, 1821 Calaveras St., Fresno, CA 93721
Artists’ Reception & Art Hop: May 7, 5-8PM
The musician brings music to life, transforming ideas, notation, imagination and improvisation, through movement and breath, into sound.
The dancer breathes movement into the musical sails of the musician – responding, syncopating, synergizing and emoting with the rhythm, beats and layers of the music.
The painter absorbs, feels and responds to the music, the musician and the dancer – every brush stroke a dance, an instrument, a note.
In this exhibition Peggy and I shared two ways of getting to the same place… a visual response to music that comes from a deep place, that is heartfelt and that reflects how we are literally moved as we paint.
Artworks List
of Jeremy’s artworks in this show
Brad Sexton
by Jeremy Sutton (2015)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
42″ w x 36” h
I first met Brad when I was working in the San Francisco Bay Area (at Varian in Palo Alto) for the summer of 1982 while studying Physics at Oxford. Brad kindly put me up in his basement in Menlo Park and the main image of him playing the trumpet is based on a photo I took that summer. Brad loved playing the trumpet and loved jazz. Amongst his favorite jazz musicians was Artie Shaw. That’s why you see in the background the sheet music of Begin the Beguine, a 1934 popular song written by Cole Porter and made famous when performed by Artie Shaw and his band. When I returned to live in California in 1988 I rekindled my friendship with Brad, by then a professional pilot. Tragically he died on December 14th, 1994, when the Learjet he and fellow pilot Richard Anderson were flying for a National Air Guard training mission crashed on E. Olive Avenue, Fresno, after narrowly missing the Ewing Elementary School. Within this painting is a map of the Fresno area airspace and the plaque in his and his colleague’s honor that was installed in the Ewing Elementary School. When installing this show, which was my first visit to Fresno, I visited the crash site and the Ewing Elementary School. I was surprised to meet two teachers at the school, Dawn and Kim, who had been at the school the day of the crash. Both are still grateful of the efforts Brad and Richard made that day to avoid hitting the school. It was very moving to meet them and for them to see this portrait.
Meeting with Dawn and Kim outside the Anderson-Sexton Library, named after pilots Brad and Richard, where the memorial plaque is located.
Duke Ellington: It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)
by Jeremy Sutton (2013)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
24″ w x 36” h
This portrait of Duke Ellington was inspired by a photograph taken by Reggie Jackson, the great uncle of my friend and amazing jazz singer, Kim Nalley, who kindly gave me permission for its use. “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” is a 1931 composition by Duke Ellington with lyrics by Irving Mills, written and arranged by Ellington in August 1931. It is one of the classic “standards” that is wonderful to Lindy Hop to, a song that my original Lindy Hop teacher and Lindy Hop pioneer, Frankie Manning, loved (especially when performed with Duke on piano and Ella Fitzgerald on vocals). In this view of Duke he lives up to his name with his regal and proud poise.
Erv at Union Square
by Jeremy Sutton (2014)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
26″ w x 40” h
This is a portrait of saxophonist Jeff “Erv” Ervin playing with one of the local swing bands I regularly dance to, Stompy Jones, at Union Square, San Francisco.
Etta James
by Jeremy Sutton (2012)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
38″ w x 48” h
This painting is dedicated to the memory of the great blues and R’n’B singer Etta James, who spent some of her formative teenage years in the Fillmore district of San Francisco. I will never forget seeing her perform at the Great American Music Hall. She radiated sensuality with every movement she made and every word she sang. She had everyone spellbound.
This painting includes many different images of Etta from throughout her long career. You’ll see her as a teenager when she joined the Johnny Otis band. It was Johnny Otis who discovered her at age 14 and then arranged for her recording contract with Modern Records. Her first record, “The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry)”, also known as “Roll with me Henry” and sung with her vocal group The Peaches, is shown in the lower right of the painting. That record went to number one in the R&B charts for four weeks in 1955 when she was 17 years old. In the center left, partially hidden behind his guitar, is Chuck Berry, playing with Etta in 1987. The sheet music of her most famous song “At Last” is included through the background, plus you’ll see in the lower left President Obama and the First Lady dancing to “At Last” at his inauguration (though Etta was upset at the fact that Beyonce, not Etta, was chosen to perform the song). The main portrait image is based on a photo of Etta singing early in her career. It was an image that I felt captured her passion and power…
Flamenco Fiesta at El Farol
by Jeremy Sutton (2012)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
24″ w x 20” h
This painting depicts Flamenco dancers and musicians performing at the historic El Farol in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is based on a series of photographs I took with kind permission of the fabulous performers while I was in Santa Fe teaching Painting the Passion of Flamenco at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. The colors, composition and approach used in this painting were inspired by John Singer Sargent’s magnificent El Jaleo and John Nieto’s vibrant fauvist works.
The lady dancing on the left of the painting is Giovanna Hinojosa. The dancers sitting down are Haley Licha and Rebekah Leyva. The singer is Gretchen Williams, and the guitarist is Mario Febres. They are all members of the dance company “Yjastros” which is part of the National Institute of Flamenco based in Albuquerque.
Frankie Manning Centennial Dance Jam
by Jeremy Sutton (2014)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
38″ w x 19” h
This collage is based on imagery I captured during the Frankie Centennial celebrations in New York City which celebrated the 100th birthday of my original Lindy Hop dance teacher, Frankie Manning. The two dancers featured in the center of this artwork are professional dancers, teachers and performers Evita Arce and Paolo Pasta Lanna. The moment captured and portrayed in this artwork was during a dance ‘jam’ at the event titled Frankie’s Centennial Savoy Ball at the beautiful Edison Ballroom. This event was produced by Alan Sugarman, which was a parallel event that occurred alongside the Frankie Manning Centennial & World Lindy Hop Day events, from which some of the other source imagery in my collage comes from.
Guillermo Garcia
by Jeremy Sutton (2005)
Pigment Ink Print on Paper
10.5” w x 13.5” h
Guillermo plays in Trio Garufa, a local Argentine Tango band.
John Santos
by Jeremy Sutton (2013)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
20″ w x 24” h
This portrait depicts percussionist John Santos. It is based on a photo I took of him playing congas at the de Young Museum.
Marcus Shelby
by Jeremy Sutton (2009)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
36″ w x 56” h
This portrait of bandleader, composer, arranger, bassist, educator, and activist, Marcus Anthony Shelby, is based on working from life in my studio while Marcus practiced.
Piano Indigo
by Jeremy Sutton (2014)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
20″ w x 18” h
This piano was on the stage when I saw Johnny Boyd, formerly of the swing band Indigo Swing, performing at the Elks Lodge in San Francisco. I was inspired by its quiet grandeur and based this painting on the piano sitting alone at the end of the show.
Ryan Garcia
by Jeremy Sutton (2010)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
30″ w x 22” h
Portrait of Flamenco guitarist Ryan Garcia playing in my studio.
Salsa Moderne
by Jeremy Sutton (2000)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
19″ w x 24” h
Painting of salsa and contemporary dancer, choreographer, performer and instructor, Tianne Frias and a partner.
Summer Afternoon
by Jeremy Sutton (2005)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
62″ w x 38” h
This painting is based on a scene I witnessed at the Great Gatsby Afternoon at Dunsmuir House in Oakland, a journey back into the 1920s organized by the Art Deco Society of California.
Swing Out
by Jeremy Sutton (2005)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
52″ w x 40” h
Portrayal of Damon and Ruby Red doing a Lindy Hop swing out during a dance.
Trombone Shorty
by Jeremy Sutton (2009)
Pigment Ink Print and Acrylic on Canvas
36″ w x 52” h
This is based on watching Trombone Shorty perform at the Fox Oakland reopening gala.
Big thank you Bruce and Carol for inviting Peggy and I to exhibit in the 1821 Gallery and for all the work they and their excellent team did in putting on such a wonderful show. Special mention of their incredible art installer, Ed Lund, who was tragically killed in a bicycle accident on October 3rd, 2015. My deepest condolences to his family and friends.