BJ artists provide show of lifetimes

Home page editor Mary Beth Breckenridge checks work of BJ artists

Lifetimes of art were on display Friday at the opening of the “Beyond Newsprint” exhibition of Beacon Journal artists at Summit Artspace, 140 E. Market St. You should not miss the show which runs through June 5.

If you were old enough you could recall seeing in the BJ art department a trio now considered legendary: chief artist Joe Grace, Clyde “Bud” Morris and Walt Neal. Their early Beacon Journal art was without the modern techniques and materials.

But they spawned others including Chuck Ayers (Crankshaft), John Backderf (Derfcity), Dennis Balogh and Art Krummel and the latest Kathy Hagedorn and Brian Shellito.

Each has a unique way of expressing art.

Just looking at the sheer volume and variety of the work by Art Krumell is amazing when you consider the effort and talent needed for just one painting.

Chuck Ayers with his trips around the city with reporter Russ Musarra has contrbuted a lasting panorama of life in the rubber city–that plus Crankshaft.

John “Derf’ Backderf has a huge online following of his Derfcity.

Balogh has provided newspage size illustrations in additon to stunning portraits.

The youngest–Kathy and Brian–are sadly saddled with non-artist tasks such as page design and makeup which lessens their creative time. Both, however, contributed outstanding art for the show which emphasizes their talent.

You can get an idea of what you might see by checking Snapshots on Flickr. But these are only poor snapshots. There is a beautiful capture of Chrissy Hynde by Hagedorn, for instance, that is ruined by light glare on the camera lens. You should go and see the original.