Arts Around MN: Split Personalities; Homegrown; Marc Johnson-Pencook

Posted at 3:58 PM on May 4, 2012 by Michael Olson
Filed under: Around MN

Washington Gallery, an artist cooperative in Duluth, MN will be displaying an exhibit titled "Split Personalities" through the month of May. The exhibit is a collaborative effort by local artists Brett Grandson and Evan Unverdorben. The title comes from this collaboration, and from the different medium used in the exhibit. Unverdorben will be exhibiting his work in abstract painting, and Grandson will be presenting his landscape photography. The studio will be open for the public every Saturday and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. until May 27.

To check out music happenings in Duluth this weekend, the annual Homegrown Music Festival is continuing to celebrate local music acts until Sunday, May 6th.
"The Homegrown Music Festival is Duluth's annual showcase of rawk and/or roll devil music," organizers contend. "It began as a simple birthday party with a handful of bands and a bunch of beer. Now it's a complete bureaucracy, run by a volunteer steering committee and a fiscal agent, featuring about 150 musical acts, along with a few filmmakers and other artists."

Every day this weekend there will be a different act at many different venues throughout Duluth and the surrounding area. The event provides the chance to check out the local music talent, and to witness a diverse amount of musical styles.

In Robbinsdale artist Marc Johnson-Pencook is exhibiting his work at Robin Gallery throughout May. The opening reception is this weekend on Saturday May 5th from 4:00p.m.-8:00p.m.

"For this art show I have put together a cross section of my black and white artwork from the past five years along with some older pieces that represent my personal landmark work," says Johnson-Pencook. "My drawings can be organized into 'series' and 'sequential' art. A lot of my single composition belong to a running series ;( skeletons, bugs, musician portraits).The book illustrations fulfill my challenge of creating sequential art.

"I have always loved comic art and film making as storytelling devices. Illustrating a book creates a decision making process of pacing the pictures in a strategic way so that they work in conjunction with the words and decorate the readers' mind with images. So for this month of May I share my imagination with you."

Robbin Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11a.m. - 4p.m. and Thursday evenings from 5:30p.m.-8:30p.m.

-- Lis Pedersen, contributor, Minnesota Today