Gallery Two

"Alexander and the Poisoning of Hephaistion"

By DiAnne Cooper, cast bronze sculpture, 2002, 15 inches high with a three inch base;
from a limited edition of ten, signed and numbered

This exquisite, finely detailed sculpture is classical in style, but the subject is very relevant to gay issues in modern society. It depicts the shock and despair of Alexander the Great as he catches his dying lover Hephaistion after what could arguably be called the first recorded gay hate crime. Some believe that Hephaistion was poisoned by Alexander’s jealous generals and companions.

"I strongly believe that the purpose of art is as much about communicating information about our realities and aspirations, as it is about personal expression. Words and esoteric concepts can become antiquated and extinct. I want the fundamental message of my work to be understood over distance and across time without the need for technology or an interpreter. There have been moments in my life where I have stood awestruck before great works of art and have been humbled by the skill of their creators. Some were so painfully beautiful that I could not look away or stop the tears from streaming down my cheeks. If, after a lifetime of labor, only a single piece of my work touches someone in a similar way, I will have been successful."

At the age of seventeen DiAnne Cooper began her career as a professional artist with a commission to paint a mural for the Spanish Royal Navy. In the years since then, her paintings and sculptures have been added to collections in the U.S., Europe, and the Far East. She has also put her creative energies to work in theater, television and feature film production. She currently lives in Colorado.

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"Icarus"

By David Wurtzel, Etching and Aquatint on watercolor paper,
signed lower right, number 5 of a limited edition of 25

David Wurtzel was born in New York in 1935. He studied art at Richmond Professional Institute, Hans Hofmann School at Provincetown, and the Academy of Fine Arts, Florence, Italy; and holds a Masters degree in Humanities from the University of Chicago. He has lived in Tuscany, Italy since 1964. A painter and printmaker, he has exhibited his work throughout Europe and the US. His works are in the Library of Congress, New York Public Library, Bibliothèque Nationale, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art. Wurtzel uses a press that once belonged to Hiram Powers, the famed American sculptor. Manufactured in Paris in the mid-19th century, it was brought to Florence where he found it and had it renovated in 1975. "Although he is grounded in abstraction, figurative art is the territory David chose to explore. [His work transmits] emotion and presence through brushstroke and texture. Throughout his career, his work has maintained an unambiguously personal and humanist dimension..." 

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Five Folding Print Books & Portfolio by Frederick Nunley, Washington, DC

This is the artist's first 'book' collection, in an edition of 30 sets. They are hand pulled relief prints with the subjects being five of his favorite things. The titles of each image in the folio are as follows: "Koi", "Coneflowers", "Red Salamanders", "Ravens", "Adam & Steve". They are all 3.25 by 2 inches, and fold out to be 10.5 inches wide. The folding print books as we call them fit into the neat little black portfolio box he has made as part of the artwork. Only a few of these portfolios are left.

for additional information, 
to enlarge, and to purchase,
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