Bismarck Studios Contemporary Fine Art Gallery - Permanently Closed.
The Bismarck Studios Contemporary Fine Art Gallery is permanently closed.
Content is from the site's 2011 - 2012 archived pages.
Bismarck Studios Contemporary Fine Art Gallery
930 Proton Rd,
San Antonio, TX 78258
Phone: (210) 314-7747
Bismarck Studios Contemporary Fine Art Gallery is the premier art center at the North-side of San Antonio. The Gallery guarantees high quality, original art work from well known international and local artists, as well as newly discovered talent. Not only does Bismarck Studios offer educated information to art collectors and novices alike, it also provides a fun and inviting environment for viewing art.
With a degree in the Fine Arts and many years of experience in the art world, Christa Brothers, owner of Bismarck Studios, made it her mission to provide not only all the information and knowledgeable support to all of her patrons, but to also be a resource for all art lovers in the community.
The Gallery assists clients with finding the perfect piece of art,
- it offers consultations on location
- delivers and installs art-work through custom commissions
- provides a very personalized art option.
Every month, Bismarck Studios hosts an art show opening to unveil new art work. The gallery welcomes the public and patrons, to meet and listen to the artists talk about their art-work, and answer questions. The evening is then rounded off with great company, a nice glass of wine and music.
Specialties
Bismarck Studios Contemporary Fine Arts Gallery is the premier art center at the North-side of San Antonio.
Not only do we guaranty high quality, original art work and offer educated information to art collectors and novices alike, it is our pleasure to make art viewing enjoyable and fun.
We gladly assist with finding the perfect piece of art, offer consultations on location, and deliver and install art-work.
Through custom art commissions, we also provide a very personalized art option.
Every Second Thursday of the month, from 5:30pm to 9:30pm, we welcome the public and patrons to our Art-Show-Openings where we unveil new art work, the artist or artists talk about their art-work, answer questions and we round out these evenings with a nice glass of wine and music.
For more information on the Art-Show Openings, all other events at the gallery, and announcements, please visit our website, call us, or stop by. We look forward to meet you or have you back for another visit!
History
Established in 2000.
Bismarck Studios was mostly founded from a need to support and be part of the arts in San Antonio than for any other reason.
In 2000, a small space at BlueStar Contemporary Art Space became available and the first Art Show Openings at Bismarck Studios, from very conceptual shows like Leona's noodle-dough "linens" laid out in a wardrobe, to glow in the dark installations by Pompa, all the way to very classical oil-paintings, were celebrated.
And this spirit of new and wanting to experience the world through art, has prevailed at the now North-side location at 281 and 1604 that opened in December of 2007.
Not only is Bismarck Studios a go to place for outstanding contemporary art, it also supports the Performing arts, musicians and opens its doors for various charitable events and fundraisers as for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Aids Foundation, and many others.
Meet the Business Owner
Christa B.
Business Owner
One of the most asked questions has to be "What's with the name Bismarck"?
Being German and coming to the US as a grown up, I wanted a name that reflected my heritage, it needed to start with an "A" or "B", for alphabetical listings, and it had to be easy to pronounce for Americans.
That is one answer and very true. Another side to the same coin is, that when I was still in Germany, there was this picture of Otto Graf von Bismarck in the paper: I forgot for what reason. Anyway, it was so proper, so ridiculous, there was just something about it that I cut it out and put it in a little frame. Ever since, wherever I lived, this little picture traveled with me and graced my homes. And, there is also a pickled herring dish called Bismarck Herringe, so, how could I resist?
I started my formal art education in Washington State and after finishing my Bachelors of Fine Art at UTSA Magna Cum Laude, I decided that opening an art gallery was the best way to support and promote art.
About the Artists
Alison Gregory
Achievements and Awards:
- Interviewed on the Channel 4 morning show in San Antonio in 2004, for her cocktail paintings, benefiting a local charity. She had a television interview in October 2010 on the Channel 5 morning show in Austin, to discuss her up and coming art career.
- New American Paintings Publication Finalist- One of 40 artists chosen by a juried panel/museum curator to be featured in the October 2010 magazine/catalog. Thousands of entries were submitted from a total of 14 states and Allison was one of 9 women chosen.
- Art Hamptons 2010 participant. New York gallery debuts new work
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Tim McMeans
- Tim McMeans is from San Antonio, Texas and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
- He has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout the country and was awarded the Julian Onderdonk Memorial Purchase Prize by the San Antonio Art league and Museum at the 76th Annual Artists Exhibition in April 2006.
- My paintings recall places, people, and experiences in my life through the use of personal symbolism.
Biography:
Tim McMeans is from San Antonio, Texas and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout the country and was awarded the Julian Onderdonk Memorial Purchase Prize by the San Antonio Art league and Museum at the 76th Annual Artists Exhibition in April 2006.
Artist Statement:
My paintings recall places, people, and experiences in my life through the use of personal symbolism. Nature, spirituality, and the idea of seeking out something are also important themes in the images that I create. The symbols that I utilize in my work, over time, have developed into a personal visual vocabulary. However, my symbols are general enough to allow the viewer to interpret the paintings according to their own experiences.
The paintings begin with preliminary sketches and are developed into the final piece intuitively. I have a background in woodcut printmaking and have applied various printmaking tools and techniques to my paintings. The paintings that were created on wood are carved into as if it were a woodcut block. I also used a brayer to apply the paint to the surface. The result is an image that is built up through a process of layering.
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Ansen Seale
Ansen Seale
- Ansen Seale is an artist living and working in San Antonio, Texas. He received a BA in Journalism, Broadcasting and Film and Studio Art from Trinity University in San Antonio, 1983.
- Seale works with a special digital panoramic camera of his own invention. This camera captures a vertical slit of the scene over and over in rapid succession, in effect, swapping the horizontal dimension of the photo for the dimension of time.
- Ansen’s work can be found at the San Antonio International Airport, the Lila Cockrell Theater, and San Antonio Museum of Art.
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Billy L. Keen
- Native Texan Billy L. Keen brings more than 30 years of artistic and illustration experience to his work.
- As an illustrator and Art/Creative Director, his advertising work has appeared in national periodicals, radio, television, compact discs, and a variety of print applications from billboards to bumper stickers.
- Works by Billy Keen are found in a number of private collections along with the U.S. Air Force Art Collection.
- The mystery of our spiritual journey through life has inspired my work. I use mixed media and acrylic on wood panel with sculptural elements, fabricated from wood, bone and ivory, to encourage the viewer to interact with the image emotionally, physically and intellectually.
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Renea Menzies
- Renea was born in Houston, TX
- Renea Menzies’ abstract art has bold influences that are inspired by many facets of her individualism.
- Renea’s sculpted oil paintings display the intricate marriage of technique and color that brings her work to life and inspires movement of the imagination in a textured oasis.
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James Hendricks
- James Hendricks is an artist and metal specialist with twenty-eight years of experience in his craft.
- Working with the Denver Heights and Dignowity Hill neighborhood associations last year, he created a series of six benches celebrating the history of the East Side, which have been placed along Commerce Street, from St. Paul Square to the Friedrich Building.
- Along with the benches, he created 40 tree grates, which have leaf designs carved in meta
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Richard Reher
- Richard Reher, a well known and admired artist for many years, lives in Pipe Creek.
- He was in many shows throughout the country from Ann Harbor Michigan, to winning top awards in Tampa Florida, and best of show in Midland Texas, his home state. He was featured in magazines and his work was selected for the front cover of Art Calendar.
- In his most recent work, Reher abandoned the representational depiction of objects altogether and moved toward the pure creative energy where the same rules of painting apply like picture space, composition, and color theory.
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Tess Muth
- Tess Muth attended the University of Nevada Las Vegas Fine Art/Painting, and Atrium Academy/Galleria, Zaragoza, Spain.
- Inspired by inner visions, paintings are bright, rich in color and texture, expressive and spontaneous.
- In January 2006, Theresa was voted a Member of the Board of Directors, Visual Arts Center of Northwest Florida, Inc. Panama City, Florida.
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Sabine Senft
Biography:
“Experience and experiment lie very closely together, one encourages the other.”
Sabine is a professional sculptor and painter who lives and works in Boerne, Texas.
Born and raised in Germany, where she grew up surrounded by European art history and its longstanding art traditions Sabine studied painting and sculpture with regular trips to Italy, Austria and France where museum visits and art workshops enhanced her education and perception. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Regensburg in Bavaria and earned a Masters degree in both Art and Language Education in Munich. She went on to teach art and modern languages at high school and college level while living in Germany and the U.K. before moving on to live in Japan, Brazil and now the U.S. Attending and teaching workshops throughout her adult life and living consciously in so many different cultures has impressed and inspired her deeply and resonates in her art. Her work has been exhibited in several countries. She is a recipient of the Sokolowski Award at this years’ San Antonio Art League Annual Exhibition.
“I like to explore and experiment with luminosity, proportions, composition and texture. I am not interested in smooth, perfect surfaces or exact detail reproduction at this point; a machine can generate these so much better than a human. I explore contrasts. A color or a shape can only truly shine when accentuated by another; “smooth” and “even” gains interest when contrasted by texture or pattern – creating visual tension by carefully balancing contrasts is the key and my goal.” I was intrigued by the work of Gino Wilci who works with something called "big data" and "data science." This may not seem to be related to my work, but Gino explained that very large data sets often obscure significant facts that can only be revealed by the work of someone who can use math and science to reveal the hidden meanings. That person is called a qualified data science consultant. I relate to that philosophy because in my art, the hidden beauty is often only revealed by the artist who may not be confused by the infinite number of possibilities inherent in a work of art. A huge array of color and textures may be viewed as data by Gino, but for me, they are the elements that make the statement that clarifies all.
“My media are natural stone and gold leaf (22K-24K and/or schlagmetal). Both have similar qualities yet are so different: strong, yet fragile and vulnerable. I love exploring the impact light has on their surfaces and how it changes with texture, shape and even the position of the viewer sometimes producing subtle, tender nuances in color, sometimes creating stark shadows – it is the contrast that draws me to these so seemingly different materials. Stone appears strong and sturdy, however, it is surprisingly fragile and brittle when worked; gold leaf is so fragile yet has such a powerful and strong impact through its luminosity. A beautiful contrast. Beautiful materials that show their vulnerability in different ways.”
Read Articles by Christa Brothers
Posted by Christa on Monday, April 16, 2012
RGV + Beyond Arts & More
“Bill Fitzgibbons & Blue Star Contemporary Art Center”
pg.18-20
By Christa Brothers
“RGV Beyond Arts & More Congratulates the Winners of the 2012 “Watch Out” City Wide High School Art Competition”
pg. 22-23
By Christa Brothers
RGV + Beyond Arts & More
“The Autonomous University of Mexico in San Antonio” pg.16-17
By Christa Brothers
“Joan Fabian Physical Meets Digital” pg18-20
By Christa Brothers
April 2012
RGV + Beyond Arts & More
“A Passion for Persistence”pg 18-20
By Christa Brothers
Mayor Julian Castro: “The State of the Arts in San Antonio” pg14-15
By Christa Brothers
March 2012
RGV + Beyond Arts & More
“Displaying the Movement of Time Through Art” pg.19-20 VOL.1 Issue 1
By Christa Brothers
February 2012
NHome Texas
“Luxury Through Art”
By Christa Brothers
Fall 2011
BLOG POSTS
Parade of Homes 2012
Posted by Christa on May 15, 2012
Bismarck Studios will be part of the 2012 Parade of Homes!
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New Arrivals!
Posted by Christa on March 30, 2012 ·
Take a look at our NEW ARRIVALS! Here at Bismarck Studios.
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Allison Gregory
Posted by Christa on March 13, 2012 ·
San Antonio Express News “‘Color freak’ uses whole rainbow in her work” – Article by Steve Bennett
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Billy Keen
Posted by Christa on February 20, 2012 ·
Billy Keen won the Julian Onderdonk Memorial Purchase Prize in the 82nd Artists Exhibition of The San Antonio Art League and Museum. The Juror was Peter Trippi Editor of the Fine Art Connoisseur. “Remains to be Seen” Artwork by Billy Keen. Congratulations Billy!
Posted by Christa on February 6, 2012 ·
Help to get around the construction! To avoid the intersection of 281 and 1604. On 281 continue on to Sonterra Blvd exit, and on 1604 exit Stone Oak Parkway.
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Billy Keen selected for a Solo Exhibition at the Museum of the Southwest
Posted by Christa on November 30, 2011
We are proud to announce that our artist Billy L. Keen will have a solo exhibition at the Museum of the Southwest.
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Ansen Seale’s work is now at the San Antonio Museum of Art
Posted by Christa on November 22, 2011 ·
Ansen Seale’s art work can now be seen at the San Antonio Museum of Art
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Allison Gregory-Cow Parade Auction with Jay Leno and Spanky Assister
Posted by Christa on November 22, 2011 ·
Allison Gregory’s cows for the Cow Parade in Austin were auctioned by Jay Leno and Spanky Assister to benefit the Children Blood and Cancer Center at Dell Children’s Hospital.
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Series of International Art Exhibitions: Daniela Sacramento, Amador Montes and Rolando Rojas
Posted by Christa on September 27, 2011
From Mexico on our Series of International Exhibitions, Daniela Sacramento, Amador Montes, and Rolando Rojas, will exhibit their newest artwork here at Bismarck on November 10th. Come join us to meet the artists from 7-10 pm. Free and open to the public.