This is new territory. Even a decade ago when a roll of film came with just 36 exposures (and the expense of processing), documentarians had to be selective about what they sought to preserve.

But consider this. People who were alive during the advent of photography could probably only have expected to have one or two photographs of themselves taken over the course of a lifetime.

It’s this idea that has long intrigued artist Kyla Rafert whose pen and ink paintings go on view this weekend at the Richard J. Demato fine Arts Gallery in Sag Harbor. Rendered on paper both in black and white and in vibrant color, Rafert has developed a unique style of painting that uses a combination of highly pigmented inks and silk screening techniques.

The result is imagery that depicts young women in carefully choreographed scenes reminiscent of the 19th century. Set off by dazzling wallpaper and textured floor patterns, the girls’ long flowing dresses and soulful gazes speak to a society enamored of youth and beauty. But there is also a slightly surreal touch and other imagery in the scene, such as a pile of dead fish, a framed painting of a ship at sea or a curiously distracted cat, make statements about what these women value or, perhaps more accurately, what they intuitively know they have lost.

“I work pretty intuitively,” explains Rafert. “Images pop into my mind and I’m very particular. I know how I want something to be.”

“A lot of the work is about perfectionism and fetishizing beauty,” she adds. “Like the sea wives while they’re waiting. I’m playing up on it a bit and it’s slightly tongue and cheek.”

Rafert, a native of Delaware, studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and in recent years has been living in Wisconsin (though she’s currently in the midst of a move to southern Ohio). Though much of her work seems to evoke a historic narrative — particularly as it relates to the sea — she explains that her art is not a conscious reflection of any specific locale.

“I’m not so much affected by the place I’m from, but from my relationship with the ocean,” she says. “I created these while I was living in the Midwest and missed the wide open expanse. There’s a certain romantic element to missing the coast.”

But it’s really the human element that figures predominately in Rafert’s work and she notes that the initial inspiration for the series came from old family photos that she scanned for her father in order to help him preserve them.

“What fascinated me was how people presented themselves in these completely invented environments,” she says. “Those backdrops of the Italian villa don’t fool anyone — or they’d pose with a favorite pet, or some weird thing.”

With the knowledge that people would sit for very few photographs in their lifetime, Rafert was fascinated by how people chose to have their images preserved.

“I love the stillness and the fact it’s such a created environment, and they are very purposefully presenting themselves in certain way,” she says. “It got me interested in Victorian imagery.”

Rafert also admits to being inspired by fairy tales — those cautionary stories of innocent girls and unseen danger lurking nearby in the woods. Often, the details in fairy tales are kept vague, Rafert notes, making them timeless and more compelling — and a bit more ominous. It’s a notion that she brings to her paintings as well.

“There’s an implied danger when you see a young girl alone in a room,” she says. “I love playing on these subtly ingrained defenses you have and being told ‘Don’t open the box.’”

That sense of danger is evident in some of Rafert’s more stark imagery of young girls in dire situations. Her ingénues are either lost in the woods, unconscious on the floor or dangling like puppets from strings in front of intricately patterned wall paper.

“They are adolescents in this perfectly constructed environment,” she explains. “The paintings all have a perfectly flat horizontal line in the background. It’s presented like a stage, with a full frontal view. It’s realistic, but unrealistic in how perfectly composed it is.”

Rafert explains that it’s all a conscious attempt at defining and freezing a moment in time and preserving the notion of idealized beauty, particularly as it was perceived in the Victorian era when photography was new and magical.

“It’s the space between youth and adulthood, the edge of decline. Right at the space before they fall apart,” explains Rafert. “I got preoccupied with preserving youth and beauty — that hyper romantic ideal that’s kind of creepy because it’s so composed.”

Last Thursday, “Carousel,” a 6'5" high x 14'6" wide oil on canvas by Jamaican artist Phillip Thomas, came into Sag Harbor for an opening at Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery. And it, like many other things crossing Main Street, entirely stopped traffic.

The piece, which had been on display for the last six months in Washington D.C. at The World Bank and at the headquarters of the Organization of American States, arrived somewhat unexpectedly, setting into motion a noisy honkfest and a well-meaning effort by the typically ticket-happy traffic cops.

As gallery owner Demato described it, “Everything happened all at once. The trucking company decided to deliver the artwork earlier than expected, and didn’t give us the 30 minute notice.”

The truck came up to unload where the gallery is located — in front of Sag Harbor Cinema — just as the Suffolk County bus and Jitney’s Hamptons Ambassador liner came in to pick up passengers. A stand-still ensued before the truck was sent off to circle, the passenger pick-up for the two buses taking 20 minutes.

Then the fun started.

As Demato explained, “It took three people to simply get it off the truck and then it barely fit through the front door of the gallery. Then we ‘had’ to get it upstairs; it’s the key to the exhibit.”

“Our first attempt failed, because our limited understanding of geometry made it ‘wedge’ and get stuck. A second attempt, angling the art diagonally up the stairs, got it stuck, too.” stairs, got it stuck, too.”

Flushed and frustrated, Demato hit on a solution, calling in “the guys at the gym,” reaching Rich Decker of Studio 89 and the Sag Harbor Gym, who brought with him “Big Mike,” a man Demato described as having “arms the size of legs.”

Still, five sets of hands, heavy artillery and all, the painting wouldn’t make the turn that was needed. It wasn’t until the painting nearly fell 12 feet that fear, adrenaline and an improbable shift of weight pushed the piece onto the second floor.

Now that it’s in place, perhaps it’s time to ask, “How’s it going to come down?”

Either way, it’s not likely to move much until the show comes down August 26.

The magical evening is a majestic setting was also accompanied by a live jazz band with vocals and a full dinner. Many of the artists from Fountain House were in attendance at Saturday’s event, to receive their just recognition for works that ranged from obviously deeply personal memories, to whimsical and delightful works portraying much lighter content. Local Hamptons artists attended to show their support for the what the Gallery has accomplished, but most particularly what these artists have accomplished.

“It is our great pleasure to support Fountain Gallery’s important work of presenting quality art by artists living with mental illness and to bring this art to a new audience,” said Demato, owner of the Richard Demato Fine Arts Gallery in Sag Harbor. “We are grateful for the participation of East End artists and all who have come forth to make this a event a success.”

Richard Demato, along with his wife Harriet Sawyer, once again hosted the Fountain House benefit at their beautiful home in North Haven

Demato and his wife, painter Harriet Sawyer, established “Art on the Waterfront” in 2010 and have been supporters of Fountain Gallery’s parent organization, Fountain House, for more than 20 years. Joining them on the Host Committee were Ruth Appelhof, Gary Adamek, Scott Asen, Catherine Danner, Richard and Gina Decker, Daria Deshuk, Christine Keefe, Judy and Michael McDowell, Mark Seidenfeld, Victoria Selbach, Bonnie and Jay Stockwell, and Sidney Talisman.

When addressing Saturday’s gathering, Demato became quite emotional revealing “Fountain House has taken care of my wife’s sister for many, many years, and without that resource her quality of life would have suffered terribly.”

Photographer John Jonas Gruen also donated works, and encouraged and applauded the Fountain Gallery artists

Silent Auction items featured original works by the photographer John Jonas Gruen and his wife, painter Jane Wilson, longtime summer residents of Water Mill, who acted as the Honorary Chairs of “Art on the Waterfront” as well. The artists donated their work to benefit Fountain Gallery, including Gruen’s 1960s portraits of Willem de Kooning and Jasper Johns, and Wilson’s 2002 oil on linen painting “Flying Clouds.” The Silent Auction will remain open for bids through August 5 at 7 p.m. ET.

Gruen also addressed the guests and applauded the bravery of the participating artists to “bring your work forth to be viewed.” One of the participating artist spoke to the guests about the opportunity the Fountain Gallery has given him to become, pursue and be recognized as an artist.

This special evening brought all artists and supporters together to cherish not only what the heart and mind are capable of — but what the imagination and hands can achieve.

Many of the works sold on Saturday, however, the auction will continue through August 5.

Kenneth J. Dudek, President Of Fountain House also addressed the crowd

About Fountain Gallery
Founded by Fountain House in 2000 as a not-for-profit exhibition space for artists living and working with mental illness, Fountain Gallery sells original artworks and collaborates with a wide network of artists, curators and cultural institutions. Embracing artists who are emerging or established, trained or self-taught, Fountain Gallery cultivates artistic growth and makes a vital contribution to the New York arts community. Agnes Gund, President Emerita of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has praised the Gallery as “a place where you can view fine works of art made by a group of excellent artists.” Fountain Gallery is located at 702 Ninth Avenue at 48th Street, NYC 10019, 212-262-2756.

About Fountain House
Fountain House is one of the world’s leading mental health models, providing employment, education, and housing opportunities to people living with serious mental illness. This successful model has been replicated by hundreds of Fountain House programs serving tens of thousands of people worldwide.

Fountain Gallery, the premier venue in New York City representing artists with mental illness, held its 2nd Annual “Art on the Waterfront: East End Artists Supporting Artists With Mental Illness,” on July 30th, 2011.

It was held at the Sag Harbor home of Richard Demato and Harriet Sawyer. More than 50 original artworks by Fountain Gallery artists were displayed for sale, with proceeds benefiting the Gallery.

Against an enchanting backdrop of lush lawns and majestic porches arrayed with original art, guests enjoyed cocktails and fine food accompanied by mellow live music. The weather was glorious, and the bay shimmered with light until sundown’s final blaze of orange-pink glory. Fountain Gallery artists were on hand to discuss their work with guests.

Demato, owner of the Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery in Sag Harbor, and his wife, the painter Harriet Sawyer, established “Art on the Waterfront” in 2010 and have been supporters of Fountain Gallery’s parent organization, Fountain House, for more than 20 years. Joining them on the Host Committee were: Ruth Appelhof and Gary Adamek, Scott Asen, Catherine Danner, Richard and Gina Decker, Daria Deshuk, Christine Keefe, Debra Kusnetz, Judy and Michael McDowell, Mark Seidenfeld, Victoria Selbach, Bonnie and Jay Stockwell, and Sidney Talisman.

A Silent Auction featured original works by the photographer John Jonas Gruen and his wife, the painter Jane Wilson, longtime summer residents of Water Mill. They served as Honorary Chairs of the event and donated their work to benefit Fountain Gallery.

Founded by Fountain House in 2000 as a not-for-profit exhibition space for artists living and working with mental illness, Fountain Gallery sells original artworks and collaborates with a wide network of artists, curators and cultural institutions. Embracing artists who are emerging or established, trained or self-taught, Fountain Gallery cultivates artistic growth and makes a vital contribution to the New York arts community. Agnes Gund, President Emerita of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), has praised the Gallery as “a place where you can view fine works of art made by a group of excellent artists.”

Fountain Gallery is located at 702 Ninth Avenue in New York City. Works by Gallery artists may be viewed at: www.fountaingallerynyc.com.

Patrick Dawson of Birnam Wood Galleries (East Hampton) said, “We were sort of up against it with the weather since it was so beautiful. We know what it’s like out here, when there are days like this, people go to the beach or play golf instead of coming to an art show. Given that, the crowd was really good, people were engaged with the quality of artwork.”

According to ArtHamptons, attendance in Bridgehampton, NY, July 7-10, soared to more than 9,500 people (compared to the 8,000 in the previous year). Sales in the $10,000 to $40,000 range predominated and quickly mounted to approximately $5 million in total.

“Collectors were impressed by the quality of the art and the architectural design and comfortable viewing space of the fair building,” said Rick Friedman, ArtHamptons’ founder. “Dealers were impressed by the nonstop flow of tastemakers over the four days and learned not to misjudge the purchasing power of people wearing shorts and t-shirts,” he added.

Sales being discussed this past week were a $2.4 million Franz Kline painting, and a $1.2 million Wifredo Lam, which if consummated, will increase the final sales total to more than $8 million.

This year’s ArtHamptons slimmed down to 77 galleries in order to provide fairgoers a more cogent, manageable viewing and art- buying experience. There were 4,000 artworks and 500 artists represented. The international galleries were from Israel, Korea, Japan, Greece, U.K. Canada, Spain, China, and Finland. The Woolff Gallery, (London) and The Cynthia Corbett Gallery, (London), sold their entire ArtHamptons inventories.

Nemo Jantzen of Villa del Arte (Barcelona), commented, “We always do well in the Hamptons, but this year was very successful. The difference is most of the collectors and people are from New York, and everyone is on ‘relax’ mode or on holiday, so it’s different than doing a fair in another city.” Villa sold 34 pieces of their inventory and rounding up additional sales to finish at 39 including photographs by Columbian born artist, Willy Rojas. Rojas depicts colorful, bright, humoristic figurines interacting with their edible environments. Tiny people ski down slopes of salt or swim and splash in a wedge of watermelon.

3,000 Hamptonites, out-of-towners and a dash of celebrities attended the opening preview surpassing last year’s 2,000 attendees and making it the largest art opening thus far in the Hamptons. According to dealers, celebrity sightings included Jon Bon Jovi, several “housewives” from reality television program “The Real Housewives of New York City”, Russell Simmons, and actor Kelsey Grammer.

Ronnie Anderson of Keszler Gallery (New York, Southhampton), stated, “I thought it went really well. It seems like there were more people and buyers this year, much more interest. I definitely see a difference…a different energy. “

Keszler sold three of the “Dark Bars” at ArtHamptons by artist and sculptor Peter Anton, known for the subject matter of his mouth watering desserts including his “bigger than life” boxed chocolates.

“People get tired of the beach and want a distraction. Clients are also renovating and buying new places or redoing their homes, and needing more artwork. . I think it goes hand in hand – there is definitely an upswing. We are very pleased this year,” added Anderson.

Other US galleries also reported sales of artwork including Emmanuel Fremin Gallery, NY, who sold an entire wall of photographs to a major Russian collector – 22 pieces in total including photographs by Thomas Barbey, Drew Tal, and Giuseppe Mastromatteo.

Emmanuel Fremin of Emmanuel Fremin Gallery (New York) said, “ It’s the third time we have done Art Hamptons, but this year is the best we have done so far. We sold everything on this wall. “We had a lot of clients that came in and knew what they wanted, and would purchase 2-3 pieces at time,” said Fremin.

All sales where packed with aluminum art bags called “Artstrong” that Emmanuel Fremin launched in the USA who also sold works by celebrity photographer Antoine Verglas including “Carre Otis” and “Penelope”.

“We have a location in New York, but many of our clients have homes out in the Hamptons. They might have seen an artist in New York and remember the name, or image, and then purchase it out here. Also, there are not many galleries focusing on photography,” said Fremin.

Local Hamptons gallery Richard Demato of Richard J. Demato Fine Arts (Sag Harbor) who exclusively represents painter Andrea Kowch, known for her rich symbolism and mood in dreamlike scenarios, said, “The entire event was significantly better. Last year there were issues that have been overcome and this year it’s a nice place to be. It’s very successful. Kowch opens next Sunday in Sag and we basically have sold half the show.” Demanto sold 8 out of its 12 pieces of artwork by Kowch, including “The Feast”, at $40,000.

Russell Simmons, who received the ArtHamptons Arts Patron of the Year award, bought art at the Portico New York. His brother, the painter, Danny Simmons, and a co-recipient of the award, was represented at ArtHamptons by the Bill Hodges Gallery, NY. The gallery sold works by Beauford Delaney, Jacob Lawrence and Norman Lewis, among other African-American artists.

KIWI Arts Group, Miami, sold a record 18 of William John Kennedy’s newly published prints of Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol. The daily multiple screenings of Kennedy’s documentary, “Full Circle: Before They Were Famous,” followed by discussions by Warhol superstars Ultra Violet and Taylor Mead, were filled to capacity.

Fremin smiling, added, “It’s a great fair. We’ll be back next year.”

“The characters in my paintings were also created from these musings,” says Kowch. “The real and unreal, history and the present, opposing emotions, endings and beginnings, nature’s seasons and cycles — all of it is present at the core of my work.”

And this all comes out when Kowch explores these mysterious places.

“It’s my past and my present magically fused together,” says Kowch, “which creates a vision of mine that is my paintings. It’s life for me on its deepest level.”

Kowch’s vision of middle America envisions the past histories of these places while also creating a new reality that involves metaphor and symbolism through layers of mood and meaning.

“In juxtaposing the human form with animals and the desolation of a bygone uninhabited American landscape, I provided glimpses into rooms,” says Kowch. “the ‘rooms’ are the oftentimes chaotic places we possess internally. The rural, Midwestern landscape of my home state serves as backdrop for the stage of human emotions and the animals present are vehicles for expressing the feelings and underlying tensions suppressed behind the human mask.”

In this way, the narratives present in each painting are meant to link together to engage the viewer and pull them in.

“The paintings are metaphorical, each containing their own unique story and symbolism, while still remaining open and vague to invite viewers ‘in,’” says Kowch. It’s all about the dialogue and having viewers uncover the various layers of mood and meaning while attributing their own experiences to the work.”

Through this engagement with the viewers, however, Kowch also is drawing upon her past and memories. All these disparate threads of meaning conspire to create layers of meaning to be unfolded by the viewer.

“The paintings, ultimately, are born from pieces and fragments of personal memories,” says Kowch, “merged with my fascination on nature and its phenomena. The environments reflect the inner emotions of the characters, as do the animals that are present. They both mirror and contradict the characters’ inner psychological dramas and longings.”

Many of these paintings are large — some 7 feet long — also a new challenge for Kowch.

“The unique challenge of creating imagery on a much larger scale allows me to truly test and push my boundaries and really engage viewers,” says Kowch. “The large works allow viewers to participate in the whole scene when they stand before it, giving them the ability to get ‘lost’ in my world, so to speak, as they interact with the characters and environments.”

Kowch also sees the objects in her paintings as her “past” that are “speaking to me through my family history that I infuse with new life.”

“I have also recently come to believe that my characters, on a subconscious level, are influenced by my late grandmothers who had a strong presence in my early life,” says Kowch. “They were strong, independent people who braved hardships and had unique personalities.”

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Save The Date!
Saturday, July 30th at 6pm

for the 2nd Annual
Art on the Waterfront
East End Artists supporting artists with mental illness

A Benefit for Fountain Gallery
at the waterfront home of
Richard Demato and Harriet Sawyer
North Haven, NY

Cocktails and Dinner

Art by Fountain Gallery artists for sale

Invitation to follow

For more info, please email Robyn Marks

“I wasn’t even a single-celled organism at that point,” said Mr. Giancola, a Brooklyn artist who was not born until 1967. “A little further into the space age.”

So he had to do some research for a postage stamp commemorating Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American to fly in space — not to be confused with the spacewalkers in Mr. Giancola’s illustration in Playboy last month. The face of one of the spacewalkers “is my friend Randy,” he said. “He finally became a Playboy model.”

Back to the stamp, which was unveiled on Wednesday at Cape Canaveral, Fla., and at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park in Ohio. (The Postal Service also issued another stamp drawn by Mr. Giancola honoring NASA’s Messenger spacecraft, launched in 2004 on a mission to Mars.)

Mr. Shepard, squeezed into a Mercury capsule, went 115 miles up in a suborbital flight that electrified a nation that had been demoralized by one Soviet space-race success after another.

Mr. Giancola, who lives in Boerum Hill, went to Queens, to the New York Hall of Science, where a Mercury space capsule is on display not far from one of his other paintings. He said that kind of sharp-eyed research is no different from what he does when preparing for, say, historical recreations of the French and Indian War, studying costumes, clothing and settings “and recomposing that into a believable situation.

“Doing Alan Shepard, I worked the same way,” he said. “There wasn’t any one image I could just copy.”

Painting a stamp is not terribly different from doing a magazine illustration, he said. “The reason why the Postal Service looks to a lot of professional illustrators is we are used to the barrage of negotiating, the requests for changes and working with committees,” he said. “There is quite a bit of revision. Even when you’ve done the painting, there are small nuances of retouching. It helped in my case, getting the likeness to feel more like Alan Shepard and getting the Messenger to be more accurate scientifically.”

Enough about the research. What about Mr. Giancola’s first space memory? “Being woken up by my parents to watch a moon landing,” he said.

Which mission? He figured it out by process of elimination. “I think it’s Apollo 14 that landed at 4:30 in the morning,” he said. “My parents would have been crazy to wake up a small kid at that hour, and they weren’t that crazy.” Apollo 16, which landed on the moon on April 21, 1972, is a more likely possibility, he said. He was 5.

Did the Postal Service give him free stamps?

No, he said. “The payoff is being able to use this stamp forever,” he said. “When we were first working on this, it had a 42-cent denomination. I went, ‘That’ll be fun when it comes out, but you’ll have to keep adding one-penny stamps to it as the price goes up.’ Then they came out with ‘forever’ stamps, so I’ll be able to use this till the day I die, as long as I buy enough of them.”

An illustration that Mr. Giancola did for a recent Playboy magazine article
about space mining. The model is his friend Randy.

After receiving her B.F.A. in painting from Indiana University, Hasler went on to pursue an M.F.A. at the School for the Arts at Boston University in 1999. It was during this time she began experimenting with self-representation.

“I began using myself in the mirror years ago as a student for economical reasons,” recalls Hasler. “Since then the self-portrait has evolved to become the essence of my work. I am able to ‘take off’ with the narrative when I am using my own mirror image … What I am truly interested in is a more conceptual notion of the ‘interior looking at the exterior.’ This is what the self-portrait embodies.”

Employing narrative and metaphor in her self-portraits allows the 39-year-old painter to explore several complex themes at once in her work: the conflict between observing an identity and creating one; describing an individual in the present age while embodying an archetype; and the nature of self-portraits as autobiographical, historical, literary, or imaginary experiences.

“I think of the entire painting as a self-portrait. I do not think of the female(s) represented as ‘me.’ The central female figure is the protagonist of the narrative. Certainly there is ambivalence in this character: about her role, her inner life, her situation, her identity, her effect on others. There are many aspects to her character, and she is seen differently by different outsiders.”

Hasler is consistently the central figure of the tableau but she will occasionally appear with a double. Often, she appears with members of her family. In many of her works, she paints herself as a wife and mother, juggling responsibilities, taking on multiple roles both mundane and mythical. As Hasler’s life has changed over the years, so has her characters and their circumstances.

“Because of the extreme demands on women’s appearance and the conflicting roles expected of women, the interior life becomes particularly fascinating, in a Shakespearean sense. There is the danger of identity as performance,” Hasler explains. “The very act of looking in the mirror, is, for women, fraught with moral consequence.

“The interesting question faced by a female painter interested in representation in the 21st century, when faced with the super-abundance of women painted by male artists of an earlier epoch, becomes: What to do when I am a human being inside the body of the mother that has been portrayed and idealized for so many centuries? What if the painter is inside that body, portraying it from the inside out? My paintings are an attempt to make that investigation visible.”

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Haley Hasler is represented by Alpha Gallery in Boston, and Richard Demato Gallery in Sag Harbor, New York. Her work can be seen in the traveling exhibition entitled Separation Anxiety (an exploration of the theme of modern parenthood).

A former art consultant and curatorial assistant, Louise Buyo is the Managing Editor of Professional Artist. To see a portfolio of her writing, visit her Web site. Louise can be reached at lbuyo@professionalartistmag.com.