Art Flows At Three Sheets

Reverse Centaur, Mango Stein, and Wail of the Banshee have three things in common: First, they are all names of locally brewed beers. Second, each beer has a label designed by a Connecticut artist. And third, each of them are now pieces of art hanging on the walls of Three Sheets in New Haven as part of the December edition of their monthly Art in the Back, Music in the Front series. This installment, which opened on Saturday, features label artists who have also been guests on the 16 Oz. Canvas podcast created and hosted by AJ Keirans.

Just over a year ago Keirans curated his first art show in Connecticut, featuring a host of artists from his podcast at Kehler Liddell Gallery in Westville, where those artists showed not only their label art, but also their fine art pieces. For this Three Sheets show Keirans chose a theme: the artists of CT Beer. Ten artists in all participated, including Lisa Sotero of Stony Creek Brewery and Craig Gilbert of New England Brewing Company, who both participated in last year’s show.

“This show includes both label art and fine art again,” said Keirans. ​“I’m trying to bring it from a podcast to a community project, taking it from audio to visual. This is a way to celebrate it.”

Keirans spoke kindly of the support and assistance he received from everyone at Three Sheets while curating this show, especially Sara Scranton, who has been curating the monthly Three Sheets series since its inception three years ago. ​“They are so supportive here,” he said. ​“They gave me so much freedom with the art and artists.” A tap list for the evening was also set up to include beer from the breweries that the artists have worked for.

One of those artists also happens to work at Three Sheets. Chris Edwards, who was behind the bar for the evening’s festivities on Saturday, is also head of sales, creative director, and part owner of Hoax Brewing in East Haven, as well as the label artist for most of Hoax’s beers.

“It will be our two-year anniversary in March,” said Edwards, who joined the brewery after being approached to do labels. ​“Our whole thing is trying to incorporate the tattoo vibe into the beer world.” Before working in the beer industry, Edwards had been a tattoo apprentice. His flash sheets, as well as labels he has done for Hoax — including one for a beer specifically made for the bar called Three Sheets Lager — are part of this month’s show.

Craig Gilbert mentioned with a smile that he had been a bartender at Sheets back when it was Rudy’s as he sipped a beer and talked about his latest fine art pieces in this show — along with the original line drawing for New England Brewing’s Zapata Bot beer and the label for that beer and others. His FLOW work for this installation appears not just on canvas, but on different types of food, including a slice of pizza, a lemon and a lime.

“Because it’s funny,” he said when asked why he chose that medium. ​“And also, there’s that interconnection between everyone and everything that goes through all of my FLOW pieces. Everybody sees something different, and everybody eats, so it’s all connected.”

Magge Gagliardi displayed three pieces from her interconnected series called The Squatch Squad, which she said was ​“based on Bigfoot folklore from around the world.” Each piece took three months to complete. She also has on display two of the three labels she has done for Front Porch Brewing, as well as a special edition piece for Purgatory Roasters in Middletown for their one-year anniversary. Gagliardi has also done five labels for Collective Arts Brewing and is their Connecticut artist in residence, participating in their live events, which have included two murals at Elm City Social.

“They could all be album art for a metal band,” said Steve Raboin, describing the label art he had on display for Labyrinth Brewing in Manchester. A designer who works in many other areas as well as the craft beer industry, Raboin said he likes how people respond to and look at beer labels now and enjoys helping breweries develop their tone and brand through the label design.

A desk carving and scratch board art pieces also hung on the walls courtesy of Andrew John Mullen, a local visual artist who has done work for the Alchemist in Stowe, Vt., as well as Foam Brewers in Burlington. Mullen described the process: ​“It’s a piece of Masonite with a thin layer of clay on it, and on top of that is a thin layer of black ink, and you scratch away at it with a needle tool.”

“I like the black and white stuff,” he continued. ​“I like the fine line work. I’m a little obsessive-compulsive, and it lends itself to that. It’s just simple.”

Mullen said all of his labels originate as scratch boards. He’s currently working on a series of bottle labels with a visual narrative that tells a story over time. ​“It’s a little different,” he said. ​“There’s a story to follow.”

The work of the ten artists — which also included Dan Hamilton of Kent Falls, Jessica Battista of Thimble Island Brewing, Joshua Parent of Counterweight, and Jay Larche of Charter Oak — was not limited to the back of Three Sheets. It was hung in every single room, in the hallway and behind the bar itself (Scranton had mentioned that the series may be ​“rebranding” in the new year because that the art is no longer limited to the back room.)

As for the music, Pat Stone, Daniela Cardillo and Nick Cannato played two sets of mostly covers and an original by Stone and The Dirty Boots that provided a soundtrack — and occasionally a sing along — to the nonstop party atmosphere of beer enthusiasts, friends and family who came together to celebrate.

Even Keirans got in on the action as he displayed his own art for the first time, a black and white digitally made piece near the stage he named Billy Preston. Keirans also has a few other plans for the future.

“I’d love to do a web series or show. That’s my dream goal,” he said. ​“Maybe even a book.” He hopes to form a nonprofit in 2020, to ​“bring art into areas that need revitalization and just inspire people.”

“It’s important to celebrate everyone,” he added. ​“It’s bigger than beer.”

The Art of Craft Beer series will be on display at Three Sheets for the next month. For further information about the the 16 oz. Canvas podcast and any of the artists involved please visit their website. For more information about Art in The Back please visit the Three Sheets website or their Facebook page.