Sibling rivalry is not always a pillar of growing pains. In some cases, brothers and sisters can mature into equals, supporting each other’s work and choices in life. This is the case for Scott and Janene Grodesky, a pair of siblings planning to share some wall space in a coming exhibition.
The showing is coming to Frameworks Gallery, located on Highland Road. With one central showroom, the smaller-than-average gallery will house a selection of work from both Janene and Scott. The notion of showing their artwork together in one exhibit is something neither of them had considered until now.
Since leaving their home state of Ohio, the siblings have gone their separate ways, with Scott living as an artist in New York and Janene settling down in Baton Rouge. Scott has pursued a life in art ever since arriving in New York. Janene, who always considered art as a hobby, began pursuing art as a career later in her life, starting to create work around 2000.
Grodesky’s education continuous education never foretold her eventual shift into art, having graduated from the University with her bachelor’s degree in mass communications, a master’s degree in exercise science and a PhD in kinesiology.
“I’m self-taught,” Grodesky said. “I’ve always done art as long as I remember. But my education took me in a different place. I’ve always painted and drawn.”
Grodesky bridges the art and science worlds, using her education in exercise to teach yoga classes at the One Heart Yoga Center on Perkins Road, where she is co-owner.
Since beginning her career as an artist, Grodesky has worked her way up the ladder of Baton Rouge’s art community. By having some of her work hang in assorted showings over the years, she has become a member of the artists’ world in Louisiana.
“It just kept going and going,” Grodesky said. “It just kept growing and blossoming. Now it’s been pushed to the forefront of my life in so many ways. Right around 2009, 2010, things just started really taking off as far as shows and selling.”
Janene’s brother, Scott, has maintained a steady living as an artist while living in New York. Out of high school, Grodesky moved to Cleveland to attend the Cleveland Institute of Art. After two years, he dropped out and opened his own gallery for a short time. Soon, Grodesky was hired as an assistant in for Joseph Glasgow in New York, where he’s lived since. Through his work with Glasgow, Grodesky was able to meet renowned artists like Julian Schnabel and George Condo.
Since beginning his career, Grodesky said he’s experience three separate phases of artistry in his life. The first involved conceptual art with diagrammatic designs before moving on to a style known as reversed perspective, where the perception of a piece is inverted due to its large size.
Grodesky cites artist David Hockney and the Cubism movement. Currently, Grodesky’s work takes on a simpler structure involving symbolism and working with shapes.
“The gallery is sort of a new work,” Grodesky said. “Very flat. A lot of dot matrices and graphic grids and silhouettes of people kissing and talking. It’s kind of a whole new thing that I’m trying now.”
Both Scott and Janene Grodesky share an excitement for showing together for the first time. Since both live on opposite ends of the country, a joint gallery opportunity was never given much thought.
Janene acknowledged her and her brother’s competitive natures, saying the show would present juxtaposition while representing their relationship as siblings. For Scott, the difference in their art lies in the lives they’ve made as adults, one living in New York, the other in Baton Rouge.
“I think there’s less pressure in her environment,” Grodesky said. “She has all these other fields, where I’ve always just been an artist in New York. It’s different and it produces different kinds of visual situations.”
Frameworks Gallery on Highland Road will present “Exhibit: Scott Grodesky and Janene Grodesky” tonight from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The exhibit is scheduled to run until April 21.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Raegan Labat

"Stack" by Scott Grodesky (pictured) and other works of his will appear alongside his sister Janene Grodesky's art from Mar. 20- Apr. 21 at Frameworks Gallery on Highland Rd.