Arkell/Canajoharie exhibit preview

Thought I'd post the 17 pieces which will be in the exhibit (artist's reception this Saturday from 2:00-4:00). I'll need to split-up the posts...

Edgey

I thought that some people might be interested in a brief "lesson" in collage technique. I took photos while I was creating "Delicate Rana" (i.e., the blue frog piece) to illustrate the importance of covering edges in collage. Here you see the white edge of mat board on which the collage was created. Simply by using matching paints to cover these white edges, you get a much "cleaner" look which results in more powerful impact (imho). I use a ripped off piece of a foam "brush" for best results (if you use a standard paint brush, it's more difficult to keep paint from "straying" onto the surface of the collage). Enjoy!

"Surgery"

I'm working on a somewhat larger scale piece these days. The primary element is something I cut from a canvas wall hanging that I purchased in New York City last year at a flea market. The wall hanging illustrates the internal organs of the human body and was probably used in an elementary school. Last week one night when I was working on detail cutting, I sort of cracked-up because I realized what I was doing was like some kind of weird collage surgery. Here's a photo of the "operating stage". LOL. Enjoy!

To The Power of N

Thought I would pass along this call for submissions to participate in an interesting collage event. Go to this site for more information

http://tothepowerofn.joellambeth.com/

From their website:
"The medium of collage allows for the expression of concepts, ideas and emotions through the reinterpretation and recontextualisation of an endless array of discarded and then found materials.

But what if there were only a finite amount of pieces to choose from with which to make a collage? Would two collages created by different artists using the same materials end up looking the same, or at least similar? What about ten different collages by ten different artists?

Would a thousand monkeys at a thousand typewriters all eventually write Shakespeare?"

MoMA Picasso exhibit

I have been SO remiss in posting on my blog, that I am trying to "catch-up" a little this week. In May, Mary Carol and I went down to NYC to see the Picasso "Guitars" exhibit. Although the focus of the catalog (and title) for the exhibit was on the guitar form, I was struck by the essence of all of the work (i.e., not just the guitar images) in terms of Picasso's exploration of collage itself and of collage as part of truly "mixed media". I have read in various art books that Picasso originated collage as a legitimate medium in modern fine art, but was invariably disappointed when authors typically relied on the same single image to illustrate this [see the ocre-colored guitar piece with the blue rectangle in the upper center entitled "Guitar, Sheet Music and Glass" (1912)].The exhibit at MoMA included SO MANY more pieces which served as a testimony to Picasso's genius with regard to collage (Picasso never seems to disappoint!). It seemed to this naive observer that Picasso was not so much interested in collage as a single medium, but as a means to explore the possibilities of intergrating images. Some of the "collage" elements in his paintings are actually paper elements; but some of the elements that look like paper are actually painted (e.g., the faux woodgrain). I was also struck by the simple collage elements that were included in his charcoal drawings. They were minimalist, but exquisitely placed! I particularly like the piece with the "J" precisely cut at its origin. Enjoy!

ROCO cont'd

Here's the one I REALLY wanted to purchase (was one minute too late!); and the piece I had in the show (the frog entitled "Delicate Rana"). Enjoy!

Rochester Contemporary Arts Center 6 X 6 show collages

The opening of the ROCO 6x6 exhibit/fundraiser was Saturday. What a wonderful event it was! I had submitted last year, but did not attend. This year I went up with Mary Carol and some friends and had dinner before heading over to the show. It was a bit overwhelming at first. With 3000 images on the walls, it felt a little frenetic... but in a good way, of course. There were loads of hip, artsy folks there. Here is a sampling of some of the collage work I found quite interesting. BTW, I would post the artists' names, but they are not available (they're "hidden" beneath the pieces until July 1st). I bought the light-colored one with the light blue-green element. Enjoy!