 |
| Found in a garden in the desert...good question! |
(Full disclosure, I have a piece in the show which won an
honorable mention in the category of acrylic paintings.)
Like several other folks, I stopped by the Little Art
Gallery to pick up my rejected entry. Unable to make the opening due to a
wedding weekend at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of Notre Dame
in South Bend (awesome I must say), I did not know about who won what awards or
any of the details regarding the jurors or number of entries. The gallery was empty when I arrived, but
after making my first pass, I sat on the bench to reflect and in walked three
teens, two girls and a boy. They ignored me but I certainly latched on to them
and their conversation. They apologized for disturbing me but I jumped at the
chance to talk with them and we ended up discussing the show and the pieces for
45 minutes. The teacher in me could not resist. The young man who had professed
to disliking art became my target. Once he understood how to view the pieces,
he was hooked. I don’t think he liked “art” any better, but he could appreciate
it and genuinely seemed to enjoy himself.
At first I was hard pressed to find what I wanted to write
about in this show, but their reactions to pieces now makes my job easier. We
started with Robert Gallik’s first place piece, River Marker #5. To the clueless, it is a pile of rocks and some
wood and some wire. The teens made fun of it, much like they would an odd classmate,
more out of ignorance than to be mean. And so it began…how is wire screening
like water? It has mass and strength, yet is easily passed through. The gravel
is the river bed, it rises into the wire water, but also settles below. The
corners of bent wire are like ripples and waves, the tall wooden spikes, burnt
on top, are the river grasses reaching tall to the sun. Once they read the
title and walked around the piece, it became a favorite.
We discussed how and why an artist would choose a certain
frame such as the light wood on Dan Chrzanowski’s best in show graphite
drawing. Again, it was a piece dismissed until the difficulties of technique
were explained, how some surfaces are hard to achieve, smooth yet showing the
artists hand and how that process differs from the smooth surface of a painting
that does not. I asked them to show me which pieces showed evidence of risk and
thought and chance and which ones did not. On what did they base their choices?
Interesting answers from a generation raised on computers and technical media
overload.
We looked at the overall room and decided why certain pieces
are placed where they are so as not to detract from or overwhelm another,
giving each one its due. How sometimes a piece next to another one will make
the weaker of the two look better than it really is. I asked why “that one”
(pointing out mine, but they did not know it) was hanging by itself, alone on a
wall…the answer, by the more savvy of the three, was that it is “like a punch
in the face”. I kept mine straight. I guess that beats being a kick in the
pants.
Having watched their first circle around the room, the one
with the cigar, Breaking Through by
Mike Uhren, was not noticed. I walked them back and we read the title. Then
they saw it…the hands coming through the paper, figuratively of course because
he drew it that way. This ah-ha moment lead to their roaming the room again
reading titles. Looking for Truth
from across the room does not work, but once challenged, they got it. They
asked my favorite and I asked theirs. The girls based their choices on what
they could live with forever and enjoy…a good reason. The young man was more
about what the prices which once clarified that most works, if broken down,
would be less than minimum wage earnings, did garner a new appreciation for the
bottom line.
I chose two pieces, both by Lisa Vincenzo. Rain Cloud/Sea Green Ocean is a classic “page
from a sketchbook” style piece. The raw yet delicate drawings, artist notes and
again, that hand of the artist feel, are captivating to me. Maybe I am too old
school from my own good, but direct observation and artist to surface contact
right from the soul will win my heart every time. Her other work, Muddy Water with Beach Ball is just as
fresh and sparkles with spontaneity.
The jurors’ statements were very helpful in that they
explained their process of selection. No names, genders, titles or other baggage. It seems that every year I see new names and
wonder when I will encounter their work again. The occasional repeat entry
shows up as well and some longtime established talents are missing in action.
Overall, I think the patrons of the library will enjoy the show without filing
any complaints to management this time.
No comments:
Post a Comment