IT ALL STARTED AT THE ARMORY

 

 March 8-10, 2013:

I exhibited 3 collages with the Hullaballoo Collective at the FOUNTAIN Art Fair at the Armory ( New York 2013), at the 69^th Regiment Armory at 68 Lexington Avenue @ 25^th Street.

The Fountain Art Fair is the original site for the 1913 Armory Show.

It’s the way an art fair should be (quoted in the Economist) because the show reinvents the art fair experience with over 65 international galleries and artist projects. See who was included…

The Hullaballoo Collective showed at booths C202-C203 and C204 at Fountain, and describes itself as a diverse group of artists who have come together through social media to present salon style exhibitions.

The image below is one installation at FOUNTAIN 2013, showing a range of works in all media.

View of Hullaballoo installation at Fountain 2013

See more images… from the Hullaballoo Facebook site.

Special thanks to Beth Giacummo who curated the installation for Hullaballoo. Giacummo is the Museum Exhibition Director and curator at the Islip Art Museum, Islip, NY.

Special thanks to many Hullaballoo members who worked so hard to make the event a success for everyone – including Bernard Klevickas, CJ Nye, Jordan Baker-Caldwell, Marianne Barcelona and everyone else who helped with installation, press, and so much more (sorry if I left out your name).

The image below is me at the Hullaballoo opening reception Friday, March 8, 2013.

Artist Nancy Nikkal at Hullaballoo opening

I had 3 collages at the show, including the work seen below, titled Yves Klein Baloo, 2012, collage on paper, 20”x18.” See 2 more images…

Nancy Egol Nikkal, Yves Klein Baloo, collage

IT ALL STARTED AT THE ARMORY SHOW

1913: When Modern Art Came to America

David Gelernter  wrote about the original 1913 show in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ, Feb 22, 2013) with the headline When Modern Art Came to America.

The sub-headline was: A 1913 show was widely panned – but it sparked a new era.

The image below shows what the exhibition looked like in 1913 (photo-credit: Beltmann/CORBIS).

The 1913 Armory Show

Gelernter wrote: The 1913 Armory show was dreamed up by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors to give young artists a chance to exhibit – and to educate the public about contemporary art.

The public hated it.

The most-discussed, most-attacked painting of all was by Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887-1968), titled Nude Descending a Staircase, 1912, oil on canvas, 58×35 inches.

Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase

Fast-Forward: The FOUNTAIN Art Fair at the Armory New York honors the creative genius of Marcel Duchamp. The name Fountain comes from his “readymade” sculpture – titled Fountain – a porcelain urinal he signed R.Mutt.

Read about Duchamp’s Fountain and readymades…

The image below, is a photograph of the original signed work. The photo was taken by Alfred Stieglitz at his 921 Gallery.

Alfred Steiglitz photo of the original Fountain

More Reviews

On the closing day, art critics Jerry Saltz and Roberta Smith visited the Hullaballoo Collective and spoke with artists. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to hear his comments about my work.  The image below is Jerry Saltz with me in front of my work.

Jerry Saltz and me at Hullaballoo booth, Fountain 2013

Read the review by Jerry Saltz: “The New Spirit: American Art in the Armory Show, 1913” about the exhibit at the Montclair Art Museum (Montclair, NJ – through June 16, 2013) online at Vulture (2/24/13)

The article originally appeared in the March 4, 2013 issue of New York Magazine.

 

Saltz opens with: Happy birthday, Modern America! For all practical purposes, you were born 100 years ago this month. After February 17, 1913—the opening of what’s now simply called the Armory Show—you have never been the same. Thank God!

He describes the Montclair Museum exhibition as a blast of fresh scholarship about the original show – but says the original Armory show was uneven.  Most of the artists are lost to history.

Saltz says the Montclair show is a cautionary tale to artists everywhere to be alert…to perceive meta-patterns reforming, tendencies in motion, and your own insides being twisted inside out.

He says: engage with the culture or the culture will pass you by. That means questioning what’s contemporary about what one is saying.

It’s serious business. Read more…

If you saw the 2013 Fountain show, the Montclair Museum show or the Armory Pier 92/94 shows in NYC, please post your comments, and let me know what you think about Marcel Duchamp. Thanks.

Landscape Collage

How do you start a collage? It’s a question I’m asked a lot.

I say I like to create the background first. I also like to paint papers for collage.

Recently the class I teach at the Pelham Art Center asked to do another painted paper collage project – a landscape collage inspired by Romare Bearden (1911-1988).

The image below is by Bearden, titled Purple Eden (1987) 10.5×13 inches.

Romare Bearden, Purple Eden

I wrote about Bearden and the workshop in a post titled Caribbean Fantasy Island Collage.

Materials for Painted Paper Collage

I brought paints, palette knives, and papers to the Pelham Art Center for the class to create a collage background (substrate). The papers were torn from a donated  wallpaper book, and were perfect because they were sturdy, large, and FREE. The wallpaper had a pebbly surface that added a nice texture.

I demonstrated how to work with the palette knife. The acrylic paint was not mixed. It was right out of the tube. I showed them how handle the palette knife and apply the paint in varying thicknesses, to scrape paint into thinner layers, and overpaint layers to achieve depth.

We spent one class painting the background paper and painted additional papers for trees, plants, leaves and clouds. We created the media for the collage that would be assembled the following week.

The image below is my sample painted background.

Sample background

The plan was to create an image of an island surrounded by water with a light blue sky above.

To start, I painted the entire paper with yellow green acrylic paint and let it dry. I painted a 2^nd layer with blue acrylic directly over the green and created the shape of water surrounding the island. I scraped some of the paint thin to let the green underlayer show through. I mixed white acrylic paint with a tiny amount of blue and painted the horizon line above the island for the sky.

Everybody in the class did their own variation of the island, surrounding water, and sky. They took the painted papers home to dry. I asked them to collect and bring in magazine papers to add to their collage the following week.

The images below are the finished collages. Each one is unique. Each is 16 x 20 inches.

Painted Paper Collage by Carol Frank

Carol added birds and fish and painted paper waves in the water. I said her palm trees were windswept.

Painted Paper collage by Joyce Dutka

Joyce added a mysterious, magical forest within her island landscape, plus many birds and critters she brought to class.

Painted Paper collage by Sheila Benedis

Sheila always does totally abstract collage and creates art books. For her project (seen above), I persuaded her to make her work more like a forest landscape with a hint of trees. The papers extend beyond the rectangle of the painted paper. I took the image on a brown masonite board.

The images below are by Marlene and Lorraine Furtick.

Painted Paper collage by Marlene Furtick

Painted Paper collage by Lorraine Furtick

All the color variations in the painted papers were created by layering paint and scraping into underlayers.

I think the works are truly amazing, especially since the projects were completed in 2 class sessions and a total of 4 hours.

Does the idea of creating your own collage media inspire you?  Romare Bearden painted collage papers with watercolor and called his works collage paintings. Henri Matisse had studio assistants paint his collage papere with gouache. I paint a palette of papers for each collage. You can too.

Please send me your comments.

Painting papers for collage

I like to create my own media for collage with watercolor, gouache and acrylic paint. Painting allows me to create multiple sheets of paper in the colors, patterns and texture I want for each collage.

I apply paint to recycled magazine papers and other paper media. I like to work in mixed media collage, and include hand-made papers, decorative papers, my own drawings and prints to the painted papers, and often paint papers to match colors of other papers.

See my online tutorial on painting papers.

I teach classes at the Pelham Art Center and one recent class was devoted to painting papers for collage  (with acrylic paint and also with gouache paint).  Everyone wanted to make custom color papers.

I told the class that two of my favorite collage artists – Romare Bearden and Henri Matisse – worked with painted papers. Bearden painted his own papers, typically in watercolor. Matisse had studio assistants paint his papers for him in gouache.

acrylic paint on paper

The image above is acrylic paint on drawing paper, done by one student  in the Pelham collage class.

We worked with a plastic palette knife. Almost every student I meet has no experience or almost no experience painting with a palette knife. I tell them it’s so easy to get really good results with this technique.

Everyone worked with the same size plastic palette knife and selected and squeezed out the acrylic paint colors. I supplied a variety of acrylic paint brands, including Golden Paints and Liquitex.

assorted papers painted in acrylic

It’s a simple technique

The image above is a selection of 9 papers done with palette knife and acrylic paints by one student in the Pelham collage class.

I did a simple class demonstration, showed them how to set up their palette of paint colors on a disposable paper plate (plastic coated), and very quickly the students started to paint with the palette knife to make their own painted papers. They created an amazing variety of colors, designs and textures.

I showed them how to apply paint over a film of acrylic medium I applied to white drawing paper. After that, I showed them how to apply acrylic paint directly with the palette knife onto magazine pages.

I like to paint on magazine papers – to recycle pages from art magazines like Artforum, and fashion magazines like W because the pages in those magazines are heavier than typical magazines. I don’t recommend using news magazines for painting papers, because the paper is thin and curls when you apply paint or glue, and is difficult to work with in collage.

 

How to work with acrylic paint:

Use any good brand of acrylic paint. The better brands are usually more expensive because they include more paint pigment. The colors are richer and the coverage is better. I recommend students work with gloss or satin acrylic medium to make the paint thinner. I tell students not to use water to thin the paint.

I often buy art supplies online from Jerry’s Artarama and NY Central Art Supply.

When I am in NYC, I stop by NY Central Artists Supply at 62 Third Avenue. Their paper department is incredible and they ship everywhere.

Dick Blick is another good resource for acrylic, gouache and other art supplies.

Tools for the Workshop

painting tools

In the class demo, I tell students to squeeze out dots or small ½ inch strips of acrylic from the paint tube onto a plastic coated disposable paper plate, and leave some space in the center of the plate so colors can be mixed.

The image above shows a plastic and a metal palette knife, a 1 inch soft paint brush, a paper cup, tubes of gouache paint, a single tube of acrylic paint and the book titled Jazz (about the artist Henri Matisse).

When I paint papers with acrylic, I typically lay the colors down on a disposable paper palette and mix one color at a time. When I paint papers with gouache, I typically mix the paint with water in a small cup so it’s diluted to the proper consistency. For the class, I wanted everyone to be excited by the possibilities of working with different colors and with mixing colors as they painted.

I also mix colors directly on the paper. First, I squeeze acrylic gloss or satin medium from the container directly onto the paper and brush it across, then squeeze dots of acrylic paint out of the tube directly over the medium and move it around with the palette knife to create stripes, patterns and transparencies.

acrylic paint over gloss medium layer

The swirly painted image above is by a student who tried that technique. She applied paint directly over gloss acrylic medium and moved the paint with the palette knife to create transparencies and pattern.

The palette knife can be made of plastic or metal. I supply plastic palette knives. I also work with a metal palette knife. It’s important to wipe the knife clean, especially when changing colors, and never allow the paint to dry onto the knife (acrylic paint can dry quickly).

I urge students to wipe the paint off the knife with a paper towel so that the paint on the knife doesn’t get mixed into water (it they dip the knife into a water container). It’s not good for the environment to pour paint dissolved in water down the drain.

Matisse in his studio in Nice

The image above shows Matisse in his studio in Nice, France in 1952 (this image is included in the book titled the Cut-Outs of Henri Matisse, by John Elderfield, published by George Braziller, NY).

All of Matisse’s collages were created with painted papers. His studio assistants painted his papers for him with gouache.

Matisse said he painted with scissors. He called his works paper cut-outs (gouache decoupes). Read about the Technique of the Cut-Outs…

Henri Matisse, Creole Dancer, 1950, 80×47 inches

The image above, a collage in painted papers, is by Matisse and is titled Creole Dancer (image courtesy the Internet). Notice it is organized as pieced blocks of paper in the background, overlaid with cut out shapes. Notice the painted papers show variations in color saturation and paint density because they are hand-painted.

I tell my students that Matisse did not discard papers that were cut out and that landed on the floor. Notice the image above with Matisse in his studio and all the papers on the floor. Notice his cut-outs were typically curved and organic in shape and referenced nature.

paper collage done in class

The image above is by a student in the Pelham class. She painted papers, and while the paints were drying, she created a collage with colored papers I supplied. Before she glued the papers down, she embellished them with oil pastel drawing to make the surface richer and brighter. Notice the oil pastel sticks in boxes nearby.

The class explored many different techniques with painting papers. They layered colors, wet layer over dry layer, to see how the colors changed. They painted with transparent gouache paint over papers painted with acrylic in patterns. They scribbled wax crayon on white drawing paper (a resist process), and applied acrylic paint in both transparent and opaque layers over to see how the crayon showed through. They all liked that.

I told the class that all the papers they created were usable – nothing was a throwaway. Some were so good they were paintings that could get collage additions and be finished as mixed media works. Some were ideal as unique collage papers and could be reproduced if they wanted multiples for large collage projects.

One student created a palette of papers that coordinated with purchased hand-made papers she brought to class. How clever that she mixed colors to compliment other papers she already had (collage artists collect papers for the next collage).

I showed the class how to twirl wet paint on drawing paper as they painted, and create directional  patterns.

We talked about the art of the cut-out by Henri Matisse. I hope they were inspired.

I’ve  recommended resources for paper and paint above.

Please email me or add comments to the blog if you can share a good resource for paper, paints, and any other media you like to use for collage. Thanks in advance.

Bearden 100 at the Studio Museum in Harlem

Last weekend I visited the Studio Museum in Harlem to see the exhibition Bearden 100, a centennial tribute to the great 20^th century artist Romare Bearden (1911-1988). What I saw was the 3^rd and final installment of Bearden 100. It closes October 21, 2012.

I promised to write about the Bearden 100 exhibition in a previous blog about a Bearden workshop I lead on August 5, 2012 at the Newark Museum titled Conjur Woman: Portrait in Collage – inspired by the artist Romare Bearden.

The workshop was offered in conjunction with the exhibition Romare Bearden: Southern Recollections at the Newark Museum (closed August 19, 2012).

Romare Bearden, Conjur Woman, 1964

The image above is by Romare Bearden and titled Conjur Woman. It was completed in 1964. It’s only 9×7 inches, and was created with snippets from newspapers and magazines such as Ebony and the Saturday Evening Post.

Bearden turned his tiny collage into a huge black and white print (called a Photostat). The Newark Museum had small works and large prints on display. The large black and white Conjur Woman Photostat is in the collection of the Studio Museum.

Read more about the meaning of the Conjur Woman and more about my workshops.

22 ARTISTS AT THE STUDEO MUSEUM IN HARLEM

Here’s a link to see images of the 22 works at the Museum. The link is from the Bearden Foundation.

I was drawn to several works.

One was a figure by Elia Alba titled Portrait of a Young Girl, 2012 (see the image below).

Elia Alba, Portrait of a Young Girl, 2012

It’s a 3D figure in a prayer-like pose.  She wrote: It wasn’t just Bearden’s collage, but his merging of cultural and artistic practices that left the strongest impression on me.

I really liked a collage by Noah Davis titled The Frogs (2011) seen below.

Noah Davis, The Frogs, 2011

 

It looks like collage with many magazine papers and fractured faces (it’s definitely inspired by Bearden media and technique).

I was drawn to a mixed media 3D work by Xenobia Bailey, titled Endless Love: Conjur Kit, 2012 (see below).

Xenobia Bailey, Endless Love: Conjure Kit

I love the fact that the artist named her work Conure Kit – maybe she is inspired by all the Conjur Women in Bearden’s oeuvre.

The artist wrote: I love the continuum that his (Bearden’s) collages have to African-American quilt-makers and musicians. Mr. Bearden constructs everything in his artwork as if he is patching together the idea of the New African in North America.

BEARDEN 100

Visit the website for the Bearden 100 show. See works by Bearden and see works by artists in the 3 shows at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

See #66: Bearden, In the Garden 1974 (image below). It includes red striped fabric on a figure, and abraded painted papers.

Romare Bearden, In the Garden, 1974

The Bearden image was selected by Tanekeya Word, a visual artist living in NYC.

See her mixed media work (below) titled Pretty Dope-a-licious Cameo #11, acrylic paint, gouache, watercolor, acrylic ink, gold leaf, embroidery, floss, pastels, latex  paint on watercolor paper, 2012.

Tanekeya Word, Pretty Dope-a-licious Cameo #11

Willie Cole selected the collage by Bearden, #57 Gospel Song 1969 (below) It includes multiple pieces of abraded papers, a gray background, and shows what Bearden did to his media to create unique surface texture. It also shows how he used pieces of papers to create a sense of dimension, texture, and rhythm.

Romare Bearden, Gospel Song, 1969

Willie Cole, a Newark, NJ artist, said he selected this work because it sang to him when he saw it.

See his work tiled Sole to Sole (below). Cole works with found media and creates/constructs metaphor about race in prints, sculpture and other media.

Willie Cole, Sole to Sole

Cole describes himself: Today I am a Perceptual Engineer.  I create new ways of seeing old things. and by doing so  inspire new ways of thinking.  I’ve also been described as an Ecological Mechanic, a Sacred Clown, a Transformer, the hardest working man in Shoe Business, The Original Iron Man, formerly known as the Dog Man, and once known as Vincent Van Black.

Willie Cole is one of my favorite contemporary artists.

More BEARDEN 100

The Studio Museum plans to extend the Bearden Project. They say:

The site will be frequently updated with new participating artists, sharing their story of inspiration and will include a high-resolution image of their artwork. We hope you’ll share your own artwork, stories, and comments with us by email.

Read more…

Romare Bearden was involved in founding The Studio Museum in Harlem and the Cinque Gallery (initially funded by the Ford Foundation). Bearden and 2 other artists – Norman Lewis and Ernest Crichlow – established Cinque to support younger minority artists.

Bearden helped found the Black Academy of Arts and Letters in 1970. He was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1972.

He is recognized as one of the most creative and original visual artists of the 20th Century. He worked in many different media, including painting and printmaking, but is best known for his richly textured collages

Romare Bearden: Looking Back at You

2011-2012 included many, many museum and gallery exhibitions all across the US honoring the centennial birthday for Romare Bearden (African-American, 1911-1988).

See the Romare Bearden Foundation site for updates and information.

Read about The Bearden Project (August 16-Oct 21, 2012) now at the Studio Museum of Harlem (144 W 125 St., NY).

The Bearden Project shows work by 100 contemporary artists who have all been influenced by Bearden’s genius. Each artist was asked to create a work of art inspired by Bearden’s life and legacy.

Romare Bearden, SUMMERTIME, 1967

The image above, is titled Summertime (1967), collage on board, 56×44 inches, image courtesy Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, NY.

In the collage Summertime, Bearden employs the rectangular geometry of window and door frames in a way that explores inside and outside space. We are looking in. Who is looking out? Notice the face and eyes of the Dan mask set within the upper-right tenement window (and the eye seen behind the pink gingham curtain in the window nearby). Bearden’s figurative elements included African masks.  Are these reminders of lost African ancestors?

In an earlier post, I wrote about an August 5, 2012 Newark Museum workshop I led titled Conjur Woman: Portrait in Collage. The post included many images by participants in the workshop. This post includes more images created at the workshop. See their images below.

See images…and read more about the life and art of Romare Bearden at the Studio Museum of Harlem website.

See the upcoming exhibition Romare Bearden: Urban Rhythms and Dreams of Paradise at the ACA Gallery (529 W 20 St., NYC). The exhibition runs November 3, 2012-January 5, 2013. Reception date TBA.

Romare Bearden, Conjur Woman, 1964

The image above by Romare Bearden is titled Conjur Woman (1964). It’s a small collage, only 9×7 inches and was created with snippets from newspapers and magazines like Ebony and the Saturday Evening Post. She is looking at us. See her hands. One holds a leaf – to make a potion? Notice the window in the upper right corner. Are we looking out at the full moon?

See more Bearden images in a post I wrote on January 15, 2011 titled Romare Bearden: Conjur Woman and Collage.

Looking At Collage Looking At You

Bearden’s is a radically inclusive artistic vision.

We can’t help but participate. He draws us in.

We are viewing and we are viewed.

Romare Bearden, Carolina Morning, 1974

The Bearden image above is titled Carolina Morning (1974). It’s mixed media collage on board, 30×22 inches. The work was included in the Southern Recollections show that travelled to the Newark Museum.

We see a woman holding a baby. Is she in a doorway or on a porch?  An older woman with a young child is in the distance. Are they approaching – or departing? We are caught in the woman’s gaze and have to wonder what she is thinking about.

CONJUR WOMAN by Workshop Participants

Here are additional images by people who attended the Conjur Woman workshop at the Newark Museum August 5, 2012.

Now, I look at the art and notice how it is looking back at me.

Mansa Mussa, Conjur Woman (detail)

Mansa Mussa sent me a close up view of his collage, seen above. Notice the face of Romare Bearden (a photo he took when he met the artist in person). Bearden is playing drums. Notice the saxophone player in the foreground. He’s looking at you. This work is all about jazz music. Bearden was a great jazz fan and knew all the greats.

Joan Alleyne-Piggot, Without Limits

Joan Alleyne-Piggot sent me her image titled “Without Limits, seen above. It’s a collage with text and magazine papers. Notice her emphasis on mouths.  She wrote:
What the eyes can’t see, the ears will hear
What the ears can’t hear, the nose will smell
What the nose can’t smell, the lips will taste
What the lips can’t taste, the hands will touch
Everything is without limits if one fails to try,

She wrote: “I was inspired  by Romare Bearden’s work after attending the premiere at the Newark Museum and decided to take the workshop.  It was very inspiring.”

Dorothy Meissner, The Conjurer

Dorothy Meissner sent me an image of her collage titled The Conjurer, seen above.

At the workshop she built her collage with black and white stripes (the piano keyboard all around), and skyscraper imagery. She finished the collage at home after the workshop when she found her skyscraper magazine images. She wanted the skyscraper image to capture the energy of the big city.

I will visit the Studio Museum in Harlem and write soon about the The Bearden Project show before it closes on October 21st. I will also visit the ACA Galleries and write about the upcoming Bearden show Urban Rhythms and Dreams of Paradise.

Thank you for reading this post and thank you for your comments about all the exhibitions this year that honor the creative genius of this great artist.

Romare Bearden

Extraordinary Collage Artist

I led a collage workshop at the Newark Museum Sunday, August 5, 2012. It was titled Conjur Woman: Portrait in Collage.

The workshop was organized in conjunction with the exhibition at the Museum (on view through August 19, 2012) titled Romare Bearden: Southern Recollections that travelled from the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The exhibition celebrates the life and work of Romare Bearden (African-American, 1911-1988) and the centennial of Bearden’s birth. The exhibition includes 80 works in collage, printmaking, and painting.

The Workshop

10 talented people participated in the workshop. They had all seen the exhibition and many wanted to take the workshop because they were so inspired by the art they saw.  See images of their work and read their comments below.

Romare Bearden is considered one of the greatest collage artists in modern history.

Romare Bearden, Conjur Woman

I spoke briefly about his Conjur Woman imagery and some of the materials Bearden used. I showed a reproduction of the image above.

It’s titled Conjur Woman (1975) and is a collage of various papers with paint, ink and surface abrasion on wood, 46×36, in the collection of the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio.

I brought decorative and hand-made papers for everyone to share. As soon as they saw the papers, they wanted to start making collage. I told them all of the amazing papers were purchased at NY Central Art Supply in NYC.

I brought handouts about Romare Bearden and his Conjur Woman image. I said he had three artist strategies:  he worked with photographic and photomechanical reproductions; he selectively appropriated canonical images from Western painting; and he reworked the images to represent 20th century African-American subjects and identity.

I said Bearden’s imagery is about visual juxtaposition, and it’s important to notice how he mixed fragments to create a whole new image. I said: notice the eyes and the size of the hands. Notice how he incorporated images of African masks.

I brought handouts about the history of collage, and told them collage began in the Far East in the 12^th century, and the first known collages are from Japan. Picasso and Braque are credited with the invention of modern collage (1912-1914). Read more…

Many people brought their own photos, reproductions and collage materials to the workshop.

I brought magazines (Vogue, Vanity Fair, Oprah, W, and ArtForum) and everyone shared.

I did a quick demonstration on how to tear papers and cut images from magazines. For example – if the image is part of a page in a magazine:  cut or tear out the whole page, then cut around the image and make the paper smaller and easier to handle, then cut precisely around the image.  It sounds like it’s an extra step and takes longer. It’s actually almost as fast, and easier. I also showed how to tear with a ruler. You can move the ruler as you tear against it, and use the ruler to create a shape or curve.

I showed how to get a white edge on torn paper by tearing the paper toward you.

I showed how to use a brush dipped in water to create a wet line when you are working with hand-made paper (the line can be straight or curved). You can hand-tear against the wet line, and create a soft edge. Some people really liked the soft, furry edge.

Everyone began to locate images in magazines to add to their other papers. I handed out the substrate (Bristol medium weight paper) for the bottom layer. Some people brought their own substrate.

I asked everyone to start their collage with a background layer of solid grey and colored papers that I brought.  I talked about how Bearden used geometric shapes in horizontal and vertical designs.

I did a quick glue demonstration – please read about my process for gluing and getting papers to lie flat without bubbles and glue outside the edges.

I always say it’s important to work with the right glue and the right weight paper. I brought white PVA (polyvinyl acrylic) glue.

I discussed how it is difficult to work with thin magazine papers and how they curl when you apply glue. I always recommend photocopying the papers to make them medium weight so they are easier to handle.

The workshop started at 10:00 am and continued through 4:00 pm. Everyone wanted to work through lunch. Only a few took a lunch break.

Bearden’s Hands 

I took pictures of people at work that showed their hands. At the beginning of the workshop I spoke about how important hands were in Bearden’s art.

Romare Bearden

The above image by Bearden is titled Of the Blues: Carolina Shout (1974). It’s collage and acrylic and lacquer on board, 27×51 inches, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina.

The image below is Abena Busia at the workshop organizing papers for her collage. The image of the hand became an important element in her work.

Abena Busia placing papers for collage

 Pictures of Pictures

About an hour before the workshop ended, people walked around to look at what others were doing. I took digital images with my cell phone and others took pictures also.

After the workshop, I emailed everyone and asked people to write a few sentences about the theme of the collage they made. I am still receiving their comments, so not all are included here.

The image and comments below are by Pam Wright.

Pam Wright

“My piece (titled Protection, Direction) was inspired by Bearden’s “Southern Collections” themes. It was a reflection of the experience of family life in the African-American community. The role of the conjure woman both past and present was one of protection and direction. It included pictures of my family as well as those of the past. It incorporated themes such as rural life, farming, cotton, poverty and migration. Pattern and movement were accomplished by the use of textured papers torn and cut, postcards, burlap and paint.” (Pam Wright)

The image and comments below are by Abena Busia.

Abena Busia

She emailed the image (above) the day after the workshop and wrote: “I was determined to finish, and when I found the right hand, I found I could.” She calls the piece Conjuring Mama. It is  a memorial to her beloved mother.

The image below shows Carol Masi at work on her collage.

Carol Masi at work on her collage

 

She wrote: “The theme of my collage is based on spiritual images. I was drawn into the Saints when I visited the Byzantine Museum in Nicosia, Cyprus. I have been inspired by them ever since. I was so moved by the Bearden exhibit. It inspired me to take the workshop which I thoroughly enjoyed.” (Carol Masi)

The image below and comments are by Martha Wagner.

Martha Wagner

She wrote: “With this collage (titled Conjur Woman), I strictly decided to reproduce Bearden’s style by using only photos of women with skewed body parts that didn’t match, with the underlying picture of a woman’s face. Eyes of an animal, a hand not belonging to a woman, etc. is the way I made this artwork. I also used cloth pieces for clothing for one of the women and for a hand holding a pen. (Martha Wagner)

The image below and comments are by Gail Mitchell.

Gail Mitchell

She wrote: “The title of my collage is Teenager’s Dream Come True. It is a reflection of my art life: 3 of my quilts, photos of me taken by my boyfriend (currently my husband of 44 years of marriage), my love of beads, embellishments, inks and stamps and being BLACK & PROUD and celebrating my life!” (Gail Mitchell)

The comments below and image are by Mansa Mussa.

Mansa Mussa

Mansa Mussa wrote: “The singer is Andromeda Turre, singer, songwriter, model, fashionista, beauty… I took that photo of her performing at a South Orange, N.J. jazz performance this summer. I met her a couple of weeks before when she performed at the Newark Museum’s Jazz in the Garden festival with her mother, cellist Akua Dixon.

The narrative of this Conjour Woman is that she’s a siren who uses her voice on-stage to entice the male musicians to perform at the highest level. Her cohorts are his sisters who dance on her belt and on her skirt, creating a fantastic aural and visual spectacle that compels the musicians to focus…She is backed on saxophone, the musical instrument most like the human voice, by another one of her sisters. This figures is the musical director of the ensemble and the only female musician.

The figure at the top right is her younger sister, studying the elder, and waiting for her moment on the stage.” (Mansa Mussa)

More Information about Romare Bearden

The Newark Museum held a symposium on July 16, 2012 with guest speakers, all experts on the life and art of Romare Bearden. I purchased the exhibition catalog and an excellent book of essays titled: Romare Bearden in the Modernist Tradition (2008, Romare Bearden Foundation, New York).

I recommend the book for those who want to learn more about the artist. The essays are excellent.

Visit the Bearden Foundation for images and more information about the artist and upcoming programs and exhibitions.

 

Read about Bearden’s  life at the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery website.

 Please add your comments.

Papers in the Background

When projects are unfinished, it’s good to continue.

So we continued with Collage All Mixed Up – the previous class project at the Pelham Art Center where I teach Thursday evenings.

I wrote about the all mixed up project in the previous blog, and talked about the Exquisite Corpse, a multi-part poem or image that was the basis for the project.

The class is titled Embellish An Image: Play with Collage. We have a project each week, sometimes determined by me, sometimes suggested by one of the class members.  Sometimes we don’t finish the project during the class.

We cut and tear. We glue. We layer. We play. We experiment. We embellish. We get very involved and forget about time. Then we finish the project at home or we continue the following week.

Here’s a bit of information: when you make art over a period of time, when there’s a break and you return to the work, the second sweep will often change the look of the work. It can become a new work (different from the earlier work) and that’s ok.

MIX IT UP MULTI MEDIA

The image below shows a work that includes drawing and collage that was completed over 2 weeks. It was embellished with drawing.

class collage project

The central figure is in 3 parts all mixed up: the feet are male athlete’s feet. The body is a fashion figure in a pink jacket. The face is a lovable white dog (a poodle?).

The drawn lines connect everything, including a connection to the trailing flower stems in the paper collage piece at the bottom. There is a wonderful sense of white space and hand drawing.

This image truly expresses the charm and personality of the person who created it.

The project Collage All Mixed Up (the Exquisite Corpse) is really my attempt to introduce my students to Surrealism, an art movement that began in the early 1920s.

Surrealism includes collage. Many famous artists of the 20^th century were Surrealists, including Max Ernst, Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte and Andre Breton (a poet known as the founder of Surrealism).

The Surrealist writers and artists met in cafes, played collaborative drawings games, and developed automatic drawing as a means to express the subconscious. Works included unexpected visual (or literary) juxtapositions or materials and imagery via collage.   Read about surrealism.

LAYERS LAYERS LAYERS

The image below shows another work that was completed over 2 weeks. The first week the student spent her time locating papers and cutting them out precisely. She never got to gluing things down – which served her well, because she added papers the second week, and found new ways to use the papers, and the work changed dramatically.

class collage project

I talked to the students about how collage can be multi-layered.  I think placing a background collage layer is a good way to start a collage. The background can be a large single piece or multiple pieces of paper. The papers can be found in books, prints or magazines, can be fabric, can be photographs or photocopies, can be painted papers, drawings or prints.

The main image that sits on top of the background collage will be more interesting and seem to have more depth.

Notice the image above. Papers were collected from art and fashion magazines. The images are layered.  Notice the yellow and black papers that sit under the model’s legs – to create contrast so you see the figure. Notice how the student cut diagonal patterns along the edge of the background papers and tore edges on other papers to move your eye around. The colors are all related, and there’s a lot of energy in the design.

The image below shows another work that was completed over 2 weeks. Some of the collage was glued down the first week, but most of the time the first week was spent finding the right magazine papers.

class collage project

I like to stress design principles in the class – like repeating shapes in various sizes (scale) and finding papers in a range of colors that show different hues and values. The variations make the composition much more interesting. Finding papers with pattern and drawing adds more interest.

COLLAGE TO TELL A STORY

We talked in the fist class about a narrative approach to collage. I suggested students pick a word or a phrase and find text and images, then create a story collage. It’s another good way to begin.

Notice how the blues and reds range from subdued to saturated color, from opaque to gradient and patterned color. The round objects, the wheel in red and blue, the fish and the sunlit water (see the tilted blue square on the left) lead your eye around and through the composition. Like the neon orange fish, you are traveling through the space. That’s good. There is a wonderful juxtaposition of the various elements, lots of layering, and many words to tell the STORY.

THE POWER OF ONE COLOR

The image below shows a work that was completed in a single class session.

class collage project

The collage was made with magazine papers, hand made black and white striped paper and text. It’s multi-layered and includes a lot of different paper elements. This student especially likes to make abstract art with bold color, high contrast, and geometric design.  I told her I liked the juxtaposition of cut and torn papers, curved and straight shapes. There’s a lot of movement under, over, around, across, off the edge and back in again. Stripes make it work even better.

The image below is a voyage to an exotic place. The student found papers that suited her green sensibility (at the time of the class) as well as papers that included patterns and stripes to go with the hand-made black and white striped paper I brought to the class. This collage has multiple layers of paper. The striped paper is part of the under layer of the collage. The cut and torn magazine papers create geometric abstraction, suggest natural landscape and also include peekaboo graphic images that surprise.

class collage project

CONCLUSION

Did you notice that everyone did a different work? I love that. In my next blog (for the next project) I will include images by more class members.

Please post you questions, if you want to know more about the papers, resources or projects.

EMBELLISH AN IMAGE: PLAY WITH COLLAGE

The summer class I teach at the Pelham Art Center:  Embellish An Image: Play with Collage includes a mix of new students and returning students, ranging in ages from younger than 20 to seventies and above.  It’s a great group. They are all creative and many are very experienced with art and collage.

Because it was the first class for the summer session, I asked the students to introduce themselves and say what they wanted to accomplish in the 8 classes. I wanted them to learn about each other and what they each expected. It’s important for the students to hear about each other’s goals, and sharing is important for the group experience.

COLLAGE and JEAN ARP

I planned the first class with a learning-to-see project that would be simple and also challenging: a geometric abstraction.

I brought individual sandwich-sized Baggies filled with tiny pre-cut papers, one Baggie for each person.  See the image below with the papers, a metal ruler, a pair of scissors, a pencil and an eraser. You can see how small the papers are in relation to the ruler and pencil.

IT LOOKS EASY…LOOKS ARE DECEIVING

The collage project is inspired by a work of art titled Rectangles Arranged According to the Laws of Chance by Jean (Hans) Arp. Arp’s collage includes 22 papers. Arp (French, born Germany – Alsace, 1886-1966) created many collages titled Squares (Rectangles) Arranged According to the Laws of Chance. See more images.

I wanted the class to pay attention the different shapes and sizes of the papers. If the papers were different, they would create a totally different work of art.

I showed a sample (reproduction) of Art’s collage. See image below. The original collage, completed in 1916, is about 10 x 5 inches.

Jean Arp, Rectangles Arranged According to the Laws of Chance

We discussed a little bit about Arp and the art movement called Dada. They all knew something about it.  I suggested that Arp didn’t arrange his papers by chance even though the title of his work says so (and Arp did multiple collages with that title).

I tossed a few loose papers onto the table to demonstrate that the papers didn’t – couldn’t – land in the same order as the sample collage I showed them.

We talked about how to begin placing the papers. I created a sample collage with the same papers that were included in the Baggies. See the image below.

Paper Sampler

I said the class project would be fun and challenging and test their ability to look carefully (it really was all about developing that skill).

I showed them the gluing technique I use: white PVA glue applied with a bristle brush, papers pressed flat with a plastic squeegee. I showed them how I applied the glue and used a piece of waxed paper as a barrier sheet between the collage and the squeegee as the papers are glued down.

I said they should study the collage by Arp and notice the spaces between the papers, the angles if they varied, where the papers touch, and if they overlap.

The papers in the Baggies ranged in color from white to warm grey and green grey to black, representing  5 different tonal values. Each person got a watercolor-weight paper substrate in a contrasting white.  The substrate is the bottom collage layer.

I showed the students that some of the papers in my sample collage were shaded with a pencil and some of the pencil markings were lightened with the eraser – all to create texture and tonal variations.

I brought artists pencils – 3B, 4B, 5B, and 7B. They tried out the different pencils and selected the pencil they wanted to use. B is a soft lead pencil. The higher the number, the softer the lead and darker the line. I also brought pencils H and HB, which are harder lead and make lighter lines. Nobody wanted to use these.

See samples of the collages created in the class below. Each collage is inspired by Arp’s collage, but each one is unique because each student decided to be original as they finished assembling the papers. Many took the collage to the next level and cut and pasted extra papers to embellish their image.

The images above include extra papers, curvy, cut shaped papers, and 3 dimensional cut papers.

Here’s more:

We all need creative time. The collage class is about play (it’s titled Play With Collage), but it’s really  about personal expression, developing an eye, and building confidence with each success.

I believe PLAY IS SERIOUS WORK.

I checked out “Adults Need to Play, Too (online) and found a link to many articles, including an article in Scientific American magazine titled The Serious Need for Play.

They say life flows with greater ease if we allow ourselves some time for play every day.

They say it makes us better adjusted, smarter and less stressed. Read more…

A Collage Experience for You

I  teach an 8 week collage class – Embellish An Image: Play with Collage at the Pelham Art Center (Pelham, NY), scheduled for June 28-August 16, 2012. Each time I lead the classes, I think about how to create the best collage class experience for each person.

Some people will be new this session. Some people are returning a second time. For the new people, I need to find out what their skill level is and what they want to learn. For the people who are returning. I need to expand what we cover.

I thought about how to make the repeat (basic) projects fresh and how to introduce new projects, techniques and information.

Take My Survey

I have a survey with 38 questions about classes and workshops (see the survey nearby) I ask people to answer  yes or no to statements like: I like  classes where projects are unique every week. I like workshops that introduce experimental techniques. I like workshops that include portrait collage/landscape collage/narrative collage. I like workshops that include geometric abstraction…

The survey asks if people like to work with imported, exotic papers, if they like to work with natural materials, if they like to work with recycled and repurposed materials. Do they like workshops that focus on drawing and collage? Do they want to make collage with acrylic or water media? And more.

I get the responses and get a picture of what different people want to do.

At the first class I will ask everyone to talk about themselves and their experience with art and collage. I want to learn what they want to learn.

I want to teach the collage classes so that each person has collage success.

I’ll tell them what I planned for the classes. I’ll ask what they want to add or subtract.

A Quickie Collage Project for the 1st Class

I’ll bring papers for a quickie collage project and I’ll do a demonstration on how to glue papers. Everyone will make a collage.

The project will be based on the work of Jean Arp, a geometric collage titled Rectangles Arranged According to the Laws of Chance. See an earlier post about Arp’s collage and the laws of chance. I think chance in Arp’s collage is about the way the papers were selected (and not the way the papers were placed).

Jean Arp

Arp’s collage (above) includes papers in black, white and grey. He like to work in black and white.

I hope nobody in the class hates abstraction.

This collage project asks people to notice the way the papers are organized and the spaces within. The project is really about learning to see. It’s a good challenge. See an earlier post for more about this project.

I will propose projects for future weeks that include gluing techniques (fabric and paper collage), expressive drawing (to add a personal touch), learning to mix paints to achieve the colors you want, working with different paint brushes (we’ll create decorated papers), and pin press printmaking (printmaking without a press) to explore mixed media in collage. Each week will include a different technique and explore a range of media.

I’ll bring a variety of lead pencils to the class when we explore drawing. Basic drawing pencils are graded by the softness or hardness of their lead. The softer the lead, the darker the mark you make. The harder the lead, the lighter the mark will be.  I’ll bring pastels to add soft color. I’ll bring a variety of paint brushes so people can determine what they like.

I will write about the class projects in the coming weeks.

Please take my survey.

Chance Is My Raw Material

What are the laws of chance?

What are the odds you can create a work of art according to the laws of chance?

“Chance is my raw material” is a quote from the artist Jean Hans Arp (1886-1966), a German-French sculptor, painter and poet.

Arp titled many of his works Rectangles (or Squares) Arranged According to the Laws of  Chance.

I am sure the Laws of Chance don’t actually work.

Jean Hans Arp

The image above is titled Rectangles Arranged According to the Laws of Chance.

I Tried to Drop Squares and See How They Land

I created a studio experiment with assorted papers. I wanted to see if there was any possibility I could get a result that looked like the collages by Jean Arp.

The squares never landed where I intended. I always had to move them closer together or further apart. Many squares landed on top of other squares and I wanted space between them.

Space is important and it has to be just the right amount of space.

Nancy Egol Nikkal

In the work above, I dropped the papers from arms length and had to move almost every paper from its original landing place.

I took the picture and pulled the papers off and began again.

I placed papers on top of other papers and overlapped papers. I moved further away from the paper substrate and lowered my arm as I dropped each paper hoping that the papers would land closer to where I dropped them. It didn’t work. The papers floated and I had to move them again.

On another day, I painted papers with acrylic paint on front and back sides to see if the added weight of paint would affect the way the papers dropped. It didn’t.

I changed the way I released the papers to see if they would land with more control.

I tossed the papers like a frisbee from a distance and some landed completely off the substrate paper.

I tried to flip the papers in the toss.

Chance is in the Random Order

Arp said his collages were arranged according to the laws of chance. But many texts suggest Arp  used chance in the order he selected his papers, not in the way he scattered the papers and moved them.

The chance was in the random order of their selection.

In the work below, I gathered up all the papers like a deck of cards and shuffled them to create a random order, then scattered them one by one – and rearranged them.

shuffled and placed in random order

The image below is another collage by Arp that inspires me because it is so architectural. It is also titled Rectangles Arranged According to the Laws of Chance.

Arp liked to work in black and white and grey. He said “I use very little red. I use blue, yellow, a little green, but especially black, white and grey…Black and white is writing.

Arp

I like the way the blocks lean into one another.

I decided to create my own tower. I put the red at the top. I like to think that each block is in dialog with its neighbor like a stack of talking heads. My image is below. The red block is arguing with the yellow block on the opposite tower. The green and the blue blocks are feuding  a few stories below. I inserted collage text with the words perch perch. It’s precarious and may topple.

Create Your Own Chance Collage

Here is an interesting collage project: Look at the black and white tower of blocks in Arp’s collage titled Rectangles Arranged by Chance (above).

See the blocks in terms of lights and darks. Some are also medium toned. Select papers in a range of tones from black to white.

See the blocks in terms of size and shape. Some are long vertical rectangles. Some are horizontal. Some are square. Cut blocks in assorted shapes.

See the blocks in terms of how they touch and if they are straight or slightly angled.

See how they are close together or far apart.

Obviously they are arranged.

Try to arrange blocks with reference to a harmonious balance of lights and darks and pay attention to the shapes of the spaces between the blocks.

Here’s one more thing to think about: What papers are glued down first? What do you do if you move some of the papers as you are gluing them down? Suppose the placement and tension is changed? Can you restore the composition or do you proceed with something new?

Isn’t that also about being open to chance?