COLOR – THAT’S IT
April 26, 2013
I exhibited original collage paintings at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show at Pier 94 in NYC from March 21-24, 2013.
I planned my booth (M135) and designed it to be all about bright colors – hot pinks, warm reds, greens, blues, darks and whites to make the colors ping.
Every piece of art – every painting and collage that I hung in the booth was selected for its color in order to attract an audience. And it did.
The 2 images below are installed as a diptych – 2 works hung together as one. They are titled Musical Notes 1 and 2.
Nikkal, Musical Notes 1 and 2, 2011
The work on the left is a painting in acrylic on canvas, 24×24 inches. The work on the right is a collage with acrylic painted papers on a 24×24 inch wood panel. My studio practice is mainly collage, but I love to paint so some works are paintings and some works are painted paper collage. The image above was taken by Marcy Michaud. She wrote a blog about the show and included my image.
When I do painted paper collage, I paint papers first, and then, when the paint is dry, I play with cut paper blocks and organize them into grid patterns. I almost always work with a grid. Sometimes I change the size and shape of the papers as I make the collage. Sometimes I paint back into the papers after they are glued down. The color relationships are the most important part of each work.
The images below are 2 collages with painted papers and assorted magazine papers, framed size 13.5″x16″. The works are titled Color Game Hidden Spaces (top) and Color Game Green & Red (bottom). They were installed on a side wall in my booth.
Nikkal, Color Game 1 and 2, 2012
On the opposite wall, I hung a horizontal framed collage I titled DNA. See the image below. I want people to be attracted to the power of color. It’s painted paper collage on paper, framed: 22″ x29.5″, 2012.
Nikkal, DNA, 2012
I was asked – why did I title the collage DNA? Answer: The color blocks made me think of uncurled strands of DNA. A little bit. My approach to naming the art was very unscientific. Someone said: DNA would only show in 4 colors. My collage had more than 4. I had 3 greens, 2 blues, a red-purple, a reddish brown and several yellows.
I checked out images of DNA online and learned that the DNA molecules are paired chemicals – hydrogen bonds given the letters A,T, G and C (A pairs with T and G pairs with C). The letters stand for adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine. Here’s more information…
See the image below (image courtesy the Internet). It’s an uncurled strand of DNA that does look a little like my collage.
DNA image the Internet
I know my collage DNA included too many colors – but I love color.
I found a link to a letter from Francis Crick to his son Michael explaining how he (Crick) and Jim Watson discovered and built a model of D.N.A. It’s a lovely hand-written note from a father to a son. Read more…
VARIETY IS IMPORTANT
People want to see variety, especially at a trade show. So I included about 30 additional unframed works for all the people who visited my booth to look at and hold.
I tucked these smaller unframed collages into 11”x14” clear vinyl slipcases and placed them in an art bin freestanding on the floor. Each vinyl slipcase was numbered to match a price list with titles, image sizes and media for each work.
Many works in the bin combined printmaking, drawing and collage.
The image below is titled Random Squares in a Grid 2 (Brown & White Stripes). It’s collage with assorted papers and acrylic on paper, 11.5″ x 11.5″, 2011.
Nikkal, Random Squares in a Grid 2
The image below is titled Random Squares in a Grid 7 (Azo Yellow). Its a collage with assorted papers over painted paper, 11″ x 12″, 2011.
Nikkal, Random Squares Grid 7, 2012
It pleased me that people took time to handle the unframed works. People like to touch. I took the works out of the slipcases so they could see and touch the surfaces.
The image below is a collage of colorful striped papers on top of a silkscreen print card (the card is a print from an original drawing). I like to collage over hand-made cards. The paper is fine printmaking quality, folded like a card, 8″ x 7″, 2013.
Nikkal, Colors by Chance, 2013
The 2 images below are 2 more small collages on top of hand-made cards on printmaking paper, folded, 8″ x 7″, 2013. The cards were very popular at the show, and priced to sell.
Nikkal, Colors by Chance 4, 2013
Nikkal, Colors by Chance 3, 2013
It was a good thing that I included the variety I did. Many people loved the pinks and reds of the framed works hung on the walls. Many people were interested in the variety of different works in the art bin.
Please visit my website to see 28 images that were at the show. Click on each image to enlarge and get a better view of the detail and collage layers.
THE WORK CONTINUES
Follow-up is so important after the trade show closes. I am still contacting designers, architects and others, sending information and image files they’ve requested.
A trade show offers incredible opportunities. The networking is amazing.
Please contact me if you want more information. I am happy to answer your questions about how to organize work for exhibit in a large show like the Architectural Digest Home Design show. My booth was located in the “MADE” section with more than 150 designers, artists and craftsmen – from lighting, fine crafted furniture, photography, sculpture and fine art paintings and collage. I think I will participate in the show again next year.
I will probably play with painted paper collage in the studio, and explore the idea of DNA paired as blocks. I am intrigued with mixing art and science. Do you think art and science work well together? Many people do. Thank you for reading and for your comments.
Small Scale Collage
January 24, 2013
Next week I will teach a workshop in paper collage at Iona Collage in New Rochelle, NY.
I will be a substitute for their regular teacher, and I want the class project to be fun, quick and easy to do – and engage them in making a collage right there.
I will provide each student with a 6 x 9 inch exhibition postcard for them to work on.
They will use magazines for source media, and work with scissors and glue sticks to cut and paste papers. I will show sample postcards with collage that I prepare for them.
I will talk about the history of collage (and will not talk too much) while they are working on their project.
Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque are credited with the invention of modern collage (1912-1914). The English word collage comes from the French words papiers colle (glued paper), a term coined by the Cubists. People who paste paper may also paste photos, fabric and 3D materials like wood, plastic, metal etc.
Many books on contemporary art describe COLLAGE as a medium of surface planes that explore sub-surfaces. Many books also discuss collage as a medium that comments on waste and rampant consumer consumption. A lot of collage is about politics and identity. It’s always about narrative and media.
Basically, I want to say that there is so much potential collage media out there to recycle into art. I think the idea of recycling and consumer consumption will appeal to this age demographic.
Nancy Egol Nikkal, collage on a card 1, 6×4, 2013
How about creating cards with collage?
I think we all have too much paper in our lives. But, I also think every piece of junk mail is a potential substrate (base) for collage, or can serve as paper to cut and paste onto something else.
Do you get postcard announcements for consumer goods in the mail? Do you get glossy multi-page home goods and fashion catalogs in the mail? It’s all potential collage media.
In my collage classes, I talk about 3Rs – reuse, repurpose and recycle.
Nancy Egol Nikkal, collage on a card 2, 4×5, 2013
What about the holiday cards you received this year? Don’t throw them out. Recycle the castaways and use collage to create your own work of art. Cover the base with a little collage or cover it with a lot (but leave a little of the original card peeking through) to show the juxtaposition of the old with the new media.
Free Paper Bonanza
Last year I was gallery hopping in Chelsea (NYC). It was the closing day for the exhibition at one gallery, and I noticed a pile of really good, heavy weight exhibition announcement cards sitting on top of the counter where the gallery people sit. The cards were an elegant graphic (text) printed on lovely white stock.
As soon as I found out it was the last day for the exhibition, I asked if I could have the cards. They said yes.
Nancy Egol Nikkal, collage on a card 3, 4×6, 2013
Theme and Variation
I like the idea of theme and variation. I start with the same base image. It can be an exhibition postcard (from my exhibitions) or a greeting card I’ve reproduced from my collage paintings.
Do you make your own cards? Do you reproduce your images into cards? Use the cards as a base for multiple collages. The new little collages can become the inspiration for new large works.
All the images included in this post are my tiny collages made with magazine papers on top of my printed 2013 New Years card. The card is a reproduction of a large painted paper collage I did last year. The card is small, about 4×6 inches. I added up to 10 collage pieces (very tiny pieces) per card. The imagery on the original was very geometric, so I planned to use rounded shapes and circular lines as a counter-balance to the straight edges. I did about 20 collage on cards and sent the cards to people who send me hand-made cards.
Nancy Egol Nikkal, collage on card 4, 4×6, 2013
I found a very interesting interview online titled “What’s New With Collage?” by Hrag Vartanian who interviewed Charles Wilkin at Hyperallergic.com (Oct. 25, 2011)
Wilkin curated an exhibition in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (NY) titled All That Remains, at the Picture Farm Gallery.
Vartanian asked: “What do you think is unique about collage today, if anything?”
Wilkin said: “One of the exciting things about collage is its primary use of discarded paper media which ultimately keeps it in motion, constantly changing like a chameleon. A quick look at the diversity of styles, concepts and technique found in contemporary collage proves it’s moved well beyond simply cut paper and glue.
He added: “I suspect many artists find it alluring for not only its immediacy but its unique and inherent nature to reinvent the familiar into something mysteriously new.”
Thanks for reading. Please let me know how you recycle papers into art with collage.
Hullaballoo Collective
August 16, 2012
What Is All the Hullaballoo About?
I am participating with the Hullaballoo Collective in a group exhibition in Chelsea in NYC this summer.
Hullaballoo Collective is a diverse group of artists who first came together through social media. We presented a salon style exhibition at the Fountain Art Fair (March 9-11, 2012) during NY Art Week at the 69th Regiment Armory at 25th Street and Lexington Ave. We say “Hullaballoo utilizes collective strength and intrepid individuality. Outsider, emerging, veteran; we are thinkers, and we are makers. We are artists. We are part of the egalitarian zeitgeist, the energy that underlies the new century and that uses new tools to reach broad audiences.”
The view below is a peek into the 2nd Hullaballoo art show.
a view into the PSPS gallery
JOIE de VIVRE
The exhibition is titled JOIE de VIVRE (August 2-19, 2012) and is installed at PSPS Paul Seftel Project Space , 548 W 28 St., NYC 10001, 3rd floor.
The opening reception was August 2, 6-9pm. We say: “Seeking Joie de Vivre is a theme in our daily lives as visual artists. Embracing joy, inclusiveness, and unity, while respecting artistic diversity is our collective “work in progress.” The viewer is invited to seek connections, associations, unexpected dialogues and individual discoveries in this artistic diversity.”
The image below is a view of the reception.
Hullaballoo reception at PSPS
Thanks to Paul Seftel for including the Hullaballoo Collective in his gallery exhibition calendar.
Thanks to Bernard Klevickas for being the point man in pulling this show together. Thanks to the many others in the Collective who were important to the success of the show.
Thanks to Marianne Barcellona for taking the images in this post (except for the reception, taken by Phil and Colleen .
Thanks to Bernard – again – for asking me to be the lead person for the installation. I had a great team of volunteers to help. Everyone thinks the show is a wonderful success.
Following are images that show the installation.
THE FIRST WORKS SELECTED
When you install a large group exhibition, you have to look at all the works that will be included before any work is placed or hung. This exhibition included many large sculptures that would dominate the central floor space. The works hung on the walls had to be visible beyond the sculptures, and every work in the show had to be integrated into the whole ensemble.
I saw the yellow bee and thought “he” was very inviting and needed to be seen by everyone as soon as they stepped into the gallery. The painting was installed first and the large free-standing sculpture in painted metal was placed in its space in relation to the art hung on the first wall. The mirror sculpture arrived later.
The yellow bee is the first to go up
The image below is a close up view of the works hung with the first painting. We worked hard to find the right works to compliment the bee. The next image below is a view around the corner. Notice how the sculpture with the mirror reflects the art works on the opposite wall.
the first wall installed
A view around the corner
We moved pieces one or more times. Nothing was fixed in it’s place until the last work was installed.
The image below shows a wall with large works. Some are hung very high. The following image shows Bernard standing in the gallery. I remember he was most of the time balancing on a ladder, reaching up to install a heavy or a large work.
another installation view
Bernard Klevickas
The following image shows the art that the public sees from the hallway. We selected a large work with people because we felt it would draw people in. Notice how diverse the installation is (definitely salon style). The next image shows a close up view of 3 walls as you enter the gallery. Notice all the texture. Notice the yellow sculpture installed on the floor.
So much art to install
The image above is a front view of the entry wall. The blue dimensional work was moved from another wall. It overhangs my own 2 collage paintings (titled Musical Notes 1 and 2). There’s a lot of work in this tiny alcove space, but it all works well together.
As the show was installed, I checked out sight lines. I wanted to see how each work looked in relation to other works that are nearby and across on other walls. When I install art, I want to direct the viewer’s eye (and the viewer should not even be aware of it). I want to keep the eye in motion – moving around the space like a dance.
The images that follow include a view from inside the office into the main gallery space. Notice the hanging sculpture in front of the glass wall. The next image shows the installation of works on the last wall – a very delicate wall that we were asked not to put too many nail holes into. And the final image is the guest book with very creative signatures. See is you can read who’s signed our book.
view from the office out to the gallery
Hullaballoo guest book
I regret I didn’t know all the names of the artists whose work you’ve seen in this post. Following are the names of everyone included in the Hullaballoo Collective JOIE de VIVRE exhibition:
Ellen Alt, Cecilia André, Sharon Appel, Marianne Barcellona, Fran Beallor, Richard Brachman, Gulsen Calik, Pamela Casper, Ursula Clark, Barbara Coleman, Yvette Cohen, Colleen Deery, Molly DiGrazia, John Erianne, Patricia Fabricant, Robin Feld, Elaine Forrest, Robin Gaynes-Bachman, Beth Giacummo, Theresa Greenberg, Norma Greenwood, Bette Klegon Halby, Sarah Haviland, Aimee Hertog, Eileen Hoffman, Sandra Indig, JORDAN!™, Robin M Jordan, Bernard Klevickas, Melissa Kraft, Liz-N-Val, Barbara Lubliner, Janie Milstein, Adrienne Moumin, Nancy Nikkal, CJ Nye, Nancy Oliveri, Walter O’Neill, Katherine Papadopoulos, Cade Pemberton, Jeffrey Allen Price, Elisa Pritzker, Peggi Pugh, Jacqueline Rada, Julie Scott, Joyce Silver, Regina Silvers, Cigdem Tankut, Linda Tharp, Shira Toren, Grazia Vita
Thank you for your comments about this wonderful show.
HE CALLS IT WOOD COLLAGE
May 31, 2012
While walking through the 2012 International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in NYC (May 2012), I discovered work by the artist Peter Glassford.
I went to see contemporary rugs and talk with people in the trade about how rugs are made, because people tell me my collage paintings can be interpreted as rugs. Take a look at the geometric images at my website and tell me if you agree they can be room size rugs.
WALL INSTALLATION and THE COLOR GREEN
I was amazed to see a dramatic wall installation in wood and paint and learn about works by an artist who calls himself a collage artist in wood.
Peter Glassford installation wall collage
The image above shows the installation and the artist’s mother and the scale of the wall collage.
I noticed the color from a distance, then walked closer to see the texture in the natural wood. The paint is a strong crayon green color. The artist is not afraid of color.
Peter Glassford has fine arts degrees (BFA, 1986, 1991) from the University of Texas at Austin.
Peter Glassford at the ICFF 2012
The image above shows the artist sitting in front of a wood collage that is a folding screen painted white.
Peter Glassford says his wood collage is a fusion of his sculptural past and his business present. He makes unique furniture and he makes art.
He says he uses wood cuttings from his fine furniture factory in Mexico and creates wall installation art.
He says the repurposing closes the creative cycle and brings him back to the studio.
Sometimes he adds color.
Peter Glassford installation in progress
The work above is titled Picadillo Gems (2010). The artists is on the ladder, which shows you how large this work is. It’s installed at the Watts Law Collection, San Antonio, TX.
Peter Glassford
The above image is titled Collage Tiles.
Glassford works with exotic woods – one is called parota and the other is rosa morada.
Rosa Morada comes from India, Mexico, Honduras and Asia. It is sometimes called rosewood. Parota is similar to teak wood and grows in jungles in Mexico. Read more…
A LITTLE BIT OF ART HISTORY
I spoke with the artist and mentioned the sculptor Louise Nevelson (1899 – 1988, American, born in Czarist Russia).
Because he works in wood, I thought about her work in wood. Wood was the basis for the comparison. But they work in different woods.
Louise Nevelson
Nevelson is famous for wood relief sculpture consisting of multiple boxes and compartments that include found objects from chair legs to staircase handrails, spindles, etc. Read more…
The image above is Nevelson’s wall assemblage in wood, painted black.
Some of Nevelson’s works are room size. She described her sculpture as “environments.” She is considered one of the most important figures in 20th-century American sculpture.
Louise Nevelson, City Sunscape
The image above by Louise Nevelson is titled City Sunscape.
FOUND ELEMENTS vs DISCARDED ELEMENTS vs. CHOSEN ELEMENTS
Peter Glassford assumed I was comparing what he calls wall collage to Louise Nevelson’s relief sculpture. He didn’t agree with the comparison or the premise.
He said Nevelson’s sculptures included found elements that she assembled.
He said his sculptures didn’t include found elements like Nevelson’s, but were made with discarded elements – cut-offs left over from the furniture he manufactures in Mexico.
He said Nevelson typically painted her sculptures in an all-over monochromatic white or black.
He said he adds painted color (selectively) in the process as the work is installed.
Artists are so specific in the ways they describe their studio practice.
In my last post, titled Choice Collage, I wrote about the artist John Chamberlain who created metal sculpture and said he was a collage artist in metal. His retrospective exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC closed May 13, 2012.
Chamberlain said he chose the pieces for his metal collages. Susan Davidson, who curated the Guggenheim Museum show, emphasized choice in Chamberlain’s work.
What is the difference between selecting and choosing and finding? I think everything is about choice.
I wonder if Louise Nevelson ever called herself a collage artist.
Next year the International Contemporary Furniture Fair will be held Saturday – Tuesday, May 18-21, 2013. Exhibition booths include contemporary furniture, seating, carpet and flooring, lighting, outdoor furniture, wall coverings, accessories, textiles and more. Read more…
All image of work by Peter Glassford are from his website (Projects).
All images of work by Louise Nevelson are courtesy the Internet.
Collage According to the Laws of Chance 2
May 3, 2012
In my last post, I wrote about the artist Jean (Hans) Arp. He made collage according to the laws of chance. He dropped squares of paper onto paper and gave the works titles like Squares Arranged According to the Laws of Chance. The image below is made with cut and pasted papers, ink and bronze paint (1917), image courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.
Jean Arp, Squares Arranged According to the Laws of Chance
Arp was a founding member of the Dada movement that started in Zurich, Switzerland in 1916. A lot of Dada was about the laws of chance. The movement started as a political protest and dissipated after the close of World War 1. Many of the artists (Jean Arp, Kurt Schwitters, and Max Ernst) left protest for studio practice and went on to build stellar art careers.
Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968)
I am fascinated by Dada. I think it’s resurgent, and think a lot of contemporary art is inspired by Dada.
Dada and Marcel Duchamp
Dada is still with us because of the artist Marcel Duchamp.
Duchamp was not a member of the Dadaist movement (he resisted joining groups). But, he was a natural Dadaist all his life.
The Bride and the Bachelors
Read Calvin Tomkins book The Bride and the Bachelors: Five Masters of the Avant-Garde (Duchamp, Tinguely, Cage, Rauschenberg, Cunningham). I bought the paperback, first published in 1965. The first chapter is about Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887-1968).
Duchamp said: “Why worry about art when life is what matters…Do unto others as they would wish – but with more imagination.”
Duchamp invented the term readymade – see the image below of “Bicycle Wheel” (1913/1964)
Marcel Duchamp, Roue de Bicyclette/Bicycle Wheel
Calvin Tomkins: Unlike the Surrealist objet trouve – a common object chosen for its accidental aesthetic value, the readymade has no aesthetic value whatsoever (according to Duchamp). Tomkins adds: therefore, it functions in a sense as a derisive comment on all art traditions and dogmas.
Read more about Duchamp at the Centre Pompidou (Paris, France) website.
Every art movement that uses everyday objects today can thank Duchamp for leading the way.
One of Duchamp’s most famous readymades was titled “Fountain” – a porcelain urinal turned upside down with the signature R. Mutt.
Marcel Duchamp, Fountane/Fountain
Duchamp (and Joseph Stella) sent the sculpture to the 1917 exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists at the NYC Armory show. Duchamp was a founding member of the Society. The work created a furor. The hanging committee refused to exhibit the readymade sculpture.
Calvin Tomkins wrote: Duchamp commented slyly: The only works of art in America are her plumbing and her bridges.
Fountain Art Fair, New York 2012
Flash Forward to 2012 and the Fountain Art Fair (March 9-11) at the 69th Regiment Armory at Lexington Ave. and 25th Street during New York Art Week.
This is the same 69th Regiment Armory where Marcel Duchamp famously hung his “Nude Descending a Staircase in 1913 (showing alongside contemporary artists like Edgar Degas, Edvard Munch and Pablo Picasso) – Duchamp would later secure a place in art history with his readymade (urinal) titled FOUNTAIN (1917).
In March, I participated with a group of 72 artists in a salon-style installation at the Fountain Art Fair with a group called Hullaballoo Collective – at booth E212. The collective was organized by Bernard Klevikas and several other artists who live and work in Brooklyn, NY. I exhibited 2 collages.
Here’s a link to the BlouinArtInfo blog with the title: Fountain Artists Honor Armory History with Playful Nods to Duchamp…
One Hullaballoo member made the connection from the Fountain Art Fair to Marcel Duchamp, exhibited a work titled Idol Inaction, and arrived at the opening reception wearing a Duchamp jersey. See image of Brian Goings below at the Hullaballoo booth.
Brian Goings at Hullaballoo
Bernard Klevickas wrote the Hullaballoo statement:
Hullaballoo Collective is a diverse group of artists who have come together through social media to present a salon style exhibition at the Fountain Art Fair… We are artists. We are part of the egalitarian zeitgeist, the energy that underlies the new century and that uses new tools to reach broad audiences. There’s a Hullaballoo website. There was a lot of buzz. The website shows works by the artists in the Collective.
The image below is my work, titled Recycle 1, collage, assorted papers recycled from old monoprints, 22×18 inches, cut and assembled in random order.
Nikkal, Recycle 1, collage
I don’t know if this year’s downtown Armory show was different from recent years. I’ve read reviews that say the show has changed and is getting upscale. I was expecting the space to be raw and unfinished and the art to be young and edgy.
According to Fountain organizers, this year’s show attracted over 10,000 visitors in 3 days. On opening night, there was a line around the block to get in – and we did get art critics Jerry Salz and Roberta Smith at our booth. Read about the record attendance…
WHAT WOULD DUCHAMP SAY?
What would Duchamp say? I know he disdained the confluence of art and commerce (but managed very well – thank you!). some art critics say he gave up art for chess, but his readymades were re-made in the mid-20th century, shown to great fanfare, and his work is now known around the world.
I bet he would love the idea of social media and the possibilities of the Internet.
What do you think Duchamp would do about Social Media?
another review: ABMB 2011
February 10, 2012
#4: Balmy Weather in Miami, FL and Great Contemporary Art
I keep thinking about the balmy weather in Miami and the art trip to ABMB in December. It seems so long ago. But really it’s not.
The image nearby is me at the opening night party for INK at the Suites at Dorchester in Miami.
LIGHT SNOW IN NEW YORK
We had a light snow last night in NY. I live in Westchester County, a short trip into NYC.
Art, seen in Miami in December, will pop up in NY this spring.
PULSE, one of the leading contemporary art fairs, is held annually in Miami and NY. New dates: May 3-6, 2012, will coincide with the NY edition of the Frieze Art Fair.
72 members of the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) will participate in The ART SHOW held March 7-11, 2012 at the Park Avenue Armory. Some of the galleries include Maxwell Davidson Gallery and Crown Point Press who were both at INK in December in Miami. Also at the ADAA show are Mitchell-Innes & Nash, Pace, and Friedrich Petzel who were at ABMB at the big Convention Center.
This year I want to get to the SOFA New York Fair April 20-23, 2012 at the Park Avenue Armory. SOFA stands for Sculpture Objects & Functional Art, and it’s celebrating its 15 anniversary in April. Read more…
Here’s a plug for me. I will participate in the Architectural Digest Home Design Show at Pier 94 in NYC March 22-25. I hope you can stop by. Email me for information.
BIG ART FAIRS vs. LITTLE ART FAIRS
I like the big fairs. I also like the little fairs.
Three of my favorite fairs in Miami 2011 were INK, AQUA and Art NOW MIAMI, all close by on Collins Avenue in South Beach.
Edward Crowell II
The first night in Miami, I met Edward Crowell II at Art NOW MIAMI at the Hotel Catalina. He is a very interesting and enterprising artist/gallerist. He is seen above at the Miami show with his paintings. Photo credit: Mary Hunter.
His business is titled HYDROX PROJECTS (based in Miami and London). We spoke about his gallery and the works represented. He agreed to answer questions via email for an interview.
He described the fair as incredibly intimate – in terms of the exhibition space, the viewing audience, and the ability to interact with the other participating dealers and artists.
Here are the questions and his responses:
Q: Who stopped by your space? Was it a young demographic?
Edward Crowell II:
The most amazing people stopped by my space. I had beautiful people from other countries, young people, and young professionals who were starting to collect art. My high point was when major collectors and their financial adviser strolled in and bought a piece. We all laughed a lot and we chatted after I closed shop. I found out they were Andy Warhol cohorts.
The most enjoyable part was talking and watching their reaction to my art, not knowing that I was the artist. It felt like a cool, clandestine sociological experiment.
I really, really enjoyed the interaction with people, several of whom turned me on to many new things. Humility is a beautiful thing, especially in a place where some people might think that the art world is completely the opposite. Viva the contradiction-laden personal experience.
Q: What are your plans for London?
Edward Crowell II:
Prior to the Miami show, I planned to do a Hydrox Projects show in London in spring 2012, but the response I received from the Art Now Miami show, and Art Basel Miami Week was so great it may change the timetable for the London show. It’s a question of my own artwork versus my pop up gallery projects.
Don’t get me wrong …I still intend to curate and expose other artists/friends, but whether it will be in the near future or not is yet to be told. I think that if I’m in a better place artistically then it could only enable the artists that are around me as far as their exposure and growth are concerned. The same goes for me when speaking about their growth and exposure and the effect on me.
There will definitely be a London trip in March if everything goes as planned. The trip is still in the works as we speak so we will see what the universe holds in store.
Q: What was the best thing about the Art Now Fair?
Edward Crowell II:
The best thing about the art fair was the people that I got to interact with. I am from Alabama and have always loved different kinds of people. I guess coming from a small place can either make you embrace the outside world or become a recluse to that environment in which you’re from.
Receiving exposure was the second best thing. Intimate exposure that made some collectors and patrons feel better about the art by way of artist/viewer one-on-one interactions.
I feel as if I definitely grew in the eyes of the art industry as well as socially by way of this experience, based on the feedback I garnered from works displayed by me and my friend Johnny Laderer.
Q: Will you do it again next year at the same venue?
Edward Crowell II:
There are talks in progress with new advisors I acquired during Art Basel Miami Beach week. 6 of my new works will be exhibited at the actual Art Basel Miami fair, so we shall see.
In reality, I guess this Art Now Fair was considered a stepping stone to the next artistic growth level for myself and my vision as a curator.
It was an amazing experience that I won’t forget. Everyone was really amazing and I believe I made some great new life-long friends.
painting by Edward Crowell II
I was excited to see Crowell’s work at the Fair, especially his not exactly rectangular text-based paintings. His interview responses reveal why he was so successful. And the art is strong and bold.
I hope you liked reading his comments. Edward Crowell sent me the image above. It’s another painting purchased as a result of his presence at the Fair.
Here’s more comments about Art NOW MIAMI, found on the ZIA Gallery blog.
ZIA Gallery is based in the northern suburbs of Chicago, IL. The gallery specializes in contemporary photography, painting and works on paper and represents established and emerging artists. See images by gallery artists…
Artists may submit images, resume, and other material for review to anne@ziagallery.net.
Here are comments from their blog:
“The hotel itself is a stitch, a cross between a modernesque boutique hotel and a bordello.”
The red lantern at ZIA at Art NOW MIAMI 2011
The red lanterns were everywhere. What were they thinking? Image credit: John Vlahakis.
The hotel lobby was funky and the cocktail bar was set up in a corner, with stools for 5 or 6 people.
On the other side of the lobby, up a few steps, was a narrow hallway with doors leading into the 16 Art NOW gallery spaces. It was fun to pop into the gallery spaces and it was a charming way to experience art. There was no way to avoid some sort of conversation.
Hotel Catalina lobby
The image above is the hotel lobby. People are arriving for the opening night party. Photo credit: John Vlahakis.
The 2nd ZIA blog added: Collins Avenue where the Catalina Hotel is located was packed with people strolling along the avenue. You basically saw just about everything from girls walking down the street in bikini’s, to guys dressed in glitter and putting on the ritz. This art gathering is very international. You hear every language except English. A lot of people from Europe are here checking out the art scene as well as the fashionistas from South America.
Zia Gallery’s final post gave a summary of their week in Miami:
“Attendance was steady and with each successive day the quality of art fair attendees seemed to improve. Art Now was a new fair addition to the Miami landscape, and though it wasn’t as busy as the other fairs, it seemed to bring attention to the galleries there. We most likely will not repeat at Art Now next year. ZIA will look to attend one of the other fairs next year, as attendance and buying activity seemed stronger at the other venues. We did plant the flag in Miami for the first time, and we did make connections with buyers from around the U.S., even arranging for one artist to be considered by corporate giant Microsoft’s Gallery curator. And we did sell art too!”
It sounds pretty good to me.
Interior Courtyard at AQUA
The image above shows the opening reception at AQUA. Photo: the Internet.
I see ZIA Gallery at NADA or AQUA next year. It gets better every year.
Please add your comments below. I will reply.
CHILDREN DO COLLAGE
November 10, 2011
What a surprise! Children’s art on view in a pristine Chelsea gallery space.
I visited the DC Moore Gallery on West 22nd Street in NYC last month and saw an exhibition with collage done by children. The main gallery had wonderful paintings by Eric Aho. The adjacent gallery had an installation with 31 collages by students at the Calhoun School in NYC, titled 9/11: Through Young Eyes (September 8 – October 8, 2011).
The works were done 10 years ago. The students were 8th graders. Read more.
9/11 Through Young Eyes
My first reaction was – isn’t this interesting to see collage by young students in a Chelsea gallery. My next reaction was that the student’s works looked really good.
I wanted to get up close and see the way the collages were made, the materials that were used, and understand why the work looked so good.
When I walked around and looked at the individual works, I noticed they were made with pieces of cut construction papers pasted on top of another piece of colored construction paper. This is the stuff that children use for art projects in elementary school. The paper is not that special. But the works looked almost professional.
I analyzed what made the works seem so special. The answer: every work, no matter what background color of construction paper was used, was “floated” on the same warm white paper – a high quality background paper – and framed in a matching white wood frame.
All the frames were the same size, and each one was hung with just the right amount of space between. Every framed work had room to breath. Each work got the gallery treatment.
Seeing the exhibition made me think how art can be enhanced by optimum presentation and installation.
I also thought about art made by even younger children I ‘ve taught at an after-school program at the Williams Elementary School in Mt. Vernon, NY, organized through the Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY. I will teach collage again at the Williams School in December 2011.
The images below are collages done by 2nd graders, inspired by Romare Bearden (African-American 1911-1988).
I showed them a small print reproduction of a Bearden work titled “The Block.” It’s 48 x 216 inches, six panels, cut and pasted printed, colored and metallic papers, photostats, pencil, ink, gouache, watercolor pen and ink on Masonite. The image below is a section.
Romare Bearden
I also brought reproductions of Bearden’s much simpler line drawings to inspire the students at the Williams School.
I think it’s important for kids to learn about collage by great artists like Romare Bearden, Henri Matisse, Jean Dubuffet and others.
The image nearby is a drawing by Romare Bearden. Image: the Internet.
Romare Bearden
The after-school program at the Williams School is self-selected. That means the kids decide what activity they want to join. My activity is making art with paper collage. The school has a very good art program and the children know how to work with scissors, paper and glue.
I bring drawing paper for the substrate (bottom collage paper) and assorted papers. I bring scissors, glue and crayons and encourage the students to embellish the papers with drawings, patterns and more color.
At the beginning of the class I show a reproduction in color of Bearden’s collage and drawings and say Bearden was a famous artist with works in important museums. I ask them to raise their hands if they know what a collage is. All hands go up.
I ask them to look at the windows in the classroom and see how the spaces are divided. I ask them to notice how the windows in the 3 different Bearden line drawings each have different windows, and to notice that some windows have people looking out.
Making art is about learning to see.
A student is placing his papers
I ask the students to make a collage like the Bearden drawings and have more than one house on a street.
The Bearden reproductions include people and cats in the window. The children drew puppies, kittens, birds, trees, flowers, boys and girls.
Student working on a collage
Because time is short and the students have different skill levels, I prepare a lot of the collage papers in advance and pre-cut papers into 3 sizes of squares and rectangle in brown, yellow, black and teal blue papers. Each student gets a small squeeze bottle of white glue and a pair of children’s scissors.
I leave some papers uncut, and encourage the students who want to be independent and inventive to cut squares into rectangles for doors, steps, chimneys and long windows, and cut squares into triangles for rooftops.
student collage
I always do a tutorial on how to carefully squeeze glue from the small bottles. I say do “dot dot dot” and don’t squeeze too hard. I am there to help clean up the glue puddles if they squeeze the bottle too hard.
I am amazed at the energy in the works. Even if they don’t cut squares into smaller pieces, or cut parallel edges, each work is fun and joyful, based on the ways the papers are placed and the drawings they add. Everyone is able to finish his or her work.
The images show student works in progress and works held up for admiration. I didn’t show all the children’s faces to protect their privacy.
Student and his collage
Read more about the exhibition “9/11: Through Young Eyes” (September 8 – October 8, 2011) at the DC MOORE Gallery,
The thirteen-year-old students in the exhibition “9/11” made their art after a visit to the Whitney Museum of American Art to see an exhibition of works by Jacob Lawrence, including his “Migration Series” (1940-41). The Migration Series is about movement of African-Americans from the agricultural South to the industrial North following World War I.
Thank you for your comments about children making art with collage.
CLOUDS AND COLLAGE
August 3, 2011
Last week I drove by car for a late-morning appointment in NYC.
The highway route from Westchester took me along the Hudson River by way of the Henry Hudson Parkway.
The view was spectacular. The sky was bright blue and filled with round, puffy clouds – the kind children draw.
The clouds seen in the image above are called cumulous clouds.
As I drove along the highway, the clouds marched in a stately parade across the sky, white against brilliant blue. There was a ribbon of green grass along the highway with a blacktop pathway for cyclists and runners, and the grey blue green waves of the Hudson River were lapping along the water’s edge, reflecting sunlight from above.
The clouds reminded me of the clouds I saw in a collage painting by Romare Bearden (1911-1988), on view recently at the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery in NYC (the show Romare Bearden: COLLAGE, A Centennial Celebration, closed May 21, 2011).
The online exhibition is worth a look. I’ve included a link to the Gallery press release that says “The works in this exhibition reflect the artist’s belief that art is made from other art. This idea is literally present in the act of collage-making –- taking images, colors and forms out of one context, altering them, and juxtaposing them with other pre-existing images, colors and forms to create something new. Read more…
Romare Bearden
The work by Bearden I remember so well was titled “The Train Whistles” seen above (image the Internet).
It’s a large work compared to most works by Bearden, 31×40 inches, and a masterful mix of painterly passages, papers and striped and patterned fabric.
I saw the show twice before it closed.
I kept returning to see the Train Whistles and look again at how Bearden used his papers, and how he created his clouds.
I check the Internet and learned that a cloud is a visible mass of water droplets suspended in the sky above the surface of a body of land or water, and the droplets are so small and light they can float on the air.
The shape of a cloud depends on the moisture content in the air. The clouds are white because they reflect the light of the sun.
Bearden used different papers to create his clouds, combining multiple, subtly different shades of white with some torn edges against cut edges, layered with just the right spaces along the edges in between the papers to suggest depth and mass.
Romare Bearden
The image above is another Bearden collage in the recent Michael Rosenfeld Gallery exhibition. This one, titled “Watching the Good Trains Go By” (1969) is mixed media collage on board and is 9 x 12 inches. (image the Internet)
Like many of Bearden’s works, it contrasts strong, bright colors against black and white magazine and newspaper images in shades of grey. The colors are green and blue in paper and paint, and red and white patterned polka dot and red and cream in gingham checked fabric.
There’s a single cloud in the deep blue sky against a bright emerald green ground.
It was such a treat to see the works at the Michael Rosenberg Gallery exhibition. See more images online.
I hope you also got to see the show at the gallery.
A BEARDEN CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
If you want to see more works by Bearden and are in NYC, please contact the Romare Bearden Foundation to find out about the ArtCrawl Harlem: The Strivers Garden Gallery (300 West 135th Street at St. Nicholas Ave.) that will present “Bearden at 100” (August 4th – October 9th, 2011).
See “Spiral: Perspectives on an African-American Collective (July 14th – October 23rd, 2011) presented by The Studio Museum in Harlem (144 West 125th Street).
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Malcolm X Boulevard) presents Romare Bearden: The Soul of Blackness/A Centennial Tribute (July 15 – January 7, 2012).
Read more about all the exhibitions…
As I got closer to my highway exit at 26th Street, the traffic slowed to a crawl. I had to drive crosstown to 6th Avenue.
I was listening to the Pachebal Canon on classical radio and wasn’t troubled by the delays and traffic. It seemed I had all the time in the world.
And the advantage of the traffic (advantage of traffic?) was that I was driving and stopping. It allowed me to take some photos from the car when I had to stop for a traffic light.
The image above is from my car. I am looking north on 6th Avenue. I was at 26th Street. The uptown view almost doesn’t look like a city street in NYC – but it is and you get to see the clouds against the city buildings.
Today I will drive into the City again – even though I prefer to take a train to Grand Central Terminal in order to avoid traffic.
I hope it’s another beautiful day with another amazing view along the way.
Questions for You: Are you a fan of collage and Romare Bearden? Did the information I shared about his work inspire you? Please add your comments below. Thanks for reading this post.
The Art of Noel DeGaetano
May 20, 2011
EXHIBITION: CONTRASTING ELEMENTS
Media Loft Gallery, 50 Webster Avenue, New Rochelle, NY
May 22-July 16, 2011
Opening Reception: Sunday, May 22, 2011, 2-6
Closing Reception: Saturday, July 16, 2011, 2-6
Information and Directions to Media Loft Gallery
ARTIST STATEMENT
In his artist statement at his website (NoelDeGaetano.com), the artist says his work is about demonstrating the visual power and presence of energy.
The Art of Noel DeGaetano CONTRASTING ELEMENTS at Media Loft Gallery includes mixed media works, including oil on copper, copper on aluminum, paint and paper on aluminum, and relief sculpture in hammered aluminum, aluminum and copper, and fractured mirror.
You see reflective light everywhere.
DeGaetano, Back/Female
The image above is one of a pair in the exhibition. Titled Back/Female, it is 48 x 36 inches and is hammered aluminum.
DeGaetano says he has welded metal sculpture for many years and likes copper with steel or steel with stone or glass.
He paints directly with oil on copper and aluminum, or uses the metal to form his sculpture. He says copper and aluminum draw and reflect in a warm way, and, in combination with oil paint, the results are electric.
Here is more information about copper (at geology.com):
Copper was one of the first metals ever extracted and used by humans. It resists corrosion from the air, moisture and seawater and was used in ancient times for coins. In modern times copper is used by the electrical industry as wire for power generation and transmission, and modern day electronics.
DeGaetano, Wind Maker
When I first saw the artist’s works in his studio, I asked him if his work was about the sea. I sensed a connection to water.
You see the energy in his sweeping brush strokes across the metal and paper.
The mixed media works in two and three dimensions make me think of a view across the water and of seafaring vessels.
He says: certainly water often comes up in the work, as does nature. He told me that water was an important image for him.
The artist mentioned that while he studied at the School of Visual Arts on East 23 Street in NYC, he met the artist Fred Mitchell (one of the original Counties Slip artists along with Robert Indiana, Agnes Martin, Ellsworth Kelly and James Rosenquist). Fred Mitchell had a studio on the top floor of the Seaman’s Church Institute, a home for seaman while in port, located on the Battery in Manhattan, opposite Staten Island and Elis Island.
DeGaetano, Maya
The Institute had a world famous maritime museum, with model ships, some 25’ long, built by sailors. The view from Fred’s studio was the arrival and departure of all the ships in New York harbor.
The artists in the group (DeGaetano, Fred Mitchell and others) painted and drew this view, and on Saturdays rode the Staten Island ferry back and forth and made watercolors of the New York skyline, the ferries and the docks.
The image above, titled Maya, is 26×32 inches, mixed media on hand made paper mounted on aluminum. The artist says his mixed media works are about his need to express more than just what he saw – he needed to feel the essence of what he saw. He began to use anything that would create the texture and depth and transparency.
DeGaetano, Hand
DeGaetano says his work attempts to capture the tension that exists between physical structure and the kinetic energy that is present in all of nature.
The image above is titled Hand; it is mirror – fractured glass – and 8” tall.
LIGHT IS ENERGY
The sculptures in the exhibition reflect light within their structure and also reflect the light that shines on them. Light is energy.
DeGaetano, Head
The artist says the juxtaposition of reflective media brings the viewer’s eye around and around.
He says he uses hard materials to depict something that is inherently soft (or non-physical) and that forces us to think outside our normal frame of reference. He wants us to ask how glass and other metals can be understood as soft, and how skin or water can be experienced as hard.
He says: by using conceptually opposing substances, each work helps us think about how much of life can be described as another form of energy.
The image above is a sculpture titled HEAD. It is copper, and 17 inches tall.
DeGaetano states: I was always attracted to metals – in particular – copper. I have used it consistently since the 1970s.
DeGaetano, Nearer the Sea
The image above, titled Near the Sea is mixed media on hand made paper mounted on copper. It is 14×26 inches. The artist said he started using paper years ago because he could get a soft and ambiguous surface and canvas did not have as many possibilities. He added: the oil paint is warm and the metal is cool for mounting.
Noel DeGaetano mentioned another inspiring resource – the Finnish Creation book called the Kalevala.
The Kalevala is a mythological poem compiled by the 19th century Finnish doctor, poet and folklorist Elias Lonnrot. It is considered the Finnish national epic and has influenced many artists, including Tolkien, Silbelius and Longfellow – And Noel DeGaetano:
The following Kalevala poem (translation by John Martin Crawford) is about the Sea, Seafaring and a Copper-Banded Vessel sailing to the higher-landed regions to the lower verge of heaven. If you like, read more about the Kalevala.
Thus the ancient Wainamoinen,
In his copper-banded vessel,
Left his tribe in Kalevala,
Sailing o’er the rolling billows,
Sailing through the azure vapors,
Sailing through the dusk of evening,
Sailing to the fiery sunset,
To the higher-landed regions,
To the lower verge of heaven.
(Canto 50, line 493)
Thank you for visiting and reading this interview. Your comments are welcome.
INTERVIEW: GWYNETH LEECH
March 20, 2011
HYPERGRAPHIA: Gwyneth Leech The Cup Drawings
Last week I saw artist Gwyneth Leech and her paper cups installed in an exhibition titled Hypergraphia: The Cup Drawings. They (the artist and the cups) were ensconced in a street-level Fashion Center Window Space at 215 West 38th Street in NYC.
HYPERGRAPHIA is presented by Cheryl McGinnis Projects (Feb 28-April 1, 2011).
Outside Hypergraphia
The image above is outside Hypergraphia and was taken by Cheryl McGinnis.
See the installation before it closes, and see Gwyneth on site drawing in the window Monday-Friday, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm.
RAISING THE CUPS: The Hypergraphia Exhibition Takes Off is a tale of 2 days of looping, tying and stringing cups together with clear fishing line, of stepping on and off ladders, checking for placement, and returning to readjust cups and lines. Gwyneth says she was looking for an explosive quality.
She gets lots of comments and wrote: Just before it was time for the security gate to come down at 5:30 PM the 2nd day of the installation, I took a last look at the window from the sidewalk, nearly staggering with exhaustion. A man carrying messenger envelopes stopped. “I saw you working on the window all day,” he said. “The way the cups hang at all those different angles is so cool. This window is great. It’s like art, or something.”
She says she dreamed of tangled lines that night.
See FAUX REAL FASHION (March 10, 2011), Gwyneth’s blog with new images and more comments from passers-by.
Window View at Hypergraphia
What makes this show so special is Gwyneth is drawing on site for 5 weeks (sitting in the window) and adds new work each day.
Look at the image above. See cups hanging from fishing line, cups stacked on the floor, and (did you notice?) Gwyneth is sitting in a chair and drawing onto a cup, hardly visible behind all the cups in the air.
INSIDE THE INSTALLATION LOOKING OUT
I knocked on the window, waved hello, and went inside to talk.
Other people were already there, including Cheryl McGinnis, the Director of the Cheryl McGinnis Art Gallery (with an art collector), two ladies from the Czech Republic, a drama student waiting to do an interview, and some others who were leaving as I was coming in.
Gwyneth, her back to the little room and door ajar, was drawing on a new cup, talking with people inside the room behind her, and responding with a wave to people on the street outside if they waved hello or tapped on the window.
Gwyneth Leech at work
I took the picture above. Notice the red-haired boy looking in. Don’t notice the parked truck – I didn’t intent to do an advert for the Company.
I wanted to ask a few questions about the project and the installation.
OUTSIDE and INSIDE THE INSTALLATION
My first question was – Is this performance art?
Gwyneth replied no, it’s not a performance.
She mentioned she had performed years before, but not as an actor with lines at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in 2000. She explained she drew on stage during a performance.
Read the Jack Anderson review (The NY Times, March 17, 2000: SUFFERING AND REBIRTH Dramatized by Flamenco). He wrote: “Dramatic vignettes were juxtaposed with danced outbursts…and Throughout the production, Gwyneth Leech drew portraits of the cast in India ink on sheets of paper attached to the walls.”
WHAT SHE WANTS: BRING THE ART STUDIO TO THE PEOPLE
Gwyneth says: I want to bring an art studio experience to people who participate in my projects. In March 2010, she created STUDIO ON A BED at POOL ART FAIR, held in a hotel in NYC.
At POOL, each artist gets a hotel room, and most exhibitors have the furniture removed. Gwyneth decided to keep the furniture in the room and have the public sit on the bed and draw pictures on the theme of family. She hung the drawings in the bathroom, including the shower stall.
See 150 drawings on 26 pages (most done by children). My favorites drawings are on Page 16: #62, #149, #113 and #136.
In June 2010, Gwyneth created FAMILY TREE at the FIGMENT FESTIVAL on Governor’s Island (NY).
She created an art picnic around the foot of a big oak tree. People drew family pictures and she pinned the pictures around the tree trunk to create a new FAMILY TREE.
Gwyneth Leech, Cup of the Day # 77
The image above is Cup of the Day #77, India ink on upcycled paper coffee cup. It was drawn while Gwyneth was sitting in the window at Hypergraphia on March 11, 2011. See more images at LIFE IN THE WINDOW 2: Hiding in Plain Sight.
Helen M. responded to an early post at my blog Art of Collage titled How Are the Best Blogs Like a Great Collage? Answer: The best blogs are good looking, engaging, multi-media, explore new ideas, and like the best art, invite you to share the experience.
That’s Gwyneth’s Full Brew.
I included an image of a Cup of the Day and wrote: I like the look and content of Gwyneth’s blog because she documents the intersection of art-making and art-seeing. She writes about daily life in New York City, including where to get great coffee (or tea), writes about her family history, and shows us drawings she makes daily on cardboard coffee cups. How cool is that?
Helen’s only comment was: Where can I purchase a cup?
For more information and to purchase a cup, contact the Cheryl McGinnis Gallery, located at 555 Eight Avenue, Suite 710, NY, NY (212 594 4066). During off-site public art installations, the gallery hours will vary. Call to confirm hours.
I welcome your comments and thank you for reading the blog.
connect
like it!
tweet!
