On January 24 our long-awaited exhibition at the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, Indiana opened with a big reception. I say “our” because this is a two person show featuring work by R. Michael Wimmer and yours truly. The exhibition in entitled “The Potential in Everything” because both Michael and I utilize a diversity of materials to make our art. While I depend on what I find at the river, Michael goes much further afield to locate objects that project a certain “aura” and associative power for him. Following are some images from the exhibition which will be up until April 5.
I brought about 25 pieces that I had saved from the river and park visitors. I have gotten into the habit of keeping some of my better creations for events like this. It’s such a big leap first seeing the work at the river and then in a more formal art space where everything is displayed, labelled, and illuminated with care.
The other extreme is having several rooms full of friends, family, and assorted art lovers coming out on a very cold night to take in this exhibition. A wonderful jazz band provided music. At times, it was hard to see the art because of the people…which is a great situation to be in and I felt very lucky. I know I did a lot of talking and meeting people who said that they knew my work through this blog. This happened more than once and it made me feel good that local people were checking out my river adventures online every now and then. I returned to the center the following day so I could get a better look at the show and to take a few more pictures. Overnight, it snowed two to three inches while we slept.
Both Michael and my sculptures are assembled. He favors a wider variety of materials and I have over time evolved a vocabulary of forms and found materials that I prefer. The pieces I’ve saved function for me as mostly a means to an end. The story telling aspect of my work has been the biggest shift in what I do over the years and it has caused me to reassess my priorities when I go on location. I was pleased that people thought the stories added something extra to the artworks. Wall labels had excerpts from my river tales and I supplied a binder with printed stories that accompany many of the objects on display. It takes the pieces away from being strictly artworks as usual. I do, however, try to make compelling sculptures to help activate the spaces I work in and to assist in creating interesting images. The tall figure in the foreground is entitled “Cycladic Oarsman” and was made specifically for this show. I gave it this title because the face has some similarities with very early Greek marble statuary.
Karen Gillenwater, the Carnegie Center’s curator did a fine job of pairing artworks together and finding what Michael and I have in common artistically. Both of us have channeled John James Audubon and bird imagery. The naturalist’s earliest attempts at drawing birds happened in the Kentuckiana area during the early nineteenth century. Over the years I have made several Audubon figures and most of the birds I’ve created are creatures he never encountered in America’s pristine wildernesses.
The Styro-fish I’ve made stand near a wall piece that Michael did about the deteriorating marine environment where he lived for a while in Florida. My fish are made with some of the junk I’ve removed from the Ohio River. Michael now makes his home and studio in New Albany. Both of us are also fond of time references. My stuff flirts with time on a number of levels including quantum mechanics. Clock faces and dials appear in many of Michael’s Carnegie pieces and some of his sculptures are also working clocks. A good friend of mine once told me that much of life is what we decide to spend time on and that seems true for both artists in this exhibition. I appreciate that the Carnegie Center for Art and History believes it is important to generate good quality materials to help supplement an exhibition. The staff at the center produced a wonderful gallery guide, show announcement, a banner that hangs from the building’s facade, a poster, and both Michael and I have the opportunity to give gallery talks and lead workshops. I may never have a chance like this again where the hosting institution helps the artists out as much as the Carnegie Center for Art and History does. I know of many regional and local artists who feel that this is what makes showing at the Carnegie such a treat. The exhibition continues outside and both Michael and I have works positioned in front of the building. Here is Michael’s piece and all the work’s components find similarities with details and materials on the building.
My piece is my long, beaded necklace made from softball cores and is entitled “La Belle Riviere” which I originally displayed at the Falls of the Ohio in October of last year. It was quite a production and required a bucket truck and a worker supplied by the city to hang the piece in the tulip poplar tree outside the center. For now, I will close with this image and look forward to my next post as the Artist at Exit 0. Stay warm everybody.
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 
I have loved following your posts over the last year and it seems so strange to see your creatures in a gallery setting. But they are wonders and relate to the story and location of the Falls of the Ohio so well. I will miss your posts from there. Best wishes for the remainder of the exhibition!
Thank you for your kind words. I still intend to post regularly from the Falls. In fact, I was there on Sunday admiring the ice formations. Thanks again for your support!
Congratulations on a wonderful art exhibit!
I’m glad you are having a very positive gallery experience. I wish I could be there, but thanks for the photos and writings that give me a bit of a virtual tour. Of course the stories add to the artwork! I love your styrofoam artworks in front of Michael’s work, they look so good.
And I love, love the softball core necklace in the tree.
Congratulations – again!
Thank you…I wish I could see some of your exhibitions too!
🙂
Great to see all the works together, the gallery setting adds such gravitas. i have been hanging out to see them so thanks for posting so promptly. Your work works well with Michaels – did the gallery suggest this pairing or did you put a submission in together (sorry if I have missed this in the blog)? Love the necklace outside – look forward to reading more stories from the river – congratulations
Thank you Veronica. It was the curator’s idea to pair us up. Although we have mutual friends, I had never met Michael before we agreed to show together. I will have more to say from the river soon. We are experiencing a very cold and wet winter and learning what a polar vortex is the hard way.
The curator’s decision was insightful and inspired – reading through the posts seems you have also sold some work – always rewarding that someone likes something (loves something) and wants to take it home.
Not ever about the money but it sure comes in handy car repairs or new materials….. I have been watching the weather reports and certainly feel relieved that I am not in the thick of it – I radiate towards the heat and do not operate well in the cold. I hope that you can keep warm and that spring is not too far away. Congratulations on the show would have loved to see it .
Thanks Veronica! Yes, we are having a more difficult winter than usual. It seems as each year goes by…there was something about it that stood out whether it was hotter, wetter, dryer, or colder, etc…than normal. Part of my project is recording my anecdotal observations from this locality. I’m giving an artist’s gallery talk this weekend at the gallery and looking forward to it, but the weatherperson is already suggesting more bad weather for the weekend.
Congratulations! I’m glad more people are being exposed to your work and that you are being recognized for it 🙂
Thanks Issac! There are more people who know my project through the blog than have ever seen something I have made in person. It’s interesting to me to think about that.
I’m so excited for you, Al! It’s very late (3:40 a.m.) and can only pop in for a second: I’m so sorry I wan’t able to make your opening night. Man did THAT suck. I could alphabetize the bizarre things that happened in its place (I have an almost 3rd degree burn the size of a saucer on my belly- very severe burn that my Feline AIDS cat gave me when it tripped me at the stove, splashing boiling water all over my stomach- and, that’s just the beginning) but I say all of the to say, I’ve asked my Mom to join me tomorrow to check out your exhibit after morning coffee. I honestly haven’t been this excited in a while. :0) Naturally, I’m going to take my trusty ole DSLR (and Helios film lens) and grab some shots. I can’t believe “La Belle Riviere” was hanging on that tree out front! That’s awesome.
k, have to run. Looking forward to seeing your exhibit!
p.s. Love Michael’s work too; that’s my kind of stuff.
I especially like his “picture” with the watch dangling from it.
p.s.s. I really like the styro-guy with the 3 doll heads. VERY cool. :0)
(And totally off the subject but I know you must be just as ancy as I am for spring. I miss my warm, lazy, summer river days, with my toes in the sand!)
I hope you get the chance to see the show. I think if my calender serves me, I will be doing an artist’s talk at the gallery about my work this Saturday. Sorry to hear about the burn and hope it heals quickly.
I did get to come down yesterday. :0) I was able to take my Mom which was really special. The Carnegie was my old stomping ground as a kid. I was there every weekend: the wood-whittled miniature village was still there (even 35 years ago, when I frequented the place)- the gift shop was upstairs (no longer there) and I learned a great deal about rocks and gems from all of the displays. The Carnegie is a special place to me- very nostalgic. So, to be able to take my Mom there too, and share your work with her made it a truly special event. My car is officially dead (happened last week), so now there’s THAT to contend with. Not sure if I can make it Saturday, as I have a heap of things to take care of. (Like not having a vehicle now.)
However, your exhibit is whimsical and such a pleasure to view. It’s great to finally meet all of your little friends. :0) And, I cracked up that Mr. Headhunter is anatomically correct. Ha… too funny. I hope you sell! Break a leg.
Thanks for your support. I was happy to hear how the Carnegie Center was a nice memory from your childhood. My trusty Honda Civic was sidelined recently by all kinds of mechanical issues that winter hastened. I feel extremely lucky that one of my sculptures sold for about the cost of the car repairs.
Excellent! My largest order has been for $729 for one of my prints which was 9 ft in length. I thought I was going to faint! Heh. Well that’s terrific, Al. When you can repair your car and pay for it with the proceeds from your art show, that’s pretty dang awesome. I hope you have many more successful shows to come! It actually hurts to walk with this burn covering a great deal of my stomach (It hurts to even stand up), but I slapped some Neosporin on that sucker and made my way down to your exhibit. :0) Truth be told, I have a lot of friends in the art world who have solo exhibits, etc., and while I would enjoy seeing theirs too, yours (in particular) means a lot to me because of our mutual love and respect for the Falls of the Ohio. (We’ve both invested decades into that place, eh?) That, combined with the fact of how special the Carnegie is to me, well, I wouldn’t have missed your exhibit even if I had to hobble in there on toothpicks.
(Civic’s are great cars, by the way. Toyotas too.)
Much schoolwork to do. Hope your weekend is good one, and I was so very happy to see La Belle Riviere outside of the Museum! Gave me a great smile. :0) Take care. x
p.s. I’m so glad they didn’t pair you with a painter or quilter at Carnegie. Michael’s style (which I adore- reminds me a bit of my own vintage preferential style) is so quirky; I think it compliments your own style well. I really can’t think of another artist who would have been a better fit. Makes for a great dual showing. :0)
I’m going to have a talk with my mailman…he must have misplaced our invitation.
Hi Don, I did give your address to the Carnegie Center and from there it was up to the mailman. I’ve been watching your progress through your respective blogs. Looks like 2013 was a fantastic year for you.
Hi Al, I say with a great big GRIN!
Reblogged this on 47whitebuffalo's Blog and commented:
Go visit Al’s Show! Yes, now! Go have some fun! 🙂
Congratulations! It looks a super exhibition, I love the title, giving a way in to it, and Michael’s and your work look brilliant together, I am glad you made some new friends and some sales… and the obvious care and respect shown by the Carnegie Center must have been a great support.
I do feel very fortunate to have this opportunity which is so different from the way I usually get to experience my art and process on the river.
it looks absolutely brilliant. I so wish I could see it. The story telling is such a big and attractive part of your work.
I have been pondering so much about what makes the difference between a simple object and what you and I are doing. I don’t know if you would call your figurines “puppets”… I do. And I finally have come up with a concise definition for myself… The difference between an object and a puppet is imagination. And this is certainly what the world needs, more imagination!
I can see your point about the puppets. I guess I gravitate towards thinking of them more as sculptures out of habit since this was my original intention. My intentions, however, have changed over time. For a while, I was content with creating these objects in order to suggest a narrative and capture something about the context in which they were created. Now, the lure of telling stories is strong which gives the objects I make more of a supportive role. Anyway…let’s raise a glass to imagination!
Cheers 🙂