My Artist at Exit 0 show opened at the Giles Gallery on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, KY. I was able to make the opening reception which is a two-hour drive from my house. Gallery Director, Esther Randall did a great job of installing the artworks so they flowed easily from one piece to the next. I was wondering if I had brought too many or too few art works, but it seems everything worked out just right.
I was especially interested in how Esther would display my giant necklace entitled “La Belle Riviere”? She mounted the piece in a corner of the gallery and created a shape similar to the one I photographed on the willow tree. I had a new enlargement of that image created, a dye sublimation print on aluminum and it looked great located near the actual necklace.
What was especially gratifying was getting to meet and talk with some of the art students and faculty members who attended the reception. Many of them had previewed the show and a few had formed opinions which they shared with me. There was a lot of curiosity about the work. In general, the artworks were received favorably, however, knowing what my materials are and how I obtained them is also a sad state of affairs that left a few of the students feeling conflicted. My art is my attempt to reconcile those very same feelings within me. I describe the situation as being “absurd” which to me is a word that encapsulates both comedy and tragedy. Many of my Falls artworks have a surface charm to them, but when you dig a little deeper you find a darker side that critiques our handling of and perceived place within nature.
The reception lasted just a couple of hours and the time went by quickly. Before leaving for home, I did a quick spin around the space and made these snapshots of my work installed in the gallery. At home, I’m used to seeing them stacked on boxes or leaning on one another in my basement. Lack of storage space is also one reason I don’t save every work I make at the Falls of the Ohio. For me, it is also an odd feeling seeing my work on pedestals and treated the way other art is presented. That is another whole discussion altogether and it was touched upon in my conversations with the students. Following are a few more gallery views.
Here’s a few images of new works and details from favorite pieces. Let’s start with my plastic bottle piece, “Petrochemical Color Spectrum”. It’s a more formal work, but I like the color it brings to the show.
Another bottle piece from a few years back and made with found coal, plastic and glass bottles, and wood…entitled, “Mountaintop Mini-bar”.
Here’s a detail from a figurative sculpture I created entitled “The Inhaler”. Finding the inhaler on the riverbank was the starting point for this work.
A recent figurative work…”Jimmy D.” This piece has a nice presence to it. I think making the eyes a bit mismatched contributes to that.
A couple more images before closing this post. I did send Esther an artist’s statement I used unsuccessfully while applying for a grant. She did a good job editing it and this was posted on the gallery walls.
I was sorry to see the night drawing to an end, but there was one other nice surprise in store for me. On the drive home, I was treated to a really wonderful sunset! The exhibition will remain on view through October 16, 2015. See you soon near the banks of the Ohio River.
Thank you, Al. I’m so glad you are out there in the wilds, creating thought-provoking, ephemeral artworks that invite people to think about their place in nature and as stewards of our planet.
I have been wondering what you did with the pieces after you make them! And I would definitely be a person who would carefully cart one home!!
Thanks Kate. I just got to a place where the aesthetic quality of the environment became more important than the concerns of the so-called art world. Drawing a picture just wasn’t going to cut it anymore.
Right on. That’s real work you’re doing, when it springs from your gut like that.
Yes, there is also an element of risk taking that I decided was worth giving a try. I can see that particularly with the projects that were mostly about narrative and storytelling.
Al, I couldn’t be happier for you. 🙂 Your installation looks great! She did a fine job associating your pieces spatially; everything looks amazing. And look at you. You’ve got your photography (also) hanging in a gallery. I told you you were good! I wish so much I could’ve been able to make the Richmond showing. I’m cramming for midterms (of course) but have almost no gas in my car at the moment, so, that just wasn’t a possibility. However, I’m extremely proud of your accomplishments and for raising economic, artistic, and environmental awareness through your art. So very happy for you. 🙂
Thanks B.! You are sweet to say that. I hope you are having a great semester and I suspect you are because you are such a hard worker.
Typical Saturday night. Two or 3 chapters- a handful of quizzes and discussion board posts- nothing new. ;0)
I’m confident you can handle the material and show up on the Dean’s list once again.
Aww, well that’s sweet of you to think so. :0) I was recently invited to join the Society for Leadership and Success (invite only) and jumped at the chance, because one of the things they do is submit a reference letter to one’s Master’s program of choice. That’ll be right around the corner (next summer) so I’m looking forward to utilizing that perk! I’m just aching to get down to that river because I have a new lens and want to give it a spin. Sigh. Maybe soon. (So I say every year…heheh.)
p.s. I absolutely love the bottles.
Al, I’m so impressed. Your exhibition and installations look amazing! You know I’m just loving your “La Belle Riviere” giant necklace. Bravo to you, your exhibit curator and all your original and thought-provoking ideas in your work.
Thank you Patricia! It is always interesting to me to see my work in an exhibition context. I have become accustomed to seeing it at the river. I’m not surprised a jewelry artist would respond to a necklace…no matter how giant it is. I think it’s 39 feet long!
It looks so good! I like the art at the river, but it also looks so good here.
Thanks Annerose…that old art school training must have kicked in!
Congratulations on your exhibition! It must have been a wonderful feeling to see your work in a gallery setting, so different to the site specific beginnings alongside the river. I like both environments for your your work, although the gallery is certainly more accessible to those who don’t fancy scrabbling along the river shore.
I too work with flotsam (www.flotsamweaving.com) and read your post with interest, especially the comments you made about the reactions to your work. When I have exhibited my tapestries, I too have seen a similar response. People appreciate the work on an aesthetic level, but the ‘after taste’ for want of a better phrase, is almost despair, at the state of our environment. I enjoy making people think about the layers of material we are putting down for future generations to ponder but at the same time run the risk of glamourising a very real problem. It was interesting that you too noticed a similar response from the visitors to your show and that you are also trying to reconcile these feelings.
I wish you every success with the show and wished I lived closer as I’d love to see it. If I ever find myself in Ohio, perhaps we could go beach, or rather river combing for treasures? 🙂
Thanks for your lovely comments. I have asked myself many times if I’m just aestheticizing the issue? It’s a good question to ask and I don’t know if I have any good answers here. Sometimes it’s enough trying to be an artist doing the kind of work artists do.
It is so moving. I love seeing your work in the context of the gallery. I like seeing the whole range of your work, and the little figures look vulnerable and innocent amongst the cold formality of the gallery setting.
Vulnerable is a good word to describe this experience. In a gallery setting, it becomes more about art and less about life at large as it feels at the river.
Congrats on your exhibit and to all the lucky people who will get a chance to see your brilliant work in person.
I feel lucky already to have someone like you who likes what I do. Thanks Lynn!