Thinking About Art

Will return in November!

I'm gone honeymooning until early November.  We'll be visiting Paris, London and Scotland.  Expect reports on the art we see when I return.

Lookers and Readers

Franklin checks in with an interesting little essay that attempts to classify art viewers as either lookers or readers.  I've been trying to come up with a similar classification for a while.  I encourage you to read his essay and share your thoughts.  I'm really interested to see what kind of discussion emerges around this topic.

Artists "Review" Artists: Gail Vollrath on Daniel Mafe

The Artists "Review" Artists Project was launched on June 30, 2008.  Below is a "review" of Daniel Mafe's work, Untitled, written by Gail Vollrath.  Daniel provided the second jpeg, an image of Untitled (indigo), as well as a brief response to Gail's "review."

Daniel currently resides in Brisbane, Australia, and Gail lives in Washington, D.C.

If you would like to participate in this project, please email me at jtkirkland [at] gmail [dot] com.

             
untitled
acrylic, pencil, collage on paper
48" x 36"
2008

The "Review"

Phantasmagoria: Sight Unseen

Coincidently, I had started a book of Walter Benjamin writings at the time I received this image for review.  Phantasmagoria, as redefined by Benjamin is figural imagery derived from an illusory perception of our culture and inability to term our world.   As with considering any work of art that is reproduced, it is difficult to separate what I want Untitled to be and remain open to what it may be.

Under the carefully placed web of bird-dropped white paint on the surface of this work appears layers of unself-conscious, highly energetic mark making and as the description reveals, collaged pieces of objects.  Built from the inside out, the artist could require that some information be present at the onset of the process.   I am reminded of and want to assign this work as similar to painting over photograph much like the works of artists such as Anselm Kiefer and Adrian Piper, among others.  Though differing thematically, this artist takes the activity of careful covering as gravely intrinsic. 

The gutsy crimson, no wimp lives here, marks on the right side suggest a unique skeletal build loosely bonding a group of elements in its wake.  The spherical objects of differing size, density and color move in kinship rather than opposed along a vein red lifeline.

Tottering the brink of painting/drawing, Untitled is large in scale which probably and happily aided the artist in exerting the necessary body movements to create this wonderful entity that may have the power to suck you in (in the Gestalt meaning of the word) if you dare proximity.  The visceral application of paint, overall rhythm and dark whimsy of this work on paper is perhaps exemplary phantasmagoria.

By Gail Vollrath

     
Untitled (indigo)
Acrylic, ink, graphite on paper
122cm x 86cm
2008

The Response

Thank you Gail for the careful attention you put into this thoughtful and probing piece of writing. On a personal level it opens up for me a different view on formerly familiar terrain. I have never considered phantasmagoria before and yet it is a wonderful and accurate way to hold the thinking and making that I do these days, the shoe certainly fits! Each work is conceived of as a continuum of starts, each layered over the previous, resulting in a constructed whole that both disassembles itself into a diaspora of fragments, geometric and otherwise, and then moves back again, to reconstruct itself. A phantasmagoria indeed.

By Daniel Mafe

Previous "Reviews":
Pam Farrell on Ken Weathersby
Paula McCullough on Aric Calfee
Lee Gainer on Leigh Waldron-Taylor
Aric Calfee on Paula McCullough
Matthew Ballou on Heather Levy
Giovanni Garcia-Fenech on TJ Norris
TJ Norris on Giovanni Garcia-Fenech
Susan Tolbert on Mary Klein
Heather Levy on Gail Vollrath
Sharon Butler on Matthew Ballou
Mark L. Power on Steven Alexander
Steven Alexander on Mark L. Power
Molly Norris on M. Trigos
Ken Weathersby on Joseph Barbaccia
Sondra Arkin on Susan Tolbert
John M. Adams on Sharon Butler
Michael Paul Oman-Reagan on Brent Hallard
Daniel Mafe on Pam Farrell
Joanna Knox on John M. Adams
John Lucien Grillo on Joanna Knox
Brent Hallard on Lisa Klow
Joseph Barbaccia on John Lucien Grillo
M. Trigos on Michael Paul Oman-Reagan
Mary Klein on Imants Ozers
Richard Schemmerer on Michael Konrad
Michael Konrad on Richard Schemmerer
Jennifer Mawby on Lee Gainer
Lisa Klow on Molly Norris
Bob Barbera on Jenn Figg
Tom Wagner on Kimberley L. Lindsley
Michelle Hunter on Aaron McMasters

Artists "Review" Artists: Michelle Hunter on Aaron McMasters

The Artists "Review" Artists Project was launched on June 30, 2008.  Below is a "review" of Aaron McMasters' work, Generra, written by Michelle Hunter.  Aaron provided the second jpeg, an image of Strange Bird, as well as a brief response to Michelle's "review."

Aaron currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, and Michelle lives in New York, NY.

If you would like to participate in this project, please email me at jtkirkland [at] gmail [dot] com.

            
Generra
Oil on canvas
21.5" x 15"
1999-2000

The "Review"

This is quite an interesting piece. I wish I knew more about the idea/inspiration behind it but for this review I will have to base it entirely on what I see. At first glance this painting looks rather simple but by looking into it a little more, it really tells a story.

A fairly simple palette was used to create the various elements of the painting, which includes the sky, grass, earth, the tree trunk and the gorilla. My eye first went from the gorilla to the tree stump then back to the circles of what appear to be smoke surrounding the animal. The conclusion that came to me was that the stump represented either a cigar or cigarette and the white circles around the gorilla are puffs of smoke. Since animals don't smoke (as far as I know) perhaps the artist is trying to give his/her interpretation of what mankind is doing to our environment. Things have come to a point where we can do what we want, when we want, with what we want no matter who or what is effected. The gorilla is even humanized by wearing a t-shirt, standing steadily on two feet and holding a glass.

The emotion I get from the painting is a sense of melancholy and stillness. The land in the painting looks neglected. The gorilla is looking at the viewer and doesn't seem to pleased. I can only hope I took from it what the artist intended. Perhaps there is a moral to this painting to remember that we aren't the only ones that reply on this planet.

By Michelle Hunter

    
Strange Bird
oil on canvas on board
48" x 48" x 4"
1996

The Response

N.C. Wyeth's "Christina's World" or De Chirico (all of it) have hints of melancholy. I can dig that. Might be too easy - paint a lone figure, give it a sense of foreboding, no clear narrative, some weird stuff going on. Long ashadows! Skewed space!  

Easy like painting a still life, stripes, color fields. Why bother painting? Am i a mere surrealist? Nope, I'm not going to worry about it too much.

The shirt is, to my mind, a heat sensitive "Generra" brand one from the eighties - hence the title. I think I nailed it, you know, with the scumbling or whatever. I need to use smaller brushes and be more patient.

I didn't plan the picture. It is what it is.

By Aaron McMasters

Previous "Reviews":
Pam Farrell on Ken Weathersby
Paula McCullough on Aric Calfee
Lee Gainer on Leigh Waldron-Taylor
Aric Calfee on Paula McCullough
Matthew Ballou on Heather Levy
Giovanni Garcia-Fenech on TJ Norris
TJ Norris on Giovanni Garcia-Fenech
Susan Tolbert on Mary Klein
Heather Levy on Gail Vollrath
Sharon Butler on Matthew Ballou
Mark L. Power on Steven Alexander
Steven Alexander on Mark L. Power
Molly Norris on M. Trigos
Ken Weathersby on Joseph Barbaccia
Sondra Arkin on Susan Tolbert
John M. Adams on Sharon Butler
Michael Paul Oman-Reagan on Brent Hallard
Daniel Mafe on Pam Farrell
Joanna Knox on John M. Adams
John Lucien Grillo on Joanna Knox
Brent Hallard on Lisa Klow
Joseph Barbaccia on John Lucien Grillo
M. Trigos on Michael Paul Oman-Reagan
Mary Klein on Imants Ozers
Richard Schemmerer on Michael Konrad
Michael Konrad on Richard Schemmerer
Jennifer Mawby on Lee Gainer
Lisa Klow on Molly Norris
Bob Barbera on Jenn Figg
Tom Wagner on Kimberley L. Lindsley

Artists "Review" Artists: Tom Wagner on Kimberley L. Lindsley

The Artists "Review" Artists Project was launched on June 30, 2008.  Below is a "review" of Kimberley L. Lindsley's work, Nest, written by Tom Wagner.  Kimberley provided the second jpeg, an image of Noteworthy, as well as a brief response to Tom's "review."

Kimberley currently resides in Maryland, NY, and Tom lives in Alexandria, VA.

If you would like to participate in this project, please email me at jtkirkland [at] gmail [dot] com.

           
Nest
etching from zinc plate
5” x 7”
2007

The "Review"

Love Power! Flower Power! The Love Generation! Where has it all brought us? At the threshold of a new century, into what directions do women see their roles developing? The winged creature in Nest seems to have developed appendages not compliant with its aerial arena.  It seems to be teetering yet solid on its newly found legs at the brink of an egg shaped female torso form, which is floating. Other forms recall reminiscence rather than a Petri dish and mitochondria format. A lock of hair, a daisy, the female torso, and bird indicate gender issues and identity. The bird seems to be looking into a void, or into the future, somewhere through and beyond the female torso.

Given the subject matter, I find the black and white palette a parody on the complexity of choices. It’s not all just black and white! You can’t have it one way or the other! The singular bird may have found its nest, but it’s a long way from Woodstock, and it seems to inhabit a baron ovid with a solitary outlook.

By Tom Wagner

   
Noteworthy
Etching from zinc plate
5" x 7"
2007

The Response

Mr. Wagner, thank you for your interesting analogy of Nest.  Although I am not quite sure it garners connectivity with the beatnik generation promoting random sexual exploration, recreational drug usage, non-violent antics and anti-American ideology.  While your reference to the beat generation seems obtuse in relation to Nest, the generalized reference to a negative emotionally dissatisfied woman is a closer analogy.  Nest is the beauty of feminine sexuality and the birth of anew swooning all around making me dizzy with the fresh sweet smell.  I hold within a little place of refuge that my little egg nuzzles into every month for a rest before it breaks out of its shell and flutters away.

By Kimberley L. Lindsley

Previous "Reviews":
Pam Farrell on Ken Weathersby
Paula McCullough on Aric Calfee
Lee Gainer on Leigh Waldron-Taylor
Aric Calfee on Paula McCullough
Matthew Ballou on Heather Levy
Giovanni Garcia-Fenech on TJ Norris
TJ Norris on Giovanni Garcia-Fenech
Susan Tolbert on Mary Klein
Heather Levy on Gail Vollrath
Sharon Butler on Matthew Ballou
Mark L. Power on Steven Alexander
Steven Alexander on Mark L. Power
Molly Norris on M. Trigos
Ken Weathersby on Joseph Barbaccia
Sondra Arkin on Susan Tolbert
John M. Adams on Sharon Butler
Michael Paul Oman-Reagan on Brent Hallard
Daniel Mafe on Pam Farrell
Joanna Knox on John M. Adams
John Lucien Grillo on Joanna Knox
Brent Hallard on Lisa Klow
Joseph Barbaccia on John Lucien Grillo
M. Trigos on Michael Paul Oman-Reagan
Mary Klein on Imants Ozers
Richard Schemmerer on Michael Konrad
Michael Konrad on Richard Schemmerer
Jennifer Mawby on Lee Gainer
Lisa Klow on Molly Norris
Bob Barbera on Jenn Figg

Artists "Review" Artists: Bob Barbera on Jenn Figg

The Artists "Review" Artists Project was launched on June 30, 2008.  Below is a "review" of Jenn Figg work, Forest Rat's Absence of Need, written by Bob Barbera.  Jenn provided the second jpeg, an image of Cubular Box of Earth, as well as a brief response to Bob's "review."

Jenn currently resides in Richmond, VA, and Bob lives in Cherry Hill, NJ.

If you would like to participate in this project, please email me at jtkirkland [at] gmail [dot] com.

          
forest rat's absence of need
cardboard, digital pigment print, adhesive, wood, paint
74" x 66" x 66"
2008

The "Review"

"Forest rat's absence of need" is a sculpture reminiscent of a diorama on the dusty third floor of natural history museum whose heyday preceded color movies or television.  Giving the viewer a glimpse of something mysterious and majestic, something only the stealthiest naturalist, the most determined observer could experience in its unique nature.  Taking a quick look out from his cover, a shrub of fanned out digital print glued to cardboard, the "Forest Rat", looking much like the skeleton of a goat, is ready to forage for dinner or shrink back into his bush at a moments notice.

The nature the Forest Rat lives in is one of telescoping birch trees, dime store fake philodendron and 3 dimensional fanning shrubbery all placed on an orange Chippendale ball and claw footed pedestal, set in a corner where its illusions can be seen from their best angles.

As a snippet of a fantastic naturalist environment or an obvious playful cut and paste experiment, forest rat's absence of need, asks its viewer to enter its world and for a moment, believe.

By Bob Barbera

  
Cubular Box of Earth
3D modeling still
2008

The Response

Thanks for reflecting about the work.  The diorama angle is a way of thinking about it – sort of a staged snippet in time. I considered the many different viewpoints that this work can be seen in – in one position, the objects flatten out entirely; from another perspective they are simply unembellished form.  I am intrigued by the way we engage / see a flattened space – the two-dimensional space of a video game, for instance – and am interested in pulling that environment out from the digital realm into the physical.

By Jenn Figg

Previous "Reviews":
Pam Farrell on Ken Weathersby
Paula McCullough on Aric Calfee
Lee Gainer on Leigh Waldron-Taylor
Aric Calfee on Paula McCullough
Matthew Ballou on Heather Levy
Giovanni Garcia-Fenech on TJ Norris
TJ Norris on Giovanni Garcia-Fenech
Susan Tolbert on Mary Klein
Heather Levy on Gail Vollrath
Sharon Butler on Matthew Ballou
Mark L. Power on Steven Alexander
Steven Alexander on Mark L. Power
Molly Norris on M. Trigos
Ken Weathersby on Joseph Barbaccia
Sondra Arkin on Susan Tolbert
John M. Adams on Sharon Butler
Michael Paul Oman-Reagan on Brent Hallard
Daniel Mafe on Pam Farrell
Joanna Knox on John M. Adams
John Lucien Grillo on Joanna Knox
Brent Hallard on Lisa Klow
Joseph Barbaccia on John Lucien Grillo
M. Trigos on Michael Paul Oman-Reagan
Mary Klein on Imants Ozers
Richard Schemmerer on Michael Konrad
Michael Konrad on Richard Schemmerer
Jennifer Mawby on Lee Gainer
Lisa Klow on Molly Norris

Artists "Review" Artists: Lisa Klow on Molly Norris

The Artists "Review" Artists Project was launched on June 30, 2008.  Below is a "review" of Molly Norris' work, Nat "King" Cole, written by Lisa Klow.  Molly provided the second jpeg, an image of Paper Mulberry Tree, as well as a brief response to Lisa's "review."

Molly currently resides in Seattle, WA, and Lisa lives in Laurel, MD.

If you would like to participate in this project, please email me at jtkirkland [at] gmail [dot] com.

         
Nat "King" Cole
Paper, ink, wire, glue, foamcore
30"h x 60"w x 8"d
2008

The "Review"

When I first viewed the image of Nat "King" Cole, I thought, “Wow!” It’s a visually stimulating piece. I was then fascinated by the process of creating the piece, which must have taken a lot of time creating the images, perhaps from printmaking, then cutting all the shapes out of paper and assembling them. I looked at the image before I looked at the title. If the artist intended that the face in the piece is Nat “King” Cole’s, I didn’t recognize him. Sometimes artists give pieces titles that don’t really describe the piece. Personally, I don’t think titles are too important, not as important as the artwork itself. This piece is exciting and dynamic. I wonder if movement is also an element, as I can picture a breeze ruffling the loose edges of the paper. The bright colors and stylized repeated face makes me think of graffiti – not typical street graffiti, but more the type of artist graffiti you tend to see in or around art schools, like the one I attended in Memphis, where students take advantage of walls, sidewalks and parking lots, with stencils and/or spray paint (present company guilty). The piece’s title also made me think of Memphis – I know Nat isn’t from Memphis, but was raised in Chicago, but anything Jazz or Blues-related makes me think of Memphis. A title using the name of a famous person is bound to create associations with that person, whether intended by the artist or not. My husband commented that the piece is like a visual representation of being lost in the music. Also, I’ve had “Unforgettable” going through my head for two days now. Not that that’s a bad thing.

By Lisa Klow

 
Paper Mulberry Tree
paper, paint, glue
72"h x 144"w x 60"d
2008

The Response

Lisa’s review (no parentheses) energizes me. I didn’t consider the graffiti angle which rings true because the marks are spray painted through stencils. I also appreciate her comments on subject matter because I was lazy. While working on this piece there just happened to be a stencil of Nat Cole I’d made for a previous mural commission about Route 66 and I grabbed and used it. I’m glad the spirit of the piece transcended this near faux pas for Lisa who went to art school in Memphis where people drive crazy because they have one hand on the radio dial.

By Molly Norris

Previous "Reviews":
Pam Farrell on Ken Weathersby
Paula McCullough on Aric Calfee
Lee Gainer on Leigh Waldron-Taylor
Aric Calfee on Paula McCullough
Matthew Ballou on Heather Levy
Giovanni Garcia-Fenech on TJ Norris
TJ Norris on Giovanni Garcia-Fenech
Susan Tolbert on Mary Klein
Heather Levy on Gail Vollrath
Sharon Butler on Matthew Ballou
Mark L. Power on Steven Alexander
Steven Alexander on Mark L. Power
Molly Norris on M. Trigos
Ken Weathersby on Joseph Barbaccia
Sondra Arkin on Susan Tolbert
John M. Adams on Sharon Butler
Michael Paul Oman-Reagan on Brent Hallard
Daniel Mafe on Pam Farrell
Joanna Knox on John M. Adams
John Lucien Grillo on Joanna Knox
Brent Hallard on Lisa Klow
Joseph Barbaccia on John Lucien Grillo
M. Trigos on Michael Paul Oman-Reagan
Mary Klein on Imants Ozers
Richard Schemmerer on Michael Konrad
Michael Konrad on Richard Schemmerer
Jennifer Mawby on Lee Gainer