My paintings are of figures, landscapes, and still-lifes. When I paint I look at things in a particular way, and silence takes on a sort of musical sound. You could say that in that silence there are those “unheard melodies.” And the people that I paint are listening to their own silent music; and maybe it can even be heard in the landscapes and still-lifes. This is one reason I love to paint.
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For Chicago Artists’ Month, “Artists and Issues That Matter” Nancy Plotkin
and Margaret Lanterman are presenting portraits of Chicago workers.
Lanterman’s sculptures and Plotkin’s paintings take an intimate look
at people who make their living by working with their hands. Taking
this concept further, the artists explore how the work of one’s hands
defines one’s identity. They have selected subjects whose work might
range from boxing to baking, from firefighting to tailoring. These
real-life models are represented by two pieces of art, a painting of
the head and a sculpture of the hands. “I’m always trying to reach
through and touch the character inside” says Plotkin. “I go for the
soul”. Similarly, Lanterman sees the subject’s hands as shaped by
work that become, in her words, “a map of one’s experience, a gate to
the landscape of a person’s life.”
Both artists have a history in the founding years of Artemisia
Gallery and have exhibited widely, both in the U.S. and internationally.
Plotkin has taught for the Museum of Contemporary Art and Governors
State University . Lanterman has been teaching at DePaul University
for over twenty years.
hy·brid
–noun
1. the offspring of two animals or plants of different breeds,
varieties, species, or genera, esp. as produced through human
manipulation for specific genetic characteristics.
2. a person or group of persons produced by the interaction or
crossbreeding of two unlike cultures, traditions, etc.
3. anything derived from heterogeneous sources, or composed of elements
of different or incongruous kinds: a hybrid of the academic and
business worlds.
4. a word composed of elements originally drawn from different
languages, as television, whose components come from Greek and Latin.
–adjective
5. bred from two distinct races, breeds, varieties, species, or genera.
6. composite; formed or composed of heterogeneous elements.
7. composed of elements originally drawn from different languages, as a
word.
In this work I use these definitions of “hybrid” as a starting point for these
newest series of sculptures. I bring together disparate elements from parts
of nature and culture such as real and cast plants, found and cast everyday
objects, opposing materials, animal imagery and industrial materials such as
car and machine parts to create a series of fantastic creatures.
Patrick Duncan transforms the window gallery on Armitage Avenue into a scultptural environment of brightly painted wood and mirrors. He makes these sculptures from wood salvaged from alleys and curbs, cuts into and paints on the wood, and adds other pieces of reclaimed and reused materials to make surfaces which sparkle and catch the eye.
“My Paintings are often inspired by places I’ve been, Warren Woods in Michigan; The Mermac River in Missouril; Montauk Point in New York. These places, with their colors and textures imprint themselves, just as I hope these paintings will imprint themselves and transport the viewer to better thoughts and richer places.”
You can see more of his work and/or contact this artist at:
www.PTDuncan.com
The Newbury House Dictionary of American English defines patriotism as “ a feeling of love, loyalty, and support for one’s country, especially in defense against its enemies.”
In United States of America, the word and concept of patriotism are an active part of the country’s political and social vocabulary especially since the events of 9/11 and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The American flag thus is displayed throughout the country’s landscape becoming a visual language for U.S. citizens to show their love, loyalty, and support for their country. However, some of the ways the flag is presented and used (i.e. commercial objects and clothing) are questionable and makes one wonder if patriotism has become an idea ridiculed by consumption and commercialism.
Furthermore, United States in its unique making as a country configured by the conjunction and diversity of cultures makes the meaning of the word patriotism a vague one. Immigrants from every corner of the world have made of this country not only their home but also their homeland keeping it as close in their hearts as the one they came from.
It’s My Flag, three flags made out of photographs taken from the everyday, and Homeland of Many Nations, a flag made out of 256 American flags (one for each country in the world) explore and present these two notions.
To contact this artist:
www.ireneperez.net
Aviva Alter’s work is concerned with questions and statements that define human nature and experience yet have no certain answer.
The materials she uses in her work are familiar to her in that they have been worn by or fashioned after people she knows or has known. In this installation she uses a shirt worn by her late mother with an embroidered script stitched across the front “how can you measure pain”. With a similar yearning she has made a quilt-like wall piece that states ”exhale one last time” stitched across her own mattress pad that she has pieced together surrounded by narrow strips of a well used white woolen army blanket.
These pieces come together to remind us that we can not easily quiet the emotional residue that we long to leave behind. They bear witness to the reality that our questions are not easily answered.
to contact this artist:
ALAN LERNER’s work explores acts of violence in a war time context, as well as conflict in the context of every day civilian life. Through juxtaposition of injury and death as a common daily experience in the war on terror, with civic rituals, he attempts to illustrate society’s need to “honor” and commemorate such conflagrations of geo-political conflict from a distance. The pomp and circumstance of the parade marching band bears a resemblance to the discipline and blind allegiance of the military ethic. The use of potential dangerous language is a flashing point in our society’s inability to “just get along”. Our alphabet functions as a minefield of words.
Lerner uses digital imagery, screenprinting and sculpture using crowd control objects, to present a polished display of incendiary materials.
To contact this artist:
awlerner at sbcglobal dot net
Cocoon
Protective covering
Wrapping
Casing
Transformation
Alteration
Birth
Death
Does culture matter?
Does gender matter?
Does preparation matter?
How do we cope?
In June, 2007 Claudia Bucher and I created the performance art piece,
“Will it make any difference?” for Waldkirch Theater, Waldkirch, Germany in which part of the work involved my wrapping and sewing Claudia into a cocoon. Since that time, the notion of the “cocoon” continues to intrigue me and I am exploring the concept in different forms.
For this piece, Carole Hennessey graciously allowed me to wrap and sew her into a cocoon.
Rose Camastro-Pritchett
www.rosecamastropritchett.com
Ricardo Blanco-Gonzalez (born 1966) began painting when he was two or three years old. Since then, painting, and creating art in general, has been his refuge. His talents were noticed early, and he received a scholarship to study Fine Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. After studying there for two years, he left to work independently.
His work is about memory. “Colors in European stained glass windows from childhood trips to churches. Vietnamese suffering (on TV), images of earth as it was first seen as whole - and its destruction.” There is a physical and emotional component to the work. The two are used singularly as a means to express the complexity of Mr. Blanco-Gonzalez’s experience. We sense the need to find grounding through his use of color and stroke. This has the effect of seeing them as one sees the city at night - driving quickly through rainy streets - leaving only a stream of light behind: impressions. These works are a colorful journey for the eye, and yet their beauty is deeper because they evoke the mystery of the emotional world.
LOUISE PAPPAGEORGE – LOVE FOR SALE
Working with text and imagery culled from fashion magazines and other periodicals, Louise examines and scrutinizes the covert, subliminal messages imbedded in the media. The subsequent visuals explore ideas and values of beauty and perfection, consumption and objectification.
Her billboard scale installation “Love For Sale” is a collage of candy hearts, cupids, and text describing some of our fantasies of love and relationships. Valentine’s day is a saint’s day commemorating Saint Valentine, a martyred saint of ancient Rome. The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages and is one of the most commercialized holidays in the United States. Approximately on billion valentines are sent each year worldwide.
to contact this artist:
www.louisepppageorge.com
Marcy Sperry
In my work I try to examine the political and social factors that shape my immediate world as well as our society at large. I start working by first looking critically at my surroundings, asking questions, and listening to multiple points of view. It’s a process that involves communication and often collaboration with others. I then synthesize these findings into visual constructions and multimedia works that hopefully can serve as a means to start dialogue and critical inquiry into the communities and systems we live within.
Recently I have been working almost exclusively with recycled materials, primarily the fabrics and cast-off clothing (especially t-shirts with graphics) found in thrift stores. For years, t-shirt graphics have been a means of publicly conveying membership, participation, and the attitudes of the wearer. By taking fragments of these messages and reassembling them, they become a kind of lexicon to convey new cultural meanings that explore class, power, conflict, dysfunction, and joy.
I am strongly influenced by the DIY craft movement that has proliferated in the U.S. since the 90s as well as other forms of (so-called) “women’s art.” I am interested in exploring how traditional materials and techniques such as quilting, knitting, needlework, and textiles can be used to realize process-based conceptual endeavors.
to contact this artist:
www.marcysperry.com
November 2007
Elizabeth Granton
Tchotchkies
“Spontaneity and impulsivity inspire the creation of my art, with risk-taking done in the heat of the creative moment. Exhibitions include the Athenaeum Museum of Art and Design in Schaumburg; the Du Sable Museum of African American History; the Chicago Cultural Center; “Free Expression Art,” New York. Publications include The Chicago Tribune, World Magazine, Pioneer Press, Chicago Sun Times, and Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ 91.5 fm)
My art is made without restraints in materials and processes. It explores a wide range of materials, mostly found objects that I collect at thrift shops. I use common household objects that people can readily identify with, to communicate my subjects: my everyday living experiences, my relationships, my emotions and feelings, and feminist/gender related issues.
My palette has been changing from the full spectrum of color to a limited use of color and gray. I find gray to be peaceful; expressing stillness and calm.
To contact this artist: www.elizabethgranton.com
Lauren Levato
Artist’s Statement
“Charm” from the ENTOMOMANCY series
I use real insects in my art. I am fascinated with insects and arachnids, an immense animal group with intricate social structures and routines. Much like insects and plants, humans use codes and signals to convey complex thoughts and messages: mating, navigation, locating food, calling for help, or signaling warnings.
Researching and investigating ancient codes and languages has influenced my thinking and approach to this work. I am interested in The Druidic Tree Alphabet, a language comprised of leaves; Nüshu, the secret Chinese women’s script; the Incan Khipu method of record keeping, a system of knots; as well as my own code, written while I was a child in an abusive family. My personal code evolved out of a traumatic time in my own life and involves insects, plants, poetry, myth, and metaphor.
In this series the viewer can be likened to a reader, as in tarot cards, runes, or bones. Insects and other parts of the assemblages make up a narrative that is open to interpretation based on what questions are asked and who is “reading” the boxes, reading the insects. What if we used insects the way we use other objects or signs as telltales or warnings? What if we tossed out some beetle shells to foretell our futures? Instead of a queen there is a cicada, or instead of a fool there is a longhorn beetle. Other occult ideas have also entered the boxes, such as knots, circles, and hair.
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Mary Ellen Croteau
Bag World
I was trying to think what to do with all those bags
that you get everytime you go to the store. Even if
you bring your own bags, they still try to put the
stuff in plastic bags before they put it in the ones
you brought. And no matter what they tell you, these
bags are not recycled. They are just collected and
put in dumps. We are swimming in a sea of plastic. We
are drowning in plastic. Worse, these bags are made
from petroleum… Yep, the same thing we’re fighting
in Iraq for. I collected these bags over one year.
So take one big step for humankind:
carry your own bags to the store.
to contact this artist:
To contact this artist:
www.ruri.is