Tribute Poster w_ namesI am very pleased to announce that juror Susan Irish has invited my paper collages, ON SUBWAY WALLS and …AND TENEMENT HALLS into the Tribute Show at the Fabulon Art Center in Charleston, South Carolina. The Tribute Show, which is about the relationship between music and the visual arts and particularly how music is expressed by visual artists, will run from October 6, 2017 until December 6, 2017 with a reception on October 21st from 5 until 8 PM. The Fabulon Art Center is located at 1017 Wappoo Road, Charleston, SC 29407.
Collage
SANDY HOOK: HOPES, DREAMS AND THE NRA
SANDY HOOK: HOPES, DREAMS AND THE NRA is a paper collage which, in a very simple way, seeks to express my continuing sorrow and outrage over the Sandy Hook massacre. Time has not dulled either. The materials and tools used in creating this piece consisted of the type of “glitter” paper that could be found in an elementary school art program, a paper punch and white “school” glue. Matted and framed to 13” x 19”.
ON SUBWAY WALLS
Like …AND TENEMENT HALLS, ON SUBWAY WALLS is a colored paper collage which draws from the Simon and Garfunkel song The Sounds of Silence. While the materials and palette in both pieces are essentially the same (heavy paper/ thin cardboard – cut from advertising and packaging materials), changing the background from white to black and eliminating internal “negative space” darkens the tone and sets the piece underground. In the song, the phrase “on the subway walls” precedes “and tenement halls”, but for me, in doing the collages, the initial working image was of a cityscape and the subway developed as a companion piece. Matted and framed to 12” x 16”.
…AND TENEMENT HALLS
The title for my colored paper collage, …AND TENEMENT HALLS, comes from part of an iconic line in the Simon and Garfunkel song The Sounds of Silence; although my choice of palette is probably a more colorful and upbeat presentation than an accurate one. There is little point in having artistic license if you can’t abuse it now and then. Matted and framed to 12” x 16”.
THE GREEN MAN: WINTER
THE GREEN MAN: WINTER, the second in my “Seasonal Green Man” Series, like THE GREEN MAN: AUTUMN is a paper collage using paper that I specifically hand inked and hand pulled, this time to reflect the colors of winter – white, gray, blue and black. So while the primary and secondary contours of the image remain the same, the seasons have changed. Matted and Framed to 14” x 18”.
THE GREEN MAN: AUTUMN
THE GREEN MAN: AUTUMN marks my return to a favorite topic: the folklore, legends and mythology of the “Green Man”, something I’ve explored in a number of different mediums. This time the medium is paper collage using paper that I hand inked and hand pulled specifically for this piece. Mounted on mat board and matted and framed to 18”x 14”, THE GREEN MAN: AUTUMN is the first on an intended four part “seasonal” series.
Art Scene Today: Mad, Mad World
I am pleased to announce that both of the pieces, Voices Unheard and Civil Discourse – 2016 that I submitted were selected as finalists in the juried ArtScene Today Competition : Mad, Mad, World and can be viewed at artscenetoday.com.
Civil Discourse: 2016
Every now and then I feel the urge to do something disturbingly outside my comfort zone. So I watched some political talk shows and the result was “Civil Discourse: 2016” — a reflection on what I observed. “Civil Discourse: 2016” is a found object/recycled material paper collage using FSPs. Matted and framed to 16” x 20”.
The Pointillist
The Pointillist is a mixed media collage which uses found object/ recycled materials and paint on canvas to convey…nothing. His expression is blank, he reveals no emotions or inner thoughts, perhaps because he is composed of Financial Security Papers (FSPs), the inside patterns of bank, bill and credit envelopes, whose sole purpose is to prevent you from seeing inside. 22″ x 18″ $350
John Fansmith 