THE (DARK) SHOW

Today, Michelle Marcuse, Rob Solomon, and I hung The (Dark) Show at StrataSphere Gallery in Philadelphia. This collaborative effort came about some months ago when the three of us jokingly commented that since we all had a tendency to use a dark palette in our work, that we should show together; hence, The (Dark) Show. As collaborative efforts go, this has been a very positive one--negotiations for hanging space in a relatively small exhibition space went smoothly, with all of us contributing our thoughts about what goes where. No easy feat considering how group dynamics can go with three individuals interacting. A short essay below discusses the ideas behind the show.

Foreign Soil No. 5 18 x 18"
encaustic on panel 2009

The (Dark) Show

In The (Dark) Show, Pam Farrell, Michelle Marcuse, and Rob Solomon address the dark with a grain of salt, or perhaps a broad brush. Art history abounds with references to dark as a theme. For some, the dark suggests the unspeakable, the unknown, evil, the sinister, gloomy, and ominous. For these three artists, choice of palette represents more than a proclivity for dark thoughts. Light emerging from dark, shining a light in the dark, a playful interaction of opposites, and an exploration of space and time all offer the viewer an open-ended experience to explore individual ideas about the dark, to see beyond the expected.

Pam Farrell’s work references natural phenomena and elements such as water, weather, and geographic formations to explore concepts of lacunae in terms of loss, memory, and identity. Using layers of pigmented beeswax built up and scraped back, the process allows the obscured and indeterminate to surface. Mark making is the experience; the mark is the trace. Remains, vestiges, scars, memories, clues, and the barely discernable are revealed; traces of memory and experience that cannot be expressed with words become more evident.

Michelle Marcuse uses monochromatic coloring to suggest a subdued, sometimes anxious atmosphere, one that at times appears veiled and mysterious. At first glance there may seem to be an identifiable space where specific elements are in a state of isolated flux. But Marcuse invites the viewer to explore more closely her fields of concentrated, quiet energy. Existing within silence, the fields are slow in time, with the energy moving in from the outside. The impressions suggest a distanced level of reality…seen as uncategorized extracts from a space that runs counter to our own.

Rob Solomon's current work blurs the line between painting and drawing: paintings of drawings or diagrams; diagramming paintings with collaged canvas insets; drawings embedded into painting, and paper supporting canvas overlays. The work integrates multiple processes and materials, including dyed and bleached paper, graphite on raw canvas, mars black pigmented beeswax, and black ink-based photographs. The work explores opposing elements within a theme: patterns and patterns breaking, order and destruction, making and breaking symmetry, framing and re-framing within the canvas, and delight and despair.

August 29-October 3 2009

Reception: Saturday, August 29 2-5 pm

For more information: The StrataSphere Gallery

siesta....

Well it's not like I post all that much, but I think it's time for a little end-o-summer break. I'll be back after Labor Day with new stuff...

A nice treat...

During a break from the studio (that's a euphemism for procrastination) I read Brent Hallard's interview of Tim McFarlane on Visual Discrepancies, his artist-interview blog. Definitely makes my procrastinating easier to rationalize. It's always interesting to be invited into an artists' head, so to speak, to be able to gain some insight into the process, the approach, the inspiration. I find the reading especially rewarding when both artist and interviewer are literate, informed, and best, able to clearly communicate, as is the case with Visual Discrepancies.

The (Dark) Show

The (Dark) Show is a collaborative curatorial effort I'm involved in with Philadelphia artists Michelle Marcuse and Rob Solomon. At a show held at the StrataSphere Gallery in Philly, we will be showing work that addresses the dark, with a grain of salt, or perhaps a broad brush.

Art history abounds with references to dark as a theme. For some, the dark suggests the unspeakable, the unknown, evil, the sinister, gloomy, and ominous. For these three artists, choice of palette represents more than a proclivity for dark thoughts. Light emerging from dark, shining a light in the dark, a playful interaction of opposites, and an exploration of space and time all offer the viewer an open-ended experience to explore individual ideas about the dark, to see beyond the expected.

half seas over 2009 encaustic on panel 24 x 24

line

Line. Until recently, line did not figure prominently in my work.
I was all about the form. In the field.

hard rain (prototype) 2004
12 x 12 encaustic on panel
collection of Ruth Morpeth

Sometimes a horizon line was called for.
But I don't really think there is a line
so much as there is a juxtapostion of forms.
In the field.

untitled landscape 2006
24 x 24 encaustic on panel
collection of the artist


More form in the field. Maybe a few drips.

Lacuna (red cassandra 1 & 2) 2008
24 x 24 encaustic on panel (each)



Then came the drips. Big time. Lines as drips.
Drips as lines. Lines caused by drips.

ophelia red 2009
36 x 36 encaustic on panel
private collection


And then, the horizon line became insinuated into the work.
A little obsessively, I think. But not aggressively. It's lurking in the background.

false walls (umber) 2009
24 x 24 encaustic on panel


Line takes front and center and
pushes form and field to the background.

from the sea 1 2009
6" x 6" digital photo

Update: I'm No. 29

I've completed my postcard for A Book About Death and the image appears on the project's blog site. I hope you'll consider participating in this interesting project. I'll be looking forward to watching the project grow online and to meet other participating artists in September at the opening reception. You can see the image here.

Also on the blog are links for more information about the Emily Harvey Foundation. Emily Harvey (1941-2004) was a pioneering gallerist (Emily Harvey Gallery at 537 Broadway) and champion of Fluxus artists as well as artists who made mail art, concept art, and performance pieces.

Here is an example of one of the postcards, this one by Cecil Touchon

new blog...

OK...so it's not like I don't already have plenty to keep me busy, but I've launched another blog, p farrell photo art blog, this one for my digital images.

I've been spending quite a bit of time using my new digital slr. Because I don't know any better, I've been taking pics outside at night using my flash and auto settings, then using Photoshop Elements to play with the images. I'm no tech person, so much of this is trial and error. I've been amassing images and have printed them out with my non-archival ink jet printer just to use for reference/source material for paintings. I'm having fun as well as feeling productive, and I've put together another blog to house some of the images I'm wanting to share as I develop my photo skills. At some point I plan to upgrade my printer to one that uses archival inks so I can produce archival images.

I hope you'll visit and take a look. I don't expect to include much text, just images and a blog roll as I find relevant websites. Feel free to comment about the images, ask questions, or make suggestions.