Opening Reception for "The End is Near"

Steven Specht here...
Wow! The opening reception for "The End is Near" was a great success!!! It was SO nice to have six of the 10 artists in attendance. Lots of folks came out for the event. After an hour an a half of viewing and great conversation, we had a short Q & A session. The entire evening was fantastic! Enjoy!

a couple more coming nearer

Thought I would post a few more shots of pieces that will be part of the exhibit at Utica College. These are pieces created by Aprile Elcich, Kevin Gilmore and Deborah Snider. Enjoy!

"The End is Near" is Near!!

Steven Specht has curated the international collage exhibit "The End is Near", which will be held in the Barret Art Gallery at Utica College. I am honored to be a participant and look forward to this show and all that comes with it...such as the meeting of other collage artists and art lovers, the discussion over the topic and the works, and the overall festive atmosphere that an opening reception provides. I can't wait! It seems so rare here in the hinterlands of upstate NY.

webster wagner / Palatine Bridge

The End is Near was a tough topic for me. I have an open and imaginative mind, and nothing is impossible.  Of course that day is an ending! So is today! And tomorrow! Every single day is an end and it's followed by a new beginning. In fact I feel time is in slices -- albeit small ones -- and that every waking moment is a small death decay and tiny miracle birth in time fractions so small we just don't comprehend them. But they are there.
My latest passion is in the architecture, in the buildings and the shacks, the barns and their details....I drive around the area with a bag full of various cameras (holga, lomo fisheye and colorsplash, homemade pinholes and 3 digital point and shoots!) and I pull over at random heart-tugging places and try to capture their essence. I have come off the flat paper and now I am in a 3d mode. The buildings are extending out from their bases, rendered in paper, and they are quite delicate. Their fragile structure echoes the temporal existence of the very buildings that inspired in the first place.

Stratford

These old buildings, the original owners are often long gone, yet the buildings are still here...and we reclaim them, make them our own and continue to live through them until we pass them on. I  loaded up these fragile little paper dwellings with random tidbits of recycled jewelry treasure, little shells, and wired beads that were culled from costume jewelry pieces of days gone by. They provide a sparkle of new life to the little paper shacks. It's a symbol of the new beginning.

Argusville II

Argusville

These 4 pieces will be hanging in the exhibit. The last one Argusville, has a collage on the inside. The mirror behind the building on the base reflects this image, if you bother to look. To prompt you, there's a switch that leads to a LED that lights up behind the building. And there you have Interactive Art!

I look forward to seeing the interpretations of the other artists that are involved and will be sure to share mega photos before, during and after!!

Homage to Kurt Seligmann

My busy art life has pre-empted this blog! (as usual...i know)  I have had a lot to do the last month and finally now I have a flood of things to share. Let's get down to it.
The first order of business is the Homage to Kurt Seligmann. Steven has already mentioned in a post here about this tribute exhibition that is being held in Orange County to honor Kurt Seligmann. Seligmann was not a collagist, but instead a major player in the growth of surrealism. He did paintings, etchings....and he was an inspiration in all things surreal. Jonathan Talbot asked me if I would like to participate and of course it happens when I am so busy that I can barely find the time to meet the challenge.
I had such a hard time with this. I am rarely asked to to anything specific, and I really enjoy my art freedom, portraying whatever subject I want and whenever I want! I took this project on like I was a student in my own Design class. It's HOMEWORK! I had a deadline, and I had specific objectives I had to meet.  I struggled a lot with it. I am an all or none type of gal, so I either wanted to re-create his piece of make it entirely mine. In the end, I came to a compromise with myself. I would set up some restraints, like Matthew Barney in his series Drawing Restraint.

Seligmann's painting

I picked one piece that fascinated me both in visual and intellectual content. The piece Acteon was a painting (and I think he also did a variation in an etching) that Seligmann did depicting the tale of Ovid. The person was turning into a deer and being devoured by his hounds and his environment. Cool! The theme was right up my ally. I chose to follow Seligmanns lead both in color set and object placement. Even these simple rules made me crazy, but in the end I triumphed and completed this piece.
It hangs next to Steven's in Orange County. I look forward to going down and seeing this exhibit in person next week!

Acteon

This upcoming exhibition, curated by Jonathan Talbot & Jessica Lawrence, 
will open on March 15th, 2012.

The Reception will be on Friday, March 30th, from 6 - 7:30 PM

You can read more about this here.

Wish You Were Here 2012

Steven Specht here (again)...

This piece will be submitted for the Annual "Wish You Were Here" postcard exhibit of the National Collage Society. It is 4" x 6" (required size) and is entitled "Leap Year" (or "She Always Appreciated His Dropping in on February 29th"). Enjoy!

Seligmann Center for Surrealism

Steven Specht here...
I went down to visit Jonathan Talbot this past week. He is curating a collage exhibit at the Seligman Center for Surrealism in Sugarloaf, NY. Both Julie Takacs and I are in the exhibit. I have already posted the piece that I will have in the show, but thought I would show some other shots that I took on-site (Julie's piece is awesome!; Kurt Seligmann's gravesite; our pieces side-by-side; a shot of Jonathan outside the gallery. It was a very nice day! BTW, the opening reception for this show is on Friday, March 30th in the evening. Enjoy!

College collage

Steven Specht here...
I am officially excited about the upcoming collage exhibit I am curating at Utica College entitled "The End is Near: An International Collage Exhibit". The exhibit will feature Pierre Jean Varet (France), Sylvia Netcheva (Bulgaria); Dale Copeland (New Zealand); Jonathan Tabot (NY); Aprile Elcich (Toronto); Kevin Gilmore (RI); Deborah Snider (UT); Frank Viola (NY); Julie Takacs (NY) and me! The opening reception is Monday, March 26th from 4:30-6:30. Here are images from Pierre Jean, Dale and Jonathan. I will be posting more in the days to come! Enjoy!