Exploring the world opened up by a work of art
This week’s showcase:
Christie Marks
“Everyday India 5”
Mixed media, paper bags, ink, oil, acrylic on panel, 30″ x 24″
“All lives don’t matter.” “All colors are not equal.” Ah, the power of Now, that even two broken pots can be seen as an emblem of protest. You bet! And why not? That’s the subversive luxury and indulgence of art to be able to speak into just about any moment.
“Everyday India 5” speaks of Now in vibrant, lush detail, the reality and way of life of something and someone foreign, “other,” in this instance, a fabric artisan’s studio in India being used for preparing dyes.
The scene is of a dilapidated, gorgeous mess. Shattered vessels that somehow continue to hold liquid, a rickety table past the verge of collapse, a switch box beneath it which is most assuredly useless, and a dollop of used blue rags, front and center, to clean it all up. All of this is against a labyrinth of deliciously colorful bricks atop shreds of Indian newspaper clippings.
Unlike anything you’ve seen? Of course. That’s the idea. There is no loving something “other” without knowing it first. Marks is keen to immerse us in the experience and environment of others, nudging us to “walk a mile in their shoes”. . . . So as to love “them”.
In her work, Marks gives us the ingredients to bridge the gap between “us” and “them”:
-one part empathy,
-two parts understanding,
-mix in a lot of paint . . .
And suddenly Now you’re in a protest worth marching.
Previous Featured Artwork Posts
Out of Isolation #1 – Lawrence Gipe – 04/9/2020
Out of Isolation #2 – Wosene Worke Kosrof – 04/16/2020
Out of Isolation #3 – Elena Zolotnitsky – 04/23/2020
Out of Isolation #4 – Oscar Camilo de las Flores – 04/30/2020
Out of Isolation #5 – Nikolai Atanassov – 05/07/2020
Out of Isolation #6 – Harry Carmean – 05/13/2020
Out of Isolation #7 – Chris Blum – 05/20/2020
Out of Isolation #8 – Patrick Duegaw – 05/27/2020
Out of Isolation #9 – Carlos Gomez Mojica – 06/4/2020
OUT OF ISOLATION #1
Out of Isolation #1 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Lawrence Gipe, "Thames, 1946" Oil on canvas, 48" x 60", 2017-2018 While it is evident that these merry souls are not practicing proper "social distancing", they certainly do exude a familiar sense of isolation in an otherwise dark and moody time. To be more precise, Gipe's [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #2
Out of Isolation #2 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Wosene Worke Kosrof "Queen of Words II," Acrylic on linen, 25" x 20", 2017 The world according to Wosene Worke Kosrof is one of non-stop talking. Everything and everyone can't seem to get enough of the latest gossip of a thousand story tellers that fill the [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #3
Out of Isolation #3 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Elena Zolotnitsky "After the Shower," Oil on paper, 24" x 23.25" custom framed Time to reflect is an unexpected luxury of "Isolation." An expansive opportunity made possible by being forced to stop . . . then listen, look, imagine, feel . . . repeat. Until suddenly, [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #4
Out of Isolation #4 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Oscar Camilo de las Flores "El Gran General" Conte crayon on paper, 79" x 50.5" The "Big Macs" are his balls. . . . but wait there's more, much more. . . . OMG, TMI. Made you look. Too much information can be disturbing, deadly in [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #5
Out of Isolation #5 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Nikolai Atanassov "Last Days of the World" Oil on canvas, 70" x 207" Spoiler Alert! Isolation Mandate to End on "The Last Days of the World." In the Apocalypse According to Nikolai Atanassov, his painting brings all humanity together melded in a sea of vibrant Turner-esque [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #6
Out of Isolation #6 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Harry Carmean "After the Bath" Oil on canvas framed, 33.5" x 27.5" In this time of Isolation, to touch — a basic yet potent essential life force — has become fraught with hesitation, anxiety and fear. "Art is a form of contactless consolation when the most [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #7
Out of Isolation #7 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Chris Blum "Fake News" Mixed Media Diorama Framed in Box - 13.5" x 13.5" x 4.25" Art is work. It doesn't just somehow happen to us. It provides new material, new places, new paradigms with which to think — And the rest is up to us. [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #8
Out of Isolation #8 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Patrick Duegaw "The Builder Removed" Acrylic, ink, screws, and polyurethane on sheetrock with aluminum frame, 23.5" x 16", 2008 Patrick Duegaw's 2008 self portrait "The Builder Removed," is oddly prophetic, revealing just how ahead of his time he really was, and really is (mask and goggles [...]
OUT OF ISOLATION #9
Out of Isolation #9 Exploring the world opened up by a work of art This week's showcase: Carlos Gomez Mojica "Dialogo Con Mis Excesos" Charcoal on canvas, 55" x 71" Coping in a time of Isolation and unease — as seen in Art. Carlos Gomez Mojica's "Dialogo Con Mis Excesos" (Dialog With My Excesses) posits as many questions as it answers. Still, this [...]
