Preview: Chris Piazza

It was my privilege to meet with artist Chris Piazza recently and see the progress of her sculpture Saint Peter - The Thirteenth Apostle. This piece is scheduled to be installed at The Cathedral Church of Saint John The Divine in the upcoming 2010/2011 year. (picture left: detail of broken plates covering dome, sans grout).

It is an ambitious, complicated sculpture (about 16' tall and 4' wide), with inspiration drawn from four individuals - artist - Sabato (Simon) Rodia , writer - Vladimir Mayakovsky, artist - Raymond Isidore , and architect - Antoni Gaudí. Piazza has written a story-essay on her sculpture and it's worth a read if you would like to be privy to the maze of ideas that spawned this particular piece. Even though Piazza is admittedly affected by the work of these artists in her drive to create the Saint Peter - The Thirteenth Apostle sculpture, the breath of life she is giving St. Peter is clearly her own vision. The reference to the work of these artists informs the critical base for St. Peter, but the artist feels that this is personal stimulus, not required data for the viewer's appreciation of the piece.(picture right: 2 segments of dome top partially completed)

Saint Peter - The Thirteenth Apostle will include a figure clothed in an elaborate tapestry of garments. Large fishhooks, antique costume pearls, letter shaped broken pearl buttons and belt buckles sewn in reassembled pattern, gold threads painstakingly removed to show the trace pattern... all montaged into a unique, ceremonial garment that covers our main figure of St. Peter. The figure will strike a subtle pose with a hand gesture akin to the depiction of saints that one might see in medieval churches. A case with a domed top and arched windows will encase the figure. The outside of this case is covered in broken ceramics and shells taken from the artist's collection, as well as from special contributions of broken plates and ceramics by neighbors and friends. Small notes documenting memories associated with the donated broken ceramics will be rolled up and encased in the sculpture. This is a piece you will have to have time to view to fully appreciate it's details. The pictures shown here will give you a preview. (picture left: detail of St. Peter's garment).

If you're not familiar with Piazza's work take a look at her website. She is best known for her bunraku puppet-like figures (along with the sense of story telling associated with this Japanese theater). The puppet-like figures are often encased or contained in elaborately articulated boxes or displays that give added context to the suggestion of the narrative. She is an avid collector of objects of all sorts, old photographs, antique buttons, shoes, jewelry, plates, clothing, cans, hats, shells - anything and everything that catches her eye. She is fascinated with the history and sensitive to the power that age bestows on her cache of objects. In her sculptures, Piazza distills and reassemble these objects into personal and mysterious narratives that reveal a clear vision of purpose. Piazza frequently outfits her characters with surprising clothing tailored in obsessive detail and collaged objects alluding to gestalt-like purpose. Piazza also does smaller more intimate sculptures and collages.

I'm looking forward to seeing Saint Peter - The Thirteenth Apostle completed, and I'll keep you posted on the date of the installation.

Fresh Look - Lucy Fradkin

Arthur goes to Washington, 2008
47 x 35 inches

I have been familiar with Lucy Fradkin's work for many years - mostly through her association with Kenise Barnes Fine Art Gallery in Larchmont NY. Recently, I was able to see her new work in an exhibition at Nancy Margolis Gallery in Chelsea, NYC (Lucy Fradkin: Family Tree on view through May 1, 2010).

Fradkin makes intuitive, neo-primitive, full frontal portraits of both archetypal and actual individuals. The subjects, stand/sit in the center of spaces that are frequently described with flattened tiled floors or rugs and free form & patterned wall papers, curtains and various accessories.  Objects sit, hang and float in these spaces and interact with the figures - frequently abstractly as well as pictorially.

An Awakening to Other
Orders of Reality, 2010
11 x 11 3/8 inches

In "An Awakening To Other Orders Of Reality" two trays, one with a floral pattern and one with a portrait are stacked behind and haloed around the head of the main figure. On either side of this totem are two squares that make window shapes and  silhouette a house plant frond on one side and a Red-tailed Hawk on the other. The figures in Fradkin's paintings are poignantly described with sensitive details and patterns  - a splayed hand on the chest or the turn of a foot showing us the heel of a shoe - a bow elaborately patterned, cocked to one side with a disorderly end. We see an abundance of detail in the midst of "simply" rendered figures allowing us to focus, play and ponder all the possible associations and rhythmic patterns and colors between the various elements in the paintings.

We also find seamlessly integrated collaged picture elements merged into her carefully painted scenes - it can be difficult to tell when objects are painted or collaged. The work at Nancy Margolis ranges in size - from human scale around 60 inches to smaller formats around 10-20 inches. Not surprisingly Fradkin moves easily between painting sizes as she often shifts scale within her compositions -  more often to signal the relative importance of an item than to create naturalistic space, even though there can be a dichotomy between these two reads.

The Pursuit of Knowledge
and the Practice of Ethical Conduct, 2009
22 x 18.5 inches

In "The Pursuit Of Knowledge And The Practice Of Ethical Conduct" we see an adolescent girl wearing a modest flat patterned plaid dress, white ankle socks and 'Mary Janes', standing demurely, one hand slightly crimped to the front, the other holding a satchel.  To both the right and left of the girl are images of small furniture, collaged into the scene and turned toward the girl. The space where girl and furniture stand is divided almost in half: on the bottom half - flattened tile covered by a semicircular rug section, edged with a leaf pattern on the border (a mountain to support the girl?) - and - on the top half,  above the girl is an open wall with a swag of hanging chinese lanterns that center themselves directly over the girls head and to her left and right.

Fradkin's thought provoking paintings are rich, quirky and often humorous, with a bittersweet, even nostalgic flavor. Get to Nancy Margolis while the show is still up or take a look at Fradkin's website lucyfradkin.com.

Introduction to ImageArt

 
I have found many blogs and discussions that focus on abstract art. And believe me I'm a big fan of abstract art, but for the past 20 years I've been a painter of images.  In ImageArt we'll share discussions about the art and artists who give serious thought to images and imagery in their art - with all its implications - along with the formal, abstract and technical considerations. It is not my intention to separate art into segments. I think that most art contains abstract, formal, and even the subjective and connotative associations of imagery - it's a question of hierarchy and what takes precedence or drives creative choices. And while there is a wealth of discussion on abstract art in print and on the web there is a surprising lack of intelligent dialog about image based work. And so...

I will be introducing the reader to many artists, conducting interviews, and alerting you to various exhibitions. Additionally, there will be guest contributors /columns by other artists on subjects of their choosing.