Exquisite

Welcome to the Exquisite Corpse

The Exquisite Corpse Festival officially kicks off with an opening night party on Saturday, July 9th at 7:30 at Space on White in NYC. The collaborative visual creations of over 30 artists, from print to sculpture to fashion design, will be on display. The exquisite corpse is not the work of art itself, but a game played by three artists, who may or may not know each other or even see each other. Each artist secretly creates a piece of the same whole. One takes the head, another the torso, and a third the legs. They collaborate not through negotiation but through trust. Originally executed via a drawing folded in thirds, Exquisite Corpse Festival expands this idea to a vast aray of artistic mediums- from music, to plays to taxidermy.  My partners in exquisite crime were John Borrero and Stephanie Rubiano. Together we created a mixed media sculpture, although we worked on our assigned parts separately. John made the base and legs, Stephanie made the torso and wings, and I made the head.

Without further ado, I introduce you to our very own exquisite corpse...

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She is approximately 2 feet tall. Her head is made from heavy gage wire and vintage book pages with greek text from 1820. Her torso and wings are made from soldered wire, gampi paper, and encaustic medium (beeswax and damar resin). Her base is made from a wooden found object and her skirt was created from several different vintage silks.

The Exquisite Corpse Festival will run from July 9th to August 2nd. Space on White is located on 81 White Street (off Broadway) in Tribeca. The gallery is open 7 days a week from 10:30am to 10:00pm.

Exquisite Corpse Festival

I have always been intrigued by the concept of the Exquisite Corpse. The name itself fascinates me but the actual process of creating one is even more exciting. It began in the early 20th century as a writing game but was later popularized as a drawing game. Three people were given one sheet of paper. The first person drew the head of a figure and folded the paper so that only the very bottom portion of the neck was visible. Using this as a starting point, the second person drew the figure's torso. The paper was again folded so that only the very bottom of the waist was visible and the third person drew the legs and feet of the figure. The artists were all blind to the work of the others. The drawing is then unfolded. What is revealed is a discordant figure, with the individual parts often surprisingly connected by the collective unconscious of the participants.

This year, the Exquisite Corpse Festival is taking this basic premise and applying it to a variety of media, including painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography, film, theater, dance, music, fashion, tattoo, cocktails, munny, clocks, and taxidermy.

I am thrilled to be a participant in the event, which will take place in NYC later this year.

I am one third of a team creating a sculptural Exquisite Corpse. As luck would have it, I am partnered with two gifted mixed media artists, John Borrero and Stephanie Rubiano. John created the base, Stephanie made the torso, and I made the head. The three pieces are in the process of being attached but I wanted to share a preview to whet your appetite...

The Festival opens July 9th with a presentation of the visual works and a musical performance. The event begins at 7:30 at Space on White in Tribeca. I would love to see you there! More information about the event can be found on their website here and will be posted on my blog soon.

Let it Shine

Earlier this month I posted an update regarding my collaboration with Bridgette Guerzon Mills and Jen Wordon. Our project began in early 2009 and is in the process of winding down. We each created a book structure that we would all work in, with the main idea of the collaboration being to challenge ourselves creatively. 

My recent post showed the pages I made for Book of Trees, Bridgette's book of plaster pages. I continue to work on the last sets of pages in Contexture, my own book of paper pages, and I will highlight these on my blog in the near future. Today's post is all about Shine, Jen's metal pages. The three pages, back and front, that I contributed to her project follow...

All three projects from the collaboration will be exhibited at the end of July as part of the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival in Chicago. Specific details about the exhibition will be posted soon.

An Object Found

I am happy to announce that my handmade artist book, An Object Found, will be featured as part of the 36th Annual Printmaking Center of NJ Member Exhibition. The exhibition runs from June 11 to August 20. This book will also be exhibited at the New Jersey City University Gallery from September 15 to October 26. 

An Object Found was created for and featured in Pam Carriker's book Art at the Speed of Life. An image of the cover was included in her book but the inside pages are being shown for the first time.

a sudden shower

raining down

a surge of power

an object found

 painter's palette

splattered stains

filled with rhythm

endless chains

An Object Found is also being featured on Top Artists' Directory, where I am Artist of the Week as of June 6th. Thanks Kim!

Available for purchase. Please send email to shap97@gmail.com for additional information.

Collaborative Completion

Anybody who has followed this blog will know that I am usually involved in many collaborative art projects, all at the same time. Well, all good things come to an end and that is about to be the case for my collaboration with artists and friends Bridgette Guerzon Mills and Jen Worden.

Back in 2009 we began this project, where the main idea was to challenge and experiment with our creative skills. I created a handbound, vintage paper book with the theme Contexture. Jen created a series of loose metal pages with the theme Shine. Bridgette created a book with plaster pages with the theme Book of Trees.

We each now have our own projects back and are in the process of finishing them up. I plan to share each of the final projects on the blog and first up is Bridgette's Book of Trees.

Photograph by Bridgette Guerzon Mills

Bridgette's gorgeous cover was an enticing start and a great inspiration for my first attempt at working on plaster pages.

Reflection - Page published in Plaster Studio

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Grow

Head on over to this post on Bridgette's blog, Contemplating the Moon, to see images from every page in her book and to read about her own personal experience with the collaboration.

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I thank Bridgette and Jen for their talent, friendship, patience, and inspiration throughout these 2 1/2 years. And the icing on an already very sweet cake:  we are all very excited that all three projects will be part of an exhibition curated by Jane Michalski in July called Come Together as part of the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival in Chicago. Details to be posted soon.

Brian Dettmer

The unique, intricate, and extraordinary work of artist Brian Dettmer is now on display at Kinz + Tillou Fine Art in NYC. His exhibition opened on May 19th and runs to June 11. Dettmer's unique style involves carving into and through the pages of books to create dimensional sculpture. His books have been referred to as 'autopsies' and for good reason -- he cuts through the surface, revealing the insides of each book in a completly and utterly fascinating way. As amazing as these piece are in pictures, seeing them in person elevates the creative experience to another level.

According to Dettmer's artist statement, "Through meticulous excavation or concise alteration I edit or dissect communicative objects or systems such as books, maps, tapes or other media. The medium's role transforms. Its content is recontextualized and new meanings or interpretations emerge. In this work I begin with an existing book and seal its edges, creating and enclosed vessel full of unearthed potential. I cut into the surface of the book and dissect through it from the front. I work with knives, tweezers and surgical tools to carve one page at a time, exposing each layer while cutting around ideas and images of interest. Nothing inside the books is relocated or implanted, only removed. Images and ideas are revealed to expose alternate histories and memories."

You can see Dettmer speaking about his process in the following video:

This is a must-see exhibition but for those of you who live too far away I have included some images I shot at the gallery. Click on each to enlarge to be better able to see the intricate detail of Dettmer's work.

Price Points

New York is a city of extremes in many areas, and the art field is no exception. I recently visited two venues that prove this point. I attended the preview of the Affordable Art Fair, which showcases contemporary art.  Of course 'affordability' is relative but all artwork in this show ranged in price from $100 to $10,000. At the other extreme, I visited the exhibition at Sotheby's for their upcoming Contemporary Art auctions on May 10th and 11th, where the highest estimate for several pieces is $20/30 million. Regardless of price, amazing art was to be found in both locations.  

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The Affordable Art Fair

Gabriel Daujotas

Tom Lewis

Deborah Donelson

Jeff Fontaine

Fernando Alday

Many more artists and images, as well as links to the artists' websites and galleries, can be found in my review post on NearSay.

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Sotheby's

Anselm Kiefer

Jean Dubuffet

Mark Bradford

Joseph Cornell

Jackson Pollock

Gerhard Richter

Jean-Michel Basquait

See more images from Sotheby's in my post on NearSay.