Exhibition: Arranged Seating – August 26-September 30, 2023
Byron Black
Ceremonial Figure III, Ceremonial Figure VII
These sculptures are intended to echo ritual objects, alive with sympathetic magic. I am reclaiming the wood from the chair (yet retaining a vestige of its anatomical structure) for the creation of a ceremonial figure. Chairs have a practical anthropomorphism. As they support the human body, they also mimic it. Even when the initial utilitarian function of a chair is removed, you still have a record of the figure: arms, legs, feet, seats, and backs. Found objects with their patina of utility are difficult to resist. Disassembling them to reveal evidence of a function beyond their intended purpose allows us to experience their material essence more fully. Reassembling the individual elements leads to new dimensions of meaning. It is the destruction of an object’s utilitarian qualities that can open the door to the creation of a poetic image. These guardian figures are now free from their previous encumbrance, and their new potential actualized. Even so, they still resonate with their practical origins.
byron.black@gmail.com
Kimberly Bradshaw Meadows
“Epiphany of the Blue Chair and the Tree”
Growth, Memories and the Passage of Time
The image of the chair is something I have used in my artwork for many years. For me, it represents a specific moment in time. It is stationary, yet the world moves on around it. People, life, memories, all come and go. Throughout, the Chair was there to witness and support it all.
bradshawmeadows@gmail.com
(469) 247-4698
Du Chau
Chairflowers
My work medium is predominately porcelain. Some of my pieces combine ceramics and wire elements to create a quiet and contemplative charged space. My current artworks evoke childhood memories of Vietnam and repetitive daily activities involving knowledge and contemplation. I commit to the same activity to visualize different parts of myself.
duchau@mhd.com
(972) 241-0235
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauduqc
Nancy Ferro
“If These Walls Could Talk”
A favorite quotation of mine is simply part of a sentence from an Isaac Bashevis Singer novel, “…the patterns of continuous creation.”
Each day when making decisions I look to the past and to current situations to create the present, part of the past is included, part of it left behind. The juxtaposition of the past with the present, both visual and conceptual, these are the contrasts and intersections with which I enjoy working. The ways they affect each other, both physically and intellectually, are of importance to me.
Materials are varied. Collage materials are often found materials. They come from friends, relatives, collections, walks, discards. Some materials are thought of as more traditional and may include paper, pencil, crayon, paint, and beeswax. I enjoy working with a rich variety of materials in both planned and random expressions.
nancyferro1@gmail.com
Ann Huey
Mid-SIT-ury Modern
Mid-century modern is a style of design (as in architecture and furniture) of roughly the 1930s through the mid-1960s characterized especially by clean lines, organic and streamlined forms, and lack of embellishment. —Merriam-Webster
This style is a favorite of mine, but I really didn’t know most of the designers and their work until I started the research. I included some of the most recognizable, iconic (an overused word, but so appropriate here) things to sit on. Not only are these chairs and sofas beautiful in their sleekness and restful to the eyeballs, but are marvels of engineering and, apparently, comfy to sit and lie upon. I am not convinced, however, that one wouldn’t just slide right off the edge of the “lips” sofa.
Many of these pieces have been reproduced, replicated, knocked-off, some by design, like the minimally perfect Eames’ chairs you probably sat in at school or at a seminar at some hotel. But originals are still around and fetch a pretty penny, for they are classics.
annhuey55@gmail.com
Margarita Martín-Hidalgo Birnbaum
Lo sgabello di Jole Cecchini/Eredità (Jole Cecchini’s stool/Legacy)
The stool in the photograph belongs to my friend Raoul Torresi, a director of photography who comes from a long line of Italian film professionals. Before he inherited the stool, it belonged to his paternal grandmother, Jole Cecchini.
A widely-respected hairdresser, Ms. Cecchini had a career in film that spanned more than five decades and saw her working on groundbreaking films directed by some of cinema’s greats, including Federico Fellini, Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Terry Gilliam and Francis Ford Coppola. Her credits include “The Last Tango in Paris,” “The Last Emperor,” and “The Adventures of the Baron Munchausen.” She died in 2018 at 90.
BAM / Beverly Ann Moore
SPACIAL
The art is an expressive painting and form of creative storytelling. Tobjects represented compose a philosophical map.
Website: http://www.beverlyannmoore.com
beverlyannmoore@gmail.com
(214) 215-5430
Kevin Parma
Kevin Parma was trained as an architect and heads his own firm, parmadesign. Dealing in constraints of the built environment on a daily basis, he decided to take other ideas into painting and sculpture. At this time, he was also observing the demolition required for projects to expand or be born. When opening up structures, he noticed the random materials and associated finishes that told a story of how the individual materials become a whole. The imperfection of what is drawn so precise appealed to him. The random nail or screw holes, overspray from paint, stained cabinets and floors all led to a deconstructivism thought of going back together to form a new entity. This new formed being has its warts on display but puts the story of it’s life (metaphorical memories, journey’s, triumphs and downfalls) together to have you recognize it as it is today and what it is trying to speak it’s past and now your collective future.
BAM / Beverly Ann Moore
Cherish Chair
The chair is an interactive piece with gallery guests invited to write one caring word on the chair that represents their dream for the future.
Website: http://www.beverlyannmoore.com
beverlyannmoore@gmail.com
(214) 215-5430
Elise Techentine
1. Slow Down
2. Peace Be With You
My recent assemblage pieces present the idea of seeking balance in various life situations. The recurring black and white elements (usually painted crepe myrtle sticks) are specific to each piece. This color combination is evocative of both presence and absence and represents the constant struggle to find equilibrium.
Although the pieces are mostly autobiographical, my hope is the ideas put forth will resonate on some level with the viewer.
purplegoats@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Jose Vargas
La Chair de Arte
One day I was driving in the neighborhood and I spotted an old reddish brown lawn chair. It was under some tree limbs and looking the worst for wear! I reflected upon the situation and then I decided to continue driving. I thought of the chair as I drove off. I liked the way it looked and felt kinda sad that it was going to be picked up by the trash man and it was to end up discarded, like so many things in our lives.
The following week I came up on the same chair and tree limbs. I was surprised that the trash man had not taken it away and I considered taking it home. But then I decided not to do that. I felt that I already had plenty of projects going on and I did not need another one to add to my list. I was sure that the trash man was going to take it away.
The following week I drove by to see what was left of the tree limbs and to my surprise – the chair was still there! I parked my old Ford Ranger so that I could get a better look at the situation. Well, not only was the old chair there, but as it turned out, there were in fact two of them! Both were in sad shape. Somewhat damaged, weathered and in need of repair. I decided that fate had brought us together and that it was meant for me to take in the chairs and to keep them out of the landfills. I asked a friend to help me pull the chairs out from underneath the tree limbs. We loaded them into the back of the Ranger and I knew that I had just made my list of art projects longer. I smiled.
A few weeks later, I took a closer look at the chairs and I noticed how much work it was going to take to get them up and going. I decided that it would best for me to take both of them apart and then try to reassemble one of them back together using the parts that were in the best shape. As it was, I had to create newer parts to make some repairs. I did a quick sketch of what I had in mind and went after it.
This is what I came up with. I like the “patina” of old weathered wood. I kept as much of it as I could. I asked my sister to help me with sewing a new cushion for it. A big shout out goes to my sister, Virginia!
Jose Vargas – Artist, Art Curator, Art installer, Treasure Hunter
jvargas898@earthlink.net
Kat Warwick
Go Outside
Go Outside is a quandary of contradictions and puzzles. It is created with sandstone, steel, loose chain, and metal lug nuts. It is seemingly an impossible object. The cushions look soft and inviting to the eyes, but are actually unwelcoming, rigid and abrasive to touch. The frame of the chair holds everything together but has no visible means of vertical support. The vertical elements are loose chain, and using the concept of tensegrity, create the very uneasy sense of instability. And the spikes countersunk into the cushions, create the very opposite effect of what a chair is designed to do for us. Which leads the viewer to contemplate the various meanings that this sculpture could have.
For Kat and Jerry Warwick, Go Outside speaks of our need to turn off our devices and literally go outside. Go out with friends, play in the creek, ride bikes, walk the dog, visit a neighbor, have lunch at the local cafe. Connect with humans face to face instead of through the artificial lens of a screen full of pixels.
kat@theartlifeway.com
(469) 708-2780
Website: https://www.theartlifeway.com
