"Tell me a Story" at the Center for Book & Paper Arts

In 2010, artist Rose Camastro-Pritchett spent a semester in China, introducing art students at a college in JiuJiang to a very unfamiliar idea: conceptual art.

Improvising materials and equipment, she set up a papermaking studio on the verandah of her apartment, and was soon showing her students how to make paper pulp, and then turn that into artist’s books and other paper-based art. The students were all competent in painting, but the idea of, well, starting with just an idea, or a memory, and then letting that dictate the form was something entirely alien to them.

In an exhibition that just closed at the Center for Book and Paper Arts in Chicago, Camastro-Pritchett exhibited some of the student work that she was able to bring back to the United States when the residency was over. Called “Tell Me a Story,” the show displayed a nice variety of pieces: dresses made from paper, the hems torn into strips on which were written a student’s personal memories:

Accordion books cut into the shape of the Chinese dragons, with bright colours to match:

Books with contrasting materials such as razor blades sewn in to the pages:

And my favourite, a piece called “Growth” that consisted of molds taken from rice bowls, filled with rice, and nestled in the rice an eggshell containing a little soil and a garlic plant. Apparently the region to which JiuJiang belongs is renowned for its garlic, which is grown and then sold on the streets in gigantic mountains of garlic (Rose Camastro-Pritchett is pictured standing next to "Growth"):

I liked that piece best because it seemed to contain a more extended thought process than the others, and had a definite originality to it. But that’s not to disparage the other work on display: just because the forms were familiar doesn’t mean that they were uninteresting. The fact that the work came from China, and an intercultural exchange between an American artist and the soon-to-be-dominant culture of the new century, accounts for some of the fascination, of course. It was a well-mounted exhibition, and it extended the Center for Book and Paper Arts’ track record of producing good, original shows. 

Brancusi in Plastic

Artist Mary Ellen Croteau is showing these columns made from recycled plastic cartons and lids in the window of the Columbia College bookstore on Michigan Avenue. They are a playful homage to Brancusi's "Endless Columns", with a serious environmental message for our times:

Mary Ellen also runs a wonderful experimental art gallery in a window space in west Chicago, called Art on Armitage. I will be exhibiting a mixed media piece there during August 2012.

Two works in progress

Medium: acrylic paint on printmaking paper.

Medium: acrylic paint and airbrush pigment on printmaking paper.

Meditation on Franz Kafka

After a Christmas hiatus, here is number 94 in this series of 100 short talks on art and artists. Yes, Franz Kafka was an artist, occasionally.

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Anabasis: Journey to the Interior: Diary 1/24/12

Drypoint on aluminium, 7" x 5"

"It was hard to breathe, pressed so tightly together against the fleshy walls, our two tiny forms bathed inside and outside by the amniotic fluid, deafened by the hammering thud of a heartbeat, tantalised by the distant sound of music and voices."

Text inspired by writer Patricia Ann McNair's daily journal prompts. Prompt # 16: It was hard to breathe.

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Film of Barbara Hepworth

Just over three years ago, I visited St. Ives in southwest England when Patty was teaching over there. One of the wonderful treasures there is the studio home of renowned sculptor Barbara Hepworth. She died in the 1980s (I think) in a studio fire, which is rather grotesque. The house has no trace of that tragedy, however. Instead, you can see her tools and her workshop, the beautiful Cornish house, and wander the lush gardens, built on a steep slope, and littered with her distinctive sculptures. Here is a picture I took in the gardens, with a very typical middle-aged English couple (and a cat) wandering around:

And here is a short film from the marvellous Tate Channel, shot at the house, and containing some recently discovered footage of the Dame in her studio:

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Anabasis: Journey to the Interior: Diary 1/18/12

Neo-color pastels

The boys liked to stand with their faces turned towards the sky, near the old church, down in the dene, as the hawk sprang from its nest, sailed in a wide arc towards the smaller birds, and brought its prey to earth in a splash of blood.

(Text derived from writer Patricia Ann McNair's writing prompt series. Prompt #6: "The boys liked..." )

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Anabasis: Journey to the Interior: Diary 1/16/12

Derived from writer Patricia Ann McNair's daily journal prompt: Prompt #4, January 11, 2012: We were never sure what happened.

"We were never sure what happened. They say the army jeep slid on some ice and went out of control. They also said the driver was drunk, and didn't notice how close he was to the truck right in front. The man fast asleep in the passenger seat never had a chance. The personnel from the army base who were charged with giving us the news said that his body was badly scarred and burned from the accident. An ID had already been made, so there was no need to go through the trauma of seeing him in that state."

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