Archive for June, 2019

Circadian Tortuga

Saturday, June 29th, 2019

“The sage
     dwells in affairs of nonaction,
     carries out a doctrine without words.
He lets the myriad of creatures rise up
     but does not instigate them;
He acts
     but does not presume;
He completes his work
     but does not dwell on it.
Now,
     Simply because he does not dwell on them,
          his accomplishments never leave him.”
— Lao Tzu
 

There are many outstanding collage artists who have a trademark “style,” and I can immediately identify a piece as theirs prior to confirmation. I have no idea if people familiar with contemporary collage recognize a work as mine before they see a signature or attribution. To have cultivated a personal “voice” as an artist, no matter what the genre, and to have dug deeply into a single plot rich with ore is a good thing, and I admire those who have done it. I suspect that the description doesn’t apply to me — although I honestly don’t know — and I’d leave a more objective evaluation to others. I could accept that I’m wandering a hundred-year-old frontier, sometimes venturing into lawless terrain, and, as often as not, frequenting the established settlements, helping myself to the comforts of civilization. Or perhaps I just took a job in the collage mine.

Do I ruminate on such things only because I’m blogging instead of working in the studio? It brings to mind Robert Hughes, who described the history of art as being “like the scramble for Africa.” He wrote that “a few pioneers stumble on unexploited territory and stake it out, often forgetting to register their claims. Then the dealers arrive, and the collectors, carving up the area, reducing it to mining ground, a tangle of jumped claims and abandoned shafts, patrolled by trigger-happy art historians.”

I get more new ideas than I can possibly explore. Sometimes, when I fill a page with them, it occurs to me that the time would be better spent actually working instead of creating thumbnail notes for addition to my “to-do” list. The daily habit of confronting a challenging workload is probably a better source of what to do next than an isolated mental concept. To work and not dwell on it, to rest and then resume work, is undoubtedly the more rewarding road to deeper accomplishment. One can tell the difference between an artistic “look” that was intellectually contrived and one that grew organically from a work ethic. It is much like the process of collage itself. Spontaneous visual juxtapositions that could not possibly have been preconceived are generally more interesting and memorable than those that were “thought up” and then executed.
 

Circadian Tortuga
collage on canvas by J A Dixon
22 x 16 inches
on consignment
 
Purchase this artwork.

Second International Collage Art Exhibition

Saturday, June 15th, 2019

“One year ago, on 24th April, Retroavangarda Gallery held its opening exhibition in the modern office building complex Jerozolimskie Business Park in Warsaw. Since that day, many great artists and guests have visited the gallery. A big thank you to all artists and visitors!”
— Anna Kłos
 

I became aware of Dr Anna Kłos almost from the time she was instrumental in opening Warsaw’s Retroavangarda Gallery in 2018, which immediately hosted its first high-profile collage exhibition. As the gallery’s director, she used her evident social networking skills to quickly develop a strong presence on the worldwide stage of contemporary collage. I wasn’t nearly as impressed with this capability as with her curatorial acumen as a design historian and modern art scholar.

It was on this basis that I was profoundly gratified with her invitation to be a part of Retroavangarda’s second International Collage Art Exhibition to mark the institution’s first anniversary. It more than made my day when I was notified that all six of the works that I sent to Poland were selected for display and acceptance into the gallery’s permanent collection. With more than 200 works by 76 artists from around the world, Kłos organized the show under the honorary patronage of the Embassy of Argentina, the Embassy of Brazil, and the Embassy of Peru. The exhibition opened on April 4th, followed by a well-attended reception that included dignitaries from the three embassies. The show closes today, and jetting to Warsaw wasn’t possible for me, although I would have been thrilled to personally experience what was obviously a landmark compilation of exceptional collage artwork. The dynamic Anna, whose PhD dissertation was on Dadaist collage, is also a fine artist, lecturer, graphic design instructor at the Warsaw School of Information Technology, and curator of their WIT gallery.

It is a distinct privilege to be among the few North Americans selected to participate in one of the largest showcases of fine art collage ever held in Central Europe. Other artists from the USA with displayed work include Allan Bealy and Nikki Soppelsa, previously featured here, in addition to Angela Holland and Claire Dinsmore, both new to me. Please visit Anna’s facebook page and the Retroavangarda site to view images from the exhibition. Everyone interested in the art of collage will want to follow her ambitious activities in Poland.
 

 

 
 

 

 

The six collage miniatures exhibited at Retroavangarda Gallery were:
Blind the Mocking EyeFaded RecollectionsTruth Be ToldA Dirty FamilyA General AffairMyrmidons