Raphael Zollinger

UDF redux, 2010. Archival UltraChrome Print, 30" x 40"

August, 2004 with Apollo Cam, 2010. Archival UltraChrome Print, 30" x 40"

August, 2004 with Rover, 2010. Archival UltraChrome Print, 30" x 40"

Woman with Flowers, 2010. Archival UltraChrome Print, 44"x32"

Mare Tranquillitatis, 2010, Archival UltraChrome Print, 30" x 40"

Artist Statement
This body of work seeks to reside in and thereby comment upon the liminal space of photography, that space between the document and that of the art work. I am interested in the medium of photography itself and in its representational function pointing outside of itself to an aspect of cultural narrative and memory. At the same time, I am drawn to the self-referential quality of photography that stems from the history of modernism and painting. By choosing to keep the identities of each layer in my photographs evident, balancing these in turn creates a push and pull dynamic between the content of the images and the formal aspects of color, line and texture. By layering and juxtaposing images from the protest surrounding the 2004 Republican National Conference in New York City with those of the Apollo moon mission, Joseph Albers compositions, found and acquired old photographs, as well as direct drawings, I create dialogues between each image. New contrasts old, just as hope and optimism reside simultaneously with disillusionment or apathy, and unity opposes individualism. This discourse dictates an aesthetic in which layered imagery by way of material choices approach and thereby utilize the vocabulary of abstraction. Technically, these prints are produced in the same manner as traditional print making and silk-screen where layers of ink are printed on top of the other, yet I utilize the resolution and control of digital resources. Imagery, color, ink type, and paper are carefully considered and selected to control opacity as the paper is sent through the photo printer anywhere from 3 to 8 separate times leaving behind a history of it production, time, and the artists hand. This is often not evident in the cold mechanical reproducible nature of photography and leads to varying and intensified experiences when viewing the work as multiple levels of detail emerge as one alters their distance from the work.

Website
http://rzollinger.com

Linda Zacks

The Street (detail)

Biography
“A creative mind not content to simply sit back and observe- her work is alive.”

Linda Zacks has a passionate love affair with words and letters. Her signature is the way she uses type in her art – clever verbiage drawn from her trusty stack of sketchbooks. She uses words like artillery, firing back Life as it whizzes by your nose.

Linda’s work- part poetry, part paint reflects the adoration, anxiety, filth, fear, and visceral energy of just being alive and aware, and that makes its way into each picture. Tension. Calamity. The urban obstinance that turns a jackhammer into a musical instrument. That’s what it’s like. If it’s not cathartic, it’s not in her artistic vocabulary.

Her creations capture the essence of a restless mind- clever commentary about the world we live in: the wonders of being female, America the strange, Love & Hate and the twisting of traditional concepts, such as beauty and war. Every moment has the potential to be captured in a painting or a unique handmade book.

Nothing is out of the question: old wood, torn paper, rusty metal, ink, duct tape or a scribbled-over Polaroid. And the textures–gloppy skid marks, bumpy nodules and crusty scabs smother the surface.

Linda spent much of her life moving around – including living overseas in England as a young child and attending high school in Holland. Before moving to New York City in 1995, Linda graduated from Brown University studying semiotics and creative writing and spent her junior year across the street at The Rhode Island School of Design. This unique blend of studies led her to a career as an accomplished designer and fine artist.

Website
http://www.lindazacks.com

Sophie Sejourne

Message – acrylic collage – 10in. x 10in. – 2006

Dordogne acrylic collage 10in. x 10in. – 2006

Blue – acrylic collage – 10in. x 10in. – 2007

Spring – acrylic collage – 14in. x 14in. – 2008

Quiet – acrylic collage – 14in. x 14in. – 2008

Website
http://sophiesejourne.com/

Upcoming Exhibit
Clover’s Fine Art Gallery
Earth + Goddess April 15th – May 31st
Opening Reception – Saturday April 17th 4-6 pm

Five artists celebrate the natural wonders of the earth.

Christina Massey

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1.  Brooklyn: An Art Community, BedStuy, Acrylic and Oil on Canvas and Paper, 34″ W x 26″ H (framed), 2009.
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2.  Brooklyn: An Art Community, Bushwick, Acrylic and Oil on Canvas and Paper, 34″ W x 26″ H (framed), 2009.
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3.  Brooklyn: An Art Community, Fort Greene, Acrylic and Oil on Canvas and Paper, 34″ W x 26″ H (framed), 2009.

Artist Statement
My work has focused on the challenge of taking painting to another level where it blends with sculpture and installation.  Using methods of constructing and deconstructing, I am constantly re-using and re-purposing my artwork.  One series literally leads to another, where previous series of works are cut, torn and sewn back together again into new series of works which may again be reconstructed into yet another art form.  The past always present in the current and future works, they tell a story of my progression as an Artist, and question the finality of Art.

I often use word play, theatrics and general political topics as a way to communicate opinions that ultimately define an observation about the Art world itself.  Recently I have been interested in involving the audience more in the decision making of the deconstruction process.  I am working on three series currently, “The Chopping Block,” “Bits & Pieces” and “Hung Out to Dry.”  All of these works have been influenced by my changes of situation during this Recession.  I will soon be posting works to viewers in order to get their opinion on what works will remain intact, and what will ultimately be “destroyed” or transformed into a new life as another form of Art.

Website
http://cmasseyart.wordpress.com/

Scott Faucheux

faucheux_001_lines2lines 001: 9″ x 9″; ink, paint marker, automotive paint, on paper

faucheux_bagtag_006

bagtag 006: 9″ x 9″ ; found printed paper and glue on paper

faucheux_lightning

lightning: 24″H x 36″W; found printed paper and shellac on canvas

faucheux_jellyfish

jellyfish: 72″W x 48″H; housepaint, acrylic and shellac on canvas

Artist Statement

my work is about the mechanical expression of natural phenomena. I’ve heard my studio described as the CERN lab of patterns, as if i am actually getting all these individual visual elements moving near light speed and just smash them together on a canvas, looking for the birth of a new universe.

that actually doesn’t sound bad.

each of my pieces is the result of dozens, hundreds or thousands of actions taking place in the same space. each actions bends and transforms the next, adding layers and layers of richness to the surfaces. i have almost found the secrets to bending these forces to my will. almost.

Website
www.scottfaucheux.com

Lauren Simkin Berke

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Artist Statement:
Excavations and Adaptations is a series of more than sixty small works that combine ink drawings from my sketchbooks (through the use of xerox transfer) with collage. The drawings are mostly based on photographs, both found and personal, with a few drawn from direct observation. The collages vary from simple swaths of color to complex abstract patterns.

About five years ago I started to collect old photographs, and then I began to draw from them. I find these photographs at flea markets, in antique and junk shops. They are often family snapshots, from the 1920s through the 1970s, or studio portraits from the last quarter of the 19th century. I find it strange that these documents are for sale as part of a consumer market place, instead of being in albums on bookshelves in the homes of the families of those in the photos. I find myself at the intersection between a fascinated voyeurism and a determination to know these documents as well as humanly possible in order to give them new, longer life.

Website
http://www.simkinberke.com/

Steve Riley

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Good Morning Universe, 8×9.5″, 2009

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Brave New World, 8×9″ 2008

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Broken World, 8×9″, 2008

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Stream, 10×10″, 2008

Artist Statement

I am drawn to everyday objects that are often overlooked or discarded. Using a wide range of disciplines, I transform the materials into small works. With a modern primitive style I balance the positive and negative space that gives a piece a sense of beauty. Taking an unorthodox approach I embellish the surface of my work with steel nails and apply tiny circles to explore nature and its relationship with the synthetic.

Website

http://www.steveriley.artlogsites.com/

Diana Leidel

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Toujours Prêt, collage and paint on wood, 14″ x 10″

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Black and White Chair, acrylic on paper

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4-Part Red and Yellow Chair, acrylic on paper

Artist Bio
Diana Leidel is an artist who is also a creative director in magazine publishing and is currently art director at Playbill Magazine. She has been the recipient of numerous design awards for her work with Pointe magazine, Pilates Style magazine, and Dance Magazine, and has been a contributor to Graphic Design USA. She holds a BFA from The Cooper Union and an MA from New York University, where she also taught graphic design.

She exhibits in New York and Brooklyn and is a member of the Brooklyn Artists Gym.

Her paintings, on canvas and paper, are color studies of single objects that celebrate the world of the everyday.

Diana describes  her collages and drawings as Non-Fiction Art, in which the fictional world in the artist’s mind meets the news in the real world. She combines words and statements from news stories and consumer media with painting, collage and found containers to make wall-piece boxes. The pencil drawings are portraits of newsmakers, performers and innocent bystanders, from chickens to tango dancers
and health workers. Her abstract work is also inspired by images from print media.

Website
http://dianaleidel.com

Helene Mukhtar

mukhtar01
East West (2007)
Paper collage and oil paint on canvas
30″x40″

“East West” explores the visual similarities between Western graffiti and images from Eastern societies. This series, which I just started, is inspired by a recent trip to Pakistan.

mukhtar02
Subway Space 2
Paper collage and oil paint on canvas (2006)
36″x36″

In my series “Subways”, I contrast the vulnerability, helplessness and passivity of the subway riders to the hardness of their surroundings: the metal structures, beams, platforms and tunnels. The riders are reduced to “subway legs” which evolve in an angular, distorted and somewhat threatening environment. These paintings and collages were triggered by the subway bombings in London and Madrid and my own experience riding the subway in New York City.

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Harmony 4 (2007)
Paper collage and oil paint on canvas
30″x40″

“Harmony” is an attempt to reconcile and join two geometrical symbols, the
circle and the line through the imagery of architecture and music.

Artist Statement
My work reflects the tension, uncertainty and unease permeating our societies today. These feelings are in part generated by international terrorism, violence and militarism.

My photographs are usually at the base of my creative process. I travel extensively and the shots taken on my trips are integrated into my paintings. In recent years, I have been particularly fascinated with graffiti and photographs of graffiti have now become an important visual element in my work.

These images are printed on paper and glued onto the canvas. Graffiti from New York, Paris and Berlin, glass architecture from modern European cities, Mogul buildings from Pakistan, headless mannequins from the streets of Paris are collaged together. They may or may not “fit together”. Out of this visual cacophony, I create a harmonious whole. It is like a puzzle. I use oil or acrylic paint. I proceed through trial and error and constantly build and destroy. Each piece is different with its own unique problems and solutions.

In my latest series “ Veni, Vidi, Sgraffiti”, I started incorporating drawings into my work. This new development has enabled me to inject humor in a serious discussion about war and violence.

Website
http://www.helenemukhtar.com/

Ann Simkins

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Under The Brooklyn Bridge

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Japanese Garden

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Red Hook

Artist Statement

I moved to Brooklyn 22 years ago to study at Pratt Institute. I had a great teacher, David Passalacqua. I studied with him at Pratt and then for 14 years after that. The education I received was filled with wisdom that continues to slowly unfold each day.

Years back, I gave myself a project to create a poster that I would publish on my own. I chose Brooklyn as my theme since I had just spent a lot of time photographing and drawing Red Hook and Coney Island and I truly love the borough. I began thumbnailing and decided to create images with the feel of folk art and quilts. I decided that collages would best convey the pictures I wanted to make. Above are three of my favorite collages form the poster, Red Hook, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Japanese Garden at Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

Today my goal is to create art, to be surrounded by art and continue to be inspired by art from all walks of life. I love art.

Contact
annsimkins@aol.com
http://snoballsandcandycorn.wordpress.com/

Pamela Enz

“I Have Been Circling God ” – Oil, paper, ink and cut plastic on canvas – 36×53 inches
“  ….circling round that great tower and I still don’t know if I am a falcon, a storm or a great song” – Rilke.

“Down Here” – oil, cut paper, ink on canvas – 16 x 20 inches
I started this piece after reading personal accounts of the mostly anonymous builders of our grand public spaces.   One worker Mr. Kumaran  “.. I wish the rich people would realize who is building these towers, I wish they would come and see how sad this life is.”

“Traveling Thru” – oil, paper, crayon, ink on canvas – 20 x 26 inches
I struggle to put this one into words, as it was driven by the impalpable. It concerns the sense of aloneness common to all creatures big and small.

“Re:Henry”- oil, paper, plastic, pencil shavings on canvas – 36 x 26 inches
I completed this piece after the death of my best friend Henry forcing myself to go on out of respect for him and who he was. It was just one of the numerous gifts of his friendship.

Artist Statement

Over the past decade I have worked as a performance artist, a filmmaker and visual artist. Most recently I have been working on ever expanding collage. I start with a collection of my own drawings which I then tear, cut and layer before pencilling and painting into them. They are on both paper and canvas. Often however the foundation of a piece is text – most often my own – but also a range of words that haunt and continue to inspire. Some I have taken from the sublime ( the poet- Rilke ). Others from the absurd ( The New York Post ).

Biography (partial)

Exhibitions – Recent Work

ArtWalk 2008   Brooklyn , NY July 2008
Incongruities 2.0 – Ashawagh Hall East Hampton, NY July 2008
Private Viewing – Sunday Afternoon Series. Brooklyn Heights –Nov 2007
Letters to Joan  Emergency Arts – solo – collage –  NYC  – April 2007
Recent Works  Emergency Arts – group show – NYC- November 2006
2006 Square Foot Show – Art Gotham   NYC  – March 2007
Incongruities   Ashawagh Hall – East Hampton, NY. – March 2006
Cryptopsychographies  Tin Garage – Tarrytown, NYC – December 2005

Traveling the globe Ms. Enz exhibited in Corfu, Paris and Tel-Aviv as well as stateside at Hofstra University, East Hampton, North Shore Arts and NOW in NYC.  Due to the toxicity of materials and the proximity of her newborn daughter she worked to become a performance artist, filmmaker, and playwright. After winning a second Edward F. Albee Fellowship for writing which included a residency at The Barn in Montauk, she began with Mr. Albee’s encouragement to incorporate her own text into large collage which she now uses as a backdrop for performance work. They also stand alone as works of art .

More Information

http://sonofanobody.com/bios_pamela.html

Bina Altera

Bina Altera, “Dance”

Bina Altera, “Faith”

Bina Altera, “Reflections”

Bina Altera, “Float”

Bina Altera, “Beyond”

Exhibit

Bina Altera will be showing recent collage work in the annual staff show at The School of Visual Arts in the BFA Photography department.

Dates: Sept 4th – 12th
Location: 214 E21st St., 6th fl.

Bina is the featured artist in MacTribe magazine this month, an interview by Danile Robillard is available at http://www.mactribe.com.