Small Art For The People
Art - it’s all in yer head until yer brain spits it out into the larger world. Then what? What dimensions? What tools? What materials? What designs? As a word person I like the challenge of fitting a piece to a standard: Poem, essay, 500 words or 5000 words, even dreaded deadlines. Probably the compulsive side of me. But I’ve created a lot of visual art over the decades too—not hard when you share a life surrounded by inspiration and materials via a prolific artist like Greg. So when the invitation to exhibit comes every March for the New Arts Program’s (NAP) Small Works Exhibit in Kutztown, I look for signs to point me in a creative direction guided by the parameters of the show: The entire piece can be no larger than 200 sq. inches, including framing (if there is any). That may seem like plenty of space but it ain’t. Which is what makes it fun. Greg was invited first many years ago and then I wheedled my way in. Each year it’ s something different. Sometimes we mutually inspired each other; self portraits of each other, or similar photo collages. Other years our own muses run far afield. Here’s a vid tour of the ‘08 show. If you look carefully in Part 2, you’ll see my painting of Greg. He’s wearing his heart on his chest, if that helps! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXlGMbTz7b8&feature=related
What’s incredibly nifty about this show is the utter and fabulous chaos of work. James Carroll, who runs the gallery w/ his wife Joanne , hangs ‘em as he gets ‘em in the mail, so it’s wildly divergent. Made with every material imaginable. Wood, wire , fabric, paint, paper , foam, rust…even a kiss on the wall. Anything goes. Due to the reputation of NAP, submissions come from around the world. So a few hundred works are hung salon style (informal from floor to ceiling) in the small gallery connected to offices and archives. There are also videos submitted from all over, running continuously as the chatter from the preview party gets louder and louder. Carroll , an artist who also taught art for years at Kutztown U., has had many creative people from New York City and beyond cross his path, including very famous artist Keith Haring (now deceased) — a kid who started out “decorating” subways and street corners in NYC then hit it big. One of his works graces the floor of the exhibition space.
Because the opening is on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, we usually miss it but instead take a day off to drive up there at our leisure in early July. Which we just did on Tuesday. As usual, it was a terrific display of talented and insane small logic. Very cool viewing on a very hot day. We always hang and chat w/ James and Joanne too. We now have a running joke because one year I submitted “EarthArt,” a beautiful bulb of my home grown garlic that I attached to a background I painted on board of soil, horizon and sky. I told them to eat the garlic after the show was over. Now every year I send them a bulb w/ my submission. Never hurts to reward the people who make such a fantastic show possible, and free to everyone. After, we walk down the street to the groovy little restaurant that offers great handmade food. Then we stop at the farm stand on the way out of town for melon, corn and anything else either not planted or not yet coming in the garden. Then we get stuck in traffic because of the endless construction on Rt. 222 to get out of town again. And so it goes. Small is beautiful.
