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06/19/2009 10:00 am
US/Michigan
While exhibiting at various venues, the Chicago-based 3-D 12 artists have identified their commonly held environmental interests and concerns. Our personal perceptions on the issue cover as broad a range as our materials of choice. Decomposed lost and found objects, recycled plastic and metal, salvaged scrap wood, earth and water are some materials which are effectively reconfigured to translate our ideas into physical forms. The sculptural works take on subjective and collective meaning to contributre to a genuine meta-landscape.
The 3-D 12 artists are: Shelley Gilchrist, Peter Gray, Alan Emerson Hicks, Ruyell Ho, Beth Kamhi, Jim MacRoberts, Bill Moll, Mimi Peterson, Robert Putnam, Eric H. Steele, and Michelle Stone
Hair Art and Environmental Sculpture form unique exhibit
Visitors viewing the upcoming exhibit at South Haven Center for the Arts: “hair@theshore –Artwork made with hair and NOW sculpture/environment”, will discover hair clippings turned into portraits by a barber/artist, and environmental elements shaped into 3-D forms of various sizes by a group of Chicago-based 3-D artists.
The exhibit, free to the public, will be on display in both the lower and upper galleries from June 19 through July 26. The Opening Reception, also free to the public, will take place from 5-7 p.m., June 20 at the South Haven Center for the Arts. While enjoying delicious refreshments, created and served by culinary artist Suzie Blair, visitors can enjoy the waves of creativity displayed in this cutting edge exhibit.
After years of hair clippings piling up on the floor of his barber shop in Battle Creek, George Martinez decided to do more than just create clip art. The barber and self-taught artist started cutting the discarded hair into small pieces and placing them on a background of felt to create fascinating portraits of animals and people, including his self-portrait. One of 12 children born into a migrant worker’s family, Martinez always loved art but he did not pursue his passion until 2004.
Martinez showed his grand stranding portraits to artist and curator of CIR Gallery in Battle Creek, Andrew Freemire, who encouraged Martinez to create a body of work for exhibits. Thanks to Freemire’s mentoring, Martinez made more than 70 large scale works, has presented over nine exhibits, and sold over 40 pieces.
While gazing at a hair mobile hanging in the stairwell, visitors can step into a world of figurative sculpture and see about 75 environmental 3-D works, some four to six feet high. Environmental sculpture is an art development of the 20th century, creating or altering the environment, according to Wikipedia. Environmental sculpture can also be inspired by forms and processes from nature to represent artists’ concern for our fragile environment.
Mimi Peterson, one of the 3-D artists in the exhibit, says they identified their commonly held environmental interests and concerns, and then used objects such as recycled plastic, metal, salvaged scrap wood to create their 3-D forms. Peterson notes, “These sculptural works take on subjective and collective meaning to contribute to a genuine meta-landscape.” It’s important that visitors go beyond the surface when viewing their creations. Other 3-D artists include: Shelley Gilchrist, Peter Gray, Alan Emerson Hicks, Ruyell Ho, Beth Kamhi, Jim MacRoberts, Bill Moll, Robert Putnam, Eric H. Steele and Michelle Stone.
The exhibit is made possible, in part, through a grant from Systems Components. “I am grateful for the staff’s diligent work in organizing this unusual exhibit that people of all ages can enjoy,” says Marie Maguire, Executive Director of South Haven Center for the Arts. “We are fortunate to have such talented artists displaying their works in South Haven.” Artists’ works will be for sale and part of the proceeds benefit the Art Center.
For more information, about “hair@theshore -- Artwork made with hair and NOW sculpture/environment” exhibit, call the South Haven Center for the Arts at 269-637-1041, or log on to www.southhavenarts.org
Art Center hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 1 to 5 p.m. on weekends.