. . .While Mr. Voorhees’ works illustrate his deconstructionist view of the human form, they seem less portraiture than still life or even collage. He is reluctant to give fresh insight into the enigma of the man behind the mask, but is content to reinforce the old adage that there is more than one way to kill a cat, or a camper . . .
Wait, the QuickMail Notifier is flashing annoyingly at the bottom of my screen--I stop to put the VCR and pretentious drivel on “PAUSE”--it’s a message from Mimi warning me that IN REAL LIFE 3 is rapidly approaching. Is it the end of July already? Why is there all this hammering outside my office? Well, I guess it’s time to find my silly hat (buried at the bottom of that Frank Zappa boxed set) and go out into the lobby and view the fresh crop of artworks spawned by the creativity and imagination of my GSD co-workers. Like Chauncy Gardener my remote control won’t help me now.
What do you do for the sequel of the sequel? The second time round you are carried
along by the enthusiasm created by the first show. But now that it’s an annual event,
what can you do to ensure that the show goes on long after the stars of the first show
have gone on to better offers? Do you quit after three shows like Mad
Max or find some fresh faces and new ideas like Police Academy 6, 7
& 8? (Wait, I don’t quite think that was the analogy I wanted to make.)
In Hollywood, the third time around you pull out the gimmicks. So in the spirit of Friday the 13th 3D, Jaws 3D, The Amityville Horror 3D, and House of Wax (the one and only), this year I’ve provided some real imitation 3-D glasses (while supplies last), courtesy of the company that makes the popcorn. It will make all the art look funny, and your friends look even funnier, but it won’t make the pictures leap off the paper, and you can read this wearing them, but they’ll give you a headache if you wear them long enough, just like real 3-D glasses.
So, here we are again, some old favorites, some new stars, and me to make it all come to life in prose. Here are this year’s participants:
BARBARA BUTLER has contributed a variety of jewelry including: “Dog Faced Bolo” one of those Texas rope tie things that Matlock wears, “Swinging Elvis” (the metal years), “Married & Metaled”, “Flower Basket”, “Grape Vine Pin”, “Untitled” I’m not sure which one this is, and “Barbara’s Beaded Beautiesä“ a collection of earrings made from a variety of materials including gold, silver, brass, handblown Venetian Beads, Sterling Silver Balian Beads, and a considerable amount of alliteration.
CHRISTINE LEFLEUR has contributed two black and white photos (sepia tone). “Mike-Pool Hall” Mike at a pool table setting up a rack of balls, and “Mike and Michele” relaxing on bed, lit by sunlight streaming in the window behind them. The slightly somber tone of the portraits is counterpointed by the use of light, and the effect of the sepia toning gives a relaxed ageless quality to the pictures.
ANN WHITESIDE’S “Collection of Cards” is a series of collages, made from strips of ornate paper, with dark purples and green contrasted with bright orange and red in a variety of shapes.
DESIREE GOODWIN has contributed two very different types of artwork. “Dream Catcher” a collection of somewhat whimsical earrings and a beaded net (not dolphin friendly I’m afraid). The earrings range from a set of wind chimes to blue beads with stars, a silver bow or funny hats. On the wall are three poems “A Starry Night” a response to Vincent van Gogh, “Marilyn Movie Star” on the price of fame, and the very dreamy “Night Sequence.”
JAMIE BRENNAN has four woodcuts entitled “Untitled 1, 2, 3 & 4”. Come on Jamie if you don’t give them titles I can’t pretend I know what they’re about. But they’re very nice, with images of leaves, birds?, a sweater. Just some really nice shapes and things. I don’t need to know what they’re about really because they’re really quite nice, it just looks better on paper that way.
MINERVA SMITH has contributed two paintings with comic book themes. One has Superman’s cape lying torn on a background of purple rocks (was this when the old boy snuffed it). The other is Catwoman against a Gotham skyline on shiny paper, loosely covered in slightly crumpled plastic wrap.
MIMI TRUSLOW has four water colors. “Mind Island” has several small patches of land in a sea of clouds (fog). “From the Field” is a portrait of a wild flower. “Whaleback” is a rustic hillside framed by trees. “Dawn” is a winter hillside, covered in snow, with rocks jutting out. Her work uses the vagaries of watercolor to create a relaxed and dreamy effect, as of things perceived but not near enough to be in clear focus.
TRINA KALEKAS is new to the exhibition and has contributed some very interesting work with silk & dried flowers, vines, and hats. Her two “Spring Hats” are straw hats decorated with bows and colorful silk flowers. “Heart Wreath” is a heart shaped wreath decorated with dried flowers. “Country Vine” has both silk and dried flowers, and “Fan for Mom” is a large ornate piece decorated with colorful silk flowers.
TENBROECK S. PATTERSON’S “Curious Embellishments III: Landscape to Necklace” have been downsized to compete in a ninety's economy. Here delightfully ornate beaded balls are now earring sized, and hung from Bayberry Bush Branches like bejeweled fruit against a silvery backdrop of pebbles and brightly colored gemstones.
SARAH TRAVIS also has something very different to exhibit. Her five portraits include: “Topher and a Crow” a lithograph of a man and his bird, “Self-Portrait--Bird Cage” a woodcut with a somewhat skeletal look (yes, you can be too thin), and three “Self Portraits” done in pencil and watercolor. The portraits have a kind of everyman (or woman) quality, more universal individual with a somewhat androgynous look, unlike the subjects (to paraphrase Jessica Rabbit “They’re just drawn that way.”)
BARBARA LUDWIG has contributed two quilts. “Toddler Years” has simple shapes and bright colors and evokes the warmth of childhood. “Quick Quilt” has green fabric with small flowers contrasted with large brightly colored flowers. One corner is folded to show the back covered in small flowers. Hard to imagine that this was all that quick to make, but then it takes me two hours to sew on a button.
JOSE RIVERA has brought the exhibition its first collection. “A Cheap Hobby” is a collection of matchbooks from all over the world, and going back at least as far as World War II. There are a wide variety of imaginative shapes and styles, as well as advertising for everything from whisky to politicians to Elvis to Planet Hollywood in Maui.
SCOTT KEHOE has been out and around and photographing just about everything he comes across, and making the ordinary look interesting. This years selection of photographs includes: “A Field of Sunflowers”, “Eroded Hillside, Raw River”, “An Interesting Plant”, “Radiator and Extension Cord” in a shaft of light on a late afternoon in November 1994, “Slab of Granite” Halibut Point, Cape Ann, Mass., “An Abandoned Quarry” in Revere, “Typical Beach Scene”, and three examples of “Polaroids as Art” where he has fun with that old trick of scraping the layers of color off a Polaroid print to create interesting effects.
KATHY STERLING has contributed a painting called “Gladiolus” done in oil pastels. I’m not familiar with the medium, Sarah tells me that they’re chalky like pastels but oil based so they have the deep colors. The effect is very nice with very bright colors of the flower with the airiness of pastels.
TANJA FOULDS has contributed a punk sculpture (heavy metal?) video “Whang It” featuring the welder/sculptor Dan McGowan. His sculpture, large, skeletal and expressing very intense, often violent emotions are showcased, accompanied by a hard rock soundtrack. There are also several short pieces where he discusses his work and how he creates it. The sculptures reminded me of the Terminator movies, although less mechanical and more organic.
There are two contributors this year who are getting their work on the wall even later than I am. They are:
ENRIQUE BASCUNANA will exhibit a series of photographs entitled “Images”.
PAUL SHOEMAKER will exhibit three photographs of life in the small pond titled “Pond Life”, “Inventions” and “Untitled”.
I wish to thank all the contributors for making my job possible, which is to put the whole artistic experience into words once again. My job, of course is to make work for the Grammar and Spell Checking programs, and the Reproductive Services folks over at OIT. So bye now, until next year:
--BOB ANGILLY, JULY 1995
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