September 2nd through September 30th
Opening reception on Friday, September 8th, 6-8 pm
Anita Allyn Ellie Brown Kent Latimer
Cut&Paste features five artists using appropriation and collage techniques in a variety of media. It ventures beyond scissors and glue exploring how collage can be created out of the unexpected including digital media. The work reflects the influence of mass media and the constant bombardment of imagery we are subjected to on a daily basis. Instead of creating new images these artists take existing imagery and manipulate it into their own story. Cut&Paste reexamines the possibility of originality and authenticity in the growing corporate mass culture.
Anita Allyn creates collage out of imagery taken from movies. Through careful editing and some digital manipulation she creates a new plotline, effectively recasting an original story. The video, Imaginary Lines, incorporates found footage and animation to reinterpret the road movie genre. She works with different formal strategies including documentary, personal narrative, and abstract loops to investigate the positioning of truth telling in a post-video age.
Ellie Brown's found book collages explore her own sexuality and questions of sexual identity. She records her sexual history by creating collages with found books. Each one records a different sexual partner. The cover remains untouched and the interior of the book is sealed, displaying only the first page on which she has created an evocative collage. She uses the revised imagery of the books to tell the story within.
Kent Latimer creates assemblages with found objects. Serendipity plays a major role in his process, from the finding of an object to the discovery of its complementary parts. He takes an immediately recognizable object, combines it with other found objects and displays it in an atypical way. Latimer chooses to use assemblage over other processes because it allows him to change how an object is defined, in effect, playing with reality.
Eric Lendl plays on our association of collage as a childhood craft. He uses childlike imagery, but addresses adult ideas. His work deals with government, religion, war, the press and a variety of other topics that affect society in a very serious way.
Caroline Shields creates miniature worlds out of toys and found objects. Her work is inspired by contemporary lowbrow art and Mexican Folk art. It looks longingly back at the days of pin-ups, vintage cars and amusement parks, but also incorporates a spirituality which merges tarot cards, Catholic saints and Hindu deities.
