Last weekend, the Contemporary Art Museum of St. Louis sponsored Open Studio weekend, in which 83 local artists opened their workspaces to the public. I got to eight or ten on Sunday. It was fascinating to talk to the artists about their creative process and discuss their work. Several of them let me take quick portraits photos.The first artist above is Pat Leigh, who does acrylic painting and collage with photography. She showed me a book she had crafted with photographs and text, documenting the length of Taylor Avenue in St. Louis. Taylor runs through both run-down and elegant neighborhoods, passing faded grandeur and urban rebirth. I found it quite moving.
Ron Flier is a painter who works in a variety of styles He showed me a parody of Caravaggio's David With the Head of Goliath in which a skinny, youthful George Bush holds the severed head of Saddam Hussein by the hair. He also paints abstracts using an unusual process: he starts with a concept, writes out what it means to him and them creates imagery to represent the idea. The painting behind him is about the expansion of the universe.
I got a few good portraits of other arists, which I may post over the weekend.
TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series
Oooh! Is Pat ever going to publish her Taylor Ave book? They both sound like fascinating artists I simply must check out. I really like Ron's abstract process. It sounds very interesting. Wish I could have gone!
ReplyDeleteThese are nice portraits, esp. the one of Pat. Looking forward to seeing more.
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