Technology Becomes Them – Curatorial statement

Technology Becomes Them, on view in the Mikhail Zakin Gallery October 30 – November 21, 2015

Welcome to the neo-human era of art, on view in the Mikhail Zakin Gallery. For many, the latest suite of smart phones changes the way culture is experienced and remembered. Each artist in Technology Becomes Them creates work on a new aesthetic path where technology and humanity meet. The contemporary artists in this show employ traditional techniques and forms to explore the new fabric of reality, woven with ubiquitous technology and ever present internet communication.

Lisa Ficarelli-Halpern, Tech Cherubs (Pink Rust),
Silkscreen, 24x18", 2014, $250 

Lisa Ficarelli-Halpern creates hand-pulled prints reminiscent of Baroque wallpaper. Her contemporary color play and close cropped compositions are the first aesthetic vehicles grounding her work in contemporary visual vocabulary. Curious viewers are rewarded to discover the hidden gestures of cherubs and courtly personages and the banality of their focus: the figures are lost in their smartphones, tablets and laptops. While the figures refer vaguely to a distant time and place, the collision with technology reflects our own inane present-day obsessions.

Michael Burris Johnson mediates painterly observations of nature using the grid. The white rose bush in Patience is simplified into millions of tiny squares. While the imposed structure alienates the viewer from nature, this process also alleviates the strain of mimesis. The juxtaposed colors create a unity of lightly contrasting squares of color data. Standing in front of the work, the viewer is struck first by Johnson’s technique, and next by their own instinct to interpret beauty from a patchwork of color.

Michael Burris Johnson, "Patience", Oil on canvas, 42x84", 2015. Archival prints available for $80

Pat Lay, "54AAA0254C,"
Collaged digital scroll, inkjet 
printed on Japanese kozo paper, 
Tyvek backing, gold paint, 96x48",
2015, $6,500

Pat Lay refers to patterned works in art history and draws out the beauty of the computer matrix. Rather than mediating our experience, computer technology becomes the experience itself. The large scale of Lay’s collaged digital scrolls KB54AAA0468B and 54AAA0254C impose veneration while the pattern and shimmering color transfix the viewer. The paradoxical impression is one of aesthetic beauty and unknown strength- this could crush us while we are busy admiring it. The sculpted ceramic heads or “post-human power figures” combine fired clay and computer parts that stand eye to eye with the viewer. The implied functions and super human strength can be intimidating or comforting, depending on how far into the future you are willing to stare.

Judy Malloy, a pioneer hypertext poet from the early days of computing, has devised a series of phrases or lexias that comprise a poem. In Paths of Memory and Painting, the viewer is asked to navigate the poem by clicking the lexia that attracts them. An ethereal narrative emerges based on individual decision. The resulting form reflects the viewer’s desire for a certain path. The act of reading poetry and choosing what portion comes next alters the traditional form and a feeling of intimacy emerges between the viewer and the computer. We may be familiar with hypertext links on the internet that bounce us from one article to the next, but to do so for the purpose of art is a new experience.

Judy Malloy, "Paths of Memory and Painting," Hypertext literature, DHTML, 2010

In each case, the artist is revealing something beautiful yet foreboding, reminding us that the consequences of technology are only partially known to us. What will become of the world that does not fit on a screen? Will we always have the ability to love and share it IRL? In an age where any idea worth sharing comes with a pre-fab hashtag, I invite you to take a look around the gallery and admire the work of these four contemporary artists. Meanwhile, reflect on a question; if an exhibition doesn’t Instagram well, is it worth sharing? #TechnologyBecomesThem

-         Mary Gagler, Curator

Along The Line

The Café Gallery at the Art School at Old Church is pleased to have presented Along The Line, a duet exhibition that showcased work from local artists Karen Stern and Sarah Camille Wilson. Their most recent work in pottery was on display. Both Karen and Sarah are members of the Art School at Old Church community and have come together for an exhibition that highlights both the sculptural form and functionality in pottery. Along The Line was on view at the Café Gallery from July 9th through August 4th.

Face cup, Karen Stern

Karen Stern (ENGLEWOOD, NJ) is a part-time potter and a full-time clay enthusiast under the alias Dangerous Pottery. Stern has been making and collecting pottery for 10 years. Focusing on functional ceramics, Karen incorporates line work and form to create delicate details and handsome pottery.  She works from her home studio and in the ceramics studio at the Art School at Old Church, one of the few local art schools to offer pottery. She has also studied at Penland School of Crafts in Penland, NC. Her pottery has been exhibited at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Today, her work can be seen at Market House in Westwood, NJ, The Noyes Museum of Art in Oceanville, NJ, and at local craft shows and farmers markets in Bergen County. To see more of Karen's work, check out her Facebook page Dangerous Pottery . 

Vase, Sarah Camille Wilson

Sarah Camille Wilson (TEANECK, NJ) holds a BFA in ceramics from Maine College of Art and an MFA in ceramics from Syracuse University. Wilson teaches ceramics at the 92nd Street Y, Brick House Ceramic Art Center, and at the Art School at Old Church. While working in both sculptural and functional form, Wilson seeks a balance between beauty and ugliness in her work. She spotlights the textures and surfaces of the materials as they play an important role in each final piece.  She was the 2014 Teaching Artist in Residence at Golden Bridge Pottery in Pondicherry, India. She has been an artist in residence at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, where she was the recipient of the Kiln God Fellowship, and at The Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China. View Sarah's website for more information about her pottery www.sarahcamillewilson.com.

Sarah Camille Wilson

Sarah Camille Wilson

Karen Stern 

The Café Gallery is open Monday-Friday from 9:00 AM-5:30 PM, please call for evening and weekend hours. 

Draw Yourself In! Kids Art Index

Collaborative drawing project in the Mikhail Zakin Gallery
August 10 – September 5, 2015

The interactive mural in the gallery is the site of a collaborative drawing project open to all members of the Art School community.

The project showcases creativity by providing a ready-made exhibition space for community members. An outline of an alphabet awaits illustrations from individuals. 

Those looking for ideas are encouraged to reference the art history library located in the Café Gallery. You may find yourselves asking important questions such as: Should you list Cézanne’s apples under “A” for apple or “C” for Cézanne?

This project is collaborative, so we invite you to pick up a crayon or pencil, and add something to the wall! No contribution is too small or too large. Share your creativity in this community project!

  

Enamelist Society 2014 Grant Recipient — The Art School at Old Church

Grant Report/Evaluation by Jennifer Jordan Park

As a 2014 Enamelist Society Grant Recipient, the Art School at Old Church has been able to expand its offerings by starting an enameling program at the school. The mission of the art school is to enrich the quality of life in the community through visual arts education and cultural events.

The Art School at Old Church was established in 1974 as a non-profit, non-sectarian 501(c)(3) organization located in Bergen county in New Jersey. Housed in an old church, with four studios, it offers over 80 courses in each of its four quarters. The many offerings include fine art and craft classes for adults, teens, children, and families, as well as workshops and outreach programs. The educational programming serves over 700 students per quarter. The school also houses two galleries that are free and open to the public. The Art School at Old Church received the Paragon SC2-BD kiln via donation and was able to purchase, with grant funding, other enameling essentials, such as firing fork, IR glasses, heat resistant gloves, kiln furniture, sifters, grinding tools, and holding agent. With this new equipment, the art school is now able to offer enameling classes in its updated jewelry studio. Since receiving the grant, the art school enameling classes have been enrolling five to six students per class each quarter. In addition to enameling classes, the art school is able to promote enameling in other classes, such as Classical Jewelry (focus on ancient techniques of enameling, granulation, and chain making), and Jewelry Outside the Box (focus on using alternative materials such as enameling, resin, acrylic, and found objects). The art school has also run an Enamel Rings one-day workshop that enrolled nine students.

In these classes and workshops, students have been learning the art of enameling on small-scale items appropriate for jewelry making, sculpture, and two-dimensional art. Students have been using opaque, opalescent, and transparent enamels on copper, silver, precious metal clay, and steel. They have learned a variety of application methods including sifting, wet-packing, and painting. They have learned the techniques of stenciling, sgraffito, basse taille, champlevé, cloisonné, and plique-à-jour. Students have experimented with underglazes, overglazes, foils, leaf, separation enamels, liquid enamel, glass lump, and threads. They have been finishing pieces by stoning, etching, and/or or flash firing. They have learned how to use the flex shaft and appropriate tools for finishing enamels. Students have been using several methods for setting enamels, including bezel, prong, and tab setting. Additionally, they have been introduced to using solder with enamels.

The Art School at Old Church has achieved its objective of starting an enameling program with the ability to serve 20 students or more each quarter in enameling and related classes. Many thanks to the Enamelist Society for helping the Art School at Old Church to provide enhanced educational opportunities to the surrounding visual arts community.

26th Annual New Jersey Small Works Show

Susan Fidlon, City Life

The Mikhail Zakin Gallery at the Art School at Old Church is celebrating the 26^th Annual New Jersey Small Works Show with 47 works by 39 artists whose lives are connected in some way to the state of New Jersey.  The exhibition runs through July 31, 2015. An opening reception with the artists will be Wednesday, July 8 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM. The show and opening reception are wheelchair accessible and free to the public. All are encouraged to attend for conversation and light refreshments to celebrate the arts.

Patricia Malarcher, She

This year's juror is Meredith Lippman, a curator and arts professional in Hudson County who taught at the Art School for 17 years. Lippman’s expertise includes contemporary fine art and public arts programming. With deep roots in the arts and the Art School in Demarest specifically, Lippman’s curatorial cameo with the 26^th Annual Small Works Show is not to be missed. 

Artists from all over NJ are invited to submit their work and take part in the open competition. Meredith Lippman juried the show based on the individual merits of each work of art. The artist’s identity is not known at the time the selections are made. The single criteria for submitting work to this juried show is to have an autobiographical connection of some kind to the state of New Jersey. Submissions are received from Jersey ex-pats in places as far afield as Texas and California as well as from North, South and Central Jersey. The show becomes an artistic portrait of New Jersey by some of the many creative individuals who have called it home.

Win Zibeon, Beach Sleeper

The only limitation for the artists is that the work cannot exceed eighteen inches in any direction.  With size as the only restriction, the diversity and range of artwork becomes an exciting feature of the show. Works include photography, ceramics, printmaking, sculpture, drawing, painting, papermaking and collage. Functional and decorative works in clay, fiber and mixed media represent a range of treatments of familiar materials.  Sculptural pieces achieve a kind of moodiness and grace that brings ceramics to a new level. Works in the show from the vast field of photography are printed in traditional black, white and color, digitally manipulated and printed using alternative processes. Paintings and drawings depict scenes from backyards, world travels and great imaginations. The juror selected works that shared an edgy quality, while taking care to present a range of styles and techniques. The selections make for a well-rounded exhibition of works representing a range of artists living and working in NJ.

For more information about the exhibit or classes at the Art School, please visit our website at www.tasoc.org or call 201-767-7160. 

Register for Blast! Summer Art Program for Kids

There is still time to register for Blast of Art!, a week-long summer art experience for children ages 6-11. Classes are offered in two sessions (Monday – Friday) from August 10-14 and August 17-21. Children can be registered for one week or two and the schedule is structured to offer each registrant up to three classes daily, per week. 

Each class is staffed with an instructor and two aides, which lowers the child to adult ratio and provides individual attention to each child. Classes are all 90 minutes and a 45-minute midday break is scheduled for those students taking more than one class per day. 

Blast! Week 1 offers classes in color, pottery, printmaking and cartooning:
Adventures in Color! uses painting, collage and a variety of mixed media to explore new ways to see and use color. 

Clay & Pottery will offer experiments in hand-building and sculpting techniques as well as wheel-throwing to create functional and sculptural artworks. 


Stamp It Out will focus on various forms of printmaking on fabric and paper, including stamp making with found objects, tie-dye and making marbled papers. 

Drawing & Cartooning: Comic Con presents the basic drawing and storytelling skills needed to create comic art with an emphasis on gesture and expression.

Blast! Week 2 highlights a completely different curriculum with workshops in sculpture, clay, architecture, and painting:

Dynamite Sculpture uses works by Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso and Louise Nevelson to survey sculptural mediums such as paper maché relief sculpture, wood assemblage, wire mobiles, plaster and cardboard construction. 

Handmade in Clay explores hand-building techniques in clay to create projects such as pots, wind chimes and puppets. 

Architectural Design uses hands-on model building and drawing to instruct students to build sophisticated structures, as well as draw plans and elevation, and create projects to scale. 

Playing with Paint & Pastels will teach painting and drawing through the exploration of color, texture and pattern using wet and dry mediums.

Tuition fees are $150 per class and all materials are provided. A Young Artist membership ($20) is also required for participation. Registration is open by phone, fax or in-person. Most classes are wheelchair accessible. Call 201.767.7160 or visit www.tasoc.org for further information. 

A complete schedule is available online at www.tasoc.org 

and in the Summer Catalog on pages 21-22.

From the Studio Classes... 2015

This celebrated event occurs each spring with an impressive exhibition of work notable for its sophistication as well as skillful technique. The school is a community of artists, some beginner and intermediate students, and many others who are quite advanced and clearly come to class as much for the company of others similarly engaged as for the very fine instruction and discussion to be found in classes in the fine arts and craft. The presence and generosity of these artist-students enriches the conversation for everyone and the annual student show is a witness to that.

The Art School at Old Church is presenting From The Studio Classes, an annual salon-style exhibition of artworks by members of the Art School's student body. The show is on view through June 20, 2015. This highly anticipated exhibition fills the galleries to capacity with a vibrant installation of over 200 works of art, shown in the school's Mikhail Zakin and Café galleries.

Each student is permitted to exhibit two pieces and the school’s gallery walls are almost overfilled with exciting new work. Much of it is for sale and this is a great opportunity to find something that you will surely treasure, whether jewelry, lamp worked necklaces, a crocheted jacket or vest, a great variety of bowls, a tea set, ceramic sculpture, mixed media, collage, assemblage, oils, acrylics, watercolors, prints and encaustics, along with a many striking and unusual photographs.

Regardless of medium, the range of work represented includes the traditional along with many intriguing investigations into abstraction. You will find realistic imagery and sculpture next to abstract figures, animal sculptures that charm and surprise, mixed media with parts that extend into real space, spirited abstractions next to exquisitely detailed watercolor landscapes, beautiful and dynamic charcoal figure studies next to photographs that intrigue with their unexpected focus and mood, and so much more. The gallery is wheelchair accessible and light refreshments will be served. The show remains on view until June 20, 2015 during school hours. You will find many opportunities for excellent discussion, connection, and, of course, purchase. All are welcome!