BLUE Exhibition
Angela Koenig Center of the Oyster Bay Historical Society, Oyster Bay, NY
March 7 - May 7, 2017
March 7 - May 7, 2017
I relished the thought of jurying this show since its central theme is devoted to my most favorite color. “Blue,” with its rich cultural and historical roots for both fiber and clay, not only beckons associations with ancient civilizations of India, China and Japan, but still has enormous appeal today as a dynamic, engaging and intensely vibrant color favored by artists. This could not be more evident than in the hands and minds of the artists who contributed to this show.
The fiber artists made good use of the natural indigo dyes that bring opulence and brilliance to their garments and wall paintings. The ceramic artists demonstrated their never ending fascination with cobalt oxide, copper carbonate and iron oxide that, when fired to just the perfect kiln temperature, is magically transformed from a powder to a surface that conjures the color of the sky and the calming effect of the ocean.
As a mixed media artist, I use both clay and fiber in my practice. It is a bold color that I love to wear and I often set my table with cobalt blue dishes that bring a festive yet relaxed atmosphere to a meal. I was delighted therefore, to find many artists similarly inclined to making wearable garments such as Susanne Yellin’s Blue Coat, a jacket of tie dye patterns that is skillfully sequenced around the sleeves and bodice, or the use of a table implying domesticity in the installation of Tablescape (Elaine Mayers Salkaln and Dianne Matus), where the blue on the tablecloth, placemat, plates, vases, pitchers, cups and even the hydrangeas co-mingle in a cacophony of pattern and color.
As a mixed media artist, I use both clay and fiber in my practice. It is a bold color that I love to wear and I often set my table with cobalt blue dishes that bring a festive yet relaxed atmosphere to a meal. I was delighted therefore, to find many artists similarly inclined to making wearable garments such as Susanne Yellin’s Blue Coat, a jacket of tie dye patterns that is skillfully sequenced around the sleeves and bodice, or the use of a table implying domesticity in the installation of Tablescape (Elaine Mayers Salkaln and Dianne Matus), where the blue on the tablecloth, placemat, plates, vases, pitchers, cups and even the hydrangeas co-mingle in a cacophony of pattern and color.
Other artists play on our cultural and social associations when referring to the color. Barbara Karyo’s Blue State Solution places various oddly formed cups on a plate landscape reminding us that Blue States refer to the Democratic Party.
Other popular phrases such as Blue Blood, Blue Ribbon and Blue Plate Special must have been in the artists’ minds since many works included red and blue ribbon as a play on these popular phrases. Notably, there were more plates than vessels among the clay artists.
We also often use the word blue to denote melancholy and Really Blue (Anna Tsontakis-Mally) and Mood Indigo (Barbara Karyo) were particularly notable works that conjure that emotion.
I think two works convey the essence of the show. Denise Kooperman’s Holding the Wetlands in My Heart, a fiber work that depicts a vibrant landscape of myriad textures that are felted, stitched and welded together, conjuring a lush territory teeming with life. The various shades of blues and greens intensify the abundance of the land. Among the clay submissions, Vase by Jonathan Zamet does the same thing with a twinkling glazed sky and a blue bird’s arched wings flying high around the well-proportioned walls of the slab vessel. I cannot think of two more effervescent metaphors.
This imaginative and inspirational exhibition has provided us with superb interpretations of both the color and concept of the color blue and demonstrates the skills and creativity of the artists presented.
Other popular phrases such as Blue Blood, Blue Ribbon and Blue Plate Special must have been in the artists’ minds since many works included red and blue ribbon as a play on these popular phrases. Notably, there were more plates than vessels among the clay artists.
We also often use the word blue to denote melancholy and Really Blue (Anna Tsontakis-Mally) and Mood Indigo (Barbara Karyo) were particularly notable works that conjure that emotion.
I think two works convey the essence of the show. Denise Kooperman’s Holding the Wetlands in My Heart, a fiber work that depicts a vibrant landscape of myriad textures that are felted, stitched and welded together, conjuring a lush territory teeming with life. The various shades of blues and greens intensify the abundance of the land. Among the clay submissions, Vase by Jonathan Zamet does the same thing with a twinkling glazed sky and a blue bird’s arched wings flying high around the well-proportioned walls of the slab vessel. I cannot think of two more effervescent metaphors.
This imaginative and inspirational exhibition has provided us with superb interpretations of both the color and concept of the color blue and demonstrates the skills and creativity of the artists presented.
~ Judith Schwartz, PhD.
Professor of Art Area Head Craft Media,
New York University / Steinhardt
Linda Brandwein, Shades of Blue
Barbara Karyo, Mood Indigo
Michaelann Tostonowski, Blue Mist
Rosanne Ebner, Still Life in Blue
Rosanne Ebner, Blue Nipples
Kim Svoboda, Tulum Moon
Patricia Hubbard-Ragette, Hercules and Draco