Category: Creative Process
Collection Feature: Jackie Winsor, #2 Copper
Jackie Winsor (born 1941, St. John’s Island, Newfoundland, Canada) assembles sculptures out of unexpected components. She prefers organic materials such as rope, hemp, branches and logs or building supplies like concrete, nails and bricks. Not one to shy away from difficult physical work, Winsor constructs her minimalist geometric forms through repetitive manual labor. For #2 Copper, the artist built a grid out of 36 narrow pieces of wood, arranged in three sections of concentric squares. She wrapped each intersection with #2 industrial copper wire, forming
A Conversation with Erin Guido & John Paul Costello
Erin Guido creates brightly colored dynamic shape and text murals often found in surprising places, like abandoned buildings, offering friendly encouragement as they declare “come over all the time” or “hi.” With the help of carpenter John Paul Costello, Guido’s works became durable, movable pieces, such as “How Are You Feeling Today?” a large sculpture that asks visitors to dial in their emotions. How are you feeling today?EG: I am feeling pretty good today!JP: Today as with most days lately I’m feeling a bit stressed
A Conversation with Horrible Adorables Artists Jordan Elise Perme and Christopher Lees
Jordan Elise Perme and Christopher Lees create mounted animal sculptures they call Horrible Adorables and design patterns for fabric and wallpaper as well as plastic toys for Kid Robot. Can you talk about your Horrible Adorable characters? Horrible Adorables are strange creatures from a fantastical land. They are hybrids of selected animals, and have qualities that are both sinister and sweet (horrible and adorable, if you will). We bring the imaginary critters to life by hand carving foam forms, covering them with wool felt scales,
A Conversation with Please Touch Artist Jay Croft
Interview conducted by Alison Caplan, Akron Art Museum Director of Education Inspired by skateboarding and D.I.Y. culture, Jay Croft’s illustrations have donned skateboard decks, his zine Street Canoe, and most recently, a mural at Chill Ice Cream. Can you talk about being a parent and an artist? It’s the best thing ever! I love it. My kids are always drawing and making stuff. We definitely encourage them to create. Our house is filled with all types of markers, paint, papers, and glue. I encourage them
A Conversation with Wiggle, Giggle, Jiggle Artist Jimmy Kuehnle
Interview conducted by Alison Caplan, Akron Art Museum Director of Education You develop your works on a computer. What is it like to not fully experience them until they reach a gallery or museum? When I come to the gallery to install, it really feels like I have been walking around the space for a long time virtually in the computer. I know the places and can recall them. It is a strange sensation in the beginning to have most of my memories of the
Snack Recipes
by Theresa Bembnister, Associate CuratorWhile conducting studio visits in preparation for Snack, which runs through September 3 in the Judith Bear Isroff Gallery, conversation inevitably meandered toward the edible. Pizza, milk, tater tots and deviled eggs are just a few of the foodstuffs that came up for discussion. With those exchanges in mind, I invited participating artists to submit recipes for the museum blog. To my delight, Brandon Juhasz and Kristen Cliffel responded with lists of ingredients and instructions for foods with strong conceptual links
Stephen Tomasko’s Fairgrounds
By Theresa Bembnister, Associate CuratorThis season marks Stephen Tomasko’s seventh summer photographing county fairs throughout Ohio. Three of the artist’s untitled photographs of foodstands appear in Snack, which runs through September 3 in the Judith Bear Isroff Gallery. The Akron Art Museum blog chats with Tomasko about his current work as well as projects the artist pursues far from the fairgrounds. Akron Art Museum: Fair season seems to really pick up in August. Which fairs do you plan to visit this month?Stephen Tomasko: August is amazing
Great Moments in Art #038; Ale
by Theresa Bembnister, Associate CuratorIn anticipation of this Friday’s Art & Ale (get your tickets here), I’ve assembled this list of three instances where beer inspired artists to create remarkable works of art. Jasper Johns casts beer cans in bronze to spite fellow artistTitle: Painted Bronze/Ale CansMedium: Oil on bronzeYear: 1960According to the now legendary story, Willem de Kooning, a painter known for his large-scale, gestural canvases, badmouthed gallerist Leo Castelli, exclaiming the “son-of-a-bitch” could sell two beer cans as art. When word reached Jasper
NEO Geo Studio Visits
By Theresa Bembnister, Associate CuratorIf philosopher Alan Watts is right, and museums are the places art goes to die, then the artist’s studio must surely be the birthplace of a work of art.For the record: I disagree with Watts. But I do relish the opportunity to see art in its native studio environment, before it’s displayed on the museum’s pristine walls. The context of an artist’s workspace offers clues as to how or why a particular artwork was made.Studio visits made up a large part