EBSQ Announces Recycled Art Show Winners
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 05. 1.07
In March, we announced EBSQ's "Repurposed: Art from Recycled Materials," an online art show to benefit Environmental Defense. Just over a month later, the submissions are all in, and I, the jury, went through them and chose winners and honorable mentions this weekend.
Overall, it was very exciting to see what working artists are doing with not just "found materials," but literal trash. Clearly, one doesn't have to be "green" to see "treasure" in the many items that we traditionally pitch in the trash and send to the landfill. Artists found both beauty and function in wine bottles, used coffee filters, random pieces of Styrofoam, postage stamps, and, in one case, dismembered stuffed animals. I had a fantastic time viewing their work; it goes without saying that I had a tough time deciding.
I awarded three honorable mentions. They went to:
Deborah Sprague's "The ARTIST Self Portrait" (left) -- My reaction to this piece was similar to that of the winning entry -- I thought it went a step beyond simply seeing beauty in trash, and made a statement about art as creation, both of beauty and of waste.
Logophilia's "Not Yer Auntie" (center) -- I particularly like the way the artist took the notion of seeing beauty in discarded objects, and transformed it into a statement on the notion of culturally-defined notions of human beauty. I was especially reminded of the work of Harlem Renaissance-era artist William H. Johnson, particularly his female nudes.
Diane G. Casey's "Eye of the Beholder 2" (right) -- I enjoyed Casey's use of color, the commentary on the dichotomy of beauty and ugliness, and, finally, how she emphasized the upward movement created by the shape of the bottles themselves.
For the show's winner, I choose Deborah Leger's "Tulips and Tools." What struck me in this piece was the artist's use of the "trash" that comes from her own process. Many of us recognize the waste of others -- Leger's work looks at how her act of creation also creates "trash." The rhythm of the piece emphasized that to me -- these "useless" objects are fit together to trace the creative process while also emphasizing the notion of finding in beauty in things others find disposable.
We thank EBSQ for inviting Treehugger to participate in their show! And we hope you'll take the time to look at the entries, and perhaps even point us to your own favorites. ::Repurposed: Art from Recycled Materials
Thanks to Treehugger and Jeff in particular for doing this seminal green-materials juried exhibit with us. It was a challenging show for a lot of our artists who were in many cases using materials and ideas that were entirely new to them. And of course, it's wonderful that there was so much interest in this exhibit, we also now have a gallery on our site dedicated to "green" art that was a spillover from the exhibit.
Hello,
there is a similar exhibition in paris, "Sublime recyclage",
in may the 11-12-13 & 14.
Infos: www.ateliers-artistes-belleville.org