Wonderful News to Share~

This exhibit has been judged by Jeanine Coupe-Ryding 

Remnants and Remembrances

August 25 to October 20, 2017

Renaissance Court Gallery

Chicago Cultural Center

1^st place

Mary Corrado Warner, Games We Played

2^nd Place

Carol Kazwick, Voyager

Nancy Staszak, The Mystery of Other People’s Journeys

3^rd Place

Frabra Di Paolo, Good Weather for Everything

MaryAnn Gradisher, Midway Plaisance

Leslie Lenz, Yellow Boat in Woods

Honorable Mention

Laura Lein-Svencner, Flashback

Cynthia J. Lee, Data Transfer

Jerry Reimann, Remembering the Forgotten

LuEllen Giera, Surviving Grace II

Juror's Comments...

Remnants and Remembrances

Chicago Cultural Center, 2017

Juror’s Observations

Making a collage means bringing scavenged paper, cloth, photos, and various 2 and 3 dimensional ephemera together to form a new composition. At the artist’s discretion the pieces are shifted and considered just as placing paint on a canvas would be considered to add to a work. Sometimes in collage, unlike painting, the individual elements are from the time and place that collage is describing or commemorating. Paint alone can’t do that. So both the items chosen and how they are arranged in a collage can affect how we feel about the work.

The craft of collage lies in how the pieces are pasted or attached to the surface; basically how the materials are handled. The art of collage lies in the choices the artist makes regarding the individual elements and composition and how they influence our feelings about the whole piece. I thought of these things as I looked at the work in the “Remnants and Remembrances” exhibition by the members of the Midwest Collage Society at the Chicago Cultural Center. Interpretations of the title of the exhibition spanned a variety of two and three dimensional media and approaches.

I looked for a balance between the art and craft and how the compositions drew me in inviting consideration. Some artists, such as Andrea Fox, MaryAnn Gradisher, Nancy Staszak and Joan Lucht used photos and ephemera from a time period as homage. Meg Guttman created a scrapbook of collaged photos, flowers and text to capture a spectrum of personal and social situations and Margi Hafer used photographs, writing and found text to direct the viewer to the specific person in her collage.

Some other artists, such as Mary Corrado Warner, Jerry Reimann, Carol Kazwick and Carol Weber take an indirect approach using three dimensional materials creating compelling assemblage/collages that create a feeling nostalgia and recognition.

Mary Corrado Warner’s “Games We Played” and Carol Kazwick’s “Voyager” 

are three dimensional collage/assemblages with innovative compositions. Game pieces come together in a rhythmic zig zag and in “Voyager” stacked envelopes invite a peek at a postcard, photo or letter from afar, suggesting a long journey. In Nancy Staszak’s

“The Mystery of Other People’s Journeys”, faces smile at us surrounded by pieces of patterned papers, a stamp and bits of letters as though they are looking at us from afar through the panes of a window. Fabra DiPaolo’s collage, “Good Weather for Everything” draws a face over squares of printed papers creating a strong abstract composition. MaryAnn Gradisher tears through an old newspaper to take us back to the Midway Plaisance at the turn of the 20^th century. The scene opens a depth in the surface that seems to punch through the wall behind the collage. Lezlie Lenz takes us on a relaxing get away to the lake in the woods with her collages titled “Yellow Boat in the Woods” and “Northwoods Angel”.

The quality and variety of the work by members of the Midwest Collage Society is, once again, very high. Spending time at the show was a rewarding experience. Though 10 awards were given, there could have been awards for other categories. There were a number of fine collages that came close to receiving an award. I was glad to see the work of Barb Arntzen, Sylvia Koch and Donna Johnston in the exhibition. Though they are no longer living, however, their collages provide a wonderful memory of them through their art.

Thank you for the opportunity,

Jeanine Coupe Ryding

Photo's of the exhibit