The Photography of Jeffrey Cullen & Joanie Mitchell
September, 2012 Opening Reception: TBA
Jeffrey Cullen
Generally, two different influences mark my photographic work and give it an artistic quality. I find there is something viscerally pleasing in the order of clearly defined lines and angles, geometric shapes, enhanced by color found in the cityscape. No matter where I stand my eye/mind line of vision sees an abundance of intersections, overlays, and color combinations. Each experience is fleeting, inadvertent, and unless I capture it in a photograph it will probably go unnoticed. Thus capturing the juxtaposition of a high-rise hotel next to a colorful department store on just the right sightline is esthetically satisfying.
And I am influenced by 20th Century art styles. I look for and find abstract expressions in the world’s random assortments and dada-esque quirkiness and value in everyday objects. For me line, shape, texture, color, and contrast found in the commonplace become the subject and experience. Thus my photographs of a wooden fence, pieces of broken glass, or an electricity meter are not really about fences, glass, or meters. I am also attracted to graffiti, not to document its existence, but to repurpose it by isolating a portion so it can stand on its own as a new art object. Thus the close-up focus on a face otherwise lost in a larger graffiti mural reinvents an emotional sensation. ~ Jeffrey Cullen
Color Me Cozumel by Jeffrey Cullen Phone by Jeffrey Cullen
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Joanie Mitchell The purpose of my art is to bring joy and adorn the world
I have had a traveler’s life and as I went about, I drew the world. I was the master of the quick sketch and with a few lines I captured the markets and temples of India, Balinese ceremonies, the rainforests of Hawaii and Peru. And when I came to long for color, I found the art of batik painting.
I found batik, or batik found me. It was in a little Balinese guesthouse that I first saw the dye spreading to meet the golden lines of wax, and I determined to learn all about it. I started to study in Java with Umar Hassidin in the batik city of Solo, Java, and continued my work at the studio of master batik painter, Ketut Sujana in Ubud, Bali. For fifteen years I have collaborated with Ketut and my art partner, painter, and poet, Barbara Ivan. Here we create our batik paintings from our designs and our dream ~Joanie Mitchell
Dancers by Joanie Mitchell African Namesake by Joanie Mitchell Learn more about Joanie Mitchell and her art by visiting her website at Joanie Mitchell.com |