Inviting You to My Art Exhibition- Steve Lewis: Meta-triptychs

Searching for the Next Show Opportunity

Since taking down the Optimal Schnitt show in April, I have been trying to sort out the next show.  It was so important to have that deadline.  I searched on wooloo.org for open calls to artists.  I was pleased to discover an opportunity right here in Leipzig!

The Kunst Kraft Werk (Art Power Station) had an open call for exhibitions to start in 2015.  The deadline was on May 1st.  I worked the week after Easter holidays on the proposal.  It was great to get the CV ready and concentrate on thinking about a site specific exhibition for the KKW.  The factory is at the moments being cleared out and will be renovated to house the art exhibition space.

 

My proposal for the KKW was similar to the work described for the “Optimaler Schnitt” exhibition but on a grand scale.  I proposed to immediately visit the space in order to experience first hand the remnants of its past, hopefully before the renovation process is completed.  By visually documenting the building’s halls, passageways, dark corners, both interior and exterior via photographic means as well as sketches and quick paintings, I would hope to realize the essence of the space.  I desire inspiration from its vacant obsoleteness for still moments that can be explored visually in a series of painted meta-triptychs.  I can imagine work that is specific to the space in terms of scale and rendered form.  A series of paintings focusing on three narratives where we see lonely explorers in the abandoned space, figures overcome and “swallowed into” the “rough atmosphere” of the space, and figures triumphantly revitalizing their environment.  These paintings exhibited within the very same space would allow the viewer to see past its renovated version and experience its former neglected period consumed by time’s natural decay.

I was excited after coming across the KKW Open Call 2015 on WOOLOO.org because of it possibly being the next step forward in terms of my current transition from art teacher to artist-teacher and establishing myself as an artist.  I feel a strong symbolic connection between the transformation of the former power plant into an experimental factory for art and my own artistic development.  This blog, Artist-Teacher-HERE.blogspot.com, presents the journey I began last June at the Artist-Teacher-Workshop in Pisa.  I saw an exhibition at the KKW as an opportunity to not only display my work, but metaphorically express my transformation via visual images inspired by the power plant, all of which would have been documented through postings on the blog.  The process of making the work would have become part of the art itself.  Links to updates could have been added to the KKW site during the production of studies through to the completion of the artwork that would have been exhibited.

To encourage other art teachers to rejuvenate their own artistic endeavours, I would have offered an artist talk and workshops.  I envisioned giving an informative artist talk open to the public about my work and also share my personal experiences about the value of becoming an artist-teacher.  I also proposed a separate series of workshops that would allow for art teachers to jump-start their own art making in and outside the classroom. This could have initiated further programs for local art teachers. Helping them redefine their position to that of the artist guiding students by example is the first step to them rediscovering their own artistic self and fulfilling their creative desires.

 

Applicants were notified about the decisions on May 15th.  Unfortunately my application was not one of those accepted.  There were over 300 applications for only 6 spots in the year.  14 applicants were selected to take part in the 2015 calendar.  The experience of getting the proposal together and sent off was great.  It also forced me to get my CV and Artist Biography up to date.  I am ready for the next application. 

Getting Ready for the "Optimaler Schnitt" Exhibition

Since February I have been working on 4 paintings for the "Optimaler Schnitt" exhibition.  This coming Friday is set-up day and then the show opens on Saturday, April 12th.  The exhibition officially runs for 24 hours from midnight to midnight.  I am happy to have finished 3 of the 4 works so far.  I knew that the space I had been allocated would hold 3 paintings nicely and this was the target I wanted to reach.

The exhibition will be held in a 5 story apartment building which was last inhabited probably 5 to 10 years ago.  The rooms still look as they did when they were occupied.  The room I selected seems to have been last used as a baby's room (the wallpaper design and growth marks on the door frame tipped me off).  It is interesting to think that the child who slept there is now maybe 10 years old.  The three paintings that I have completed for this show have images of children that are central to one of the narratives depicted in each scene.

These paintings are to be the first of a series of what I am calling meta-triptychs.  I came up with this idea after reading about metamodernism and the Notes on Metamodernism by Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker.  Each of these paintings presents a single scene in which 3 narratives are playing out, all of which are in a state of flux.  The composition may also be arranged in a manner whereby the viewer feels as though they are part of the environment or could easily imaging stepping into the scene – where they become part of the narrative for that moment and begin to contemplate what to do next.

I am really looking forward to this 24 hour show.  It will be the first time exhibiting since I attended the Artist Teacher Workshop and the first time showing my new work with the meta-triptychs.  I hope the show is successful.  That being said, no matter how it goes on Saturday, completing at least 3 new works means that for me it has already been a success!

In Between Time, oil on canvas, 75x160 cm, 2014.

Liberty, oil on canvas, 160x145 cm, 2014.

His GTO, the Raccoon, and You, oil on canvas, 105x160 cm, 2014.

Exhibition space, room 409, awaiting installation.

Exhibition Poster.