 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
|
|
|
|
NEW ENGLAND ABUNDANCE . MASSACHUSETTS
ARTISTIC
Mark Brown and Susan Boss
A couple and artmaking team, Mark Brown and Susan Boss work in two main forms—quilts and painted handsaws—that arise from the American folk art tradition, in which commonplace objects and materials are transformed into art. Using imagery drawn from popular legend (hearts, skeletons, hands and ears, bees, pears, bears) or established mythology (angels, devils, centaurs), their iconography could as easily be imagined as flash--the patterns used as the source of a tattoo artist's designs--as the materials for a quilt that might cover a suburban bed. Brightly colored and accessible, their work often incorporates epigrams or other text fragments that add layers of complexity to their playful surfaces.
¨Our heads are round so our thinking can change directions¨ is the painted caption on one piece, an set of six individual blades assembled into a humanoid shape, complete with a head made from the circular cutting edge of a table saw. The visual pun created by painting such bits of folk wisdom (¨old saws¨) on actual used saw blades captures the edgy, ironic spirit found throughout the work of Boss and Brown. George Dimock, Professor of Art History at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, elaborates:
¨The viewer/reader is drawn in by the bright colors, the comic-book graphics, the poetics of word play. But these objects remain dangerous cutting tools. The saw-teeth remain sharp, the messages pointed. Their moral dimension can be dismissed, but only at the beholder´s peril.¨
Although most of their saws include similar captions, the quilts sometimes rely solely on their striking combinations of colors and images. The fabrics are hand-dyed and printed with hand-cut silk screened shapes. The resulting brilliant colors and sharp-edged lines are as friendly as they are graphically dramatic.
Mark Brown and Susan Boss have shown work at a wide variety of galleries and art spaces including, in spring 1998, an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield.
NEA HOME |
ARTISIANS IN THE PIONEER VALLEY
African-American artist Gina Beavers grew up in Northern Ohio and now lives in Springfield, Massachusetts. She received her Bachelors degree in American History from the University of Pittsburgh and her Masters in the same subject from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Always an artist at heart, Beavers' artwork is influenced by a myriad of artists--Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, however, is her favorite. Her paintings are a celebration of women posed in storybook settings, surrounded by peace and contentment.
Yvonne Mendez is a multimedia artist and graphic designer. Since 1987 she has worked at New WORLD, first as Managing Director and now as Marketing and Outreach Director. As a senior staff member, she helps with organizational development and policy and procedures as well as overseeing marketing, publicity and community outreach for all NWT programs and events. She also designs all our publicity materials and the NWT website. We credit her with NWT's strong visual identity and visibility in the community.
Yvonne earned a master's degree in Media Studies from The New School (NYC) and bachelor's degree in graphic design from Hampshire College. She maintains a growing freelance design business, Visual Concepts 123, offering video and web design to artists and non-profit groups. Some of her clients include the United Way of the Greater Pioneer Valley, Westfield State College, UMass Everyowman's Center, and others (visit www.visualconcepts123.com) In addition to her design work, Yvonne is a music producer. For many years she was the producer of the Bright Moments Music Festival. Last year she co-produced the 2nd Annual Pioneer Valley Latin Jazz Festival in Holyoke, MA.
Director of Design & Publicity
Phone: 413-545-4161
yvonne@admin.umass.edu
