Line Fall 2010 by LINE Art Review Magazine

LINE SKIDMORE ART REVIEW 6.1

Everyone behind Line

Co-Presidents/ Editors-in-Chief

Hilary Knecht ‘13 and Kristin Travagline ‘12

Treasurer

Elise Babigian ‘12

Secretary

Taylor Dafoe ‘13

Layout Editor/ Design Pamela Hirschberg ‘13

Dear Readers: Thanks for picking up LINE’s first issue of the 2010-2011 year! With the sixth year of LINE’s publication, we are thrilled to have articles critiquing the Tang’s main exhibitions, many of Skidmore’s other galleries, and art found in less traditional settings. Ranging from abstraction to figure drawings to album covers, LINE’s writers explored the breadth of creativity on Skidmore’s campus. Thank you to all who participated in LINE, especially our writers and photographers! LINE would not be possible without our graphic designer, Pamela Hirschberg.Thank you also to Emily Devoe, last year’s Editor-in-Chief, and to Katie Hauser, our advisor, for all of your guidance and support. LINE’s primary focus is on visual arts review and criticism at Skidmore and in the greater Saratoga Springs community. Contact lineartmag@gmail.com if you are interested in contributing to this stellar publication. Your Editors-in-Chief, Kristin and Hilary

In this issue...

ALBUM ART: THE AGE OF ADZ Taylor Dafoe ‘13

ALBUM ART: WARPAINT Taylor Dafoe ‘13

THE OBSCURITY OF ABSTRACTION (OR LACK THEREOF) The Tang Museum:The Jewel Thief Sarah Cox ‘14 Photos: Elise Babigian ‘12

STUDENT ARTWORK: THE HEART OF CAMPUS Student Art in Case Gallery Taylor Dafoe ‘13 Photos: Orli Handmaker ‘13

THE TRANSITORY NATURE OF ART AT THE TANG The Tang Museum: Paula Hayes: Understory Kristin Travagline ‘12 Photos: Lauren Beck ‘14

THE ART OF GIVING The Art of Kaarina Mackenzie Marielle Briant ‘14

ROUNDS GALLERY: WILDERNESS Lydia Mozzone ‘14 Photos: Lydia Mozzone

INTERPRETATIONS

The Tang Museum: Suzanne Bocanegra “IWrite the Songs” Liz Porfido ‘14 Photos:Rose Dienhart ‘14

THE MARRIAGE OF TEXT AND IMAGE: MICHAEL KUCH AT SKIDMORE Michael Kuch at the Schick Gallery Ceanna Vangelder ‘14 Photos courtesy of Peter Stake

3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 13

ALBUM ART: THE AGE OF ADZ Taylor Dafoe

n an industry dominated by MP3’s and iTunes rather than by CD’s and LP’s, album covers have become something of a dying art. However, one artist, Sufjan Stevens, has worked throughout his prolific career to break this trend. Through seven strikingly ambitious albums, he has created not only some of the most beautiful music of the twentieth century, but also some of the most memorable album covers. His lauded new album, The Age of Adz (pronounced Odds), released on October 12th, is no exception. The record cover depicts an ominous figure that resembles mythological icons from Mesoamerica. The figure wears a large, black mask, and has two dark red circles for eyes. The colors of the picture are attention-grabbing: set against dull salmon, the black and brick-red character stands out powerfully, beguiling listeners to explore the music. The phrase “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is etched to the right of the figure in creepy italic writing. Scribbled in various places on the album’s front, other, almost illegible writing adds to the mystery. Stevens’ name lines the left and right of the

picture, and “The Age of Adz” vibrantly covers the top and bottom of the image. In the end, the uniqueness of the album cover renders it virtually indescribable; but, that’s what makes this tantalizing cover so special – it has to be seen to be understood. Like Sufjan Stevens’ larger body of work, the cover is, at the very least, intriguing. The album’s title references the bizarre artwork of the American artist Royal Robertson, and the cover itself is a Robertson piece. Robertson was a schizophrenic and self-described prophet. His fantastical homemade creations often depicted subjects such as love, death, loss, God and sex; and appropriately, many of these same universal topics are explored throughout The Age of Ads too. Thematically, Stevens’ message fits with Robertson’s work.Yet, the music stands in contrast to this mold. The juxtaposition of Stevens’ polished, modern electronica music to the stark plainness of the album cover is, in a way, a symbol of the stylistic unpredictability that has become a trademark of the musician’s career.

ALBUM ART: WARPAINT

Taylor Dafoe

t first glance, the cover of the first full-length Warpaint album, The Fool, looks like something you’d see on a bad acid trip. But just one glance seems to be impossible, because, like the music itself, the cover is alluring and almost addictive. After staring at the mysterious picture, you realize the genius of it: it’s one of those album rarities, when the picture is paired perfectly with the music, and together they create a completely unique experience for the audience. Describing the album cover is as difficult as describing the band responsible for it. Almost like a warped Warhol, it is the negative form of a picture of a skull, brought to life with both watery and warm colors – cool blues and violets dot the edges of the skull, and a smooth, dark red pervades the center. Despite the

vibrancy of the picture, the general shape is hard to make out, adding to the mystery. It looks like a facial X-ray crumbled up and held underwater, then lit up with sharp colors. Lining the top of the picture, the name of the band stands out in stark, gold letters. Hailing from L.A., this eerie, experimental band is completely unlike any other modern artists. Exemplifying this creative otherworldliness, the cover of their anticipated album begs listening to, preferably alone in a dark room. The members of the group are each selfdescribed artists and daily-creators; and after the release of their first album, it’s unlikely that anyone will object to this claim. The whole package – the bold music and ominous artwork – is, unquestionably, a modern work of musical art.

THE OBSCURITY OF ABSTRACTION (OR LACK THEREOF)

Sarah Cox

t’s easy for viewers to take the gallery space of an exhibition for granted. Sterile, white walls and open space just blend into the background, and that’s exactly what the space is intended to be: background. The Jewel Thief, a show co-curated by Ian Berry and Jessica Stockholder at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, challenges this very idea. Situated on the first floor, The Jewel Thief opened September 18th, 2010, and will close February 27th, 2011. The exhibition features abstract artworks in various mediums from artists including Joan Mitchell, Andy Warhol, Francesca DiMattio and Jessica Stockholder. Stockholder’s dual involvement in the show blurs the line between the artist and the curator, redefining their conventional roles within the art world. Besides challenging the concept of the gallery, The Jewel Thief also re-conceptualizes the notion of abstract art and its capabilities. Although abstract art is often though of as void of meaning or content, The Jewel Thief is quite the opposite. The entire show is filled with contrasts in color, texture, dimension, and size. It is undoubtedly a lot to digest initially. The show is visually overwhelming, but Berry and Stockholder successfully illustrate the emotive quality of abstract art. The show communicates a clear message: abstract art is not just splashes of paint or lines and forms; there can be a definite aesthetic resonance with the viewer. Also, not all of the pieces are purely abstraction; some, in

fact, feature representational forms, rendered abstractly. Just as The Jewel Thief blurs the line between artist and curator, the exhibition also questions the definitions of abstract and representational art. Take Joan Snyder’s And Always Searching for Beauty, a key piece located on the left wall of the main gallery. The work depicts flowers and lily pads floating in a pond, yet the blurry, dripping application of paint and use of vivid colors obscure and distort the imagery. Some of the works are purely abstract, such as Janet Passehl’s Breaking Bed House, a work completely composed of thin, intersecting lines against a white canvas, but others, like Warhol’s Cat are clearly representational. As noted, the gallery space plays a significant role in the way we as viewers perceive the work. In the case of And Always Searching for Beauty, the red and white wall creates a juxtaposition with the canvas. The two colors bisect the painting and completely change the way the eye approaches it. The work is further influenced by the three-dimensional structures that visitors can walk on, literally gaining a new perspective and angle to view the work. Abstract art can often be daunting, particularly when set in a sterile environment. Although at times visually overwhelming, The Jewel Thief challenges traditional notions of abstract art by offering a fresh and interactive way to view the exhibition and extract meaning.

STUDENT ARTWORK:THE HEART OF CAMPUS

Taylor Dafoe

ocated in a small, rectangular room in the busiest building on campus – the social center of the college – Case Gallery provides an ideal environment for student artists to display their creations. Presenting works by members of ProArts club – the same club that sponsors and maintains the gallery – the room was transformed into a gallery oozing with talent and covered in class. ProArts held their exhibition from October 14th to the 27th, open 24/7 to the Case crowd; and though its life was short, the show was nonetheless unforgettable. The Case gallery is, in many ways, at the heart of the Skidmore art community. It acts as a vehicle for campus artists to showcase their work, introducing it to the world outside of the secret spaces of the art building. “It’s a student-organized gallery for students,” says student curator and contributing artist Austin Siegert. “It’s laid back, but with good results.” And his vision is apparent – just by walking by you can understand what he’s talking about. It undeniably has its own feel, its own character. The humble setup of the gallery is certainly not what pulls you in; it’s the fascinating art it holds inside, breathtaking in its personality, stunning in just how personal it feels. The room may look limiting and low on potential, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Says Siegert, “As a viewer, it doesn’t look like a big gallery; but as an artist, it’s huge.” And the artists of the ProArts club embrace this principle gladly, making full and often creative use of the space. The artworks within the exhibition are, because of the open and casual nature of the space, as distinctive and assorted as the students on campus. In fact, that might be the only way to lump the work of the exhibition into characterization: it features the astonishing artistic diversity on campus. Twenty-nine pieces in total,

the artwork runs the gamut in terms of size, style, and form. They are predominantly two-dimensional works, with the one exception being a small sculpture that sits powerfully in the middle of the gallery space. Many delve into the abstract, while others employ an impressionistic approach, and still others avoid typical classification completely. ProArts’ artist Ripley Sager represents through his work the aim of the gallery to present art that is at once personal and public, unusual and classic, original and influenced by other artists. He works within the realm of pop art, using prints, pens, markers, and paint. For him, the show is personal: “It’s all current art for me… [The gallery] is a great way to get your art out there.” Another one of the contributing artists, Flavia D’Urso, embodies in her work the ideas behind the gallery. She chose the two pieces featured because they signify the progression of her work here at Skidmore, both thematically and stylistically. The first piece, depicting a self-portrait of the artist sleeping, was done months before the exhibit opened, and had not been seen by many people. Further exploring this subject and style, this time showing three separate women sleeping, her second selected piece was done in class. It demonstrates her progression as a burgeoning artist. The ProArts show in Case Gallery undoubtedly achieves the goals of the gallery: it brings student art to the eyes of the campus, giving the ProArts club a platform for expression and exhibition. The diversity of the artwork speaks to this ideology – it’s a firm testament to the wide range of artistic skill and style here at Skidmore. The ProArts show and the gallery it’s displayed in perfectly encapsulate the same ideals the school considers itself grounded in – individuality, creativity, and community.

THE TRANSITORY NATURE OF ART AT THE TANG

Kristin Travagline

any people find contemporary art confusing. The unconventional structure of Paula Hayes’ exhibition, Understory, at Skidmore College’s Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, imbues art with a refreshingly accessible quality. In contrast to the bustling college campus, I immediately appreciated the peacefulness of Payne Room, where Understory is located. Tall evergreens in green and blue malleable silicone planters filled the space, as though the trees were wearing slippers. To my left, on a rectangular platform, stood numerous glass terrariums of varying sizes. Each terrarium pleased the eye in its clear, round simplicity. Gazing at the self-contained ecosystems, I realized that Hayes grew miniature, magical worlds in her carefully designed pods, each unique in its plants and composition. One contained lush green shamrocks with crystal dust coating the soil. Another brimmed with large crystals, rocks, and bright green pebbles. On the back wall several sets of hand-blown glassware and printed cloth napkins rested stacked on shelves, much as one could imagine them in the artist’s own home. Similar to the terrariums, the plates constructed of curving, clear glass, resembled the organic shape and texture of a clamshell. Deep ceramic bowls, quite unlike dainty dinnerware, sparked associations with comforting home cooking. The light blue, warm yellow, and deep red glass cups contributed to the calming atmosphere. Most surprising, two enormous, dark blue beanbags rested in the center of the gallery, imprinted

with the crumpled figure of the students who last relaxed there.Yet these beanbags embody the spirit of Understory and encapsulate Hayes’s philosophy on art. In fact, when I met with Ian Berry, the Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs at the Tang, he conducted most of the interview from a deep seat in the middle of one of the bags. Berry explained that Hayes is a Skidmore alumna who grew up on a farm nearby and spent her time at the college discovering what the life of an artist could entail. After she graduated, Hayes moved to New York City and received her MFA from Parsons School of Design, supporting herself by developing a gardening business. A smaller portion of Understory, located on the second floor of the Tang, is based upon the artwork that Hayes made during this earlier period of her life. Personal touches from Hayes’ journey as an agricultural artist accompany this section of the exhibit. A glass display-case contained a photo of Hayes lying on a hay bale, magazine clippings of plant pictures, and sketches of “future gardeners.” One large tree limb hung suspended from the ceiling in the center of the room with a yellow cloth draped from the extending branches. Below the branch, a mixture of colored tissue paper, glitter, and wood chips lay scattered on the floor. In comparison to the main exhibition of Understory, in the chaotic mezzanine I could sense Hayes’ initial struggle to balance her two passions. The main gallery of Understory reflects how Hayes gradually merged her artistic passions with her gardening practice until they seamlessly

8 evolved into a single lifestyle. In subtle ways, Hayes’ dilemma in striving to merge her agricultural knowledge with her life as an artist exemplifies her greater desire to create art that interacts with life, illustrated by the way that students literally leave their imprint on the beanbags. Skidmore student Melinda Kiefer ’11 interacts with the exhibition on a first-hand basis as she helps Hayes maintain the terrariums as part of her job at the Tang. When I met Kiefer she was in the middle of removing mushrooms from one of the terrariums with enormous surgical tweezers. “A really big, important part of Paula’s work, even her mission as an artist, is to have you interact with her art and experience its transitory nature. I’ve changed the terrariums up and that’s okay because I’m doing it and it’s my aesthetics. I’ve even added some crystals and just fun things,” Kiefer said. It shocked me to realize that not every piece of glitter strategically symbolized a larger artistic purpose.Yet, Understory functions to highlight the multi-purposing of art and the intersections of art and life. To insure that students and faculty leave their imprint on the exhibition, Hayes and the Tang employees planned a series of ten dinner parties that will take place throughout the academic year. The gallery will transform into an elegant dining room and Hayes’s hand-blown glassware will grace the dinner table. Although the dinners are by invitation only, campus wide events accompany several of the meals. One such event took place on September 25 at the Tang. Local farmers discussed their experience and expertise, followed by a “hands on party” in the college garden. Students can make use of Understory until April 17, 2011. I myself look forward to curling up in one of the soft beanbags, gazing at the lush, green trees and opening a thick book as the snow sets in during the winter months ahead.

THE ART OF GIVING Marielle Briant

aarina Mackenzie, a sophomore here at Skidmore, has been discrete about her aspirations as an artist. Her informality regarding her artwork might have withheld her from being acknowledged as an artist by others, yet it has not kept her from being true to herself and pursuing her dreams. Two summers ago, at age 17, Kaarina went to visit an orphanage in the Qinghai province of Tibet. She did not know this yet, but she was going to make over four thousand dollars from the pictures and her paintings of the children. Kaarina arrived at the Kuthor School after travelling for thirteen hours a day for four days from the Xining airport in Qinghai, China to a small rural town in the middle of the mountains. Her mother, brother, and she drove in a car loaded with food and other basic supplies. Her intense journey began at the school, which was in the middle of nowhere. “They were beautiful, they were just gorgeous,” Kaarina described the children in her interview on “Journey to the West,” a show for globetrotters in western China (http://www.bonlive. com/9/75/3322-jttw-guest-story-from-kaarina-mackenzie. shtml). The children greeted her with Chinese prayers and songs; they seemed to be the happiest children on earth. Kaarina was moved by their genuine appreciation for the few things that they owned; their penurious classrooms, lack of food, and overall deplorable lifestyle did not stop them from feeling content. This inspired what she considers her most valuable painting entitled Apple of My Eye (as shown). Kaarina caught the expression of a young girl eating an apple for the first time. She later decided to paint this scene on a big canvas, using expressive colors to illustrate its vivacity. The bright colors and quick brushstrokes communicate the girl’s excitement and joviality

regarding the apple. Moreover, the exaggerated use of red is intentional and shows the prominence of the sun on the children’s faces. This technique recurs in all of Kaarina’s paintings. Climates vary in different parts of Tibet and its neighboring provinces and sometimes temperatures change greatly within a single day. This is why I first thought that Kaarina highlighted the impact of the environment on the children and changed her tones according to the weather. In reality, Kaarina explained that she changed her palette of colors according to the children’s moods. One of her other paintings, Beyond Nothing, shows yet another use of tones in her palette. At first I thought that the blue conveyed the bleakness of the environment or the wintry weather. But now I realize that it illustrates a higher concern. When you look deep into the eyes of the boy, you not only see sorrow and melancholy, but also a certain frustration that goes beyond sadness. I feel that the title Beyond Nothing captures the ambivalence between the life that he has now and the life that he could have had. When she came back to Beijing, her hometown, Kaarina had new-found ambition to show her experience. She painted many canvases that she sold to family and friends, as well as her authentic photographs in which she captures the children’s warmest expressions. Kaarina then sent all the money she had collected back to the Kuthor School. The money was used to purchase new beds, desks, blackboards and more. The school is now in the process of being restored. However, much still needs to be done and the Kuthor School is a work in progress. There is a pressing need for electricity—any volunteers?

Rounds Gallery:Wilderness

Lydia Mozzone

he latest exhibition in Rounds Gallery, unveiled on October 19, 2010, shows that the “wilderness” can be expressed through broad, unusual choices in color and composition. The Wilderness gallery correlates perfectly with the winter season and displays a number of artistic mediums, including photography and ink. The amount of participation is quite impressive with the gallery. It includes a culmination of works from first year students, seniors, and even our own President Glotzbach. Some participants chose to submit a series of pieces while others contributed individual works. Regardless of quantity, organic shapes and references to the “wilderness” are consistent within each piece. Each artist maintains a prevalent artistic style; yet, because of the repetition of shape and content, the gallery is beautifully unified. One of the most noteworthy pieces, Control This, is a series of colorful collages by Kate Imboden ’13. Her broad use of color choices range from browns and blues to pinks and yellows. Each individual collage is reminiscent of the next because of Imboden’s consistent use of line, curves, and composition. Through her interweaving of rigid shapes with much more fluid shapes, Imboden creates an organic theme within the piece. Although the compositions are not identical, each collage manages to embody a “push-pull” effect as one shape emerges from one corner, contrasting a shape from an opposite

corner. Imboden’s striking color choices evolve through the color spectrum. Imboden’s interpretation of the “wilderness” is not alone in its creative approach. The variety of photographs, collages, paintings, and drawings are a true depiction of the artistic strength of Skidmore students. “Wilderness” will be on display through January 2011. The Rounds Gallery is open from 8:30 A.M. to 6 P.M. Monday through Thursday and 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. on Fridays. The exhibition features pieces by: Lauren Beck, Ali Carney Knisely, Amira Chichakly, Lawrence Combs, Nicole Cox, Philip Glotzbach, Jennifer Goldman, Kate Imboden, Molly Leon, Robbin MacFarren, Devan Mattison, Carolyn McGraw, Samantha Shneyer, Adam Steinberger,Yianni Stoner, Caz VanDevere and Ian Van Nest. The Skidmore community undoubtedly possesses a strength in and appreciation for the arts. The Rounds Gallery embodies this through its display of diverse artistic styles while maintaining a harmonious exhibition.

INTERPRETATIONS

Liz Porfido

uzanne Bocanegra’s IWrite the Songs is an exhibition featuring mixed-media wall works and sound and video installations. When I first entered the Tang Museum’s The Jewel Thief, I instantly noticed the colorful interaction between the audience and the work. Where The Jewel Thief show flowed freely throughout the first floor of the museum, the Suzanne Bocanegra show contrasted this free-form by being contained to a single dark room on the second floor, closed off with thick black curtains. Each of Bocanegra’s five pieces had its own speaker set that played different tracks of ambient music. Since all of the speakers played simultaneously, a certain eerie tone settled over the room. The painted black walls emphasized the only light sources, spotlights, on the pieces and the four television screens. Near one of the two entrances, Bocanegra’s Color Chart rested on the floor: a box of yarn, organized in five columns and five rows, and a speaker playing music. By observing the piece alone I was not able to understand the artist’s vision, but the information in the pamphlet provided by the Tang brought a new dimension to the piece. Each ball of yarn had a name; each syllable of these names was given a specific vocal sound by the artist. A musician then strung together these syllables to create a fluid sound, which was played through the speaker. With the yarn and music in sync, the artist created the sound of color in her piece. Though I was able to vaguely see Bocanegra’s vision, it was only with the given background information that the artist’s vision was able to come into fruition. Because the music

was less lyrical, the created color of sound was apparent but not thoroughly obvious. The next piece in the space was an ancient fragment of a blue and white Danish tapestry hanging from the ceiling, again with speakers sitting on the ground next to it. Titled After Rerememberer (All the Threads), the fabric shyly dances from some created wind, while the bottom tassels just barely touch the ground. Again, the music that accompanies the object is derived from the object. In general, textiles are woven in a five-line staff, which mimics the composition of music. Bocanegra used this parallel structure to create an interaction between the fabric and the music. The proportions of the thread count and the numerical ordering of the loom for the weaving pattern serve as the score and scenario for the entire installation. An accordion dominate the music and can be clearly heard above all other tracks wherever you stand in the room. The tapestry hanging from the ceiling alone with the music playing brought a certain quality of life to the fabric. Its slight movements were extrapolated until the tapestry seemed to embody the music it devised. The next piece that I followed in my path through the show was Bocanegra’s All the Petals based on Jan Bruegel the Elder’s Sense of Smell, 1618. Bocanegra broke down flower-byflower Bruegel’s original painting of a bouquet of flowers to create an expansive wall mount. Clusters of thin paper in the shape of petals are pinned to the wall with black ribbon. The number of petals in each cluster is proportionate to the number

12 of petals in each flower in Bruegel’s original painting, as is their spacing. Additionally, the colors of the original flowers are used in their relative cluster of petals in Bocanegra’s piece. The petal colors are mostly warm tones, primarily red, orange, and yellow, with hints of dark blue, creating a stark contrast against the black wall. Bocanegra dissembled Bruegel’s original flower bouquet and transformed it to an abstract flower field. Just as All the Petals ‘de-painted’ Bruegel’s bouquet of flowers, Bocanegra’s Little Dot breaks down the specific dots used to create Georges Seurat’s pointillism painting YoungWoman Powdering Herself. Bocanegra represented with pairs of ballet slippers the fourteen most prominent colors used by Seurat; each pair sits on the top of a wooden pole. Bocanegra sorted all of the dots in the painting and created the choreography for a dance that is occasionally performed by a ballerina on the platform fenced in by the poles of slippers. With an accompanying computer generated score, the painting can be seen and heard as a living performance. When a ballerina is not performing, Bocanegra attempted to fill the room of the sounds the ballerina made with her slippers through several different speakers located around the stage. This attempt was not entirely effective. If a common theme of a ballerina or dancing had been present, this abstract concept would have been more perceivable to the audience. In her final piece, Bocanegra set up a collection of video recordings of past performances. Bocanegra had scattered various pages of already composed loose sheet music on a kiosk and invited the public to draw random figures on the pages. When a drawing

on the page of music was complete, it was brought to a stage using a pulley system and interpreted by a quartet, FLUX. Each musician played music based on the existing notes on the page and the drawing. Each of the four members of the quartet played different pieces simultaneously, creating an overall unified sound of the public’s art. What is most unique about Bocanegra’s pieces is the collaboration and use of other artists’ work. Whether the influence is a painting of a bouquet of flowers or a box of yarn, Bocanegra interpreted another artist’s work to create her own art. Her incorporation of the original artist’s work may not be initially apparent at first glance but does prove to be an essential part of Bocanegra’s distinct style.

The Marriage of Text and Image

CeannaVangelder

As modern technology sets in with Kindles, iPads, blogs and other online literary tools, many people mourn the death of the book. Printmaker and book artist Michael Kuch does not deny this, but remains hopeful saying that “[the book] will absorb into other things and carry on. We need to celebrate the life of books.” Skidmore College was fortunate to showcase some of Kuch’s work in the Schick Art Gallery as well as in the Lucy Scribner Library cases for the first month of the fall semester. Kuch also gave the 2010 Fox-Adler Lecture on September 23rd. Kuch celebrates the life of books successfully and beautifully with his fine-pressed, complex works. His prints are uniquely incorporated into each book, complimenting the accompanying text, whether it be poetry, political satire, or explanations of the art’s deeper meaning. The Schick Art Gallery showcased his work from a wide variety of art mediums. Although his work as a book artist is most notable, he also works with ink wash, watercolor, oils, pastels, etching, lithography, and bronze sculpture. His bronze sphinx sculpture brought the images from his book A Sphinx’s Guide to Questionable Answers, to a 3-Dimensional, more life-like state. It was interesting to see the common thread of his work run throughout different art mediums. Kuch’s art constantly reflects the world around him. In 2003, with the inception of the second war in the gulf, in addition to the ongoing war in Iraq, Kuch began working on a

piece of political satire. “My book was entitled, Common Monsters of the United States. I invented various beasts designed to display aspects of societal behavior that conspired to bring us to war,” Kuch said in his lecture. Many of the prints from this book were on display in the Schick gallery such as Common Oilsucker, representing oil hungry America as a mosquito, and the Embedding Soundbites (Household Couch Ticks). These fantasy creatures were satirical and voiced Kuch’s personal political views through colorful wings, sharp fangs and clever names. In his book, Amour and Armor, Emily Dickinson’s poetry is set alongside a series of prints depicting human-like figures combined with shells. Kuch examines human vulnerability by specifically focusing on our defenses. The creative thought and craftsmanship of each image is thought-evoking and pleasing to the eye at the same time. In this book, the bas-reliefs of nudes wearing or becoming a part of hard shells speak of self-protection. Murex Guard is a shadowy image of a man’s profiles with a sharp conch-like shell on his head, growing like a Mohawk haircut. World is his Oyster depicts a nude man playing the role of a pearl reclining inside of an oyster shell. All these images together in the book create a collection with an even stronger message than just individual pieces of art. “My inspiration for making books is as a visual artist. Words are lovely, but they are not my first love,” Kuch said in his lecture. There is a beautiful balance between the text and the

14 images in Kuch’s books. Although Kuch says he struggles with “how to marry text with imagery,” he proves to be incredibly successful and original in the work he delivers. The text never feels too overpowered by the image and the image always gains something from its accompanying text. Unfortunately Kuch’s work is no longer on view in the Schick Gallery or in the library. But the Department of Special Collections has several of Kuch’s special edition books, including both Common Monsters of the United States and Amour and Armor,

which are located in the Pondorff Room on the third floor of Skidmore’s Lucy Scribner Library. Being able to handle his beautiful books with your own hands in addition to seeing them outside of a glass encasement is a treat. There is something magical about holding a book in your bare hands that Kindles or Ipads can never replace: the weight of the pages, the vibrancy and texture of the colors, and the smell of the paper and ink. Kuch’s art-books amplify this experience.

ÂŠ Michael Kuch