DIGITAL .JIF THE WORK OF ARTIST PETE CHRISTMAN GLASS HOUSE: THE HOME AS A PALETTE FOR ART AN INTRODUCTION TO FOLK ART ATLANTA CERAMICS ARTIST COURTNEY HAMILL August 2014 / Issue 14
Paprika Southern
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 2
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Table of contents 6 Letter from the Co-editors
7 Behind the Scenes
10 Currently
See what’s inspiring the co-editors this month
12
Art-Collecting Made Easy
Our picks for affordable art under $250
page 3
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
28 22
38 www.paprikasouthern.com
page 4
Issue 14 / August, 2014
16
Honeycomb Studio A Q&A with Atlanta ceramics artist Courtney Hamill
An Introduction to Folk Art We explore the roots of a 22 strong southern tradition
Digital .JIF 28 The work of artist Pete Christman
38
Glass House
Architectural designer Tim Woods’ house as a palette for art
56 P.S. Paprika Southern recommends page 5
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
Letter from the co-editors THE TEAM BEVIN VALENTINE CO-EDITOR SIOBHAN EGAN CO-EDITOR As editors of a magazine for art and style, art is a subject to which we return again and again. In this issue, we celebrate southern art and artists, as well as how we incorporate art into our everyday lives. We interview artist Pete Christman, an artist who combines painting and photography with digital manipulation to create an expansive and ever-growing body of work. We also share a Q & A with Atlanta-based ceramics artist Courtney Hamill, a primer on southern folk art, and a photo-story on a Savannah home that acts as a palette for art. Please enjoy.
KRYSTAL PITTMAN BAKER ADVERTISING CONTRIBUTOR
JOSH JALBERT Back cover: Photographic illustration collaboration between Siobhan Egan and Pete Christman if you are interested in purchasing photographs from the magazine, please contact mail@paprikasouthern.com www.paprikasouthern.com
page 6
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Behind the scenes in August Shooting at Tim Woods’ house
Behind the scenes with Pete Christman
We had a table at ThincSavannah’s Year of the Local Event We love sharing sneak peeks of what we’re up to throughout the month, as well as connecting with our readers! Stay in touch and a get a behind-thescenes look at what’s coming up by following us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. FOLLOW PAPRIKA SOUTHERN
INSTAGRAM / TWITTER / FACEBOOK page 7
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
Behind the scenes at Drink and Draw
www.paprikasouthern.com
We were honored to be asked to choose the theme for this month’s meeting of Drink and Draw in Savannah! A monthly meetup, artists gather to draw, mingle, and enjoy a libation in a casual, relaxed atmosphere. We chose “Southern Night” as the theme and are thrilled to share a few images from the gathering.
page 8
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Be sure to tune in to our blog this month for more about Drink and Draw!
page 9
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
Currently
Bevin
The biggest thing in my life currently is that I’m getting married at the end of August! Photo credit, The Happy Bloom
I’m so excited to read the latest installment in the adventures of Lady Georgiana, now available!
I usually prefer a dress over pants, but fall is the one time of year I look forward to wearing jeans. I would love to invest in a pair from Madewell this year. www.paprikasouthern.com
Obsessed with goldtipped antlers from Honeycomb Studio. Can I register for them? (Read more about Honeycomb Studio on page 16!)
page 10
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Siobhan These boots are also a purse! You can carry credit cards, cell phone, even your passport!
Shangri-la stacking bangles from Red Clover
Squirrel Salutations Paper Cut Squirrel Note Cards from CaryCanary’s Etsy shop page 11
This is the third book I’ve read by Jennifer Egan and I really like her writing style and it’s not just because she has a cool last name. www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
ART-COLLECTING MADE EASY
O
ne of the best ways to make your house a home is by collecting and displaying ar t in it. Beginning an ar t collection doesn’t have to be an intimidating or overwhelming process. Choose pieces you love that fit with your aesthetic and your lifestyle. Look for color palettes and content that appeals to , and try to imagine where in your home you would want to display it, as well as how (framed, matted, mounted, etc.). Unfor tunately, purchasing ar twork from a high end fine ar t gallery is a luxury not available to many of us--but don’t despair! There are many affordable options. You might star t collecting from a local or folk ar t gallery, which are often less expensive (read more about the folk ar t genre on page 22). And today many ar tists are making their work available online. We’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite picks--all under $250--to help you get star ted!
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 12
Issue 14 / August, 2014
CLICK AN ITEM TO SHOP IT!
Midcentury Moments, That Girl Studio, begins at $22
Birkin Handbound Book Set, $168 Sunbathing, Kelsey Garrity Riley, $20
Rhopalocera One, Erin Deegan, begins at $20 page 13
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
Antlers poster, Debbie Carlos, $40
Dempsey Dog, Charlotte Oden, $19
Art doll wire and paper sculpture, Messie Jessie, $142
Black Bird II, Encaustic Images, $45 Fossil, 88editions, $38 www.paprikasouthern.com
page 14
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Charleston is Always a Good Idea, Note to Self: The Print Shop, begins at $16
Necktie, 1923, Oliver Gal Artist Co., begins at $99
Frontier Postcards: Frontier, Benjamin Stanley & Kay Wolfersperger, $10
Top Knot 32, Elizabeth Mayville, $175 page 15
Seascape V, $249 www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
COURTNEY HAMILL A Q & A with the ar tist behind Atlanta’s Honeycomb Studio Words by Bevin Valentine
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 16
Issue 14 / August, 2014
SINCE BEGINNING HONEYCOMB STUDIO IN 2012, CERAMIC ARTIST AND ENTREPRENEUR COURTNEY HAMILL HAS BEEN FINDING SUCCESS IN THE INDEPENDENT MARKETPLACE. WITH AN APPEALING AESTHETIC INSPIRED BY SOUTHERN ROOTS, HAMILL’S MINIMAL, RUSTIC CREATIONS ARE FINDING THEIR WAY INTO HOMES IN ATLANTA AND BEYOND. THE ARTIST WAS KIND ENOUGH TO ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT HER WORK Tell us about your background and how you decided to pursue ceramics full-time. I worked as a full time potter when I got out of college, but soon had to return to the world of the 9-5 for all of those fun adult reasons (health insurance, etc.). I spent the next seven years building a successful career as a non-profit fundraiser. I always regretted walking away from pottery, but the idea of leaving a stable job to become a studio artist seemed unwise at best. In the spring of 2012, I had taken a job that wasn’t the right fit for me and, in assessing my options, decided that now was the time to take a leap and pursue a dream. I won’t say it was an easy decision, but the timing felt right and I knew I could always go back to work if ceramics didn’t work out. I’m happy to say that I’ve never looked back. page 17
Courtney Hamill, owner of Honeycomb Studio / Image courtesy of Courtney Hamill; photo credit, Kimberly Murray Photography www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
How did you choose the name Hon- 24 hours each—that is one firing more than most ceramics that you find. eycomb Studio? I wish I had a better, more dramatic story. I think I just really like bees—I think they’re super-interesting (I actually have two hives in my backyard, although they came after I named my studio). I didn’t want to name my studio after myself and I liked the graphic element of the hexagon, which I use as my makers mark on each piece that I make.
How would you describe your aesthetic? My aesthetic would probably be described modern and minimalist with a touch of glam. I work mostly with a restrained glaze palate that really lets the beauty of the porcelain shine, and most of my pieces have a metallic accent of some kind.
Tell us a little about your studio and the products you produce.
“THE SOUTH HAS A I am a one-woman show (with the help of my wonderful, WONDERFUL TRADITION part-time studio assistant) OF APPRECIATING HEIRLOOMand Honeycomb Studio QUALITY MATERIALS AND VALUING THE has been my full time gig since 2012. I work ABILITY TO PASS A BELOVED ITEM FROM almost exclusively GENERATION TO GENERATION. ATLANTA, with porcelain and HOWEVER, IS A VERY MODERN CITY THAT utilize a technique called slip-casting. IS AS ON-TREND AS ANY OTHER IN THE This involves buildCOUNTRY...MY WORK, WITH ITS BLEND ing an original mold OF CLASSIC CRAFTSMANSHIP AND from plaster and then going through a casting/ MODERN DESIGN BRIDGES THESE trimming/altering process TWO WORLDS SEAMLESSLY AS with liquid porcelain. Each THE “NEW” SOUTH.” piece that leaves my studio has been handmade, and no two are ever alike. Most pieces undergo three separate kiln firings which take about www.paprikasouthern.com
page 18
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Product shots courtesy of Courtney Hamill; photo credit, Whitney Ott Photography page 19
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
I’m really intrigued by your antler se- and modern design bridges these two ries. Can you tell us more about that? worlds seamlessly as the “new” South. The Antler Series began as an attempt to explore the similarities of the natural world and modern, architectural design. I create small-scale, porcelain sculptures with the architectural beauty of various animal antlers, but without the literal taxidermy of the real thing, come to life. Different glazing methods are employed to produce various viewing experiences: the application of clear glaze lends a more polished and sophisticated aesthetic, while the unglazed sculpture lends a more tactile, rustic experience which is reminiscent of the antler origin. The end result is a masculine, elegant nod to the antler’s rustic origin, with modern twist.
How has your work been received?
I’ve been amazed and humbled at how well my work has been received and how quickly my company has grown. The Atlanta creative community has been really welcoming and enthusiastic from the start, and this year I’ve been able to get a foothold with more national and international customers. For example, my work is now carried exclusively (in the UK) at Liberty of London and I’ve also recently partnered with Schoolhouse Electric Co. to design an exclusive line of products for them, to be debuted this fall. I’m participating in my first trade show, NY NOW as a part of the Etsy Pavilion, next month so hopefully that experience will encourSince you grew up in and now reside age this growth trend. in Atlanta, do you identify any particular southern influence on your How do you see artisans such as yourself fitting into and succeeding work? in the marketplace? I think my product design is very influenced by the city of Atlanta, in particu- Man, this is such a tricky question. lar. The South has a wonderful tradition Of course, as a “small batch” artisan, of appreciating heirloom-quality mate- you have your work cut out for you rials and valuing the ability to pass a to achieve success on any level—you beloved item from generation to gener- only have two hands and twenty-four ation. Atlanta, however, is a very mod- hours in the day to make everything ern city that is as on-trend as any other that needs to happen happen. The in the country. I believe that my work, good news is that I believe it’s nevwith its blend of classic craftsmanship er been easier to find customers and www.paprikasouthern.com
page 20
Issue 14 / August, 2014
VISIT HONEYCOMB STUDIO ONLINE these partnerships should always be undertaken with caution and strategic thought, but the fact that these opportunities exist at all is a game-changer. What’s next for Honeycomb Studio?
Image courtesy of Courtney Hamill; photo credit, Whitney Ott Photography
press. Artisans starting out now are well into the “post-Etsy” market, when there are people whose entire jobs are to scour the internet looking for the “next hot thing.” If you can capture one of their interests, it is amazing how the dominos start to fall. We’re even beginning to see large retailers take note of, and want to cash in on (as opposed to stealing from), the smaller artisan and handmade movement. Of course, as a small business person, page 21
Well, I’m planning to debut a new line of lighting at the NY Now show in August! I’m crazy excited. This small (for now) collection of table lamps is a bit of a departure from what I’ve done in the past, but I think it’s a continuation of the home décor niche I’ve kind of found myself in, but in a more functional way than ever before. The designs will be true, aesthetically, to the rest of the Honeycomb Studio collections, but it’s been fun to bring in more elements like lamp bases, finials and lamp shade. We like to describe our readers as sweet or spicy—which are you? I’m a slow burn—sweet at first, but a little spicy once you get to know me. www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
An In troduction to
Fo lk Art Words by Bevin Valentine Images by Siobhan Egan
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 22
Issue 14 / August, 2014
P
aintings made of mud and cardboard, immovable concrete sculptures, whirligigs soaring to heights above fifty feet, a garden maze constructed of found and recycled objects, larger than life wire-wrapped rabbits perched in an antique trunk. These pieces are just a smattering of items that make up the genre known as folk art. Often created by artists from isolated rural areas, working outside the formal strictures of the art world, folk art nevertheless has an appeal to lovers and collectors of art, and galleries devoted to folk art exist in cities throughout the United States. The Roots Up Gallery in Savannah, GA, owned by husband-and-wife team Francis Allen and Leslie Lovell, is one such establishment. Folk art first became recognized as a genre in Europe in the 1920s. Growing out of art created by the insane, Jean Dubuffet coined the term “art brut,” and in the 1940s the term “outsider art” was coined in the United States. “It languished, I think, for a long period. People were still doing it—the need to create is always there,” says Francis Allen.
This need to create—an impulse, born out of instinct rather than formal education—is at the heart of folk art. Folk art is distinguished formally by a lack of perspective, use of unmixed, primary col-
page 23
In an assemblage by Josh Cote, two large rabbits peek out of a antique trunk in a corner of the Roots Up Gallery in downtown Savannah, GA, below work by Tres Taylor, Willie Tarver, and Georgia Kyle Shriver
ored paint, and materials rarely found in traditional fine art, such as wood, cardboard, tar paper, or even window screens. Folk artists use vernacular materials, making art with what is easily available to them. Jimmie Lee Sudduth was a folk artist from Alabama who painted with mud, mixed with honey or Coca-Cola to help it adhere to the substrate; he called it “sweet mud.” www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
Top: A window screen painting by Peter “Bongo” Loose; Below: An ornament by Tex Crawford Right: A salon-style wall with work by Eric Legge, Panhandle Slim, Chub Hubbard, John Sperry, Ken Blacktop Gentle, Missionary Mary Proctor, John Sperry, Alice, and Linda Angio www.paprikasouthern.com page 24
Issue 14 / August, 2014
page 25
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
Outsider artists are artists who are self-taught, and do not follow popular art movements. Rather, they are motivated by an inherent need to create, and often to communicate a message through their art. “Southern folk art can come more out of isolation and poverty, and just an innate need to relate to [the artist’s] community, or share their values in some way,” says Leslie Lovell. Additionally, a dramatic event or tragedy often exists in an artist’s past that spurs their art-making. Allen and Lovell explain that painter Rudolph Bostic, who works on recycled cardboard, did a painting with his brother for their church. Later, his brother passed away and in a dream his brother came to him and told him to continue painting. Another artist, Missionary Mary Proctor, was sitting with her grandmother at her deathbed when her grandmother told her to go get a door and some paint, and to start painting. Her work now is inspired by teachings from her grandmother, the text of which are included in her paintings.
Perhaps the most well-known name in folk art today is Howard Finster. Finster, a preacher by trade who decided to make paintings to help him get the Word across to his audience, came on to the scene in the late 1970s and early 80s and gave birth to the southern folk art genre. Finster brought folk art to popular audiences. He created artwork for the band R.E.M.’s second album, and they shot their first music video at Finster’s Paradise Gardens near Athens, GA. Finster, as one of the original outsider folk artists, is what is referred to as a “legacy artist,” and his works have become highly collectible. His paintings, often filled with text, have become an archetype for what is considered “visionary art.” Many artists who work in what Allen identifies as the genre of “contemporary primitive” are influenced by Finster. Z.B. Armstrong created doomsday clocks—“So people could figure out what would be the last day,” explains Lovell—inspired by his vision of the Apocalypse.
Not all artists who create folk art are outsiders. Mainstream, formally educated artists are also drawn to the folk The use of text to directly commu- art aesthetic, perhaps because it gives nicate a message—often spiritual or them a freedom to work without the visionary, sometimes political, some- formal constraints of fine art. times humorous such as in the work of Panhandle Slim—is another dis- Many folk art pieces serve a double tinctive trait of folk art. purpose, in that they are both decorawww.paprikasouthern.com
page 26
Issue 14 / August, 2014
VISIT ROOTS UP GALLERY ONLINE Sculptures by Howard Finster and Jr. Lewis
Folk art often embodies a sense of whimsy that attracts many viewers, but the need to create and to convey a message is ever-present. “There are varying levels of what someone’s message needs to be. I really am drawn to the fact that it just needs to come out. It’s an innate necessity that is somehow brought out—and it wasn’t brought out to sell. They Folk art resonates with an audience, weren’t looking to make money or just as any kind of art does. A viewer anything like that,” Lovell says. can enjoy it without needing a formal art education to decode a piece, and, Allen adds that once these artists bewith the exception of legacy pieces, gin creating, “[t]hey can’t stop.” They folk art is more affordable than work don’t want to do anything else. “They sold in high-end fine art galleries. wind up having to sell it.” tive and functional. First and foremost, the function is to convey a message, but a piece might also be a functional object, such as a wind chime, whirligig, or walking stick. Lovell says of early folk art pieces such as weather vanes and door-stoppers, “They were never produced to be art, but could become art just because of aesthetics.”
page 27
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
Digital .JIF Artist Pete Christman combines painting and photography in his monumental-scale pieces. Working with classical painting and drawing techniques, Photoshop, and occasionally peanut butter, Christman creates digital manipulations that examine popular imagery in the media.
WORDS BY JOSH JALBERT IMAGES BY SIOBHAN EGAN
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 28
Issue 14 / August, 2014
page 29
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
“I
am a photographer. I am a painter, I am a teacher. I am a student. I am a digital modernist.” The emphatic repetition “I am,” begins the Savannah-based artist Pete Christman’s statement of work. Christman’s multiple-identity assertions name the divisions characteristic of modernity and modern art. If Christman’s identity in life is pulled apart among these designations—photographer, painter, teacher, student, digital modernist— it is brought together in his artwork. A professor of photography for over 30 years, Christman is now making what he claims to be the best work of his life. Christman writes “We are a product of the age we live in; the events, experiences and media we have available to us. Just as language is the DNA of Civilization, tools and materials are the stepping-stones of artistic style. I used a camera, a paintbrush, a computer, peanut butter and Vaseline to create this work. A computer allows the merger of painting and photography into a collage, where the content comes from photographs, and composition, color, and texture come from painting and drawing.” A championed phrase by Christman he recounts is that as an artist, “you have to find a way of working that suits your needs. It has to say what www.paprikasouthern.com
you want to say, it has to be practical and deal with the constraints you have.” Most unique to Christman’s artistic process is the combined effect between the material stickiness of peanut butter paired to the sterility of computer media. The use of peanut butter to paint and then digitize for collage is admirably quirky and brings humor to the postmodern dictum on image consumption. However, peanut butter itself is not what is directly seen or easily understood as composing the pictures. We see a painter’s brush mark and feel the affective correlation between the gestural marking and the images’ discernible content. Christman’s work is potentially misunderstood in either context of traditional photography or painting. It avoids the worn mannerism of painterly-styled photographs or photographic-based painting. Christman’s artwork departs from neither the single viewpoint of photographer, nor painter, but from an artists’ position, making use of a range of mediums conjoined in a singular invention. From a conversation with Christman: “My photographic career started off as a commercial career in cosmetics, advertising, and fashion. Nothing was real. Things were so heavily retouched, that the whole relationship between page 30
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Putin / Image courtesy of Pete Christman
painting and photography has been there for me right from the beginning.”
becomes of painting without the physical support of its medium and what in turn results of photography after its virtualization? Christman’s artwork confuses division of the two mediums and mixes the content of both in a realization of the conjoined legacy of these disciplines in the advent of digital imaging where singularity and reality is replaced by the hybrid and hyper-real. Characteristic of Christman’s artwork exemplified in “Street Scene,” is a lack of clearly discernible division among the pictures content. All things seen in the picture connect and merge which results in the artworks beauty equated also with the work’s sense of terror in the visibly melting loss of a clear and singular subject. To see these works realized at a large scale is to have a sense of the state of the sublime that seems a principal subject of the work.
Photography and painting are both absorbed in Christman’s work by digital media and turn by numeric conversion into something belonging to neither tradition. As paintings, Christman’s work denies actual paint, and as photographs they avoid or distort representation. Christman writes, “My recent work A consequent question is to ask what page 31
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
Nigeria Night / Image courtesy of Pete Christman
Double Portrait / Image courtesy of Pete Christman www.paprikasouthern.com
page 32
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Beach Scene / Image courtesy of Pete Christman
page 33
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
Street Scene / Image Courtesy of Pete Christman
does not pass judgment on the complex relationship of the paintbrush, the camera and the computer. Rather, it illustrates the numerous directions these mediums are moving towards. The real value of the work remains in the content of the image.” Regarding the expansively wide range of subject matter that Christman covers is to say that no singular topic typifies his work. Rather, it is the way that content is responded to and worked over that becomes the unmistakable signature of the artist’s work. As Christman says, “My subject is always the human condition whether in portraiture, landscape, or abstraction. I’m concerned with the political www.paprikasouthern.com
aspects of it and the emotional aspects of it.” Tracing back the motivation to the artist’s wide interest, Christman recalls “I went to school to be a physicist and I realized that science was actually a very narrow field. You start off with the universe, something so big we can’t possibly comprehend it, but in the applications of (physics), it gets smaller and smaller and we get precise measurements and elements and so forth. I didn’t realize it at the time but only as I’ve grown older, that I’ve really been interested in everything. I’ve become involved in music, politics, history, philosophy, and so I need a way of working with everypage 34
Issue 14 / August, 2014
thing. I’ve taken a lot of pictures in my life, but I can’t go out and take pictures now. I’m not mobile enough to be able to do really what I would like to do. Well, the solution to that is the New York Times. I read the New York Times everyday, and I take half a dozen pictures out of it. I’m appropriating stuff. I’m using it as a language to put stuff together.” The incomprehensible immensity of the global historical events that are the content of many of Christman’s appropriations are SX70 Pete / Image Courtesy of Pete Christman combined, altered, drawn and written over and in the script and dissolves the boundary beprocess accrue a strong affective, per- tween figure and background. As often sonal expression and interior depth. appears in the artist’s work, figures are composed by the space around them Christman’s SX70 polaroid self-por- and by the movement of gestural lines trait contains written in the margin, and language that appear to come “Anybody Want to Hear R. Frost on from out of the figures themselves, as Anything?” from Frost’s title given to though all things speak from the lana fake circular of self-contemptuous guage composing their form. autobiography. Christman’s likeness in the image is brought to a limit of Christman says of his work, “There is discernibility that radiates enigmatic a lot about language. There are a lot of page 35
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
things just in life that we want to say but the words aren’t there to say them. Just to tell someone “I love you,” can be the entire world or it can become a cliché. Language doesn’t fit very well. Or the difference between Christianity and Islam…they’re really different, they don’t mesh, and so that’s a big part of our problems is miscommunication. A lot of the forms that are coming up out the Kiev pictures are coming from English and Arabic combinations, because of course the real problem is we don’t know how to talk to each other.” In high school, Christman would draw on the covers of Time magazine during study hall, not thinking of what he was doing as art, but doing it partly out of boredom—and “that’s kind of where it all started” he said. In the 70’s Christman’s New York studio was in the financial district about 8 blocks east of the World Trade Center. He witnessed the World Trade Center going up story by story and says “it was the biggest man-made thing I could possibly imagine.”
ed to learn something about a person I did a portrait of them. I had always been interested in portraiture…not to make someone look good or powerful or what have you, but to make them look like the way they really are and to say something about who they are emotionally. I had done a lot of 8x10 platinum print portraits and I would start off by doing blind contour drawings of my subjects.” After many studied drawings and making a couple of paintings of bin Laden all based off the one image on the cover of Time magazine, no single portrait he had yet made stood strong enough to the artist as evocation of the enigma of bin Laden. Christman describes, “There are certain people that are so complex that a single image isn’t going to do it. My whole real motivation for doing this was I wanted to figure out who this guy was. That’s what the whole thing was about. I had a dream that I needed to make a 30-inch square painting of bin Laden, and cut it up into 16 squares…and one of the panels in the dream had to be black. I did the painting…and this was painted from the cover of Time magazine because that was the only decent picture I had to work from.”
A week after 9/11 happened, a photograph of Osama bin Laden was on the cover of Time magazine. Christman recounts “In my lifetime, this is the worst guy that’s come along in a long Christman’s friend and Savannah time. One of the things that I was inter- photographer Robert Cooper cut the ested in, in portraiture, was if I want- painting into squares using a box knife www.paprikasouthern.com
page 36
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Christman surrounded by his artwork
of the kind suspected to be used by the 9/11 terrorists. The square paintings were given to Linda Rocheleu, a poet and friend of Christman, who wrote short poems about each of the squares describing such things as the beard of bin Laden, the eyes of bin Laden, and the soul of bin Laden.
about 4 hours to get everything meticulously lined up, and when you’re involved in getting everything lined up your not looking at the picture. Then I stood back and looked at the picture...because this had been an idea but I hadn’t seen it before. Now I was looking at it, and I looked into the black square, and there was this sort of Goya-esque black dog in the square, which I didn’t paint, it just was there, and that was the piece. That’s how I evolved into all this that I’m doing now.”
The collaborative work was on exhibit in 2002, titled “Terrorist,” shown at Oglethorpe Gallery, in Savannah, GA. Christman recounts installing the work, “We had 16 panels and 16 poems mounted on the same size board, and they were put up like Pete Christman is represented by the Bill checkerboards on the wall. It took us Lowe Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia. page 37
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 38
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Glass House The home of architecture designer Tim Woods is a marvel of both design and art. In addition to being sustainably designed and constructed, the house also acts as a palette for art. With permanent artwork created by Woods, a rotating gallery space, and artwork displayed traditionally on the walls, this creative living space is precisely planned, but also incorporates hints of whimsy. Join us for a tour of a Savannah home that is at once impressive and delightful.
Images by Siobhan Egan Words by Bevin Valentine page 39
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 40
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Left: Woods’ house, called the “Living Machine,” is built on a raised concrete slab with steel columns and constructed of wood frame and stucco. His philosophy, embodied in this house, is that sustainability should also be affordable. Above: Details from the front gallery, which features art that is rotated seasonally. page 41
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 42
Issue 14 / August, 2014
page 43
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 44
Issue 14 / August, 2014
page 45
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 46
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Woods appropriated old billboards to create the permanent art installation that runs the height of the house and serves a wall upstairs between the bedroom and bathroom, and downstairs between the kitchen and gallery. The billboards are removed from their original context and repurposed as art. To the left, a Red Lobster billboard that Woods reconfigured; he appreciates juxtaposing the global (the recognizable Red Lobster signifiers) with the local (“Turn Left�). Above, a Nextel billboard, similarly treated. page 47 www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 48
Issue 14 / August, 2014
page 49
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 50
Issue 14 / August, 2014
page 51
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 52
Issue 14 / August, 2014
Woods was inspired by the original configuration of the lot on which he built his home. Half was already populated by plant life, an arrangement he retained in designing the home. With only a thin piece of glass between indoors and out, he describes the house and garden as “equal partners.� Outside, privacy screens Woods created from billboards advertising the Ford F150 (left), and another view of the garden above Next page: Woods upholstered his garage doors with another billboard; he finds that the bright cherry-red paint used in outdoor advertisements withstands the elements, never fading in the rain or sun. The insulation behind the billboard has the added benefit of providing a cooling effect to the interior space of the garage, which Woods cites as an environmental benefit. page 53
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 54
Issue 14 / August, 2014
page 55
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
P.S. Paprika Southern recommends HOUSTON The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Charles Marville: The Photographer of Paris. The show presents nearly 100 pieces from the 19th-century photographer’s work documenting old Paris before the widening of the boulevards. Show runs through September 14
ATLANTA In a permanent exhibition at the High Museum of Art are objects and artworks from Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden. The exhibition represents the largest publicly-owned collection of Finster’s work. Ongoing
www.paprikasouthern.com
page 56
Issue 14 / August, 2014
SAVANNAH Currently on view at the Jepson Center, Helen Levitt: In the Street presents mid-twentieth century work by the street photographer. Show runs through September 21
BIRMINGHAM The Birmingham Museum of Art will host traveling photography exhibition Dawoud Bey: The Birmingham Project. The show symbollically documents children who lost their lives during in the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. September 8 - December 2
page 57
www.paprikasouthern.com
Paprika Southern
Follow along with Paprika Southern throughout the month: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Instagram www.paprikasouthern.com
See you in September!
page 58