Tag: Photography

Revisiting the Colosseum

Coliseum FrontSo… I’m still sifting through those 20+ thousand never seen by anyone (including me) photos buried in my computer. Last night I found these, processed them through Lightroom, and although they are interesting in colour, black and white just seems to transform them into something purely magical. The photos were taken during my trip to Italy in 2010 where three of my works were featured at an international exhibition. My return flight was out of Rome, so I had time to “roam” around the city a bit.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that, being Sunday in the home of the Roman Catholic Church, stores were CLOSED (my plan had been to buy a pair of Italian boots and then go sightseeing). So… I ventured out and eventually found myself walking up the busy via Labicana hoping that something somewhere might be open. Suddenly I noticed the Colosseum up ahead in the distance. It was so unexpected, such a powerful OMIGAWD moment–how could such an ancient landmark possibly be situated on a bustling urban street?! I practically ran the rest of the way in my excitement, relieved to be scratching off one of the big items on my Rome To-do List so soon. And even better, by pure chance admission was free to all museums and heritage sites that weekend, so I got to hang out at the Colosseum until closing time and sunset. It was so relaxed, not terribly crowded, and truly amazing! Here are a few of the full colour shots. Enjoy!

 

Tutorial: Hanging a Show

LaRiviere_Schlein_Exhibition-5

Happy New Year Everyone! My first post of 2015 is a tutorial. This morning I received an email from an artist in North Bay asking for advice on how to hang her upcoming solo exhibition. Hanging your own show can be a daunting task, so I’ve decided to share my email reply with you. Hope this helps!

Her questions had to do with spacing between the works, consistency where size is concerned, options for variations, and whether any of it matters. While there really are few hard rules, there is a general process for hanging exhibitions that I like to follow. Here are a few tips:

  1. Content generally matters more than size in groupings, but if you have a mixed selection of significantly larger or smaller works, they could be grouped together. It’s a matter of personal preference.
  2. The spacing depends on the number of artworks versus available wall space.
  3. To begin, lay all the work on the floor leaning against the walls in the general location where you think it should be hung.
  4. Next, stand back and examine the whole show, i.e. spacing, the flow from the gallery entrance, good juxtapositions, bad juxtapositions, obvious clashes, etc., then nudge and shuffle accordingly until you are happy with it. (This part takes the longest and is a creative process in itself. It’s a lot of fun.)
  5. And finally, if the work is relatively uniform in size, start hanging it sequentially from one end of the wall to the other. If there is a large centre piece anywhere on one particular wall, then you could start with it first, then work outward to the right and left.

Every show is unique, and there is much room for creativity in how it is displayed. A little Fen Shui may even be useful in avoiding “blockage.” For example, there could be a situation where the image of a woman in profile is placed at the end of a wall with her facing into the corner. How would the feeling of the piece change if she is were looking into the room with her back to the corner instead? In another situation, what if she is not in a corner, but “facing” a particular work of art beside her? If that piece were about pollution and decay, having her “back” to it could convey a subtle but different reading that may be pertinent to the exhibition as a whole. So you see, there is much to think about.

One thing I like to point out to students (whether in the creation of art, or hanging it on a wall) is that in western culture we read text from left to right. This “habit” therefore informs how viewers move through visual imagery, although they may not be aware of it, so consider flow and “punctuation.” It is one of the cornerstones of the Elements and Principles of Design.

And finally, don’t forget to use the formula for hanging artwork at eye level. Here’a a tutorial that I created for Art on Main Downtown Artists’ Collective in 2011. So good luck, and above all, have fun!

Credits: All photos are of Lonnie Schlein’s 2012 exhibition at the WKP Kennedy Gallery. I took some quick iPhone shots while installing the show, and Liz Lott was the official photographer for the exhibition’s opening reception. Visit Lonnie Schlein’s official website.

Place

Detroit

The pull of place
on frayed strings
attached to faded memories
and beating hearts
gnawed upon by time
and childhood traumas
holds strong
even now.

She looks back
on loosened ties
in so many places—
the happy moments
the kisses and farewells
the many ends
of many beginnings
each thought to be the one
that would tame
the longing
forever.

It is a haunting
that echoes
down a winding trail
of silvered hair
and dried up tears
roaming
searching
driven
and blind—
une force majeure
so terribly misunderstood
by those who would have her
bound and chained to a hell
more closely resembling their own.

But the “nomad” knows
she is not that
and now it has come to this—
a place where a bridge
spans a river
so fresh and new
in its familiarity
linking this time
with that place
in her memory
where fragile roots
were torn so violently
from their knowing
and she is finally home.

A little background:

Some years ago it occurred to me that “chemistry” was a pretty interesting concept. We often talk about finding pair bonds with our fellow humans and the role that chemistry has in successful unions. People are drawn to each other, or not.

For me the chemistry theory also applies to our relationship with place. For example, over the years I’ve lived in over a dozen cities and towns. Some were great, but there were others in which over time I began to develop a sense of angst—like I knew I wasn’t supposed to be there and it just wasn’t “my place.” This had nothing to do with friends because I’ve always had the good fortune of finding great friends everywhere, which made leaving all the harder.

I also believe that place of origin (or place of birth) imprints on the souls of young children. I was five and a half when my father died and my mother moved us from Detroit to Timmins. Those two places could not be more different. It never ever was my plan to remain in such a remote northern community with brutal winters to raise a family of my own, so at age eighteen I packed my bags and hightailed it south… then west, then east again, then north, etc., zigzagging around the country.

Now after ten years in North Bay, I’m living in Windsor just across the river from my birthplace. I remember so much from my childhood—although more like a vivid dream—and I cross over to explore Detroit as often as I can. Every time I get over there my heart just leaps with joy. It’s hard to describe, but I suppose I’ve finally found my place.