BmoreArt

Layers of images and patterns—and of meanings—unfurl and unfold throughout the Decker Gallery. I write in my notebook “an image within an image within an image.” In some instances, these collages read as woven textiles. Surrounded with disparate pieces and materials, the gallery has been transformed into an immersive call and response, with relationships appearing in unexpected ways and offering manifold ideas all at once.

The beauty and simplicity of the show is that it centers collage and the innovative ways artists use the medium to subvert our expectations about materials and ideas. It suggests the practice of collage can accomplish and include anything, that nothing is out of reach to artists who employ an additive and adaptive approach.

In Aline Helmcke’s “Towards Gravity l,” a disembodied arm reaches out through a slatted closet. A crescent chin floats at the top of the collage, and a partial iteration of the figure’s face reappears toward the bottom. Just out of reach, the arm grasps for a fragmented sliver of the closet which hovers in midair. While Helmcke plays with form, she confounds our understanding of the body using an otherworldly, dreamlike aesthetic.

In a colossal collage made by Vietnamese artist Khânh H. Lê, “Sitting There Waiting For” two figures are seated in a living room. Their intricate patterned clothing pops against a field of mandala-like shapes that comprise the wall paper and the sofa upon which they sit. Above them is a framed landscape picture. Lê also inserts a view of a rolling hill that dominates the center of the composition. While it could be a window, it seems as if these figures are inside and outside of the room simultaneously. A through-line thus emerges, such that these artists are limited only by their own imaginations. The limits and boundaries contained on paper are limitless.

It takes only a cursory glance around the Decker Gallery to see this exhibition’s variety. In this suite of collages, some come in 8”x10” while others dwarf the viewer. We encounter profound concision alongside monolithic endeavors with more rigorous mark making. Whether abstracted, uncanny, or depicting a familial scene, collage grants these artists a space to communicate big ideas and dreams to shape an expansive future.

Derrick Adams frames “That’s Music to My Ears” like a television set complete with vintage antennae, which lends a nostalgic touch. In the frame, the TV displays two subjects embraced. Here, Adam’s use of vivid color is both masterful and playful. The child in blue and lavender hues sports a brightly colored patterned shirt while he smiles contentedly at his mother. As the mother looks down, we see her mouth opened in mid-song. Adams adds in musical notation punctuating the scene with visual music. At the top, he writes “LISTEN!”

Meanwhile, televisions in Isaiah Winters’ “Family Night with Mr. Bojangles” readily reference racism at its core. Here, a white family from the 1950s congregates beside a television set displaying Mr. Bojangles performing with a blissful smile. While the family and the television sets appear in monochrome, outside through the windows, we see a typified suburban landscape of blue skies, cut grass, and a lake. Winters homes in on the essential difference that delineates the entertainer from the observers. The family can come and go at their leisure and take in the picturesque outdoor scene, but Mr. Bojangles is confined to the TV. It speaks directly to privilege and power dynamics, the vast canyon separating these subjects.

The opportunities collage affords these artists to present their artwork shows the multifaceted aspects of these materials. It provides a space in which the artist can articulate their narratives on their terms. Teeming with a sundry of subjects, bold colors, and decorative pattern work, “LAYERS” challenges visitors to see ordinary elements of life from a new perspective. As these artists question form and function, one can’t help but bear witness to the flexibility of the medium.

These collages feel fresh and able to respond to dialogues prompted by our lives today; they evoke resiliency, as the conversations they spark still challenge us.

“LAYERS” is on view until March 9th in the Decker Gallery at MICA located in the Fox Building, Floor 1. Featured Artists: Derrick Adams, Marsha Balian, Susana Blasco, Cydne Jasmin Coleby, Andrea D’Aquino, Trevor Davis, Giana DeDier, Delano Dunn, John Fields, Anthony Grant, Aline Helmcke, Alexis Hilliard, Jeffrey Kent, Danielle Krysa, Khanh H. Le, Wickerham & Lomax, Yannick Lowery, Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann, N. Masani Landfair, Helina Metaferia, Jackie Milad, Devin N. Morris, Nancey B. Price, Dana Robinson, Xochi Solis, Bria Sterling-Wilson, Athena Petra Tasiopoulos, Evita Tezeno, Mairi Timoney, SHAN Wallace, Adolphus Washington, Della Wells, Jessica Whittingham, and Isaiah Winters.

RELATED EVENTS
Opening Reception: Friday, January 31st, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
LAYERS | Collage-A-Thon: Saturday, February 15th from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. MICA, Leidy Atrium, Brown Center
LAYERS: The Art of Contemporary Collage Panel: Wednesday, February 19th from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. MICA, Falvey Hall, Brown Center
Bmore Fabric Swap: Wednesday, March 5th from 5:30-8:00 p.m. MICA, Brown Center, Leidy Atrium, Brown Center