Eclectix Arts: vintage

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Collage Works of Alexis Anne Mackenzie

Eclectix first spotted local SF artist Alexis’ works at a little shop in the Mission District of San Francisco years ago. Beautifully detailed and elegantly composed collages that speak of vintage times, organic shapes and anatomical darkness. Her vision progressed to more text and word based imagery which slowly reveal a message. Her newest works ( very bottom piece) are much more abstract and non-figurative with a light airy feel and muted palette.

Interview with Fecal Face here - LINK

“All of my collages are composed by hand – cut from books I’ve been collecting for years, and painstakingly pieced together as seamlessly as possible. They create themselves through a process beginning with a loose concept, followed by a series of trials and errors, subtle maneuvers, selection/elimination, harmonious unions, and happy accidents. It is a meditative process, and there is a lot of decision-making behind each element involved.
My general intent, throughout all my work, is to portray the world as a flawed thing of beauty – a place that shines brightly, but has a dark side to match."
You can view her works at her website and see some of her more recent efforts at the POVevolving Gallery.

Originally posted in the Eclectix Paper & Arts Issue, June 2011 along with the online exhibit of paper arts - LINK

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Pete Glover's "Junk Pirate" at Compound Gallery

Dropped into Pete's show's opening night and was so glad I did. The exhibit is a collection of collections, of thrift store and found objects. Originally, I was pretty skeptical about seeing the show; although I love vintage memorabilia and "junk" as much as the next gurl, I thought it might just be a let down.
Boy, was I wrong. Pete's editing, eye, sense of aesthetic and juxtaposition were top notch. The presentation and placement of the pieces were really well thought out, not to mention the actual "junk" itself. An overall symbiotic sense of America and it's surreal waste pervaded the exhibit. Each selection made sense and flowed nicely from one to another. Some were bunches of the same thing, like old chess pieces and some were single items, spotlighted for their unusual (or just usual) specialness. Cast out photos, bizarre in their flavor, spoke loudly to my own personal sense of the strange and beautiful. The arrangement of multiple items was artistically perfect, unique to itself. Old View-Master disks were sensibly displayed on top of a wall mounted light box.

Next to a collection of plastic ray guns and then an vintage ad, the eclectic choices were all engrossing. In one piece, he took those crusty frosting cake letters you can buy and mounted them in a phrase- "The Romance of the Fungus World". How perfect is that?

Off the wall, symbolic, fun, nostalgic, beautiful and weird - this exhibit is a must see. Words and pictures cannot begin to touch on the wondrous variety of the presentation, no way can you judge this book by it's cover! Pete has a sympatico mindset to the unreal reality of consumption, a sarcastic wit, a sensitivity to the frailty of human mortality and a keen eye. All of which enable new visions of art and commentary, where once before it was just a bunch of old dice. Don't miss this show!