Marlene Weisman

Janet Flanner from the “While I Was Stuck in the Supermarket…” Homage Series
26″x22″; supermarket circulars, found paper collage, acrylic paint, mixed media on heavyweight paper; 2014

Marlene Weisman
Brooklyn, New York, USA

STATEMENT

I’m an artist who speaks fluent collage. It’s my chosen visual language, serving as a mirror of my mind. Put a scissors in my hand, and expression flows out.

My collage “paintings” combine printed ephemera with acrylic paint, ink, pencil, graffiti-like mark-making, stenciling, stamping, and sanding. My collage “drawings” sprout from my Xerox transfer processes, and also include ink and pencil. My assemblage art constructions incorporate some of the vast variety of objects and materials I’ve collected and painstakingly organized in my studio.

What’s more: I’m currently on a mission to redefine collage for the 21st century, by inventing a method of incorporating eye-boggling pre-printed 3D lenticular materials into traditional analog collage. I’ve developed techniques to transform this material from kitsch images into totally new abstract identities, which adds a fascinating new super depth to layered collage. This series, titled “Super Deep”, reflects many of my favorite art inspirations: kinetic art, Pop Art, Abstract Expressionism, Surrealism, Strategic Vandalism, Fluxus, and the idea of the “picture plane”. Though difficult to display digitally, the series uniquely presents a mesmerizing experience for the viewer and a continued challenge for me as an artist.

BIO

Marlene Weisman is a Brooklyn-based visual artist and graphic designer. Her work has been exhibited at a variety of venues including the Museum of Modern Art, Islip Art Museum, BRIC Media House, NARS Foundation Gallery, Ground Floor Gallery, LaBodega Gallery, Gallery 440, Site:Brooklyn, Shapeshifter Lab, and others.

Some of her early Xerox transfer art pieces were acquired for the permanent study collection of the Museum of Modern Art and were included in their 2018 exhibition “Club 57; Film, Performance and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983”. During the heyday of Club 57, Weisman participated in shows curated by Keith Haring. She was invited by the museum to host an episode of MoMA’s “In the Studio” YouTube series, to demonstrate techniques related to her work in the exhibition. In 2014, her work was chosen for in a solo exhibition at the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, titled “Making the Mundane Marvelous, Transformations in Mixed Media”.

As a graphic designer, Weisman began her career in the music industry, and later became an in-house graphic artist at NBC for several seasons of Saturday Night Live, sharing a production Emmy with her art department colleagues in 1992. Her current freelance graphic design work includes print design, logos, posters, book covers, media packaging, screen design, and more.

ARTIST CONTACT

[click to email]
www.marleneweisman.com

IMAGES

Blue Science from the “Opti-mystics” Series
16″x20″; paper collage, mixed media on heavyweight paper; 2021
Cosmic Desert from the “Super Deep” Series
12”x18”; 3D lenticular plastic, paper collage, acrylic paint on wood panel; 2020
Assembly Line No. 61 from the “Pop Art Punchboards” Series
18″x12″; paper collage, objects, mixed media on vintage punchboard; 2016
Muse Ascending Housewares with Scissors from the Xerox Transfer Series
16”x20”; Xerox transfers, paper collage, pencil, ink, on paper; 2018