FROM KOLAJ 25
The Terrain of Chuck Scalin
There’s a distinct urban vibe to Chuck Scalin’s abstract collages made largely from found “trash” elements, yet they provide a calm antidote to the chaos of our world. Juxtaposed fields of subdued textures and muted colours dominate the works. However, today’s discomfort can be found creeping in. In a recent series of mixed media collages, Scalin, a Richmond, Virginia artist, has minimized the basic content to a few areas of found or drawn surfaces and mostly neutral hues. Geometric shapes dominate, divided in half or thirds, with light texture contrasting with the darkest black or a muted grey or tan. Red, orange or green may sneak in. Still, societal disorder is revealed in the intensely busy mark-making, scribbles of graphite atop the plainness. Almost handwriting. Graffiti devoid of tags or literal content. Purposeful dirtying. Recognizable elements are sometimes attached: two small crossed metal plates with screw-holes at either end, or a corroded metal washer. Rusty textures provide a patina of decay on these discarded pieces found in the back alleys of his favourite cities: Richmond, Paris, New York and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Eschewing recognizable people, places and things, Scalin’s collages evoke the mood and energy of the city, the elegant solidity and stability of street and wall textural fragments made current and made old by dirt, scars, marks, and unintended swaths of colour. Who notices these things?
Diana Thompson Vincelli’s profile appears in Kolaj 25.
This article appeared in Kolaj #25. To see the entire issue, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.
Societal disorder is revealed in the intensely busy mark-making, scribbles of graphite atop the plainness. Almost handwriting. Graffiti devoid of tags or literal content. Purposeful dirtying. Recognizable elements are sometimes attached: two small crossed metal plates with screw-holes at either end, or a corroded metal washer.
This article appeared in Kolaj #25. To see the entire issue, SUBSCRIBE to Kolaj Magazine or Get a Copy of the Issue.
Chuck Scalin holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. He is professor emeritus and former assistant chair of the Communication Arts & Design Department of Virginia Commonwealth University. He currently teaches courses in collage and assemblage at the Studio School of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. His photography, glass and collage works are included and also received recognition in over 250 exhibitions, including 25 solo shows in the US and abroad and have been purchased for public and private collections. He was the recipient of seven two-month residencies at the Cité International des Arts in Paris, France. He is also the creator of the limited edition, collaborative book art piece, Body of Evidence: 14 unsolved mysteries, which was based on a series of assemblages created for a 2012 solo exhibition. Scalin lives and works in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Find out more at chuckscalin.com.
Images (top to bottom):
from “Body of Evidence” by Chuck Scalin
Courtesy of the artist
from “Body of Evidence” by Chuck Scalin
Courtesy of the artist
Tome No. 1 (1895) by Chuck Scalin
(17″x21″; vintage marbled end paper and found metal fragments; 2017)
Courtesy of the artist