COLLAGE ON VIEW
Jill Stoll: Lost and Found and Amy Newell: en route
at BrickRed Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
13 July-10 August 2019
Opening reception: Saturday, 13 July, 6-10PM
In conjunction with Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2019, BrickRed Gallery in the St Claude Arts District presents two solo shows by New Orleans artists Amy Newell and Jill Stoll.
Amy Newell: “en route”
Amy Newell says about her work, “For the past 20 years, my work has been a combination of collage and printmaking. Letterpress is my medium of choice and my Vandercook no. 4 printing press is my favorite piece of equipment. I have a strong attraction toward letterforms; elements from my wood type collection make regular appearances in my work. I also have a tendency towards objects with a history. I am seduced by a worked, worn surface and drawn to matter with a high survival factor. Appropriated imagery from a variety of sources (such as the Childcraft series, Gray’s Anatomy, engineering manuals and encyclopedias) often finds its way into my visual vocabulary. I tend to work on a very small scale encouraging close inspection. Layering found and hand printed material, I juxtapose shapes and images in a shallow picture plane.”
Amy Newell holds a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is an active printmaker and collage artist who currently lives and works in New Orleans, Louisiana. Newell is the founder of Rigamarole Press, a letterpress and etching studio located in Arabi, Louisiana. Newell has exhibited her work both nationally and internationally. Her work is included in permanent collections such as United Therapeutic in Washington, DC; The University of Dallas in Texas; Emory and Henry College in Emory, Virginia; Madison Children’s Museum in Madison, Wisconsin; and Golda Meir Library at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Jill Stoll: “Lost and Found”
“Lost and Found” contains seven new works on paper from Stoll’s series “Women Standing Alone”. Using found snapshots of women who are lost to history, she creates an ephemeral atmosphere where implied space and form are rendered in cut and paste collage. A tribute to what is worn and abandoned, images are fragmented with pattern and reassembled. When a snapshot departs from conventional wisdom, that is when it becomes compelling. If the assumptions of the viewer are confirmed, they do not become curious; the work does not offer an alternative to what they already know. It is the strength of the female figure standing alone that is a catalyst in each constructed visual narrative. To celebrate their lasting spirit captured by one decisive moment on film in what, we can only assume, was a full life much like our own. To create the installation Ode to Dead Horse Bay, Stoll excavated bottles from a former landfill in Brooklyn.
Jill Stoll gathers what is lost and broken, be it the metaphorical (shards, sparks, husks) or the physical (family snapshots, printed ephemera, hand held objects) in an effort to repair and make them whole again in her studio. Born and raised in Michigan, Stoll attended two of the state’s most celebrated cultural institutions, graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy and earning an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has exhibited her work in New York, New York; New Orleans, Louisiana; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Sheboygan, Wisconsin and Melbourne, Australia. In addition to an exhibiting artist, Stoll’s teaching career has spanned nearly 20 years in places as diverse as New York City, West Texas, Rome, and New Orleans in subjects that range from architectural design, drawing, collage, and darkroom photography.
About Kolaj Fest New Orleans
Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a multi-day festival and symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society, July 10-14, 2019. Visit the website to learn more, see an overview of the program, and register to attend. Kolaj Fest New Orleans would not be possible without the support of Press Street, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, LeMieux Galleries, Mystic Krewe of Scissors and Glue, Antenna Gallery, Kolaj Magazine and Kasini House. Kolaj Fest New Orleans is made possible through a generous gift from Laurie and Doug Kanyer. WEBSITE
INFORMATION
BrickRed Gallery
3614 Saint Claude Avenue
New Orleans, Louisiana 70117 USA
(917) 628-5588 or (646) 667-9922
Hours:
Saturday-Sunday, Noon-5PM
Thursday-Friday, by appointment
Images: (top to bottom)
en route (cake/cushion no. 1)
by Amy Newell
7.5″x8.25″
collage
Courtesy of the artist and BrickRed Gallery, New Orleans
Woman Standing Alone with Silver Lining
by Jill Stoll
18″x13.5″x1″
found photograph, paint chips, paper
2018
Courtesy of the artist and BrickRed Gallery, New Orleans