Echo Poems
18 February-1 April 2017
Artist Reception: Saturday, 18 February, 5-7PM
“Echo Poems” is an exhibition of collages by Bay Area artists Catie O’Leary and Vanessa Woods. The show highlights collage work by each artist, as well selections from their 6-year mail art exchange and other collaborative works. The title, “Echo Poems”, refers to a Surrealist game. To create an Echo Poem, participants paired words based on phonetic resonance rather than contextual meaning, thereby challenging rational associations. In a similar vein, both O’Leary and Woods combine disparate elements to create new associations that defy rational comprehension. Using original paper ephemera and found material, both artists reconfigure their source material to generate new narratives that explore identity, the body, Surrealism, and the subconscious.
As long time friends and collaborators, O’Leary’s and Woods’ collages share a common language developed through years of visual dialog. Both artists draw from the tradition of collage, with nods to Bay Area artists such as Jess, Bruce/Jean Connor and Jay Defeo, who also exploit and distort the use of objects, symbols and the human body. In Woods’ work, new iconography is generated through bundles of fabric and body parts that become historical allegories reimagined. In O’Leary’s work,original engraved illustrations create a foundation for meticulous puzzle pieces that generate new associations.
(adapted from the gallery’s press materials)
INFORMATION
Jack Fischer Gallery/Minnesota Street Projects
1275 Minnesota Street
San Francisco, California 94107 USA
(415) 522-1178
Hours:
Tuesday-Saturday, 11AM-5:30PM
and by appointment
Image:
(left)
Acanthus with Bird Nest
by Catie O’Leary
9.5″x11.5″
collage
2016
(right)
The Conjurer
by Vanessa Woods
13″x10″
collage
2016