Visual Realia Exhibit at York's Out Door Country Club
Visual Realia’s (Andrew T. Smith) exhibit at York’s Out Door Country Club
Thanks to the ongoing efforts of Creative York, I have an exhibit of approximately two dozen clay monoprints and photographs at York’s lovely Out Door Country Club. The exhibit runs through July 12th, 2024.
The hallway-based exhibit area naturally allows for sharing monoprints on one side and photographs on the other, essentially providing two mini-exhibits.
For more information on the exhibit, visit the online article on the Culture On The Line website. Works may be purchased here.
“Clay & Pigment” by Andrew T. Smith
Out Door Country Club
May 13 - July 13, 2024
1157 Detwiler Drive, York, PA
Enter Through the Center Doors
Curated by Creative York
All works copyright by Andrew T. Smith and/or Visual Realia, LLC.
Copper and Collaboration in the "unentitled" Exhibit at Marketview Arts
Seven artists with unique mediums and techniques exhibit collaborative works in the unentitled exhibit at Market View Arts.
Early during the summer of 2022, several members of the Collective Rogue Arts (CRA), an informal group of area creatives, artists, and entrepreneurs in south-central Pennsylvania, began discussing an exhibit of works focusing on collaborations between two or more artists.
As visual artists, we typically join an exhibit with many predetermined specifics: location, dates, times, exhibit themes, mediums, etc., but in this case, the task was designed from the opposite direction. We opened up this possibility to fellow CRA members.
Seven artists started down the path without a confirmed exhibit location and with only the concept of working on these joint works. During initial meetings, the artists themselves determined the exhibit theme, randomly selected initial collaborative partners for artworks, and a common color (copper) to use on individual 12" x 12" tiles that each would create.
Art is a powerful and valuable tool for looking at social issues, and this exhibit's artists chose to examine challenges around entitlement via their unique mediums, techniques, and place in life. The result is shared with visitors to the gallery space at York's Marketview Arts, part of York College of Pennsylvania's Center for Community Engagement.
In addition to collaborative works, exhibit guests will see individual sample art from each contributor. We hope you join Reagan Bitler, Ophelia Chambliss, Jeannine Dabb, Kristin Kest, Nicole Osborne, Andrew Smith, and Debbie Toluba in considering our continuing role in issues revolving around the challenges for the unentitled.
“The Summoning of Everyman” 2023 © Nicole Osborne & Andrew Smith
The Summoning of Everyman
In the 15th Century play, The Summoning of Everyman, the Everyman character — representing humankind — tries in vain to get others to travel through life's journey by his side. In the end, he learns that he must take this voyage alone.
Some of us are in positions in life that come with supports and inherent systems that aid our journey through life. Others, however, are placed in a tier of those that society has deemed unentitled to companionship, the ability to move forward, and the capacity to discover self-improvement. Their journey is one of disappointment and loneliness.
Artists: Nicole Osborne & Andrew Smith
“Sabotage” 2023 © Kristin Kest & Andrew Smith
Sabotage
Art can be behind obstacles for some: lack of access to meaningful arts experiences is an entrenched part of poverty.
In Sabotage, a work by Kristin Kest and Andrew Smith, gallery visitors are asked to place one or more clay tiles into a smaller display area to represent those with significant barriers to participation in the arts. Adding or removing tiles in the larger central region as they wish, they may note that the systems to create fair, equitable arts access are uneven and broken — sometimes with intent.
“Clay & Play I and Clay & Play II” 2023 © Ophelia Chambliss & Andrew Smith
Clay & Play I and II
The Clay & Play artworks begin with a clay monoprint — clay slip clinging to pellon — which then is transformed with a second layer, this time of acrylic paint guided by a second artist. The top level of play was a series of continuous lines filled with non-contiguous color in the most random yet consistent pattern.
It's way too common in our societies for a less dominant (or unentitled) class to be forced to mold itself onto and into the seams and structures built by the majority or more established group.
Race, gender, age, orientation, and so on are all layers of our larger communities and can be challenging to traverse. Like the art mediums in collaborative art, a prosperous society is best achieved when we celebrate and understand our valued differences and unifying attributes.
Artists: Ophelia Chambliss & Andrew Smith
Medium: Acrylic Paint & Clay Monoprint on Pellon
“Redlined” by Andrew Smith, for the exhibit, unentitled. Copyright ©2023 by Andrew T. Smith.
Redlined
by Andrew Smith
Clay Monoprint, Slip, Copper Mica, LEDs, Copper Wire, Red Tape, Copper Foil, & 9 Volt Battery on Wood Panel
Each of the seven artists created a 12" x 12" tile touching on the shared unentitled theme, utilizing the color of copper to tie the individual artworks together cohesively.
Redlining has had a tremendous negative impact on our communities, the consequences of which can still be seen. In my tile, shown above, a clay monoprint serves as the circuit board, with some areas created with a copper-colored mica in addition to the clay slip. Copper wire is purposely cut heading into the redlined area, removing any potential benefits afforded to the rest of the board.
LEDs are active on the left but are nonfunctional within the redlined area.
unentitled
August 19th - October 21st, 2023
Curator: Ivy Rodgers
Marketview Arts
37 W. Philadelphia St.
York, Pennsylvania
All works copyright the artists and/or Andrew T. Smith
Andy, Teaching, and Clay Monoprints at PechaKucha Night York
Thanks to Enroot, JJ Sheffer, and the York County Economic Alliance, I had the opportunity in May (2023) to be one of five presenters in York, Pennsylvania’s PechaKucha Night York.
Thanks to Enroot, JJ Sheffer, and the York County Economic Alliance, I had the opportunity in May (2023) to be one of five presenters in York, Pennsylvania’s PechaKucha Night York.
For those unfamiliar with the event name, there have been over 1,300 communities that have held similar events with local presenters, but the presentations have some unique twists.
The presenter selects twenty slides, primarily without text, which automatically advance every twenty seconds — regardless of the presenter’s readiness for them to do so! That twist creates the challenge, as well as the puzzle of sorts, in deciding how to tell about your craft in pictures and words in precisely six minutes and forty seconds.
Audience members at the event would see both the presentation on screen and the presenter themselves.
Thanks to JJ for her ongoing work in providing community-building events in York County and to Randy Flaum for his excellent work in capturing the event visually.
"Pigment 2023" Exhibit at The Grotto
Andrew Smith of Visual Realia, LLC will be exhibiting over two dozen clay monoprints at The Grotto, located on the second floor of the Rupp Building building at 2 W. Market Street, York, PA. The exhibit will run in February & March, 2023.
When hearing the word clay, many think of pottery and ceramics, whose applications go back thousands of years. Texture and color were both modified by adding sand or metal oxides. Pennsylvanian Mitch Lyons utilized both ceramics and printmaking techniques by using clay slips (clay with high amounts of moisture) to create the modern art form called clay monoprints.
The clay monoprint artist designs their work on a slab of stoneware clay (called the matrix) by adding and manipulating additional colored clay in various shapes & forms. When the artist is ready to print, the matrix and the material (substrate) are misted with water, and the substrate is placed on the clay slab. Next, pressure is applied to transfer the image. Finally, the completed print is carefully pulled from the clay slab, hung to air dry, and sprayed with a clear sealant.
An unusual tradition of the clay monoprint artist is to create the new design on top of the previous, allowing elements of earlier works to express themselves in prints randomly. For this reason, most clay monoprint artists create abstract images.
Interested readers can find more information regarding clay monoprints and Andrew Smith at www.visualrealia.com.
“Pigment 2023”
A clay monoprint exhibit by Andrew T. Smith
The Grotto
Second Floor
2 W. Market Street, York, PA
February & March 2023
M-TH, 9:00 - 6:00
F, 9:00 - 5:00
First Friday, 5:30 - 7:30 PM
Other Hours by Appointment with the Artist
"Pigment" Exhibit at York's Gallery @227
“Pigment” clay monoprint exhibit at Gallery @227 December 2022 - January 2023
Andrew Smith of Visual Realia, LLC will be exhibiting over two dozen clay monoprints at Gallery @227, located on the first floor of the Codorus & Company building at 227 W. Market Street, York, PA. The exhibit will run from Friday, December 2nd, 2022, through the end of January 2023. A First Friday opening reception will be held at the gallery on Friday, December 2nd, from 5:00 - 9:00 PM.
When hearing the word clay, many think of pottery and ceramics, whose applications go back thousands of years. Texture and color were both modified by adding sand or metal oxides. Pennsylvanian Mitch Lyons utilized both ceramics and printmaking techniques by using clay slips (clay with high amounts of moisture) to create the modern art form called clay monoprints.
The clay monoprint artist designs their work on a slab of stoneware clay (called the matrix) by adding and manipulating additional colored clay in various shapes & forms. When the artist is ready to print, the matrix and the material (substrate) are misted with water, and the substrate is placed on the clay slab. Next, pressure is applied to transfer the image. Finally, the completed print is carefully pulled from the clay slab, hung to air dry, and sprayed with a clear sealant.
An unusual tradition of the clay monoprint artist is to create the new design on top of the previous, allowing elements of earlier works to express themselves in prints randomly. For this reason, most clay monoprint artists create abstract images.
Interested readers can find more information regarding clay monoprints and Andrew Smith at www.visualrealia.com.
“Pigment”
An exhibit by Andrew T. Smith
Gallery @227
227 W. Market Street, York, PA
December 2nd, 2022, through January 2023
M-F, 8:00 - 5:00
First Friday, 5:00 - 9:00 PM
Other Hours by Appointment with the Artist
York & Hanover's "Invisible Wall"
I had the good fortunate to talk (and exchange emails) with Jim McClure about the “invisible wall” between York and Hanover, both in the art world and in general. Mr. McClure does a great job sharing some of the historical separations. Communities (and artists) in that straight line between York-Hanover-Gettysburg would benefit from greater efforts to work together.
Read the article at this link.