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Kotlarczyk, Matt. XChandeliers for Art of Food, 2010. Mixed media (candy). Photo courtesy of the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center.
When we are introduced to food, it is presented to us as a source of sustenance and a means of survival. A unique appreciation of food emerges when it is no longer a necessity. When the preparation and presentation of food is allowed to develop as a purely sensual experience, it is more closely aligned to the practice of making art. Both can be expensive endeavors, but the gourmet, the gourmand and the culinary aesthete indulge in a unique perversion of reallocating resources for survival towards a creative, arguably frivolous line of inquiry. The research into and appreciation of gourmet cuisine and fine art are valid only insofar as the seeming frivolity of their pursuits can be considered as not frivolous, cultural mainstays even.
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Installation view of Nature's Stain at the Aisle Gallery, 2010. Photo courtesy of Tony Walsh.
While the role of art and the visual artist in society have undergone dramatic shifts since the Quattrocento, the practice of drawing, and the special significance it holds as the exploratory medium for the development of thought and form is, for many contemporary artists, still as de rigueur as it was in Cennino's time. This vision of drawing as daily affirmation is currently and elegantly stated by the work of two sculptors whose drawings are now on view as Nature's Stain at Aisle. The images of Carmel Buckley and Joel Fisher are a complementary pair. If their aims and interests as artists are divergent it is not at the expense of an exhibition that is tightly conceived and skillfully executed. Cool and composed, but never detached, Fisher and Buckley's work each possesses the rare ability to compensate for the weaknesses of the other. Buckley's contributions to the show are sometimes uneven and range from the exceptional to the middle of the road; whereas Fisher's work is more consistent overall, if occasionally less adventurous.
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Mark Patsfall in his studio, 2010. Photos courtesy of Eric R. Greiner.
Mark Patsfall is the go-to guy if you're an artist and you have a difficult print job at hand. Patsfall also makes art, as can be seen right now in the Weston Art Gallery's The House In My Head. His own quirky, idea-filled show, The Nature of Time, recently appeared at Aisle Gallery in West End.
The Cincinnati Art Museum automatically turned to Patsfall's Clay Street Press in Over-the-Rhine to produce its recent Honoring Jim Dine Portfolio, in which eight well known area artists pay tribute to a Cincinnati-born artist a generation ahead of them. "Mark Patsfall was selected for the portfolio because he has the knowledge to help even first time printmakers realize their vision," says Kristin Spangenberg, curator of the Museum's print department.
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How We Look at Who's Coming to Dinner:
