The Loved Ones

Danielle Durchslag's striking portraits look like oil paintings from a distance but up close you can see that her work is in fact constructed from hundreds of pieces of cut paper. She uses layered paper to explore the subtle, powerful process of human emotional development. As in human psychology, each new layer is crafted and informed by the one beneath it, to create a seemingly complete whole. 

"The Loved Ones" focuses on babies to emphasize how quickly each of us crafts a particular emotional outlook and how suddenly that outlook can change. Babies, more than adults, fully inhabit emotions without clinging to them - they are open and present in each new moment.  Durchslag is a master at capturing the very essence of a child's fleeting emotional outburst and in doing so she pushes her material - paper - to its absolute limits.  

Born in Chicago, Durchslag completed her Masters at New York University in 2011. Since graduating the artist has been invited to participate in a number of artist residencies including; the SIM residency in Reykjavik and closer to home, at Wave Hill, Bronx. Works from "The Loved Ones" series will be included in a group paper exhibition at the Christopher Henry Gallery, New York from May 10 - June 24.

Baby III, paper, tape and glue, 2010, Image Courtesy of the Artist

Baby IV, paper, tape and glue, 2010, Image Courtesy of the Artist

Eileen, paper, tape and glue, 2010, Image Courtesy of the Artist

 

A rising star any which way you slice it - the work of Brooklyn based artist, Thomas Witte

A recent visit over to the Brooklyn Navy Yards, introduced me to new work by Thomas Witte.  At first, Witte's interest lay in stenciling. After graduating from Rutgers University, he traveled to Argentina, where he found himself drawn to the vibrant graffiti scene, and his time there solidified his interest in the technique.  However, in recent years, the artist's focus has shifted from mark making to the stencils themselves. Witte's subjects are culled from his Grandfather's collection of vintage photographs; images captured in a millisecond, often by an absent-minded, amateur eye.  The artist then painstakingly hand cuts his drawings with a x-acto knife, containing the transcribed image in one single sheet of A3 paper.  This process implies a certain fastidiousness but perhaps it is Witte's subconscious ability, which he describes as, "knowing when to end the line", that enables him to so successfully manipulate his material to convey the smallest shift in a reflection or gradient in a shadow.   This Spring, he exhibits in a group paper exhibition at Christopher Henry Gallery, New York, that opens May, 10 to June, 24. Go see this rising star in action!

 

"Untitled" (Motel), 2012,  22"x30", cut archival paper

Courtesy of the Artist

 

"Untitled" (China Town), 2011, 22'x30", cut archival paper 

Courtesy of the Artist

Paula Scher MAPS

TAG is pleased to offer limited editioned screen prints by the critically acclaimed designer and fine artist Paula Scher to coincide with MAPS on view at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, NYC. An American artist and prizewinning graphic designer, Scher is a longstanding partner of the international design consultancy Pentagram. Her maps belie a different side to her creative talents. Dense, vibrantly colourful and displaying a wealth of wordy detail culled data from international media headlines, commercial maps and diagrams, they conjure up a powerful sense of place that manages to suggest both popular opinion and personal significance.  Scher’s hand-pulled screenprints are beautiful renditions of her original painted maps, made in collaboration with Andy Warhol’s master printer Alexander Heinrici.
Available MAPs from TAG include: Africa, China, Europe, and India. For further information click here

Paula Scher
Map of Africa
2007
46.5 x 54 in, 152 x 137 cm
Hand pulled screenprint in colours, on Archival Museum board
Signed, numbered and dated by the artist in pencil
Signed edition of 90 Image courtesy of the Artist and TAG Fine Arts

Coming to America: Rob Ryan to exhibit in New York City

TAG is delighted to announce a Stateside collaboration with the Christopher Henry Gallery,  that will include new works by Rob Ryan. One of the most highly sought-after paper cut artists in the UK, Rob studied Fine Art at Trent Polytechnic and at the Royal College of Art.  Since 2002, he was been working principally in the paper-cutting medium and his elaborate papercuts have received universal recognition from private collectors to museums.  Rob has also appeared in high profile design collaborations with Liberty’s of London, Fortnum & Mason, Paul Smith, Tatty Devine and Vogue.  His papercuts illustrate his own books, 'This Is For You', (a romantic fairy-tale told through paper cut art), 'The Gift' (a beautiful, poignant children’s tale by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy) and more recently, 'A Sky Full of Kindness' (a story about love and overcoming our greatest fears).  Rob was also in the 2010 major museum show ‘Slash – Paper Under the Knife’ at the Museum of Arts and Design, NYC and his following grows from strength to strength in America.  The show opens at the Christopher Henry Gallery, 127 Elizabeth Street, Nolita on 10 May and runs until 24 June, 2012.  For further details, images and an invitation to the exhibition, contact Diana.

Rob Ryan in his East London Studio

Image credit: Rob Ryan, "Your Job" 

Text reads: "Your job is to take the world apart and then put it back together again...But even better!!"

Image credit: Rob Ryan, "Starry Night"

Art of Mapping reaches out across the Atlantic

TAG Fine Arts is delighted to join forces with four US and Canada based artists who will be first time exhibitors in the UK next month.   Peter Dykhuis, Dahlia Elsayed, Robert Walden, Heidi Whitman, and the New York based artist Paula Scher, have been invited to show their work in TAG's upcoming exhibition, The Art of Mapping, a survey show celebrating cartography’s potential as an art form, rather than a science.   This first transatlantic collaboration for TAG comes from a year of research into contemporary map making and an investigation into how cartography is in the process of being reimagined for today’s society, with all five artists making a vital contribution to the show. If you're passing through London, do visit the exhibition.  We intend to tour the show in 2012 Stateside.

Dahlia Elsayed | Pull, Plot, Peak, Pine | 2011 | Acrylic on paper 

Heidi Whitman | Invisible Cities / Brain Terrain (318) | 2010 | 

Ink, gouache, acrylic, paper, and cast shadows

The Art of Mapping opens in London on November 14th 2011, click here for full details. A number of exhibiting artists appear in Kitty Harmon's authoritative survey book ‘The Map as Art’ (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2009) who will be contributing to the exhibition catalogue.

TAG Fine Arts joins Culture Label

Adam Bridgland, While We Have This Moment, 2009 Screen print on 300 gsm Saunders Waterford paper
56 x 55cm (unframed size), Edition of 25, Courtesy of the Artist and TAG Fine Arts

You can now buy TAG artworks online at Culture Label, with the option of spreading your payment over 10 monthly installments through the Arts Council's Own Art Scheme if you have a residential address in the UK. Happy Shopping!

Sticker book: From Punk Rock to Contemporary Art

Front cover of DB Burkeman's publication

Gonkar Gyatso is in good company alongside Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Keith Haring, Barbara Kruger, Julian Opie and Andy Warhol in DB Burkeman's recent sell out sticker publication. Stickers features approximately 6,000 images from the exploding, vibrant world of street art, DIY culture, music and branding. Democratic, easy to "tag," and not always fast to fade, the sticker has been an ever-present medium—from the New York and London underground punk scene to skate culture and political expression.  This month the Streaming Museum has teamed up with the publication as part of their summer programme focused on stickers, punk rock, hip-hop, graffiti, skateboard, boomboxes and pictogrames.  Hit the link for a sneak preview of what's coming up with the launch of the STICKERS Stuck-Up Tour in NYC.