Talk @ SECCA An Abbreviated History of Art & Illusion

Aug12

At the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art Talk @ SECCA An Abbreviated History of Art & Illusion Time: 7PM Location: SECCA Auditorium Cost: Free Description: SECCA Curator Steven Matijcio will trace the historical path of the Look Againexhibition, surveying the evolution of the "trompe l'oeil" (trick of the eye) technique from ancient times, through the Renaissance and Surrealist periods, to early American painting, and contemporary photo, video and installation. The exhibit this was lectured on: Look Again In 2010, with over a half-century of history accumulating in the background, SECCA is asking the city, country, and world to take another look at what it was, what it is, and what it aspires to be. Entwining exhibition, organization, and social inquiry, look again compels viewers to more closely examine the seemingly familiar. I enjoyed viewing the exhibition after the lecture. Many interesting pieces selected for the exhibition. Although in a discussion with my daughter following, we discussed because illusion is used, the question is asked about visual trickery... when is it art or a technical ploy? As a colleague asked in a FB question a few weeks back, when is it art or a visual spectacle? So these are questions to continue to ask of the work. Reflection of the lecture as related to my work: I went to hear this lecture this evening. It was very interesting and relevant to my work from several perspectives. I also see that illusion may be a connecting subtext to my work, that I had not considered earlier. For instance this evening curator, Matijcio spoke about Archibaldo's portraits with fruit and that it takes a second look to figure out the imagery. The same sort of effect happens with the murrini portraits. The technique lends itself to a surreal effect. Instead of large fruit composing the portrait, I am using small flowers. Within my Intuitive paintings I had not thought about illusion from the context of what the subconscious of others brings to these images. Since they are intuitive through a spiritual voice I am trying to convey, people will see different things within them and will bring varied interpretations.