In 1993, Jane Hammond commissioned the poet John Ashbery to create a set of unique titles that would act as catalysts for a new series of paintings. Thomson's work explores abstraction and the malleability of language by incorporating text into the composition of her paintings in engaging and evocative ways.
Jane Hammond:
The John Ashbery Collaboration, 1993-2001
Curated by Jill Snyder
In 1993, Jane Hammond commissioned the poet John Ashbery
to create a set of unique titles that would act as catalysts for
a new series of paintings. He provided forty-four such titles
that have been the initial source for Hammond's recent
creative process. Hammond has allowed Ashbery's titles to
provide the initial visual stimulus for her compositions. As in all
of her paintings, Hammond culls her imagery from a controlled
iconographic pool of 276 pictorial representations including
images drawn from such texts as 19th century technical
materials, antique children's books, manuals on magic tricks,
botanical guides and pornographic comics. The relationships
between titles and the resulting paintings range from almost
obscure to playfully evident, yet all derive from the lively
intersection of language and image.
This exhibition marks the premiere of this unique and engaging
body of work. Hammond has exhibited both nationally and
internationally over the last twenty years and her work is in
the permanent collection of over twenty-five museums,
including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney
Museum of American Art and the San Francisco Museum of
Art.
PULSE - Eve Thomson
Curated by Kristin Chambers
This exhibition will feature new work by Cleveland artist, Eve
Thomson. Thomson's work explores abstraction and the
malleability of language by incorporating text into the
composition of her paintings in engaging and evocative ways.
Thomson states that her paintings "stem from a single word, a
small phrase, or longer writings-creating a surface whose
energy comes from the conscious placing of letters one after
the other."
Hovering somewhere between the abstract and the symbolic,
Thomson's use of language is both thoughtful and playful,
abstract and loaded with meaning. Thompson's attention to
surface texture and detail and her employment of text as both
symbol and abstraction provide a unique complement and
contrast to Hammond's rebus-like use of visual symbols.
The Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art 8501 Carnegie Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44106
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