C A R O L H E F T :
W o r k o n P a p e r
March 2016
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| Carol Heft, Untitled, 2016, on paper, 18x24", collage w/ watercolor, gouache, charcoal, pencil |
Carol Heft starts a marvelously spirited conversation in her new collage work on paper. It is a fascinating discourse shaped by all kinds of invention and possibilities, filled with mercurial passion, tempered by profound intellect, deftly guided by feeling, fueled by whimsical imagination, and overseen by a keen and seasoned eye.
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| Carol Heft: Work on Paper, Blue Mountain Gallery |
There is no mistaking the diverse interactive tapestry of visual experience launched by Carol Heft: Work on Paper at the Blue Mountain Gallery in New York this March. Now the viewer has a chance to jump into the conversation, and this back and forth gets elevated to such a wonderfully lively intensity.
This is the nature of her work; her sensibility dictates that we are part of the exchange. It doesn't completely work if we are not. There is a bit of Lauren Bacall when kissing Humphrey Bogart in To Have And Have Not: "It's even better when you help."
This is the gift of Carol Heft's work. The give and take. We get to listen in. We get to join in. But the truth is, it is even better when we join in. If and when we do is critical to the experience.
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| Carol Heft, Untitled, 2016, on paper, 18x24", collage w/ watercolor, gouache, charcoal, pencil |
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| Carol Heft, Blue Mountain Gallery installation, March 2016 |
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| Carol Heft, Untitled, 2016, on paper, 18x24", collage w/ watercolor, gouache, charcoal, pencil |
This is the gift of Carol Heft's work. The give and take. We get to listen in. We get to join in. But the truth is, it is even better when we join in. If and when we do is critical to the experience.
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| Carol Heft, Untitled, 2016, on paper, 18x24", collage w/ watercolor, gouache, charcoal, pencil |
"I’m happy with the process and the product," Carol Heft says in talking about her work. "It is an extension of my recent experiments with collage, drawing and painting. The paper “overlays” are like stencils and add a kind of relief sculpture element, with shadows, to the surface, which I find interesting."
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| Carol Heft: Work on Paper, Blue Mountain Gallery |
Abstract and semi-abstract 2 and 3D elements are at play in this work. Drawing and collage converse wildly; shapes loosely move in and outside the lines, there is rapid fire gesture, there is layered history, there is revelatory clarification, and in most cases highly animated color gets the party started.
"The combination of drawing, scribbling, painting, collage, layering lines, using the shadows," she explains, "these are the most exciting aspects of some of the “Window” pieces that have a stencil like overlay which is then worked and reintegrated into the overall picture plane and space. I see this as an endless source of inspiration, using an infinite range of design elements in the process."
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| Carol Heft: Work on Paper, Blue Mountain Gallery |
Engaging the works on paper up close, we enter into her world. We are not just located, we are on board.
"The work in this exhibition is all relatively small, 18 x 24 mostly, and on paper. The humble materials, some recycled drawings that are layered with stencils, and the stream of consciousness imagery, are all part of a direction I have been working toward; one of freedom and new ways of conceiving composition."
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| Carol Heft, Untitled, 2016, on paper, 18x24", collage w/ watercolor, gouache, charcoal, pencil |
In this Work on Paper, all done in 2016, we get an endlessly unfolding experience. Part puzzle, part pop-up, part Mardi Gras parade, part board game, part live band, we enjoy a shifting, moving, energetic, illusory, baffling roadmap to someplace we have never been, where the signs point every which way, and some pills make you larger and some pills make you small. Welcome to Carol's Wonderland.
"The uniformity of the scale of the work and my attitude about relative scale and size has opened up a bit. Whether the work is an object, window, screen, field or portal has always interested me. How the space experienced in the picture plane depends on many factors, including the relationship between the size of the work and the size of the human body."
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| Carol Heft, Untitled, 2016, on paper, 18x24", collage w/ watercolor, gouache, charcoal, pencil |
Here is the quiet riot and brilliant fun of these beautiful works. Carol Heft invites us to sit down to her Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Pass the marmalade. Let the celebration begin! Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Addison Parks
Spring Hill, March, 2016
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| Carol Heft, Untitled, 2016, on paper, 18x24", collage w/ watercolor, gouache, charcoal, pencil |
Carol Heft: Work on Paper
THE BLUE MOUNTAIN GALLERY
The Blue Mountain Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of work by Carol Heft from March 1 – 26, 2016. The exhibition will include collage, drawing, painting, digital images, and constructions in a variety of materials. Ms. Heft’s work is inspired by an exploratory approach to materials, and the interchange of two and three dimensional space on flat surfaces. Her new work combines physical and illusionary layers of space populated by imaginative formal combinations. Careful attention to composition born of random arrangements are juxtaposed in compelling designs.
There will be a concert and gallery talk on March 26, Saturday, from 2:00 – 4:00 at the gallery performed by The Bill Warfield Hell’s Kitchen Funk Orchestra.
Born in 1954, Carol Heft studied painting with Robert Brackman, National Academician, from the age of 12 – 16. She then attended the Rhode Island School of Design where she studied with Lisa Chase, Leland Bell, Judy Pfaff, and other visiting artists and instructors. After graduating in 1976, Ms. Heft moved to New York City, where she currently lives and works. Carol Heft teaches drawing, painting, 2 dimensional design, and technical drawing at Muhlenberg College, and Cedar Crest College, in Allentown PA, and St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn, NY. Contact Marcia Clark at the gallery for further information
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| Carol Heft, Untitled, 2016, on paper, 18x24", collage w/ watercolor, gouache, charcoal, pencil |
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| Carol Heft, Untitled, 2016, on paper, 18x24", collage w/ watercolor, gouache, charcoal, pencil |
1 comment:
Such a prolific and strong talent deserves to be seem
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