‘Some Assembly Required’ at New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery includes work made from liquor boxes and butterfly wings.
By: Jillian Kalonick
Canvases are expensive. Cardboard boxes are cheap, and as artist Marc Deasy discovered, at Doylestown, Pa.’s Wine and Spirits store, they are free.
"Art supplies and money are always an issue," says Mr. Deasy, who found that his taste for red wine led him to a new style of artwork. While waiting in line at the store, he was drawn to the vivid colors of the store’s give-away liquor and wine boxes, and thought the cardboard might be an alternative surface for his oil paintings. "I took the boxes home and cut them up," he says, "but once I started cutting the cardboard I started putting it together, and I didn’t stop for the whole summer."
The result is an extensive series of cardboard assemblages, on view as part of Some Assembly Required, a show featuring works by Mr. Deasy and Yvonne Love that continues at New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery through Jan. 15. In Mr. Deasy’s collages, an elegantly cut Absolut Raspberri logo becomes a "Drunken Pelican." Stickers from yellow peaches and tomatoes make up a subway’s "Elevated Line." A box that once held Pinot Grigio becomes a series of works with a nautical theme. Titles such as "Falling Ice Cream," "Drilling in Alaska," "Money Under the Mattress" and "Liposuction" help create an alternative world where the subtlest color or angle might have a specific meaning.
It also becomes clear how alluring the advertising for alcoholic beverages can be. The cute Yellow Tail kangaroo and the fox of Foxhorn Vineyards are typical "mascots"; the colors Absolut chooses are as appealing and varied as those in a box of crayons.
In working with the boxes, "I cover up the wording and imagery as much as possible so I can totally transform it into something else," says Mr. Deasy. The branding used to be more of a presence when he first began working with the cardboard, such as in "America Down Under," a piece that was included in the Hunterdon Museum of Art’s juried members’ exhibition in 2005.
"It was when the 2,000th military person was killed in Iraq," explains Mr. Deasy. "You could tell it was made from a Yellow Tail box. ‘America Down Under’ expressed the anger so many Americans and people throughout the world have felt about the Iraq war. I don’t think I was expressing an original idea, but visually it was original… The whole reason I used those boxes, was that (Australia) was one of our strongest allies not one of our biggest supporters as far as number of troops, but a big ally. That’s where it tied in. Basically the concept was how we were brought into this, and brought down by it."
Other works focus more on nature, such as what looks like the angle of a bird’s wing or a tree branch. "I think really the Iraq war is what caused my artwork to be more political," says Mr. Deasy. "Now I’m trying to get away from that. I’m feeling that it’s just not very healthy for me to stay in that place, just like it’s not healthy for us to stay in that place."
Like Mr. Deasy’s work, Yvonne Love’s pieces are made from recycled materials, but often those found in nature, such as eggshells, butterfly wings and fur. Pins, wire, rubber and bits of wool create striking, visceral textures, and domestic activities such as sewing and dollmaking are given a hazardous edge.
Besides boxes, Mr. Deasy uses materials such as fruit stickers, bottle caps, discarded containers or even a bunch of colored rubber bands, and many works are accented with paint or plastic. He has worked in oil pastel, ceramics and photography, and has employed the drip painting technique that Jackson Pollack used.
"I like organic forms and the randomness of paint, which I can’t get when using a brush," he says. "I like the immediacy of small pieces I have a love/hate relationship with oil painting because if you’re an oil painter there’s lots of down time. I always want to move on."
Some Assembly Required: Works by Yvonne Love and Mark Deasy is on view at New
Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery, 2A Stockton St., New Hope, Pa., through Jan. 15.
Hours: Sun., Mon., Thurs. 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Yvonne Love
will give a gallery talk Jan. 13, 7 p.m. For information, call (215) 862-4586.
On the Web: www.nhsidetracks.com