#1 Phyllis Weston GalleryPaper Trail: Contemporary Works on Paper

PWG MAGAZINE

Founder and Editor-at-Large: Phyllis WestonVisual Director and Editor-in-Chief: Cate Yellig

Graphic Designer: Aurore FournierMarketing and Advertising Department: Athena Stefanou and Michael Maloof

Photography: Aurore FournierAppraiser and Sales Director: Morgan Cobb

Editors: Michael Maloof, Athena Stefanou, Morgan Cobb

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cateyellig@mac.com2005 1/2 Madison RoadCincinnati, Ohio 45208

513.321.5200

Contact Phyllis Weston Gallery for more information about the artwork.

6 - 7INTERVIEW WITH PHYLLIS WESTON

INTERVIEW WITH TERENCE HAMMONDS

INTERVIEW WITH MAX U.

INTERVIEW WITH KIM BURGAS

WORKS BY TERENCE HAMMONDS

WORKS BY MAX U.

WORKS BY KIM BURGAS

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I N T E R V I E Wwith Phyllis Weston

Why do you think an on-line magazine is important for promoting artists, events, and exhibitions?

The internet is a powerful tool for creating connections. Every day artists and collectors call and email us after finding our webpage on line. Our reach does not have to extend only to the Cincinnati area; it can be world-wide. This maximizes our potential to connect our clients with great artwork. I use a discerning sensibility to bring artists to the forefront of the Cincinnati art scene, with the goal of cultivating and promoting the immense talent that is found locally and beyond. I am proud of the quality of our artists, exhibitions, and our contributions to the Cincinnati art community. For the arts to thrive it is important to educate people about the artists, their work, and the art of collecting.

Why/How did you select the artists for Paper Trail: Contemporary Works on Paper?

For over 52 years, I have been actively looking for emerging artists. Many of these artists were young when I found them and I gave them their first show. Now they are nationally recognized. I believe it is crucially important to cultivate new talent, especially in the Cincinnati Arts community, because they need that support in order to reach that next level. As Burton Closson told me once, “An eye for art is a talent, which can’t be taught. You ether have it or you don’t”.

What is important about this exhibition?

This is a great exhibition because it makes it possible for emerging talent to show their artwork to the public and gain more of a following. The patrons who then buy the emerging artists’ work play an integral part in expanding the contemporary art scene in Cincinnati.

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Kim Burgas is originally from Ohio, where she began her butoh training. She has since then studied with numerous butoh masters and has performed as both a solo act and with a group around the country. Her works focus on points of intersection, ostensibly oppositional collisions: the intertwining relationship of mother and daughter, the brittle physical movement of elderly bodies melted with the emotional naivety of a child, the lightness in life's heaviest struggles. Kim's work is considered butoh-inspired, but she firmly believes in and honors the butoh notion of dancing the space in between.

What is your process? And why is it effectively communicated through paper?I start with the general form of the figure, the figure’s outlines, and then fill in the gaps with detailed patterns and lines. Some of my work extends in long paper scrolls, emulating the narrative format of kakejiku, Japanese scroll paintings. Traditional scroll narratives often used silk and paper for the easy of carrying from place to place. I often produce my smaller works in my travels, inspired by people I met and the new surroundings. The freedom in movement that paper gives me allows me to be inspired by my surroundings more easily.

Why have you chosen works on paper as the medium for you work?I started working on paper because it allowed for me to get the detail and precision that I could only find with fine graphite and ink. My work focuses on layers of complexity - the perceived simplicity of the figure at first glance and then upon closer inspection, the inherent complexity of each part of one's being. Graphite, ink and paper allows me to create these detailed, layered narratives.

What are some of the concepts you address in your work?My work focuses on levels of simplicity and complexity in personal narratives and taxonomies.

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I N T E R V I E Wwith Kim Burgas

I've struggled a bit recently with how to define my work and its larger meaning. A conversation this weekend with a long-time friend and a conversation last week with my college mentor who was in New York visiting, coalesced into this really beautiful and succinct understanding of my work. The conversations were more sociological in nature, discussions on urban dwellings and the feelings of isolation that can accompany. In New York, I am surrounded by millions of people whom I physically come into close proximity with everyday but whom I know nothing about. They are complete strangers and we categorize based on our own relation to that person. On the street, I am a bicyclist and the person next to me is a cab driver. This is all I know about that person and all they know about me at that meeting point - a second or two - and then we depart. In most cases, this information is all that matters at that moment. But, what if we could understand the whole complexity of a person - their past, their history, the matter that makes them much beyond a cab driver, or a stranger, in every point of intersection throughout or days and our lives. What would that world look like and how would it change the way we act?

When I talk about my artwork and my dance, I talk about these points of intersection, juxtapositions of opposing taxonomies. For instance, the noble and the commoner. The aged and youth. From different perspectives, we all embody both at the same time. The perspective is the only changing variable. At one vantage point, we see the outlines of the individual and categorize: man. Woman. Human. At another vantage point, we see more detail. Wife. Husband. Elder. Child. Grieving. Stressed. In love. Content. And the closer we move, the more we understand about this individual and the more complex these taxonomies become. Categories are particularly useful for understanding patterns in the social world - the bird's eye analysis - but they require us to forget about the "minutiae." Sometimes this is to our own detriment as individuals and a society. What if our assumptions about the personal narratives of others, in each split second, were as complex as the understanding of our own personal narrative. What if we could embody that feeling with every interaction?

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Kim Burgas

Why have you chosen paper as the medium for your work?

As a print maker it’s the default. I have printed on many other surfaces. However, when I am planning a print project, if the concept does not dictate otherwise I always choose paper, Rives b.f.k., or Stonehenge. I just love a deckle edge. Screen printed layers of pattern, color and portraiture. Some of the work mimics wallpaper so the use of paper just makes sense.

What are some of the concepts you address in your work?

Race, class, subcultures and the meaning of style.

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I N T E R V I E Wwith Terence Hammonds

A native Cincinnatian, Terence Hammonds grew up in Over-the-Rhine and attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts before studying at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and Tufts University. The artist’s work has been exhibited at Gelb Gallery at Phillips Academy (Andover, MA); Wadsworth Athenaeum (Hartford, CT); Publico and clay street Press (Cincinnati, OH); and the University of Cincinnati Galleries on Sycamore and 840/Meyers Gallery. His work is informed and inspired by the struggles and determination of African Americans seeking equality during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He fuses imagery from that era with 1970s soul and funk music.

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Cincinnati painter Max Unterhaslberger has graced the urban archaeology of the greater Cincinnati area with bold graphic patterns since age thirteen. Currently, his colorful and complex linear forms seek to reclaim abandoned spaces and exhilarate forgotten rubble. Inspired by unkept structures, Max sees potential for vivacity throughout the city landscape. Most recently, Max sees potential for vivacity throughout the city landscape. Max experiments with linear forms on paper and canvas to expand graphic concepts related to classic literature and everyday experiences. Max will be a first-year student at the Cincinnati Art Academy in the fall.

I N T E R V I E Wwith Max Unterhaslberger

Why have you chosen works on paper as the medium for you work?

I chose works on paper to show how varying perspectives and myriad details can be portrayed on seemingly tangible materials. The flexibility of paper allows me to explore the inner workings of my unconscious with line, color, and mark making.

What is your process? And why is it effectively communicated through paper?

Initially, I try to limit the amount of materials in a work and then connect my ideas in ways I have not done before. The finished work can be a physical or visual response to my creative process.

What are some of the concepts you address in your work?

My work navigates the boundaries of subconscious thinking and I tend toward introspection. I couple my “coming of age” experiences with my understanding of street aesthetics and push the boundaries of what is considered fine art. By doing so, I create a range of art that spans from color-ful enamel spay paintings to calligraphic based compositions.

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Phyllis Weston GalleryPaper Trail: Contemporary Works on Paper

Cover. Terence Hammonds, (Shirley Chisholm) “Unbought and Unbossed”, silkscreen, 30” x 22”Page 10-11 (left to right). Kim Burgas, Florence, ink and graphite on paper, 22 3/4” x 6 3/4”, Kim Burgas, Gale, ink and graphite on paper, 22 3/4” x 6 3/4”, Kim Burgas, Yuki, ink and graphite on paper, 22 3/4” x 6 3/4”Page 14 (left). Terence Hammonds, Untitled, screen print, 8” x 6”Page 14 (right). Terence Hammonds, Untitled, screen print, 15” x 10 1/2”Page 15. Terence Hammonds, Biker Couple, screen print, 30” x 22”Page 16. Terence Hammonds, Little Richard, screen print with Cover Girl foundation, 30” x 22”Page 17. Terence Hammonds, Morris Day, screen print with gold leaf and chocolate sauce, 30” x 22”Page 19. Max Unterhaslberger, Ya Hues, Ya Lose, spray paint on paper, 11” x 15”Page 20-21 (left to right). Max Unterhaslberger, Sunset 1, spray paint on paper, 17” x 11”, Max Unterhaslberger, Untitled 1 , spray paint on paper, 17” x 11”, Max Unterhaslberger, Untitled 2, spray paint on paper, 17” x 11”