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Newsletters>
Pictograph Newsletter for Jan. 12, 2009
January 8, 2009
THE PICTOGRAPH ART GALLERY
Valerie Fraser
Members of the volunteer Board of The Pictograph Art Gallery are most excited to present a wonderful roster of confirmed exhibits and events for the entire year ahead. Plenty of thoughtful work has gone into organizing an inspirational calendar as we continue to implement our mandate to promote local and regional artists, while striving to raise awareness for Atikokan and region as an area rich in talent.
We start 2009 with the unveiling on Saturday Jan. 10 of an exhibit titled “Stranger in Paradise” by renowned Thunder Bay Artist, Mark Nisenholt.
Mark continues to exhibit, lecturing, writing articles and reviews while also holding a position as Assistant Professor/Assoc. Professor of the Division of Fine Arts Department of Visual Arts at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This busy artist, while not able to attend the Gallery on opening day, confidently offers the members of The Pictograph Gallery the privilege of unveiling his exhibit, allowing the art to engage its audience.
Mark hesitates to speak or write at length about his art because he believes that art can be over-explained and that explanations can short-circuit the process of enjoying the art itself.
Mark is an expert in various visual mediums, from drawing to printmaking. “A Stranger in Paradise” focuses on the new age art form of digital prints. This body of Marks work is derived from his time in Greece and delivers some of the flavour of his experiences there not just in the particulars of the imagery but also in the layering of the elements. The work is composed from digital photographs which are layered with other digital imagery in the computer. Each layer can be independently treated for tonal values, transparency, colour balance, and layer blending. The complexity of the images is a factor of the number of layers and their interactivity. Mark will often blend in graphic elements derived from Greek, Minoan, Turkish, or Venetian motifs. In addition hand-drawn linear elements will often surmount the underlying images, providing a net or skein which the viewer must penetrate. He wants the viewer to become a kind of a visual traveler (through time as well as space) in the way he or she must seek out the image or extract a detail or negotiate the composition as one would a map. The Artist expects the mystery of some of the images will remain unresolved but that the promise of a serendipitous resolution is still felt to be a possibility, and that in any case the journey is a pleasurable one.
I have never been to Greece, Turkey, or Venice but after viewing Marks exhibit I now have a sense of an imagined journey through time and space; feeling a little less like a stranger in paradise. The images are captivating.
Visit the Pictograph Art Gallery and let Marks exhibit take you on such a journey. “A Stranger in Paradise” from Jan. 10 – 31st, open Tues. – Fri. 12: - 3: and Saturdays from 12. – 3:00 p.m.
Thank you for stopping in to see our Gallery and Gift Shop.
We hope you enjoyed your visit and will return.
The Pictograph Gallery - Atikokan Ontario - 1-807-597-4344
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