Quartet of artists to show their work in late April
Four artists, all associated with the first program year at The Studios of Key West, will take over the Armory main hall in late April to present a quartet of installations relating to their creative work and ideas. Canadian conceptual artist Helen Verbanz, recent instructor Carlos Ferguson, Chicago-based provocateur Mike Lash, and local artist Deborah Goldman will show four very disparate bodies of work under the one roof. The public is invited to view the exhibition, Four-by-four at TSKW, and a closing reception is set for Thursday 15 May during Walk on White.
Canadian Helen Verbanz, who will be artist-in-residence at The Studios of Key West in June, has travelled to the same village on Lac Des Deux Montagnes, near Montréal, every February for the last ten years. Ice-fishing is an age-old tradition there, and people build temporary huts on the frozen ice and meditate in the still, quiet landscape. Verbanz’s series of 11 large photographic images of this winter environment, Ice Prints, will be featured at the Armory as part of Four-by-four.
“I'm looking forward to actually being there this summer,” said Verbanz, who will use her time in Key West to research and create an audio and mixed-media installation relating to lower Keys wetlands, backcountry mangroves, and other landscapes new to her. That environmental work will be on view at the Armory in late June and July.
Tornadoes and floods, flying machines, B-movies, and suburbia, are the concerns of artist Carlos Ferguson's Suspended Worlds, also included in Four-by-four at TSKW. His installation of seven suspended dioramas is constructed of photographs, balsa-wood miniatures, and model train scenery. Blurred and sharpened when viewed through built-in magnifying lenses, Ferguson’s diminutive landscapes combine a hint of whimsy with a dose of the supernatural—contained within handmade enclosures the size of a show box.
"I had a wonderful, all too brief time in Key West this past March," said artist Carlos Ferguson, who taught a one week drawing course as part of The Studios of Key West season. "I am happy to have the chance to show my work at my new favorite island at the end of the road. I hope to return soon for more creative programming and collaboration."
Chicago artist Mike Lash makes art that is simple, yet subversive. He arrives in May, for a month-long residency at The Studios of Key West, and will be preceded by the complete illustrations from his forthcoming book, Lies for Leo. The series of paintings and text panels—inspired by a young neighbor’s inquisitiveness about the world and the inability of adults to adequately respond—will be shown in Key West before touring to Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. The book will be published later this year by Agnes b., the French fashion designer, patron of culture, and and collector of contemporary art.
“I’m anxious to spend some time at the Southernmost Point, and at The Studios,” said Lash, whose residency will include research and planning for a follow-up to Lies for Leo. “This time, I’ll bring in the Keys as a central idea in the book, and explore the symbiotic relationship you have with the Ocean and local waters.”
Food, weather, light, tourism and cultural heritage will all become welcome fodder for Lash's somewhat irreverent interpretations, which one critic called ‘perfect for those growing jaded with the gallery scene’ and another labelled ‘direct, meaningful, and sloppy...with some worthy concepts behind them’.
Local practitioner and TSKW studio artist Deborah Goldman rounds out the quartet with her new installation Weft, which will create an organic veil in the front left section of the Armory and serve as an extension of the artist’s recent work in her upstairs studio.
“I’ve started a sort of fabric made from strips of aged cotton in a pattern that repeats the metal grates on the outside windows. The result is an interior web-like texture that will contain suspended sweet potatoes within, growing and flowing from their glass cylinders, with a white picket fence incorporated into the piece.”
Four-by-four at TSKW will open in late April, and will remain open to the public through Friday 16 May. The community is invited to celebrate the work of these four distinct creative people, and the art they will be bringing to the island, at the closing reception on Thursday 15 May from 6 to 9pm. For details and information, please contact The Studios of Key West at 296-0458 or info@tskw.org.
14 April 2008
02 April 2008
Spontaneous Wordsmithy at the Armory
Coming to The Studios of Key West this Friday, 11 April as part of the Robert Frost Poetry Festival’s Free Visual Poetry Event
Readers, writers, and lovers of words are invited to experience a new way to interact with the literary Muse, during this Friday’s Visual Poetry event at The Studios of Key West. The evening of free poetry-making is an official part of the island’s 14th annual Robert Frost Poetry Festival.
“We’ve cooked up a collective experience based on the popular refrigerator magnet poetry method of random and spontaneous combinations of words,” said Martha Barnes, Program Coordinator at The Studios. “Six reclaimed fridge doors will be installed for the one-night event, and these will become the basis for on-the-spot poetic verse.”
Between 6 and 8pm, visitors to the Armory will be asked to contribute 3 nouns, 3 verbs, 3 adjectives, and one wildcard word of any sort. These will be instantly printed and mounted onto magnetic backing, and then added to a central pool of Visual Poetry words. Participants will then craft new spontaneous poems directly onto the refrigerator doors. The entire process will be documented by the staff of The Studios, and the images played out on the large plasma screen in the main hall. Completed poems will also be photographed and then read aloud over the sound system, before clearing the slate to make way for new lines of verse.
“Images, ideas, and spoken words will commingle,” said Barnes, “and everyone is welcome to bring their literary inspiration and spirit of adventure to the Visual Poetry evening.”
To try your hand at spontaneous wordsmithing, or to learn more about Visual Poetry at The Studios of Key West, please contact 296-0458 or see www.tskw.org
Readers, writers, and lovers of words are invited to experience a new way to interact with the literary Muse, during this Friday’s Visual Poetry event at The Studios of Key West. The evening of free poetry-making is an official part of the island’s 14th annual Robert Frost Poetry Festival.
“We’ve cooked up a collective experience based on the popular refrigerator magnet poetry method of random and spontaneous combinations of words,” said Martha Barnes, Program Coordinator at The Studios. “Six reclaimed fridge doors will be installed for the one-night event, and these will become the basis for on-the-spot poetic verse.”
Between 6 and 8pm, visitors to the Armory will be asked to contribute 3 nouns, 3 verbs, 3 adjectives, and one wildcard word of any sort. These will be instantly printed and mounted onto magnetic backing, and then added to a central pool of Visual Poetry words. Participants will then craft new spontaneous poems directly onto the refrigerator doors. The entire process will be documented by the staff of The Studios, and the images played out on the large plasma screen in the main hall. Completed poems will also be photographed and then read aloud over the sound system, before clearing the slate to make way for new lines of verse.
“Images, ideas, and spoken words will commingle,” said Barnes, “and everyone is welcome to bring their literary inspiration and spirit of adventure to the Visual Poetry evening.”
To try your hand at spontaneous wordsmithing, or to learn more about Visual Poetry at The Studios of Key West, please contact 296-0458 or see www.tskw.org
01 April 2008
A Delicious and Creative Feast in Key West
Culinary writer Crescent Dragonwagon brings her Cornbread Gospels to The Studios of Key West
A deliciously entertaining week of events and workshops is planned at The Studios of Key West, when acclaimed writer Crescent Dragonwagon brings her recipe for writing, cooking, and living to Mile Marker Zero. Author of several novels, a book of poetry, many children’s books, more than a hundred magazine articles, and award-winning culinary memoirs, Dragonwagon will offer a pair of literary workshops as part of The Studios of Key West season.
The first, Fearless Writing, will take place from 6-9 pm, April 9 , and 10am-4pm on April 10 and 11. Her second workshop, Writing Culinary Memoir, will take place on April 12 and 13 from 10am-4 pm each day. Class enrollment is limited, and a few spaces remain for each workshop.
On Tuesday, April 8 at 6 pm, Dragonwagon will take a page our of her most recent book, The Cornbread Gospels. The historic Armory building at 600 White Street will lay out the checkered tablecloths and open its doors for a free community chili tasting and cornbread bake-off, involving a culinary melange prepared by local residents, restaurant, and chefs—with Dragonwagon as the centerpiece.
“Food really does, in so many ways, bring us together,” said Martha Barnes, program coordinator at The Studios. “And we’ve added this event to assemble Crescent’s talents, local foodie culture, and our island’s well-known culinary prowess and creativity.”
Local chef Tim King of Sunny’s Deli, who had been catering the previous month of workshop lunches for The Studios, heard about the event and immediately corralled cornbread contributions from The Restaurant Store/Cole’s Peace Bakery, Blue Heaven, Mr. Z’s, Coral Culinaire, and other island favorites. In addition, creative Key Westers, Carrie Disrud, Lisa Esposito, Martha Barnes, and a few others are planning to bring their chili and cornbread to the table that evening.
“We’ve had such a full season of workshops, collaborations, and experiences,” said Bob Muens, Board Chairman of The Studios of Key West. “We’re grateful to everyone who has helped us realize a sense of community, during our first full season as a non-profit organization, and we hope they’ll join us for a creative feast on April 8.”
At 6:30pm that evening, Dragonwagon will present “Cornbread: Comfort, Conflict, and Continuity,” a lively and passionate presentation that traces the history, emotions and memories associated with what she calls ‘that round skillet of golden bread.’
The author spent more than six years at work on her latest culinary memoir, and says that even she was surprised by the emotional depth revealed by a simple cornbread. The book proceeds from cornbread’s Native American origins, its role in slavery, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, to modern times. Dragonwagon touches on the distinctions of various cornbreads in social class, its role in defining regionality, its place at the family table, and its future in a world of genetic engineering.
Copies of The Cornbread Gospels are now available at Voltaire Books, The Restaurant Store and at The Studios of Key West. To register for the upcoming workshops by Crescent Dragonwagon, to add your chili and cornbread to the April 8 event, or to learn more about creative opportunities at The Studios of Key West, please contact Martha Barnes at 296-0458.
A deliciously entertaining week of events and workshops is planned at The Studios of Key West, when acclaimed writer Crescent Dragonwagon brings her recipe for writing, cooking, and living to Mile Marker Zero. Author of several novels, a book of poetry, many children’s books, more than a hundred magazine articles, and award-winning culinary memoirs, Dragonwagon will offer a pair of literary workshops as part of The Studios of Key West season.
The first, Fearless Writing, will take place from 6-9 pm, April 9 , and 10am-4pm on April 10 and 11. Her second workshop, Writing Culinary Memoir, will take place on April 12 and 13 from 10am-4 pm each day. Class enrollment is limited, and a few spaces remain for each workshop.
On Tuesday, April 8 at 6 pm, Dragonwagon will take a page our of her most recent book, The Cornbread Gospels. The historic Armory building at 600 White Street will lay out the checkered tablecloths and open its doors for a free community chili tasting and cornbread bake-off, involving a culinary melange prepared by local residents, restaurant, and chefs—with Dragonwagon as the centerpiece.
“Food really does, in so many ways, bring us together,” said Martha Barnes, program coordinator at The Studios. “And we’ve added this event to assemble Crescent’s talents, local foodie culture, and our island’s well-known culinary prowess and creativity.”
Local chef Tim King of Sunny’s Deli, who had been catering the previous month of workshop lunches for The Studios, heard about the event and immediately corralled cornbread contributions from The Restaurant Store/Cole’s Peace Bakery, Blue Heaven, Mr. Z’s, Coral Culinaire, and other island favorites. In addition, creative Key Westers, Carrie Disrud, Lisa Esposito, Martha Barnes, and a few others are planning to bring their chili and cornbread to the table that evening.
“We’ve had such a full season of workshops, collaborations, and experiences,” said Bob Muens, Board Chairman of The Studios of Key West. “We’re grateful to everyone who has helped us realize a sense of community, during our first full season as a non-profit organization, and we hope they’ll join us for a creative feast on April 8.”
At 6:30pm that evening, Dragonwagon will present “Cornbread: Comfort, Conflict, and Continuity,” a lively and passionate presentation that traces the history, emotions and memories associated with what she calls ‘that round skillet of golden bread.’
The author spent more than six years at work on her latest culinary memoir, and says that even she was surprised by the emotional depth revealed by a simple cornbread. The book proceeds from cornbread’s Native American origins, its role in slavery, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, to modern times. Dragonwagon touches on the distinctions of various cornbreads in social class, its role in defining regionality, its place at the family table, and its future in a world of genetic engineering.
Copies of The Cornbread Gospels are now available at Voltaire Books, The Restaurant Store and at The Studios of Key West. To register for the upcoming workshops by Crescent Dragonwagon, to add your chili and cornbread to the April 8 event, or to learn more about creative opportunities at The Studios of Key West, please contact Martha Barnes at 296-0458.
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