Ed Marston, Journey, Twenty-Two Gallery
“The Journey, as a metaphor: Venturing forth by oneself, inward changes and impressions are noted as familiar landmarks fade into the horizon behind. The passage of time is unstoppable and one moves into the journey inexorably. The preparations for departure may be sudden or well-planned – in either case one changes along the way, the person who leaves never can come back to the same place as the same person.
So too, my approach to making art is a journey and an evolution. This particular journey has a beginning, and the stages along the way are the paintings; the end hasn’t yet appeared but I’ll recognize it when it does. Until then every articulation of the road must be negotiated and, with help from memory and imagination, followed as closely as the ‘powers that be’ allow. Continuing the ‘journey’ metaphor, there are side-trips to gather materials, places along the way that must be visited, unexpected distractions from the onward progress, all of which ultimately influence the experience; the paintings serve as a parallel to all of it.” Ed Marston, Twenty-Two Gallery website
Ed Marston, Journey, Twenty-Two Gallery, A Street in Philadelphia, oil on canvas, $425.00
DoN stopped by Twenty-Two Gallery on September Second Friday before the artist reception began and had some quality alone time with the art installation by Ed Marston. There is a mix of paintings and sculptures, styles and techniques exploring traditional landscapes to portraiture to insect studies and truly is a journey of imagination. Ed answered a few questions while setting up refreshments for the expected crowd of friends and art lovers. I asked if this show was different for him since it’s such a wide variety of media and subjects?
“Yes, it’s a little more exploratory than those of the past. These are more like paintings than pictures, I think. And I’ve taken some liberties with moving images around, for example, I stole an image from John Singer Sargent and stuck it in there. Why not? It might be Mick Jagger, I’m not quite sure who it is, walking along the street there. I’m not quite sure who that’s supposed to be.”
Michael Jackson maybe?
“Yeah, maybe, in later phases. But also I’m a naturalist, I’m playing with some of the mimicry that animals and insects do. I have some insects here that are bright and startling and they’re meant to make enemies run. And I played with that with this image, the green scarab, and above that I put the altered cat skull which has snake skin stretched on it. And bright green eyes with an Indian God’s Eye that was made by a South American Indian, it’s actually a children’s toy that they make. It’s probably tourist trade, I have a bunch of them. Those two kind of work together as mimicry and I think that when you look at Indians in the forest and how they’re dressed fir their environment, just like corporate man dresses for his environment. He’s not going to dress up with paint on his face bur he’s going to have a sharp, crisp, clean, sterile suit because he works in a sharp, crisp, sterile environment. Including the intellectual environment.
I’m exploring that, that’s why this is called ‘Journey’, because I’m going from 19th Century painting, pre-Impressionist, to moving around and playing with the paint, playing with the images, ending up with the Jaguar.”
Are these oil paintings?
“They’re all oil paintings but I’ve also set up a portrait of my son. That’s a portrait of him because he was in the hospital and had a serious event. And I’ve dedicate the show to him. His name is James. The photograph is taken with a turn-of-the-century view camera that I have, it’s the kind Ansel Adams would have used, it takes an 8″ x 10″ plate or 5″ x 7″ plate, it could take glass plates, I didn’t bring the camera in because I wasn’t sure it would be worth the risk, so I put my old Nikon on the easel as just a touch.”
Ed Marston, Journey, Twenty-Two Gallery is on exhibit through October 6t, 2013.
Ed Marston, Journey, Twenty-Two Gallery, Jaguar, mixed media
As an added incentive to visit the art exhibit, Twenty-Two Gallery is hosting a wine tasting, a perfect pairing of tastes and styles to compliment the art.
Thursday, September 26th Event – Wine Labels
6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:15.
In this Vinocity event we’ll talk about wine labels. Ever wonder what all those terms on a bottle mean, or what you are supposed to expect from a wine because of certain terminology on the label? Ever worry you’ve paid too much for a wine, when you would have known better if you more clearly understood the label? And are these terms regulated, or do some of them have no real meaning at all? In this class you’ll learn what a label is telling you about the wine, and some other fun facts too. We’ll look at several types of labels – from Italy, Germany, the U.S. and France – and some other interesting topics. Join us for what is sure to be a fun evening!
Please click the link to sign up for the event. Register Now! Or visit our website and sign up for future events
Vicki Miller,Vinocity, vicki@vinocityevents.com, www.vinocityevents.com
Written and photographed by DoN Brewer except where noted.
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