VIS U AL ART S
BY ALEX NOTMAN
THE BEAT DON’T STOP
ELAN’s Beats & Brushstrokes silent auction of
vinyl art is the biggest yet
M
ost people listen to vinyl; some go as far as to frame their favorite record sleeves and display them proudly
dly
on their walls while others use them as a blank canvas. On Feb. 23 you can see and purchase repurposed
sed
record art at the 4th annual Beats & Brushstrokes silent auction hosted by the UO Emerging Leaders in the
Arts Network (ELAN). But make sure to get there early; last year’s event quickly reached capacity, and there
was a line out the door.
“People melt records into bowls and get really creative with it,” says Danielle Walters, ELAN’s administrative chair
air and
a graduate student in the Arts and Administration Program at the UO.
“There’s an iguana,” ELAN co-chair Savannah Barrett says. They both laugh. Barrett is in the same program as Walters at
the UO; they are specializing in community arts. Leading up to the event, ELAN hosted four record art-making parties,
arties, two at
the Jordan Schnitzer and two at MECCA. In addition to iguanas and bowls, there will be more than 70 artworks, including vinyl
jewelry, 2D record art and journals bound in vinyl or album art.
‘SEA IS CALLING’ BY
EMILY BOELSEMS
The fundraising is for ELAN’s ArtsVenture, a professional development program that sends UO arts administration
on students to other cities
to meet with arts and cultural organizations. Last year ArtsVenture sent students to Bend; this April, they are going to Seattle to meet with leaders from
Seattle’s Arts & Cultural Affairs, the Seattle International Film Festival, the Frye Museum, the Pacific Northwest Ballet and the One Million Bones project.
“What’s really great about ArtsVenture is that it really does provide these emerging leaders a great opportunity to understand the variety of options that are available to them, but also
gives them ideas of what they could do in their own city,” Barrett says. “We learned from the Arts and Economic Prosperity Study that was just done in Eugene that the arts have a pretty
large pay off in terms of economic stimulation in this city. So it makes sense for a city to support its emerging leaders.”
The event brought in $1,500 last year; the goal this year is to raise $2,000. There will be hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and Portland’s DJ Leftovers will be spinning — you guessed it — vinyl. ■
Beats and Brushstrokes starts spinning 7 pm Saturday, Feb. 23, at Crossfi t Evviva, 234 W. 6th Ave.; $5 (cover includes food and drink).
COLLAGING THE CONTRADICTIONS
Local artist Violet Ray to speak at JSMA about his jarring
Vietnam-era photo collages
T
he Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is delving deeper into the belly of ’60s and ’70s counterculture art with Advertising the
Contradictions, an exhibit that explores the collision of art, culture and politics through the eyes of local artist Violet Ray.
While not part of the official West of Center: Art and the Counterculture Experiment in America exhibit that opened Feb 8.,
the JSMA added the local artist’s work because of its role in Vietnam anti-war protests — his photo collages were reprinted
on fliers and widely distributed. Here is one of those rare opportunities to not only see the work of an renowned and formative
artist, but to hear one speak as well; Ray will be giving an artist’s gallery talk about his politically and socially charged work on Feb.
27 at the JSMA.
“He draws attention to the subliminal message of ads,” says Jessi DiTillio, curator for West of Center at the JSMA. Ray’s work uses the
juxtaposition of images (often clipped from Life magazine) and words to expose sexisim, racism, environmental issues and the horrors of
the Vietnam War, countering the prevalent “American Dream” consumer images of the ’50s. The same way the Dadaists employed collage
in reaction to the absurdities and mass violence of World War I, so does Ray use collage to reveal the hypocrisies and consequences of
consumer culture and his generation’s war.
In “Spell of Chanel,” 1966, Ray combines a Chanel advertisement, featuring actress Ali McGraw, nude and half-submerged in
water, with two Vietnamese women and children who appear to be struggling through a body of water. The collage is seamless; it
‘MARLBORO ROUNDUP,’
appears at first to be one image, until deeper inspection reveals the turmoil — the piece becomes even more eerie and sardonic
COLL AGE ON PAPER, 1967
beneath Chanel’s tagline, “This is the spell of Chanel for the bath.”
“Americans were really distant in the war,” DiTillio says of Vietnam. “He brings consciousness home.” Perhaps one the most
disturbing images features an ad for Revlon’s Moon Drops Blushing Silk with the text “Revlon adopts the oh-baby face” above an image of a smiling model. Ray superimposes a young
Vietnamese girl into the image with a bandage taped over one eye, while the exposed eye appears severely bruised.
Other artworks include advertising imagery from Marlboro, toiletries and beverages. Aficionados can study up before the artist’s talk, as Advertising the Contradictions went on view
at the JSMA Feb. 9 and will show until April 28. According to the JSMA, Ray is currently working on “a series of mobile projections dealing with environmental issues like climate
change and endangered species.” Some may know Ray better as Paul Semonin, who received a Ph.D. in history from the UO and writes about natural history. ■
Violet Ray speaks at 5:30 pm Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the JSMA.
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eugeneweekly.com • February 21, 2013
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