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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1999)
Battalion GGIELIFE Crisp and Falconer on display at ANTHONY DESALVO/Thk Battvi.ion BY JEFF WOLFSHOHL The Battalion T he Brazos Valley Arts Council is showing the “Crisp and Falcon er” exhibit, a collection of the works of Margie Crisp and Pat Fal coner, at the Texas Galleries. Margie Crisp, born in New Or leans, is now residing in a small town outside of Austin and much of her work comes out of her present environment. Crisp said by moving from New Orleans to more rural areas in Texas, she was able to experience life in a new dimension. “For me it was a revelation,” Crisp said. “I started re-experiencing the night and leaving behind the fear that had developed over a lifetime of liv ing in the city. It forced me to reex amine a lot of my stereotypes and a lot of my notions about things.” Crisp said she believes when a person who has lived in the city for such a long time moves to the coun try, he or she will look at life in a broader spectrum. “[You] become aware of the life cycles,” Crisp said. “By focusing in on some of the smaller details of nature and the overall view is very different.” One of Crisp’s works, “Young’s Prairie,” places a simple field as the main subject. The wind blows on the grass, while birds are spread out. Crisp said she does not want to impose a specific message or narra tive on any viewer of her art which is mostly prints using charcoal as a medium. “I want to transcend the stereo type of the night as a place of fear or darkness as negative,” she said. “Not everybody thinks my work is warm and friendly.” Crisp said she is friends with Pat Flaconer the other artist on display. They discussed the exhibit and the sequencing of the art. “We both agreed that it was an un usual combination,” Crisp said. Pat Falconer is currently working as an animator at Flat Black Film in Austin and is a faculty member of the Austin Museum of Art. Falconer’s work portrays the beauty of non-spe cific women monarchs from the past. “A Shadow Queen,” one of her pieces, is a woman painted as Egypt ian, covered in gold and jewels. The queen is serious and statuesque, pos sessing traits usually identified with high society. Falconer distinguishes her work by incorporating cardboard and oth er items from present day, and she changed her medium from painting to sculpting before working on the current exhibit. “After I had sculpted and came back to painting, it seemed too flat,” Falconer said. “A lot of my work is meant to be playful and like life.” David Romei, the executive direc tor of Arts Council of Brazos Valley (ACBV), said the committee selected “Crisp and Falconer” as one of the nine exhibits presented by the ACBV. “They select exhibits based on a number of criteria,” Romei said. “One being the artist be a Texan or [person] living in Texas. The work must [also] be representative of the Page 3 • Tuesday, November 9, 1999 Texas Galleries dynamic character, that we are not al ways using the same old craftsman ship of works of years past.” Romei said Falconer uses a type of art called Kitsch that sets him a part from other contemporary artists. “An example [of kitsch] is, if you go to New York City and buy a pink and rhinestone statue of liberty,” Romei said. Romei said the fundamental dif ference between the two artists is the medium each has chosen. “One is two dimensional, the oth er is three dimensional,” Romei said. “Every artist has a different motive.” Romei said the ACBV hopes the exhibit invokes thoughts and images of everyday life. “We hope that art expands peo ple’s horizons and think about life in ways that they don’t normally think about,” Romei said. “And that they’ll carry away with them a sense of aes thetic pleasure.” Romei said the exhibit gives a pos itive feeling to its viewers. “It moves people to think about life in a different way,” Romei said. “It breaks the normal, everyday mold.” Romei said from a student’s point of view, learning to appreciate art is a definite advantage and a pleasur able pastime. “You wake up, go to class, you might go to the Rec Center, you do your homework and you develop an academic rut very quickly,” Romei said. “We provide an outlet in the community to explore other aspects of your personality.” Share. 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