The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 09, 1999, Image 3

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    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.”
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