New Work

18(1): Working at 18th Street Arts Center

November 20, 2018 By Debra Disman

I became a local artist in residence at 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica the third week in September, 2018. My posts, while a chronicle of sorts of the experience, won’t necessarily , nor summarily, begin at the beginning.

Works in various states of completion.

Love lots of Light. Let There Be Light in the studio.

A work begun during my studio residency at the Art Lab at 1450 Ocean (in Santa Monica)

Like a book, or any work, this is a process. The beginning, can be seen from many viewpoints.

Canvas, hemp cord, found cord, book board, watercolor paper.

Like life, work ifs filled with loose ends.

Spine

Sometimes these can be beautiful.

Page turner

We turn the page.

Moving through, loose ends, unraveling, stitching, keeping it together.

Something new emerges. just that slightly different then the before.

Moving on.

“We the Artists” at 18th Street Arts Center!

November 2, 2018 By Debra Disman

If you are in the Los Angeles Area, please join 18th Street Arts Center from 7-10PM November 10th for a special event:

“We the Artists” celebrates the 30th birthday of the largest artist residency program in Southern California!

I am thrilled to have recently become a local artist in residence, and will be opening my studio to the along with others from 7-8AM during the event.

18th Street Arts Center: “Where Art Happens
Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2018-2019, 18th Street Arts Center is one of the top 20 artist residency programs in the US, and the largest in Southern California. Conceived as a radical think tank in the shape of an artist community, 18th Street supports artists from around the globe to imagine, research, and develop significant, meaningful new artworks and share them with the public to foster radical imagination, empathy, and positive social change.”

“WE THE ARTISTS: 18th Street’s 30th Anniversary Celebration!
November 10, 2018 | 7-10 PM

Santa Monica, CA – 18th Street Arts Center celebrates 30 years as Southern California’s leading artist residency program with a live performance art event and free public birthday party on November 10, 2018 from 7-10pm. The event is co-hosted by 18th Street’s founding ‘compadres’ La Pocha Nostra and Highways Performance Space. The evening spectacular features new live art works by 18th Street artists Kenyatta AC Hinkle, Asher Hartman, Marcus Kuiland-Nazario, Amitis Motevalli, and site-specific installations by Kate Johnson, Daniel Canogar, Po-Yen Wang, and more! Enjoy live performances, video installations, exhibitions, music, artist’s studios, LA’s gourmet food trucks, and craft beer. ”

RSVP here for a free ticket.
18th Street Arts Center
1639 18th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90404 United States

Hope to See YOU there!

don’t faint, Blackout

October 17, 2018 By Debra Disman

I am thrilled and honored to be included in: Blackout, Ashton Gallery / Art on 30th‘ s National Show, which promises to feature, “ the best pieces from all over the country that include the color black: seductive, powerful, elegant, formal, prestigious, and mysterious.”

Image identifying the show

The show was juried by Daniel Foster, who “has an extensive 30-year career in arts and museum leadership in San Diego and Southern California. He is the past Executive Director of the Oceanside Museum of Art (2012-15) and the Riverside Art Museum (2003-08), in addition to past positions with the San Diego Art Institute, UC San Diego Visual Arts Dept., San Francisco Art Institute, and the Headlands Center for the Arts. Additionally, Foster founded and launched the North County Arts Network in 2014 and the Arts Council for San Bernardino County in 2012 (when he was the President/CEO of The Community Foundation). Foster is a conceptual and multi-disciplinary visual artist and poet.”

I will be showing my work, “Maximum Security“, (2018) a black on black on black “sculptural book”, made from book board, wood, mulberry paper, paint, canvas, watercolor paper and hemp cord. It stands upright on a pedestal, shelf, table or other surface parallel to the floor. When opened, it can span up to 18″ wide. 5″ x 18″ x 10.25″

I look forward to seeing images of other pieces in the show…and hope it is such a intriguing exhibition that viewers all but faint.

Kidding… (almost…)

If you are in or around San Diego, check it out!

The Book As Art v.6.0: Pulp

September 26, 2018 By Debra Disman

Browse the catalogue…

FORMATION

September 17, 2018 By Debra Disman

I am beyond honored to be a part of Formation, the Guild of Book Workers triennial members’ exhibition, which has begun a two year national tour.
The GBW says it best:

Simply defined by Merriam Webster as “an act of giving form or shape to something,” formation can insinuate process, history, creation, change, beginnings, an arrangement, botany and landscape, personal narratives and impersonal storytelling. What makes us into the artists we are? How does our creative process influence the final product? What pushes us to continue to create? People, events, memories all combine to influence the art we make about the world around us, even if our work isn’t explicitly autobiographical. The Guild of Book Workers’ 2018-2019 exhibition encouraged members to consider how the act of formation spoke to their artistic process.

An accompanying printed exhibition catalog, published this year as a special edition of the Guild of Book Workers’ Journal, will be available for sale at the venues and online at guildofbookworkers.org. The catalog features full color photographs and complete descriptions of each work; biographies of the artists; remarks from jurors Coleen Curry, Graham Patten, and Sarah Smith; and essays by Formation curator Jackie Scott and Guild of Book Workers President Bexx Caswell.

The Formation Exhibition honors the legacy of the book workers’ craft and celebrates some of the finest examples of book arts today. Founded in 1906, the Guild of Book Workers has over 900 members today and is the only national organization dedicated to all of the book arts, including bookbinding, conservation, printing, papermaking, calligraphy, marbling, and artists’ books. At a time when the masses are considering the materiality of the book and its presence or absence as a physical object, it is exciting to showcase the many hand crafts of the book form. The work presented in the Formation Exhibition is a vibrant and dynamic collection of Artists’ Books, Fine Bindings, Fine Press Printing, Calligraphy, and Sculptural Book Works that showcase both the history of the Book Worker’s craft, as well as contemporary interpretations of the book form. The Guild of Book Workers promotes interest in and awareness of the tradition of the book and paper arts by maintaining high standards of workmanship, hosting educational opportunities, and sponsoring exhibits.

Exhibition Schedule:

Minnesota Center for Book Arts
Minneapolis, MN
June 15–October 21, 2018

Robert C. Williams Papermaking Museum
Atlanta, GA
November 1, 2018–March 7, 2019

University of California, Los Angeles
Charles E. Young Research Library Lobby Gallery
Los Angeles, CA
March 15–May 25, 2019

North Bennet Street School
Boston, MA
June 5–July 27, 2019

University of the Arts
Philadelphia, PA
August 1–October 30, 2019

The Formation Exhibition features 51 works from 46 members that will travel across the U.S. from June 2018 through October 2019. The show opens at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It will be held at MCBA until the Guild of Book Workers’ annual Standards of Excellence Seminar in October 2018. Formation will tour the country, stopping at the Robert C. Williams Papermaking Museum in Atlanta, GA, UCLA’s Charles E. Young Research Library, the North Bennet Street School in Boston, MA, and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. A complete tour schedule is online at guildofbookworkers.org.