Black

EXHIBITIONISTA: BRAND 51!!! Third Time’s a Charm….

May 1, 2023 By Debra Disman

I am honored to be in the Brand 51 Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper which will be on view at Brand Library and Art Center in Glendale, California, from July 8 through September 1, 2023. I had the pleasure of participating in 2019; as well as in 2021 in collaboration with artist Luciana Abait.

The Associates of Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale, California, announces its 51st Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper. This year’s juror is internationally known photographer, curator, author, and speaker, Ara Oshagan. A resident of Glendale, Ara is the co-curator of ReflectSpace Gallery at Glendale Central Library. Since 2017, ReflectSpace Gallery has installed nearly forty exhibitions focused on current and historical social issues that have local, national and international impact. As co-curator, Ara exhibits contemporary art as well as archives, employing a vast range of media from drawing to photography, to painting, projection, sound, installation, public art, technology-based and interactive media. His artistic practice demonstrates a keen eye and appreciation for conceptual as well as representational art.

A printed catalog of the exhibition will be available for purchase and will be accessible online.

The Associates of Brand Library & Art Center is an all-volunteer non-profit that raises funds to support the extensive free and public events offered at Brand including gallery exhibitions, classical and popular music performances, film screenings, dance performances, and activities for people of all ages. Entry fees and commissions from the sale of artworks from Brand 51 will be used to continue the important cultural programming that Brand Library & Art Center brings to the community.

NEW WORK in 2021: “Forest Through The Trees”

December 20, 2021 By Debra Disman

I was happy to finally be able to have Elon Schoenholz Photography in to photograph works completed during 2021… fast away the old year passes…

Here I share “Forest through The Trees“, 15 x 42 x 12”, made of book board, canvas, hemp cord, ribbon, typewriter ribbon, acrylic paint, wood.
It is part of a monochrome series in black, through the colors of “black” are infinite, and change with light, material, juxtaposition, and how the viewer engages with the piece.

Comprised of two accordion-folded “spines”, the “book”, becomes a “box”, with a “door” that opens, expandable “walls”, and painted canvas “pages” held up precariously with wooden dowels. The piece can be presented and contemplated in numerous ways, and begs a tactile connection, through all of us working in book, and perhaps sculptural forms in general grapple with how to do this. How to have viewers engage with the work, participate in it, without having it worn away over time in the process…

We are seekers.
The Journey continues.

Happy New Year.

(exterior, closed)

(exterior, ajar)

(interior/exterior, open)

NEW WORK in 2021: Red Notebook (“Here’s To The Red, White and Blue”)

November 15, 2021 By Debra Disman

I was happy to finally be able to have Elon Schoenholz Photography in to photographs works completed/created during 2021, which continues to race by.

Part of an ensemble, suite, or installation of works entitled, “Here’s To The Red, White and Blue”, Red Notebook is structured as a “traditional” codex, with covers that open and pages that turn. Moderately, “red” (hence the “red” element of the “Red, White and Blue” theme-meme-trope?) it contains a great deal of black as well.
In the immortal words of Mark Rothko, “There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend; One day, the black will swallow the red.”

Made from a repurposed placemat, hemp cord, linen thread, canvas, and lace, it is 8.5″ high, 12.5″ when opened in full, and 6.5″ at greatest depth and opens left to right, from cover through pages to cover, bound together through a single signature.

The red and back play off each other in all their associations

Sewing, stitching, gluing, knotting, coiling, massing

Amassing, accumulation, the RED in

Up next.

Monochrome = BLACK

March 6, 2021 By Debra Disman

“Black Zip, or “Facing Darkness“, 2020, 19 x 18 x .5”, mixed media (canvas, lace, sipper, wood, hemp cord)

“Torrent and Tangle: Keep Your House In Order“, 2019, 10.5 x 25 x 18”, mixed media (book board, mulberry paper, lace, ribbon,
hemp cord, watercolor paper, acrylic paint)

“In the Thicket of It“, 2018, 18 x 30 x 23”, mixed media (book board, canvas, hemp cord, wood, mulberry paper, watercolor paper)

“Maximum Security“, 2018, 15 x 18 x 10.25”, mixed media (book board, canvas, watercolor paper, hemp cord, acrylic paint, wood)

“Black Hang Out“, 2017, 10.25 x 25 x 8”, mixed media (book board, mulberry paper, watercolor paper, canvas, acrylic paint, hemp cord)

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″