Green Opens in Ft. Worth

Marietta Leis | January 1, 2012 - 7:00 am

My multimedia exhibition of Green: a paradox of abundance and scarcity will be exhibiting Friday January 6 – February 25 at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center. There will be an opening reception Friday January 6, 6–9 PM. It will be so gratifying to see this work exhibited in their great space and to have it seen by their large and enthusiastic audience.

Green is an exhibit inspired by my Artist residency in Thailand. It is made up of several components: five written text plates of poems (example below), 16 Vapors which are beeswax sculptures made as Thai wrapped food but hollow, Seeds which are 27 paintings on paper on wood, and 18 photos. There are also four videos.

While embraced by the abundance of vegetation and food in Thailand I became acutely aware of the paradox—the deprivation in the surrounding countries of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. The inequality of sharing the earth’s bounty seems senseless and immoral to me. Also the abuse of our planet by its human inhabitants endangers all the living things I was witness to.

This paradox produced poignant reflections that are expressed in this work… the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ so to speak. The beauty draws you to contemplate the fragility of the earth’s bounty, and thus it’s people’s, condition.

http://www.fwcac.com/?exhibitions/future_exhibition

It is with gratitude that I tell you that people from 6 countries, 12 states, and 33 cities responded to this Kickstarter.com project and made it possible for this exhibit to be shipped to FWCAC. I thank one and all for their generous and much appreciated support, and am happy to announce their names as follows:

Tracee & Michael Alexander

Ron & Charlene Baca

David Baccadutre

R. Bailie, Untitled Fine Arts Serv.

Steve Beimel

Mary Black

Kevin & Leslie Blank

Paul Bouchier & Holly Dioguardi

Fran Bull

Ginny Butera

Judy Burgio & Dale Biron

Patricia Campbell Carlson

Regina Chavez

Don Cauthen

Brenda Craven

Debi Dodge

Gloria Drayer

Julie Dunleavy

Dick Goldberg & Lisa Munro

Debbie Goldgar, Art+Artisans

Pirkko Grootila

Susan L. Harris

Jenifer Hedrick

Libby Hocker

Phil & Lori Hodgin

Sue Houser

Ashley & Marion Kruse

Barry Lavender

Bob & Phyllis Leis

Stephen T. Macintyre

Jane Mahon

Kristine Maltrud, Art Spark

Luanne McKinnon

Julie Mevi-Shiflett

Brent Morris

Makie Honda Mosley

Pat Musick & Jerry Carr

Liza Myers

RJ Nicholas

Joanne O’brien-Levin

Jerry Ortiz y Pino

Roland Penttila

Kit Ratcliff

Sandi Reeder

Charlotte Rode

Heather Rothnie

Robin Ross

Martin Terry

Maggie Theed

David E. Vogel

Margaret Wakeley

Judy E. Walters

Barry & Diane Wax

Kickstart Green

Marietta Leis | December 7, 2011 - 1:25 am

Kickstarter: Guess what you can find me pitching my multimedia project, Green, a paradox of abundance and scarcity on Kickstarter, a great website that helps people with projects to get funding.

I have initiated what I hope will be a 3-year traveling exhibit called Green, a paradox of abundance and scarcity which will be opening January at the Fort Worth Arts Center, TX. Rather than the typical art exhibit that is intended to sell work, my intention for Green is to tour non-profit community art centers, universities & colleges for the purpose of educating and exposing folks from around the country to the issues surrounding scarcity amidst abundance. Unfortunately all of these exhibit venues are experiencing severe budget cuts due to current economic conditions. As a result they are no longer able to pay for crating and shipping of my work despite the fact they are VERY interested in participating with me on this project.

As a result I have launched a Kickstarter project that I think you might find fun, interesting and hopefully worth collaborating in with me. If you are not familiar with Kickstarter you might get a “kick” out of checking out their website which is dedicated to helping artists, inventors, and other creative types get their projects funded. I am really excited about the reception this work has received from curators around the country and I am hoping that you might help me pay for the crating and shipping of this multi-media exhibit. All of the proceeds will be devoted to these out-of-pocket expenses. None of the funds raised will go to me personally.

I need your help to get this exhibit seen, hopefully in as many venues as possible. I would love for you to become my partner in this exciting traveling exhibit and will send you a gift if you can see your way clear to participate with me. Check out the link below and please pass this along to everyone you think might be interested.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/439564676/green-a-paradox-of-abundance-and-scarcity

Thanks a bunch for considering this partnership with me.

ComPeung-Revisited

Marietta Leis | December 1, 2011 - 9:00 am

There will be a group exhibition entitled, ComPeung-Revisited, curated by Helen Michaelsen and Ong at the Chiang Mai City Arts and Cultural Center, Thailand, December 2-29. Leis will be exhibiting a collaborative piece with David Vogel. To be included in the exhibit is Thai Reflections (below), an archival ink print of Leis’ pen and ink night drawings and Vogel’s water photographs. A catalog will be produced and available in May 2012. The curators are also the co-directors of the ComPeung Artist Residency in Doi Saket, Thailand.

UNM Arts Management

Marietta Leis | November 8, 2011 - 9:00 am

I have been asked by Regina Chavez, Director of Creative Albuquerque, www.creativeabq.org/, to speak to her Arts Management class for arts majors at the University of New Mexico on November 15th. This is great; 1. I love to talk to young people; 2. I have the perspective of a 30+ year career; and 3. Young people need to hear what a career in the arts consists of namely: perseverance, perfecting your trade through a professional studio practice, a healthy stamina, luck, developing relationships, innovation, the need to do it and learning to live frugally. In today’s world these are traits for all professions but even more so for people pursuing the arts. Let’s begin…

Creative Conversation

Marietta Leis | November 5, 2011 - 9:00 am

A ‘conversation’ was held at my studio sponsored by Creative Albuquerque www.creativeabq.org/ on November 10. This group meets to discuss a topic and that afternoon they wanted to chat with David (my husband) and me about our experience at the Artist Residency in Finland this past summer and also about our travels and my residencies in general. Boy did we have a lot of sharing to do.

The email announcement is below:

Creative Conversations: Round the World with Marietta Leis and David Vogel is next Thursday, November 10 at 5:00p, at Marietta’s beautiful studio. Over cocktail hour, the dynamic duo will share stories and images from a recent artist residency in Finland’s Arctic Circle, as well as other travels.

Verdersi Cilentana

Marietta Leis | November 3, 2011 - 2:57 am

I just received my gift copy of a book of poems (in Italian) called Verdersi Cilentana by Else Mogensen. Else and her husband Lars are the directors of the artist residency, Elea Wassard in Ascea, Italy where I spent a lovely respite in 2008. The book includes Else’ wonderful poems and some artist illustrations. I am so pleased to be participating in this beautiful effort with my charcoal drawing, The Path on page 55. The poem, Disegnare con la Lluce translates to Drawing with Light—wonderful! Check it out. http://wassardelea.blogspot.com/p/about-ascea.html

November Exhibit

Marietta Leis | November 2, 2011 - 2:23 pm

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring: A group exhibit at the Wiseman Gallery, Rogue Community College, Grants Pass, Oregon, will be showing 2 of my oil on canvas paintings, Lucent I and II, both 24” square. Karl Blake, Gallery Director is showcasing contemporary art that reflect issues relating to water—melting glaciers, radioactive water, oil contamination etc…The exhibition is scheduled November 2-December 9. More information can be found at www.roguecc.edu/galleries or at 541-956-7339.

: Lucent II

My statement for Lucent I and IItells of my concerns for our Polar ice regions that are experiencing melt downs at an alarming rate. This will impact our planet in many ways. The beauty of these environments distract from the drama that is the underbelly of climate change. My oil paintings are reductive color fields depicting my impressions of the delicate beauty of ice and water. I want to draw people into the work where they can then contemplate the deeper levels of meaning. It is necessary.

Kathleen Alaks writes about the exhibit in the Daily Courier, OR article stating, “Marietta Leis of New Mexico paints color as a subject. Her oil paintings, Lucent I and Lucent II, influenced by a seven-week trip she took to Alaska, are canvases of translucent, luminescent intense blue, capturing the delicate beauty of ice and water and representing the problems of climate change and the shrinking of polar ice caps”.

Studio Visit

Marietta Leis | October 16, 2011 - 6:59 pm

On Sunday October 16^th members of the Contemporary Art Society of New Mexico (CAS) paid a visit to my studio in the Nob hill area of Albuquerque, NM. The Contemporary Art Society of New Mexico was founded in 1988 as a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting New Mexico’s contemporary visual arts community. Their goals are to increase interest, understanding and involvement in contemporary art by encouraging individual collecting, by sponsoring educational activities and by supporting New Mexico’s artists and art institutions, www.casofnm.org/

My studio assistant, Joni Tobin, and I prepared for their visit by doing some long overdue straightening up. Seems like we’ve been doing office chores playing catch up ever since my return from Finland. So this was a welcomed opportunity to put the studio into order. I was really happy to host this group of art devotees and show them my work and studio. I wanted this be a discussion or conversation rather than me lecturing but best made plans …..They were such a rapt audience and I love to talk about my work so we were off and running pretty quick.

My GREEN exhibit was still up on the walls of my studio so I began by describing that exhibition to them; the paradoxical theme of scarcity and abundance and the multimedia elements of sculptures, paintings, photos and videos. I was especially gratified to get their positive comments regarding the videos, as this is a new medium for me but a very enthusiastic endeavor.
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Conclusion of the 2011 Park International Exhibition

Marietta Leis | October 3, 2011 - 7:50 pm

A water color work of mine was included in the touring group exhibit organized by Park Fine Art, Albuquerque; 2011 Park Fine Art International Tour Show, The exhibit toured: Yu-Shin Museum of Art, Harbin, China (September13-September 20), Korea International Art Fair (September 22-26, and the Mujuanseong Gallery, Seoul, Korea (September 26-October 3). There is an accompanying catalog. Wesley Pulkka writes in the catalog introduction, “Pure minimalism is the life breath of Marietta Patricia Leis of the USA, in her ‘Turquoise Chime’ a contemplative modulated monochrome painting.” The photo below shows the enthusiastic crowd that greeted the exhibition. Congratulations to Young-Sook the organizer. I look forward to participating again in 2012!

My Artist Residency in Lapland

Marietta Leis | September 29, 2011 - 7:55 pm

Lapland is the Northern part of Finland above the Arctic Circle. It is where Santa Claus lives. Several Santa’s. I found my Santa in Rovenimieni where our plane landed before driving to the Artist Residency in Kemijärvi where my husband and photographer, David Vogel, who accompanied me, and I would stay for 5 weeks.

I applied to this residency as it was the one furthest North in Finland. I had seen pictures of the area and it spoke to me of lakes and open spaces, good inspiration for my reductive paintings. What surprised me as we drove the highway to Kemijärvi were the trees lining the road. Different types of forests with birch trees and evergreens predominating, their different heights telling me if they were third or fourth or more growth forests. The impressive thing visually was that this world appeared vertical to me and I had anticipated a horizontal minimal landscape.