October Issue 2000
Jerald Melberg Gallery - Charlotte Features Collages by Arless Day
Jerald Melberg Gallery
in Charlotte, NC, is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of
new collages by Arless Day, on view through Nov. 4. Day's newest
collages are also his most ambitious works, both in scale and
complexity, reflecting his evolving architectural vision as well
as his increasing technical mastery of the painted collage form.
His achievements during the 1990s brought Day growing regional and national recognition with critics referring to his assured use of color, graphic design sensibilities, technical abilities in collage composition (including his incorporation of clippings and details discovered in magazines and art books), and his choice of remote, commonly European, architectural subject matter. In this particular exhibition, however, one sees that the works reflect the artist's highest aesthetic aspirations and, significantly, also offers insights into his personal history as well as his relationship to the culture and architecture of the Gulf Coast.
Architectural imagery may be the single most important element in Day's collages. Influences such as the historic architecture of his native Louisiana, including plantation homes and the buildings of the French Quarter in New Orleans, are evident in his images. Moving to Sarasota in 1969 to attend the Ringling School of Art (BA), one can also find impressions of the architecture of the Ringling Museum complex with its classical traditions of European design.
Intuition and memory are also critically important elements in Day's work. Several of the collages included in this exhibition pay homage not only to his southern heritage but also to people who have greatly influenced his life. Joseph's Pond, for instance, is dedicated to Day's mentor, Joseph Raffael, the artist who inspired him to begin painting watercolors in 1981. Mercedes Sunflower is named for his mother and incorporates references to her love of plants and flowers as well as spools of knitting yarn (her favorite pastime.)
The highlight of the exhibition will, no doubt, be Italian Dream, or as Day calls it, his "Italian Obsession." The last work completed for the exhibition is the largest and most complicated collage that he has ever produced, composed of over one thousand paper elements spanning nearly seven feet in width. Including imagery from Rome, Tuscany, Venice, France and Japan, this collage is a summation of the architectural and environmental themes and motifs that have marked his vision since his turn to the collage medium in 1988.
A catalogue with an essay by J. Richard Gruber of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art will accompany this exhibition.
Arless Day has exhibited at the Morris Museum of Art, the Asheville Museum of Art, the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Arnot Art Museum, Belmont University and the Greenville (SC) County Museum of Art. His work can be found in numerous public and corporate collections including BASF, Fidelity Investments, IBM Corporation, the Art in Embassies program, the Mint Museum, the Gibbes Museum, the Morris Museum of Art, the Columbus Museum and The Ringling School collection.
For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings or call the gallery at 704/365-3000 or visit their website at (www.jeraldmelberg.com).
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