Thursday, March 3, 2011

Joe Fig at MassArt


I finally made it to the Joe Fig exhibit "Inside the Painters's Studio" at  Massachusetts College of Art.
I am so glad that I got there before it closed, because these sculptures in miniature are really amazing.


After researching artists work habits,  Joe Fig beautifully 
recreates the studio spaces of 
both emerging and established painters in tiny doll 
size proportions. 
The exhibition mounted the small scale sculptures in
 conjunction with a piece of artwork by each artist 
represented. 


Above is the rendering of the workspace of artist, Joan Snyder, whose painting Oh April can be seen, next to the sculpture, below. Hopefully this photo gives you some idea of the scale & minute detail involved.


Below you find painter, Malcolm Morley (complete with tiny rubber gloves) hard at work in his studio, giving the viewer real insight into his creative process.


My favorite had to be the twin studios of 
Eric Fischl  & April Gornik
shown below with Gornik's painting of clouds just beyond. 
In the interior, Fig, spared no detail, from the tiny brushes & tubes of paint to the trash on the floor & the minuscule bottles of evian water. As you peer inside you cannot help but feel like a giant looking into a Lilliputian world.


Yet another smaller example of Eric Fischl's workspace can be seen below with a miniature version of one of his large scale paintings on the easel.


Finally, the viewer is invited into the mind & space of the creator. In the work, entitled Self Portrait, Joe Fig has reproduced his own work environment with the same astonishing attention to detail. When you peek inside his studio, pictured below, you see him at work & even a proportionately smaller version of the very building that you are looking into. One of Fig's paintings can be seen to the right.


Chuck Close was the most well known artist in the exhibit, but if you go to Fig's website you will find many other noted artist's studios represented. Believe me, it is worth a look.


Thanks Molly for the heads up about this artist. I thoroughly enjoyed the show.

10 comments:

  1. This has been so interesting.The miniatures look amazing and what a splendid idea.
    Thanks for sharing it with us.

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  2. What a cool exhibit. Thank you for sharing this with us. I love seeing different artists' studios, so it really is a treat to see them recreated this way.

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  3. Such a fascinating exhibit...sorry to not be able to actually see it but love the fact you have taken us there Sally.
    Thanks for this,
    Sophie

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  4. Wish I could have seen this show! I didn't realize that the mini studios had larger work beside them. Wonderful!

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  5. I'm not a big art guy, but this looks like an amazing exhibit and Joe is definitely an artist on many different levels. Thanks Sally!

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  6. Thanks everyone. I wish you could have seen it too. The photos really do not do the miniatures justice. The detail was nothing short of amazing.

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  7. Wow, this is really amazing, what a pitty that I couldn't see it!

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  8. oh wow, that is so amazing!!! i'd love to see this all someday. thanks for the great photos.

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  9. wow- these are so great- That first close up of the miniature of the artist studio is fantastic.
    So lovely to find your blog- nice to meet you- My name is Ren.

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