I can hardly contain myself — one of my favorite contemporary artists Tara Donovan is exhibiting again. Her latest work Colony, an undulating carpet of no. 2 graphite pencils (18,000 used in all) has joined other installations at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, CA — revealing the artistic possibilities of the prosaic pencil. Fab Green plans on being there over Thanksgiving.
I first saw Donovan’s work three years ago at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles and have been captivated and inspired ever since. Donovan’s inspiration comes from mundane, everyday materials such as scotch tape, drinking straws, paper plates, and fishing wire, from which she molds and teases out sensual, abstracted landscapes and forms: be it pencils forming a haunting terrain of golden majesty or styrofoam cups congealing to create billowy, luminescent “clouds” overhead.
An untitled piece composed of paper plates…
Up close…inspiring any ideas?
Haze, 2003 is a wall installation composed of…
…plastic drinking straws.
More Tara Donovan:
- Tara Donovan at the Met opens at (where else?) the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on November 20 and runs thru April 2008. Some recent material experiments include work with rubber bands and mylar.
- Tara talks inspiration and material seduction in this interview with artnet Magazine.
DIY Inspiration:
What’s lying around in your home ready to be transformed? Some fabulous ideas for water bottles and paint or coffee cans here, here and here. Vogue your walls with wallpaper ideas made from business cards or shredded magazines. Send us your latest ideas!
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I wanna go! When are you going to check it out?
Though off topic, I wanted to take the time to stop by and thank you for adding me to your Blogroll – I shall do the same for you on my site
Summer, I’m heading up north for a week over Thanksgiving. If you’re going to be in San Fran, let’s pick a time to go!
Thanks Victoria!
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