Enigmatic Comic Collages by Ray Yoshida

Posted by: Kenneth Rougeau in Art & Artists, Art History, Collage

Ray Yoshida was a talented painter & collage artist, as well as an instructor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He was a mentor to representational artists known as the Chicago Imagists of the 1960′s and 70′s (specifically The Hairy Who), who specialized in distorted, emotionally representational artwork.

collage by Ray Yoshida

Ray‘s artwork was strongly influenced by comic strips & comic books, as well as his own collection of folk art and found art. Ken Johnson, art critic for The New York Times, describes Ray Yoshida‘s collages as being created from “tiny, oddly shaped details of architecture, fabric, hairdos and other unidentifiable elements,” and went on to say that the works were “formally captivating, dreamily strange and comically absurd.”

collage by Ray Yoshida

(detail)

Ray Yoshida was born in Kauai, Hawaii in 1930 and, after spending much of his life in Chicago, returned to the islands in 2005 when his health began to fail. He remained there until his passing in early January of 2009, at the age of 78.

collage by Ray Yoshida

Ray Yoshida in his studio

Yoshida‘s enigmatic & witty works of collage art have been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Phyllis Kind Gallery in Chicago & New York, and the Adam Baumgold Gallery in New York. Ray Yoshida‘s works have been exhibited in retrospectives at The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the Madison Art Center in Madison, Wisconsin. His work is also in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C.

collage by Ray Yoshida

Spread The Word!

Tags: absurd, adam baumgold gallery, Art, art critic, art institute of chicago, artwork, captivating, chicago, chicago cultural center, chicago imagists, Collage, collage art, collage artist, Collages, comic books, comic strips, comically absurd, contemporary museum, d.c., distorted, emotionally represenational, enigmatic, exhibited, folk art, Found art, hairy who, hawaii, honolulu, illinois, influenced, intructor, islands, kauai, ken johnson, madison, madison art center, mentor, museum of contemporary art, national museum of american art, new york, painter, phyllis kind gallery, ray, ray yoshida, representational artists, retrospectives, school of the art institute of chicago, strange, studio, the hairy who, the new york times, unidentifiable elements, washingto, wisconsin, witty, yoshida

1 Comment

Sep

Art Spread: Clarissa Callesen (mixed media assemblage)

Posted by: Kenneth Rougeau in Art & Artists, Assemblage, Mixed Media

Art Spread
(the great taste of butter
with half the calories!)

In Memory of Frida
original mixed media assemblage
by Clarissa Callesen

“Some where along the line I became a collector of odd and useless things. I am drawn to objects that have a past, a story to tell, like pieces of rusty metal along a roadside, a seashell corroded by the salt water, or a discarded letter found in a musty box. I can spend hours conjuring the stories of unknown people in discarded photographs on antique stores shelves. These are my chosen materials, my inspiration for creating. Many years ago I fell in love with folk art, Mexican in particular, and then later cajun/vodou altars and folk art. One of the most important components in folk art is the use of ‘junk’ or “garbage” as a medium for creating. In that process the artist raises the status of the mundane, ordinary, throw away object from mundane to divine. I strive to follow in that tradition. So I gathered up my strange collection of things, my ecclectic spiritual leanings, my love of folk art, a sprinkle of feminism, and a dash of alchemy to create the pieces you see here. I hope you enjoy.” – Clarissa Callesen, creator of strange & wonderful things.

For more visit:
http://ClarissaCallesen.etsy.com

The Long Road Home
original mixed media assemblage
by Clarissa Callesen