"STAYIN' UP ALL NIGHT" with Jim Christy! This is Jim's first solo show here at Gallery ArtPlus. Our Galleries second floor will showcase Jim Christy's assembleges, mosaics and paintings. Christy's work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally, and is in public and private collections from Mexico to Japan. "STAYIN' UP ALL NIGHT" will open July 15th- August 14th
Keep up to date and view more of Jim Christy's new work on our facebook page
.jpg)
Artist Statement:
I believe whole heartedly in the declaration of the French artist Charles Dubuffet, that "Art shouldn't lie down on the bed that has been made for it."
Art, he figured, should not keep regular hours, it should get up in the middle of the night or afternoon and go for a walk, come back and sleep on the floor.
My art is inspired by that notion and by what I find on those middle-of-night or afternoon walks: bits of work, branches and twigs, rusted pieces of metal, the edge of an old sign, nuts and bolts, toys, car parts, etc., and bottles- which I break and crush and use the glass.
Sculpture and assemblage are my primary media, and I use whatever falls to hand. Since I now live on a farm, my art work shows evidence of that environment; the same was true when I lived in the city. I bring back small items from trips abroad: a Buddha bell from Cambodia and, recently, from India, a small metal statuette of Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva riding on the back of rat. It all fits in and I like to think each piece is organic.
Often, having completed a piece, I see a "political" message has emerged from my subconscious. I hadn't intended that happened; it just did. Often, the pieces turn out funny. This I also didn't foresee. This being the case, I am continually amazed at what turns out.
Jim Christy is a visual artist who works with whatever material presents itself. When he lives on the beach, he uses driftwood and shells; in the city he gathers the detritus of the streets. Currently he resides on a hundred acre farm and his art work includes stone, wire and rusted tools. One constant raw material, wherever he happens to be, is glass, some of which he crushes. He likes green and brown glass and often finds it necessary to empty wine bottles to obtain material.
But Christy doesn't merely present what he finds; things are always modified, refashioned, dressed up in new clothes; often an object's origins are indefinable. He believes in chance but thinks chance occasionally needs some whipping into shape. He agrees with the words of Jean Dubuffet: "Art should never lie down in the bed that has been made for it." Christy thinks art should sleep on the floor or in the trees or stay up all night breaking windows and singing arias and snatches of old tunes.
www.jimchristyoutsiderat.com
Subscribe
