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More Distant Operator

A few little peaks at Distant Operator, @ Napoleon Gallery, Philadelphia, 1.9.2015-1.30.2015

Distant Operator

This month, I'm preparing for my first solo exhibition as a member of Napoleon Gallery in Philadelphia. I hope to see you, if you can make it, January 9th for the opening.

"Chance, repetition, and hidden names. In this series of works on paper and object assemblage, the artist acts as distant operator, finding the connection between esoteric myth and private thought."

Opening Reception
Second Friday, January 9th
6pm – 10pm

NAPOLEON

319 N 11th Street, 2L

Philadelphia, PA

Exhibition Dates: 1.9.2015 – 1.30.2015
Saturdays and Sundays 2pm – 6pm or by appointment

Paris

Iceland: Looking Back

I've looking through my photographs from Iceland for an upcoming talk. It's been a whole year, it feels like a dream. 

Details

 

Northern Flowers

Northern Flowers

after the electrical fire

absence changed

imaginary empires

now meteors

the earth

of sheep

the skies,

the sea

this sentiment

felt like a death

reshaping itself

outside my eye

red

northern flowers

arcadian rest

Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 10/25 and 10/26

I will be opening my studio up to the public from 12-6pm on October 25th and 26th as part of POST, Philadelphia Open Studio Tours. This yearly event is hosted by The Center For Emerging Visual Artists and it is a great opportunity to meet working artist's in Philadelphia and get a rare glimpse at the studio's in which they work.

This year, I was so lucky to be interviewed for Paperclips215 by Aimee Gilmore and have some beautiful photographs taken of my space by Keristin Gaber. I really enjoyed my conversation with Aimee, an artist herself. We talked about the history of letterpress and about language and about the tools I use in my shop and what they do.

So I hope you'll come visit the Huldra Press studio the weekend of October 25th and 26th at Globe Dye Works. I'll have a small exhibition of recent projects up on the wall and a little something on the press to print and take home. There will be many other interesting studios to visit in the building and in the neighborhood as well, you can see a list here.

And you can view a little more info about my studio and the address HERE.

Hope to see you there.

Photographs by Keristin Gaber of PaperClips215

Recent Dreams

:: Marianne Dages, Pasargadae, letterpress, 2014 ::

Recent Dreams:

Two blond women in a narrow walkway space outside of an office building. Beautiful late afternoon winter light. One is nude, sitting atop a stuffed gray goose that is being dragged around the space by the other. They say to me, "We make art in sad places." "We are making difficult art."

Standing next to an old and frail William Burroughs, we are reading a book together that looks like an oversized dictionary. I am holding his wrist as he moves his hand across the words on the page. He is wearing a suit and hat. A piece of text about dusty and decayed wooden window shutters. Maybe the first time I can remember looking at words and reading them in a dream.

Start Over

A selection of images from Start Over, a collaboration between Huldra Press and Justin Staller, which we will be debuting at the Philalalia small press poetry and art book fair at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA tomorrow.

:: do-si-do ::

The structure of the book is referred to as a "do-si-do" or back to back binding. There cover is a long strip that connects the two sides of the book, two separate "stories" connected by an interest in cut-up writing.

:: dreams ::

My side of the book is a collection of dreams I've recorded over the years.

:: typewriter strip poems ::

Justin's side is a collection of cut-up poems that were written using typewriter ribbon from correspondence between himself and his grandfather.

:: typewriter type ::

The two sides are connected together through the typewriter aesthetic, in part a reference to the work of William S. Burroughs, who's own work was so deeply influenced by dreams and the cut-up writing technique.

:: dreams and the backs of wood type ::

My dream portion is illustrated with the backs of wood type. There is something very appealing to me about the idea of printing the back of letters, the part that can't be read. It is like the feeling people describe not being able to read in their dreams.

:: wood shape and handset metal type ::

:: ribbon ::

Justin's portions are illustrated within the text itself, using the actual typewriter ribbon as image. The ribbon is repeated through the cover, which itself wraps around, joins, and contains the two books.

:: on with this epic ::

Start Over will be available for viewing and sale tomorrow, Saturday September 27th at Philalalia. Following the fair, it will be available online. Edition of 40, letterpress printed, hand painted, and silkscreened.

Equivalents

 :: Marianne Dages, 2014 ::

:: Marianne Dages, 2014 ::

These prints were made with earth collected in Penland, North Carolina during a short residency. The earth, a mix of mica, sand, and soil, was arranged on a letterpress printing plates and exposed to light to create a raised surface to accept ink. The plates were then printed, the resulting images reminiscent of the stars.

White Lepiota

I just returned from a short residency at Penland School of Crafts. The Penland Core Retreat was a generous gift of five days of studio time for former students of the Core Fellowship Program. While there, I had the chance to meet, reconnect, and work alongside artists Jana Harper, Rachel Mauser, Beth Schaible, and Julie Leonard in the school's beautiful print studio. I am so thankful for the school for hosting the Penland Core Retreat. It's so rare to have concentrated time like this, and it allowed me to complete this book, which I've been mulling over for about a year. 

The book is inspired by the time I spent in Iceland in 2013, it is letterpress printed and hand drawn. Edition of 20. 

White Lepiota

We are walking together,

the alder and the oak.

Carrying a desert of lapwings,

under our coats.

Back to the beginning, back to the seabirds and foam.

The bull slides across the pitch ocean floor.

the names are gone.

White lepiota grows.

our mossy hearts - the grind of planets -

songs of tallow and bone.

One foot in the water - two far travelers -

setting fires along the road.

- Marianne Dages

Happenings

A few things that happened, are happening, or will be happening soon...

- If you are in Philadelphia, this Thursday September 4th is the opening reception for my two-person exhibition with Emily Cucalon at the Parkway Central Library. 

- Last week, I wrote a guest post for Fieldwork, an artwork by John Rogers and Amy Tavern that is experienced through an interactive map tracing their journey through Iceland. After exploring the map, I wrote a short piece about the connection I felt with the artists and what we collected to remember our time in Iceland. which can be read HERE.

- Next week I will be in North Carolina, for a one-week retreat/residency, generously hosted by Penland School of Crafts for former students of their Core Fellowship Program. My home base will be the letterpress studio where I plan to work on a short book and some experimental printing techniques.

- I will have a book, Oculus Song, in the Picture Books exhibit at Duke University's Power Plant Gallery, a juried exhibition of self-published and handmade photo books. The show will run mid-September through November.

- Last but not least, I will have a table at the first annual Philalalia, small press poetry and art fair on Saturday September 26 at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, where Justin Staller and I will be debuting our collaborative book "Start Over"