Now at the DVAA: Paper montages and Sullivan County-inspired art installation
Narrowsburg. Paul Plumadore said he follows no artistic philosophy other than where his eye leads him. Phyllis Bulkin Lehrer inserts environmental portraits into abstract configurations to create a sense of place.
| 07 Apr 2021 | 12:41
"Wave Pattern #10” ( 10.75-by-20 inches), hand-cut paper montage, 2020, by Paul Plumadore
"LadderMadder" (24 by 42 inches), gouache and polymer brush work on paper with constructed canvas support, 2010, by Phyllis Bulkin Lehrer
“Paper Trail,” paper montages by Paul Plumadore, and “Inside/Out,” constructed canvases by Phyllis Bulkin Lehrer, may be viewed now through May 8 at the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance in Narrowsburg, N.Y.
The shows are free and open to the public.
’A choreographic process’
Plumadore creates his paper art with scalpels, acid-free glues, and antique and vintage printed matter.
“I have no artistic philosophy other than to follow where my eye leads me and to create images that may shock or disorient the complacent mind,” Plumadore said.
Other than his extensive experience in modern dance and two years of study at the New York University Film School, he has had no formal art training. But he calls on his dance background when creating paper art.
“Personally, I think of it as a choreographic process,” he said.
He is currently a curator of The Great Wall of Honesdale, a public art project of epic proportions, with partner Jim Tindell. They live and garden in Milanville, Pa.
‘A mind/body sense of place’
“Inside/Out” is an installation inspired by the environment of Sullivan County. They consist of 2D three-screen and shaped canvases with adhered paper works .
“A mark is the ultimate analog gesture,” said Lehrer. “The stroke of the hand and its impact on the surface it connects with is a constant I embrace regardless of the medium with which I create my art.”
Site-specific renderings — environmental portraits — are inserted into abstract configurations. “The resulting images combine the imagined with the observed, producing a right/left brain mesh or a mind/body sense of place,” said Lehrer.
She said art has the potential to take the observer away from their usual self-conscious frame of reference, so that they see themselves in relationship to the world around them. “If I can in a small way seek to foster this potential, then as an artist I have done my job,” she said.
Essential information
Walk-ins are welcome to visit the shows. Building capacity is currently limited to 15 guests.
Gallery hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, and by appointment.
The activities of the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance are made possible in part by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. For more information, visit delawarevalleyartsalliance.org or call 845-252-7576
About the artists
Paul Plumadore has performed with The Paul Taylor Dance Company and taught at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he received a bachelor’s degree in fine art in dance, and Sweet Briar College in Virginia, where he was head of the dance department.
His collages been featured in The New York Times, RCA Records, Dell and Avon Books, and Psychology Today. He is the author and illustrator of several books, including the fairy tale “Unthinkable,” the off-beat “Anomalies,” and “Archive 1957-1974,” a memoir of his dancing years. He has collaborated on books with fellow artists Brandi Merolla and Eva Drizhal.
Phyllis Bulkin Lehrer is a New York City painter/animator/media artist who produces still and moving images that encompass a myriad of methods. Her painting and performance art inform her practice. Her moving and still art works have been represented in international galleries, venues, and festivals.