found object assemblage artists open show at Savannah’s Location Gallery
Stepping into Brian Condon’s Causton Bluff garage-turned-workshop and studio, one is surrounded by “stuff”: a Mid-Century Modern dresser waiting to be refinished, piles of heavily ornate picture frames, chandeliers in various states of repair hanging from the rafters, religious statuary, and box upon box of collections such as turned wooden spindles from chairs and handrails; 19th century Daguerreotype cabinet frames; clock parts and old gears; painting supplies; book endpapers; pieces of gilt scrollwork salvaged from antique furniture, frames, or Victorian knickknacks… It is a surprisingly organized, yet creatively chaotic space for this newly minted artist and lifetime antiques picker.
I met with Condon and his good friend and fellow relic gatherer, Jessica Pope, to talk about their upcoming show Found Anthologies opening Friday, Sept. 13, at Savannah’s Location Gallery.
Gallery Director Peter Roberts tells me, “We are thrilled to have our very first found object assemblage show with these two very talented creatives. And the pairing of Brian Condon ― brand new to the Savannah art scene with Jessica Pope, a multi-faceted visual force ― is very compelling because of their long friendship and combined interest in relic collecting.”
A friendship rises from salvaged relics and ephemera
A native of Boise, Idaho, Pope (b.1983) graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in 2005 with a BFA in Textiles and has focused on using salvaged and rejected components in her artwork for more than 20 years. A bookbinder, journal maker and bowtie creator, Savannahians may remember her 2019 Boxed In/Break Out show of largescale paper quilts installed in the Barnard Street-facing windows of Telfair Museum’s Jepson Center. (She had come across 500 Kodachrome slides documenting a family’s camera-worthy moments from 1948 to 1954 and sewed them into quilts which could be ‘read’ at various times of day based on the direction of the sun hitting them.)
Pope and Condon each have booths at Picker Joe’s Antique Mall & Vintage Market. Pope says, “We met through the crap. He would find things I’d like, and I would find things he liked.”
Condon laughingly corrects her, “We met through the treasures!”
Her booth is more focused on paper ephemera and smaller religious figurines and iconography, while Condon displays lighting fixtures, industrial salvage and midcentury furniture.
Condon (b.1953) grew up (mostly) in Florida, graduated the University of Florida with a degree in graphic design, and says he has always been drawn to antiques and vintage car restoration. “My first car was a 1939 Ford that I bought for $100 when I was 16.” This, despite having parents “who didn’t like anything old. I think I might be adopted!”
Pope, on the other hand, grew up in family full of collectors and crafters: a grandmother who taught her to sew quilts; a great grandmother who taught her knitting and crocheting; many male relatives who were “woodworkers and tinkerers”; and a mother who is a painter and assemblage artist, who had booths in antique stores, and who is “probably classified as a hoarder(!)”
Their upcoming show reflects the artists’ individual interests in collectibles: Pope will display paper-based collages, built up in numerous layers with gleaming resin applied between each layer, and Condon will show assemblages of various sizes comprised of the “stuff” in his garage, constructed from wood, paper, fabric, metal, and accentuated with glitter, paint, branches, and the like. Gallery proceeds, fittingly, benefit Re:Purpose Savannah, a women-led nonprofit offering a climate-conscious alternative to traditional demolition through the deconstruction, salvage, and reuse of historic buildings (and recently in the news because of its help in repurposing wood from the majestic live oak which had to be felled at McCauley Park.)
As Location’s Peter Roberts says, “What Jessica and Brian make, and how they make, is keenly parallel to Re:Purpose Savannah’s mission of sustainability by upcycling materials.”
Only creating artwork since 2022, but using ephemera he has collected for decades, Condon draws inspiration from the workmanship of prior art periods: the Art Nouveau graphic artist and illustrator Alphonse Mucha, the elegant curves of the Art Deco era, and the decorative symmetry of the Arts & Crafts artists. Loosely resembling Mexican altar boxes, his creations are framed by spindles or other found wood and decorated with numerous found objects. Sometimes finished with the slightest touch of colorful paint, they are little worlds containing imaginary tales. Some evoke memories, some resemble Madonna’s with child, some reference Grimm-like tales of children lost in the woods, and some evoke Shakespearian masterpieces – such as Ophelia floating in a river before she drowns. The viewer is invited to invent and embellish a story for each creation. Condon’s pieces are always symmetrical, always balanced, and interestingly, always contain seven circles. Simply inspired by his Dad’s favorite number seven, this factoid adds an extra level of discovery for the viewer.
Pope says each of her works are rooted in a story of imaginary “bird people” she has created in her mind. However, she says, “I think what I have learned the most, is that when people view them, they immediately have their own story, and I don’t necessarily want to tell them what they are about for me.” We look at a piece entitled ‘Doomsday Clock’ which, for her, is about “the timekeeper and his minions who are gathering humans to turn into bird people – they are changing over and migrating into this other world.” She explains, “I had been cutting out heads of birds for a very long time, and then my dad sent me these paper dolls that fit the bird heads perfectly, and that’s how this imaginary world started.” Framed in heavy antique or carved handmade frames, she says each piece starts with a blue background and is built up with layer upon layer of paper figures and other objects cut from old books and magazines and then covered in resin. A few works have had paint applied, but “I want the media to be the media.”
Pope is consciously creating an alternative world, born, she says, from her own questioning of her place in the universe. Condon’s worlds tend to be more happenstance – he puts objects together randomly before adding a figure or another collectible to make a story. For example, he says the shrine-like piece entitled ‘The Burning Bush’ was originally going to be ‘The Tree of Life.’ “But when I got that red steel wheel behind the bush, I figured out what it was.” The materials inform the story. In another large assemblage, ‘And the Angels Sing,’ he was inspired to add sheet music and a heavenly chorus of angels because it is primarily constructed of wooden pieces salvaged from a player piano.
Together, their work is surreal, sometimes sinister, often Victorian, and slightly dark in feel. Theirs can be a dystopian world, but also a strangely beautiful world. Found Anthologies is just totally unique, striking in its individuality and creativity. I can think of no other show like it. Simply not to be missed.
If You Go >>
What: Found Anthologies by Brian J. Condon and Jessica Pope
When: Sept. 13-Oct. 11; Opening reception, 6 to 8 p.m., Sept. 13
Where: Location Gallery, 251 Bull St.
Info: locationgallery.net; gallery proceeds benefit RePurpose Savannah
Artist Info: brianjcondon.com; and jessicapope.com
(Full disclosure: Brian Condon is married to Savannah Morning News content coach Amy Paige Condon.)
Source link
