“Paper Play,” my art show with Phranc

September 9th, 2006 | Uncategorized

phranc & me

Phranc and I had the opening of our show “Paper Play” at the Pine Street Art Works in Burlington yesterday. It was part of the Art Hop, this big crazy weekend of open studios and bands playing and thousands of people walking around looking at art. That first picture is of me cutting out my giant lifesize drawing of Phranc. And here’s the finished cutout, next to the real Phranc.

phranc & phranc

Phranc exhibited some of her luscious paper clothing.

phranc of california

And I exhibited these giant drawings I’ve been making all summer. Since I spend all my time making tiny, carefully planned drawings for my comics, I gave myself an assignment to do one giant drawing a day, unpremeditated and freehand. I got 4 foot wide roll of Kraft paper and a sheet of plywood for an easel. And every day (more or less) this summer I made a drawing. So I picked the best ones to put in the show. My friend Val sewed hems in the tops and bottoms so I could put dowels in and turn them into scrolls. Then I hung them from a cable. Here’s my friend Linda looking at the installation.

linda with my giant drawings

And being a compulsive anal-retentive geek, I also compiled a little movie on YouTube of the entire series of 70 drawings in chronological order. Anyhow. Doing these monumental spontaneous drawings was really fun. And it really freed me up. I feel like my drawing has gotten more confident.

Phranc says I’m bloghappy. She’s staying with me and just went to have her shower. So I better sign off. But oh, here’s a video podcast of Phranc you should check out. She demonstrates how she makes her cardboard & paper clothes.

16 Responses to ““Paper Play,” my art show with Phranc”

  1. Emily in LA says:

    I haven’t watched Phranc’s video yet but wow, I did see yours of the drawings, and they are beautiful. And inspiring. Giant fluid and fluent doodles! …. And interesting how often the letter ‘A’ turns up…

    Thanks for showing them.

  2. Ruth says:

    Thanks for making the movie of the complete set of free hand drawings available. They’re really great, and, well, easier to see in this format than they are at the gallery.

  3. Aunt Soozie says:

    Alison,
    I second Emily’s WOW.
    I’m so sorry that I couldn’t get to the show.
    Your drawings are great, fascinating, powerful, psychologically and artistically rich…
    very dream-like (some more nightmarish).
    They seem like they came from a very open place in you (as a dream would) truly unedited and of the moment. Wow.

  4. rob says:

    stay “blog-happy” ! some of us live vicariously (and voyeuristically, i suppose) through the bloggings of others. i will never be a continent-hopping, best-selling author and internationally acclaimed artiste, but through your blog, at least i know that Those People stand in the same cattle-call as i at the airline, get lost in cabs in strange cities, and try to recharge their laptop batteries in awkward places in airports. it’s a service to humanity, really.

  5. Bliss says:

    Me too-wow. I so appreciate the opportunity to see your drawings. They are indeed fascinating and evocative, and seeing them together & in order like that is so interesting.

    P.S. I love your blog. I hope you stay happy.

  6. Ellen O. says:

    From what I remember of my Oberlin art history classes, these drawings have a certain German Expressionism feel to them. I can feel the artistic freedom pumping through.

  7. Brian Moore Draws says:

    Beautiful big drawings! Thanks for making the video.

  8. Lauren Zito says:

    I WANT ONE!!! AAAAHHHH!

  9. jmc says:

    Yes, these drawings are fabulous. I love the limbs flying every which way!

    In all seriousness, I’m asking (and I bet other readers are as well) whether you’re selling these (you must be, right, at the gallery?) and what you’re charging.

    The one with the swimmer facing down the sea creature is one of my faves.

  10. liza from pine street art works says:

    Well, the show was – is – beyond fabulous. The art is gorgeous, fun, interesting, bold, stimulating. A tour de force. On Friday night there were at least a thousand vistors. Not all at once, thank goodness, but flowing in an out. Everyone was very much impressed. And, yes, the work is for sale. I haven’t put everything on the gallery website yet. Alison is way ahead of me. I needed a day of rest after Art Hop weekend. But check http://www.pinestreetartworks in the next day or two and I will have details. Or email me via my website.

    Alison and Phranc rock!

  11. Sir Real says:

    may I ditto that WOW! I am very excited by the 70 drawings… wish the focus was better, at least on my computer… can anyone decipher what the leg-shaving AB-like figure is saying?

    I also so dig the dreamlike qualities, the distortions, the looseness, the capture of _action_ – so much movement! Themewise, I think the fusion of Artemis and the Stag is particularly brill, but there are quite a few levels/layers/allusions to many of these… golly. Thank you Alison for documenting these works, I will be eyeballing the Pine Street site with interest, though alas alcking both the cash and space to own one of these myself.

  12. liza from pine street art works says:

    OK, you are now cordially invited to see Alison’s work on my website http://www.pinestreetartworks.com. See the work by clicking artists>alison Bechdel (don’t forget to go to >phranc, too) Also, check out the party scene in >news&events.

    Again, a Fabulous show!

  13. Jaibe says:

    do the orange dots mean some of them are already sold? Are the others for sale?

  14. liza from pine street art works says:

    Ah, the orange dots. No, those are chop marks. Alison carved an eraser into a delicate and beautiful signature seal. She used red paint, rather than the traditional cinnebar, and stamped her mark onto each drawing. I will take a close up picture of one tomorrow and post it on my website.

    I’m so glad you noticed the chops and commented on them. They add a certain je ne sais quoi to the pieces, both by the sudden and subtle injection of a small flash of color, and by their art historical reference.

    And yes, a couple of the monumental drawings have already sold. But not indicated by the chop marks. Email or call if you are interested in buying one and I will tell you which are available.

  15. […] Last Friday evening we went down to the annual South End Art Hop. It’s a pretty big event, so instead of trying to see everything, we went this year with the hopes of catching some of the outdoor sculpture, which is usually my favorite part anyway. Unfortunately, it was getting dark by the time we got down there, so I didn’t get as many pictures of the outdoor pieces as I would have liked. We did manage to poke our heads in to a few studios that caught our eye, including the Green Door Studio, and Alison Bechdel’s “Paper Play” exhibit at the Pine Street Art Works. My favorite piece this year was probably the arch made out of shopping carts which was situated on the corner of Howard and Pine St. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get the name of the artist – does anyone know who it is? I got a few pictures of it, but it would be nice to know more about it. […]