Rick Ferris @ Asterisk 8.8.8

From my cousin Rick:

Greetings Friends, here is the opening announcement for my upcoming group show at Asterisk Gallery. Hope to see you there! Rick ********************************************************** AsteriskGallery proudly presents: triumvirate (trī-ŭm'vər-ĭ) 1. An association or a group of three. Also called troika. 2. A group of three men responsible for public administration or civil authority. 3. A group of three individuals: three, threesome, triad, trine, trinity, trio, triple, triune, triunity, troika. The term triumvirate (a law)(from Latin, 'of three men') is commonly used to describe apolitical regime dominated by three powerful individuals. New works by: Dana L. Depew R Ferris William Schwartz Opening reception Friday 08.08.08 6-11pm Asterisk Gallery 2393 Professor Ave – in historic Tremont Neighborhood Cleveland, Ohio 330-304-8528 http://www.asteriskgallery.com/ hrs by appt. show runs through August 27, 2008 Dana L. Depew In my recent work I impose my being on the pre-constructed world. I attempt to resurrect the old and rejuvenate the mundane through the use of vintage chenille bedspreads, afghans, and other fabrics. I initially wipe these materials clean of their past colors and connotations leaving a rich yet colorless textured landscape in which I reinvent into a series of contemporary and active works. Through the use of vibrant colors I create an exciting bridge between a forgotten textile and painting. R Ferris A limiting of the extraneous, a focusing into one aspect of everyday stimuli, informs the work to reveal transcendent material. The discipline of the camera and the editing of days into hours into minutes, the compression and manipulation of experiences to create and potentize the simulacra I create. Informed by Buddhist experience and spiritual mysticism I navigate among everyday routines, deadlines, and responsibilities to capture momentary revelations. For example, the noticing of a thistle on the side of the road – its simplicity, beauty, and ordinariness reveals an opportunity for reflection and celebration. By highlighting, focusing, and distorting, isolating, and juxtaposing moving images and audio, I find release in expression of feelings. To labor with the sacrosanct, to scoop up the primordial and shape it, to play with the sacred, this is what I am interested in sharing. William Schwartz What is real and what is illusion; and which illusions do we accept and abide by in our everyday lives? The pieces I have created for this exhibit deal with the influence American culture has on our personal identities. In my brand of political-Pop conceptualism, I make various attempts to either strip down or intensely exaggerate familiar items and symbols we encounter and relate to on a daily basis. My hope is to spark a sort of internal dialogue within the individual; a self-interrogation about what freedom really is. R Ferris 440.256.2564 mailto: thistlebyroad@yahoo.com for mail lists and announcements, please mailto: thistleoffers@yahoo.com check out my video art at: r-ferris.com A good book should be an axe for the frozen sea within us ~ Kafka