gorillagirlsDennisNagelkirk
In replacement of the Gorilla Girls lecture...Justin Quinn lecturing at Crit O' Rama-
Justin Quinn went to Brussels, Belgium not too long ago. Like any foreign country, one would see road signs everywhere in a different language. In Brussels, the letters of these signs were the same letters in our alphabet, so most of the signs were only somewhat familiar. He became fascinated with the sounds and sights of these letters in their unfamiliar states. One way he expressed this admiration was by creating letter poetry; letters read in a certain sequence to make a certain sound; a certain rhythm. E-F-P-N-D-F... E-P-P-E-P-P..... E-T-K-Y-K-K. Sometimes he would put these letters in a piece of artwork. He began by putting nonsensical words and characters in a piece that would appear to be medieval looking manuscripts.
Eventually he became known as the "E" guy. All of his recent work revolved around "E". "Huh? What?" This is often the response from people when they hear about Justin Quinn's work.
Justin is the printmaking coordinator and Associate Professor of Printmaking at the University of North Texas and he seems to be enjoying himself. He knows he's guilty of being a nut... and he gleefully accepts the consequences. He's tall, thin, a bit goofy, with small glasses, and a disappearing base of light hair disguised with a close buzz. He talks fast and furious, with slight self-deprecation, but with all amusement about the evolution of his new art.
It started with Moby Dick. Simply copying down chapter 1 of this story using all 'E's. Every letter of every word was the letter E, using regular ballpoint pen on paper. Eventually the work would evolved into spiraling compositions, all swirling with the letter 'E'... sometimes tens of thousands of them. One particular piece called "Chapter 44, or 78,774 times E" at a glance appears to be a composition of beaded lines and waves forming a closed, organic part circle, part square piece that loops the text of the transformed Moby Dick chapter into a most interesting design of perseverence and patience. All with the letter E. 78,774 of them. Just as there are that many in chapter 44. His work in this series is all inspired by Herman Melville's book. His designs seem to mimic Captain Ahab's quest. Whatever he feels Captain Ahab is feeling in each chapter, he tries to capture it with his beads of 'E's. At first, when viewing his work, one attempts to start reading it: "EEEEE EEE E EEEEEE EEEE!" A high pitched whine seems to emanate from the work.
The work eventually evolved into compositions of different colors. He says that if you major in the printmaking, "you get all kinds of stuff for free." Since he makes prints of his work, he has all kinds of leftover scraps of his prints of all different papers and colors. He started doing collages of his 'E' words, making them colorful, yet slightly monochromatic, all with that same trademark swirling action that make his work so interesting
He's often asked if there is another letter he'd like to try. "Hmm, no. E works pretty well." And when asked what's next for himself, he sardonically replied, "landscapes." I couldn't help but laugh. "Wouldn't that be nuts? I spend all this time doing this intensive 'E' stuff only to start painting landscapes?" We laugh, but after he goes insane, painting landscapes might be good for him.
Link to this Page
- Studio Writing: Gorilla Girls last edited on 9 April 2007 at 10:46 am by 148.61.85.8