VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

Rudolph Blume Fine Art/ ArtScan Gallery presents Kenneth James Beasley - Components & Accumulations.  Opening Reception Saturday, March 12 from 6:00 to 8:00pm. On view through April 16.

KENNETH JAMES BEASLEY'S last solo exhibition at Rudolph Blume Fine Art | ArtScan Gallery took place in 2005 and presented his "Landfill" series. Beasley is fascinated by the color and form of discarded objects, its folding patterns, its intricate convolutions and strangely verdant hues.

In comparison to his earlier body of work, his new imagery becomes more socially conscious and critical of cultural complacency. Our two current wars have introduced a sense of urgency to deal with the material and human casualties of warfare. Waste and loss are the pervasive "leitmotifs" of "Components and Accumulations".

 In this recent work Beasley has added a new element to his visual vocabulary: the collage process. Attracted by the sheer physicality of collage and its sculptural nature, the artist uses isolated images found online, in periodicals and in photographic publications spanning the spectrum from popular culture to war images.

Recently he has also been using his own photographic images of dumpsters and trash. Isolating components from these source materials he integrates them into a different context. This work can be seen as a narrative of transformation, whereby the viewer is free to arrive at his own interpretation.