The grand European tradition of the universal education is dead. The canon of materials has been opened up to diverse cultures, concepts, and imagery and we are a better people for this diversity, but this growth has not been without cost. The constrained education of our great-grandparents provided them with a body of references with which every educated European could add nuance of meaning to conversations, both literal and figurative. When viewing a portrait everyone knew what the dog at King George’s feet meant, and why the lady’s dress was white, and that the yellow rose in her hair meant admiration and friendship. These references are all but lost on the modern generations. We look at images and concepts from idiosyncratic and personal perspectives, and the significance of a concept is only determined by the experience and knowledge base of the individual viewer.
My current body of work is an exploration of this new understanding of imagery, and an attempt to discover a new iconography for our new way of interpreting the world. Collage is the logical medium for this exploration; the combination of materials and images allows a rich narrative to create itself in the art. Every piece has meaning and purpose, but that meaning shifts for every viewer. Like life itself, I hope that these pieces combine humor and pathos, a sense of the material and the transcendant, and the oddly tribal nature of modern urban living. These are not meant to be anything. They simply become.
Rena Hopkins

Aquarius Star
1218 Sycamore St
Cincinnati, OH (map)

 

Opening Reception:
Friday February 23th 6:00pm to 11:00pm.
Exhibit on display through March.

“Art is a primordial concept, exalted as the godhead, inexplicable as life, indefinable and without purpose. The work of art comes into being through artistic evaluation of its elements. I know only how I make it, know only my medium, of which I partake, to what end I know not.”
-Kurt Schwitters from Merz
1921