| NASHAWANNUCK GALLERY Home * Artists * Articles * Location * Contact |
|
| The Articles
|
|
|
March 26 1999 Daily Hampshire Gazette by Jason Carpenter |
|
| "Technique relies on a random juxtaposition of images" EASTHAMPTON Some painters call on their emotions for inspiration; others call on nature. But Sherid Adams, now showing his work at Nashawannuck Gallery, relies on chance and a roulette wheel to dictate his paintings. Adams' show, Modern Dynamism, opened March 1 at the gallery located at 40 Cottage St. and will run through the end of the month. Adams calls his technique of art "Modern Dynamism." In inventing this technique, Adams first developed the "Book of the Environmental Palette." Each page of the 36-page book represents a different color on the palette, then each color is represented by 36 images, ideas and objects, all chosen by Adams. They range from locomotives to dragons to belly buttons. "They are picked specifically for non-relativity," Adams said. When creating a painting, Adams spins a roulette wheel and whatever number the wheel ends up on is matched with the corresponding page of the "Environmental Palette." He then spins the wheel several more times and corresponds those numbers to the listings on that page dictating which images will go on the canvas. Again, Adams spins the wheel to determine where the images will be placed by dividing the canvas like a grid. Telling a story Adams compares his works of Tarot readings. He believes like Tarot cards, each painting is a reading, and tells a unique and specific story. For example, with his intricate system of numbers and images, Adams can create a painting based on the numbers of a person's birth date. Where some artists may take offense to having their paintings labeled as random, Adams believes it is the cornerstone of his art theory. "The random, chance selection of ideas is very much a part of art. It is more a part of the art than the paintings themselves," he said. "The system is unlike any in the world as far as painting goes." But Adams says unlike fortune tellers, he does not try to explain the meanings of his readings. "I don't get involved in interpretations," said Adams. "You decide. The work speaks for itself." Art form Adams, 48, said he has been working on his form of art since 1979. "I was looking for an art form that comes from a totally different direction. I'm not content to just paint pictures," Adams said. Many of his works are quite large, with one measuring about 16 feet by 8 feet, consisting of four separate panels. That particular work, he said, has taken him 12 years to complete. On the average, his paintings take about two months to complete in his spare time. Adams said his works are so large,because they need to make a statement and be striking to the viewer to be taken seriously. - His background as a billboard painteer also lends itself to Adams' large works. He admits that his type of art has the potential to be taken lightly, or even criticized, but he remains undaunted. One of his paintings appears to have a space shuttle on a collision course with half of a cantaloupe, both drifting in the foreground of a super nova. "Either I'm very serious about my work or I'm a complete madman," said Adams. In total, he has about 50 paintingsin this style. Random nature Adams was born in a small town in rural Pennsylvania, and then lived in Florida where he showed his work several times. He is a member of the Broward Art Guild in Fort Lauderdale. He has lived in the area for two years, currently residing in Leeds. - Adams' last show was at the Wheeler Gallery at the University of Massachusetts, where he, also gave a lecture on his method of painting. Although he is not necessarily looking to sell his works, Adam said the paintings would begin 8 $10,000 each; the largest would cost $30,000 to $40,000. Adams said one of the benefit of his type of art is that a person does not need to be well-versed in art history or the current trend of the arts. "To walk into this roon and enjoy it, you don't need tf understand anything," Adams said, while sitting in the gallery surrounded by his works. Adams argues that the randon nature of the paintings prevent his art from becoming outdated. "By their very nature, the paintings generate modernism and remain within the moment. The viewer is carried into a very different perception due to the images. These pictures have no reason," Adams said. "They cannot be political, cannot make a statement, and are not affected by anything but their own closest environment." Adams said if it catches. on "Modern Dynamism" could have a widespread effect on art and people in general. "I think the kind of art that do is very important at this time, Adams said. "If it changes the world, more than art, I believe it will change the way people think and carry their lives." |
|