 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Email Us |
June 29th - August 1st, 2009
Virginia Wagner
Paintings
"Landscapes are culture before they are nature; constructs of the imagination projected onto wood and water and rock (Simon Schama, Landscape and Memory)."
The ponds, tree hollows, and icebergs in my paintings are my internal wilderness projected onto the external world. As an artist, I seek the intersection of myth and reality. The stories at these crossroads are distanced from real events to allow for critical analysis even as they address the psychological core of those events. In telling a story I often manipulate and distort the real, using lenses of fantasy, dream and theater. In this way I aim at the emotional rather than the historical truth. The moments where surreal elements disrupt daily reality are a source of continual inspiration. It is where myth meets mundane that the potential for the fantastic is the greatest, and my fears, desires and questions are able to play out on a fictional stage.
The realist imagery in my work is important to grant the viewer access to the scene, allowing them to assume the role of the lead character, or the shadowy figure lurking in the corner. Similarly, I use beauty to engage the viewer and suspend him or her in the piece. Beauty raises the stakes -- heightening the contrast between the seductive and the darker elements of life and art.
Coming from a background in biology, with a horticulturalist for a mother and an entomologist for a father, I have a deep-rooted interest in the signs and symbols of nature. I have worked as a scientific illustrator, using microscopes and pinned specimens to produce drawings of caterpillars, moths and dragonflies.
My diverse background in the arts, including creative writing, film, theater, voice and dance, provides a wellspring of subject matter and methods for my visual work. My passion for literature has inspired many of my paintings. Often they stem from my own poetry or are retellings of popular myths and fairytales.
BIOGRAPHY
Virginia Wagner was born in Berkeley, California and raised in Storrs, Connecticut. She attended Oberlin College where she majored in Studio Art and Creative Writing and graduated with Honors. She received the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship to Yale's Norfolk Summer School of Art and attended the School of Visual Arts' Summer Residency Program. Her work has been shown in various art exhibitions in Ohio and New England. She lives in Fort Greene and plans to attend Maryland Institute College of Art's Hoffberger School of Painting in the fall.
Opening Reception: Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Tillie's Community Mural
Tillie's of Brooklyn is proud to announce our community mural on the Vanderbilt Avenue side of the store.
This mural was completed in June 2008 by Clinton Hill/Ft. Greene Community Members, directed by Ellie Balk and supported by Tillie's of Brooklyn, SONYA and the Puffin Foundation.
For more information on the Mural:
visit tilliesmuralproject.blogspot.com, or click here
Since its inception Tillie’s has shown the work of a different visual artist every month, most of them from the area, including: Sameeh Alderazi, Eric Araujo, C Bangs (in collaboration with Gregory Matloff and Les Johnson), Rebecca Boccio, Tobias Brill, Nan Carey, Ricardo Cortes, Matthew Cramer, Donna DeCesare, Anthony DeSimone, Gwynne Duncan, Cynthia Edorh, Christine Finley, The Fort Greene Photography Club, Robert Goldstrom, Joe Greenstein, Erica Harris, Natasha Harsh, Kathleen Hayek, Daina Higgins, E.F. Higgins, Robyn Holl, Doug Madill, Robert Matson, Nell McClister, Mascha Oehlmann, Empress Modupe Olufunmi-Diop, Thomas Patrick O’Connell, Parker "Woody" Pantilla, Keith Pavia, Patricia Peticolas, Sean Qualls, Laurie Sermos, Thanut Singhasuvich, Angie Smith, David Sokosh, Leah Stubbs, Harvey Wilson, The Zimbabwe Artists Project, and Young Printmakers from Pratt Institute. Every May we also feature an exhibition of the work of our vastly overqualified staff.