InterArts Adjunct Faculty member and performance artist Doug Stapleton opened his one-man exhibition of collage work at the Chicago Cultural Center Michigan Avenue Galleries September 29, following up with a gallery talk on October 11. His meticulous collages, which New City’s Michael Weinstein calls “An unbridled romp through history,” are replete with art historical, religious, and symbolic content, combined in enigmatic, often surreal narratives. Says Stapleton, “In my collages, I cut and re-configure found images to set up ambiguous narratives that often refer to the original source, but “mess around” with the message.”
Stapleton, who is Assistant Curator of Art with the Illinois State Museum Chicago Gallery, has a background in anthropology and art history, which informs how he constructs his collages. “I’m tethered to the possible of the story within the fragment, and play with symbols and metaphors from art history, language, and religion to create new images that are strongly representational. I enjoy contrasting attention to precise cutting and visual consistency with absurd, implied narrative.”
“Undressing,” by Doug Stapleton
The exhibition, in the southern-most space of the Michigan Avenue Galleries, runs through December 30, 2012. Exhibitions at the Chicago Cultural Center are free and open to the public. For more information about the exhibition, click here. For more information about the artist, click here.
