The Edgewood Gallery, located at 216 Tecumseh Road, will be presenting a wide range of works by the Cazenovia-based artist, Jim Ridlon, from Sept. 30 through Nov. 11. The show, titled “Diversity,” is comprised of small, intimate collages, paintings, large constructions with accompanying poems and experimental prints.
An opening is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30, at the gallery.
In addition to exhibiting the more traditional media, Cheryl Chappell, Director of the Edgewood Gallery, challenged Ridlon to construct a large-scale outdoor installation in the rear of the gallery. Chappell said she was impressed by the range of media the artist is comfortable working with and thought installation-based work could offer Ridlon a new frontier for creative exploration.
“Jim is unusual as an artist in the variety of forms his art takes,” Chappell said. “Personally, seeing the many expressions of artistic form coming from one individual is what I feel is most interesting.”
Accepting the challenge, Ridlon conceived a wide-ranging installation titled “Nature’s Market,” which creates a makeshift market place using thousands of unusual, but naturally formed pieces of wood; what Ridlon describes as “wood anomalies.” He appropriated the pieces of wood and imbued them with a new purpose.
“The installation will provide viewers with a fresh impression of their environment and stimulate them to take a fresh view of the natural world around them,” Ridlon said of the piece. “The viewing experience is intended to shift perceptions and create an ambiguity between what is real and what is perceived.”
The scale and open-ended quality of the piece facilitates creative thinking and stimulates constructive conversations about the environment, consumerism, and perception versus reality, which Ridlon feels infuses the piece with great educational potential. Chappell feels this work, in conjunction with the works comprising the entire show, offer great teaching opportunities and welcomes educators and their students to the gallery.
“This exhibition,” Ridlon said, “will help students use their mental, physical, and emotional abilities to explore and reflect on their environment from a more personal perspective.”
The artist is available to speak with and view the exhibition with interested educators and their students about the works. Contact the gallery at 445-8111 to make arrangements.
