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Recent Acquisitions Releases Press Release Archive |
Austin Artist Lance Letscher's Exhibition Done 'By the Book' at Tyler Museum of Art Tyler, TX—The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is never proven more true than in the latest exhibition opening at the Tyler Museum of Art January 13. Lance Letscher: Books and Parts of Books 1996-2004 features dramatic collages of design, color and words created from “found paper” Letscher culled from discarded books. The Austin-based artist has been called “a poet in scrap paper” for his detailed creations spliced together from materials he retrieves from flea markets and second-hand stores. Using the covers, spines and pages of books, handwritten manuscripts, letters, lists, even old recipes and children’s notes, Letscher meticulously cuts and pastes together this recycled medium to form captivating images that draw the viewer in at many different levels. “I would like to make things that are mysteriously powerful. I’d like to make a non-conscious communication that people feel and can’t put their fingers on,” the artist explained. He said he wants his work to reach people who are not indoctrinated into art, “everyday people—those are the people I want to impress.” Whether planned or not, the 42-year-old Letscher did, in fact, impress the art world, earning high praise from New York art critics during his first solo show there in April 2002 at the Howard Scott Gallery. “As if to prove that the most exciting contemporary art is made by the least usual of suspects, here comes Lance Letscher from Austin, Texas,” reported art writer Mario Naves in The New York Observer. Naves described Letscher as “unusual, not just in terms of his geography, but also in his aesthetic. Uninterested in fashion, resistant to pomp and constitutionally incapable of the rote or superficial, he’s something we don’t encounter too often: an artist of substance, grit and purpose.” Some of Letscher’s earlier works have shown in Tyler as part of a three-person show in 1999, before the artist’s New York solo exhibition. “We were impressed by his work at that time, so we are particularly pleased to present this much more inclusive exhibition for East Texas,” said Kimberley Bush Tomio, Tyler Museum of Art director. Books and Parts of Books 1996-2004 is Letscher’s first traveling solo museum exhibition, and was organized by and debuted at the Galveston Arts Center. GAC Executive Director and Exhibition Curator Clint Willour also praised Letscher’s work. “Above all is a reverence for material. Whether it is personal journals, letters, books or parts of books, each element of these collages is lovingly, carefully, thoughtfully placed,” Willour said. “Words take on new meanings and new interpretations are explored. Form follows function as elements from one appropriation marry elements from another. Fragments make for a whole. Order comes out of chaos. These are works that engage the eye and touch the soul.” Lance Letscher: Books and Parts of Books 1996-2004 will be on display in the Carmichael Gallery at the Tyler Museum of Art, 1300 S. Mahon in Tyler, through March 6. In conjunction with the opening of the exhibition, the artist will speak at an opening reception January 13 from 5:30 p.m.–7 p.m. for the public. Funding for this exhibition and the accompanying catalogue, which will be available in the TMA Museum Shop, was provided by The National Endowment for the Arts, The Texas Commission on the Arts, The Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund, The City of Galveston Park Board of Trustees through the Hotel/Motel Tax, an anonymous donor in honor of Mary Frasher, The Berman Family Foundation, McMurtrey Gallery, Conduit Gallery and the members of the Galveston Arts Center. Other special events connected to the exhibition include a First Friday Art Tour and a workshop on the art of bookmaking, covering all stages from papermaking to binding. The First Friday Art Tour, set for February 4, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., will be led by TMA Curator Kentario Tomio, and is free for TMA members plus one guest, and $3 for non-members. Reservations are required. The two-day “Introduction to the Art of Bookmaking” workshop will be led by Jennifer Vaughn and is set for January 29–30 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Cost is $15 for members, $25 for non-members, with class size limited to 12, and only for those 18-years or older. Reservations for either of these events should be made by calling the Tyler Museum of Art at 903-595-1001. |