03/06/10 – Jackson Artworks – Slippery Humanist Values

WATIE WHITE - PAINTINGS
BRENT HOUZENGA - MIXED MEDIA

OPENING RECEPTION FOR THE ARTISTS SATURDAY MARCH 6, 2010, 6 -9pm

Who are these people? That is the common question asked about artists’ Watie White and Brent Houzenga’s current art work.
In White’s “Stolen Paintings” he has his subject play an active role in the development of the work. Each model chooses a masterpiece painting in which they feel a connection toward. White then “steals” the composition of that painting and interweaves the subject’s personal stories into the subject matter. White infuses the paintings with his own whimsy, and sometimes off color humor to create his signature messy painterly palette pieces. By the end of the finished product, the identity of the original painting, the subject and the artist’s view are changed completely.
The process of identification takes a different turn with Brent Houzenga’s found object mixed media work. Houzenga’s plays another kind of interactive role in the identity of his subjects. These found photographs from the late 1800’s were “stolen” from a trash bin along the road where he takes his daily jog. His fascination with these portraits has brought up his own questions about personal identity.

Both of these artists question history, identity and create icons out of common folk. At the same time the viewer has an opportunity to create his/her own stories of who these people are, taking portraiture into the 21st century.