Leonard Stokes
Mildred Hawn Gallery
28 January - 15 March, 2008
Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday 8am-5pm
Artist’s Statement
I invite viewers to eavesdrop on the conversations between and among the archival
digital prints and their paper collage ancestors. Whether composing by hand or,
currently, by means of the computer, I regard myself as a chef who cooks with
whatever is at hand - left-overs, essentially. This practice has been common
throughout the history of music (“sampling” is a recent manifestation), and arose
within the plastic arts with the advent of collage during the early years of the last
century. I endeavor to bring elements of disparate provenance together so that they
interact to form new worlds. Each fragment is an actor who auditions for a role
in a play that is being improvised during the tryout. No attempt has been made
to disguise my love of the ancient art of Italy - from Magna Graecia to il
Quattrocento. Viewers may also notice Asian influences. Ultimately, my concerns
are with the poetics of color, form, light and space. Each viewer (myself included)
is invited to create a narrative - once the image has been composed and presented
to the world...
LS 1. 18. 2008
