Come Masked to the 'Exquisite Corpse' Art Exhibit in Ramona

The opening reception for this ghoulish exhibition is Oct. 29 from 5-9 p.m. and the gallery is open from Oct. 30-Nov. 3, noon to 6 p.m.

Press Release

For the fifth year artist Helen Wilson invited the artist’s group Tuesday Nights to play the game "Exquisite Corpse." This is a game by which a collection of images is assembled by the group to form bodies. The game was invented by the Surrealists; and earned its name from one of the initial 
writings, "Le cadavre / exquis / boira / le vin / nouveau" (The exquisite corpse will drink the young wine). It is the perfect game for creating Art for a Halloween Exhibition.

This group plays the game with a bit of a twist. The body is broken into proportionally correct sheets of paper. Then they all draw, one body part at a time. The results are then put on the floor where each of the artists chose a body, one part at a time. Traditionally this is where the game ends a body created by multiple artists, but this is where they really change the game; everyone goes home with his or her body and they agreed to reassemble for the exhibition. Once home, their body was the inspiration for a piece of art. Artists could work in any material they wanted. The only obligations 
were to the art and to keep a sense of play - after all it is a game. 

This year we added another twist to the game. The corpse had to have a narrative of some kind. Each story will be found in it’s own artist book. Following the tradition of Ghost stories on Halloween we will read some of them at the Opening Reception on Oct 29th between 5 and 9 PM. No one has seen all the finished work, and some interesting performances have been promised. Add to this that everyone will be wearing masks and this opening is sure to be a lot of fun.  

The artists include Antonia Cosentino, Nancy Ferguson, Karen James, Bob Norman, Tracy Potter, Kathi Rothe, Marsha Cook, Nancy Winslow, Anne Marie Heaton, Heidi Schlotfeldt, Kathleen Beck, Cindy Dodson, Pamela Underwood, Julie Z Weaver, Diane Conklin, Regina Wilson, Ralph Jensen, Don Weeke, Helen Petre, Felicia Hill, Natalie Strohson, Deborah 
Behnke and Helen Wilson. The group has painters, sculptors, quilters, assemblage artists, collage artists, printmakers, basket weavers, musicians, book artists and mixed media artists - so the show is sure to be interesting.

All the artists are part of a class/group called Tuesday Nights facilitated by Helen Wilson, which meets once a month (sometimes more.) Each meeting is built around one project idea, which culminates in an exhibition but mostly it is a way to advance creative skills while hanging with a great group of creative types.

The goals are the building of an art community through exhibitions and socialization with other artists (There is something to be said about breathing the air of other  creative souls); learning to critique your own and others’ work effectively and developing technical proficiency in a variety of media and/or methods, by planning, designing and completing projects. (It is about developing artistic energy through sharing with a larger community. Think of it as A Happening.) We are not a critique group and we do not jury our exhibitions.

That is what will be happening on Tuesday October 29th, an Opening reception for an art exhibition. It’s open to the public, so come with a mask and ready for fun. The time is 5 until 9 p.m. at 1140 Main, Suite 208 above the Tuna Shack and McWhorter Jewelers. Just take the elevator up. This location is made possible by Lezley Knott at Eleven Forty and her desire to support the arts in Ramona.

The exhibition will be up through Nov 3rd. Gallery hours 
are noon until six.

For more information email Helen at studio@helenwilsonartist.com or visit our blog at http://tuesdaynights-thegameroom.blogspot.com/