ECA+ Gallery to display ‘My Last Link to Sanity’ in JuneDate: 5/29/2014 EASTHAMPTON – Artist Antti Kaisla exhibit, “My Last Link to Sanity,” a collection of Neo-Cubist wall sculptures, will be on display at the ECA+ Gallery from June 3 to 28.
The opening reception follows the Cottage Street Cultural Chaos festival and coincides with the “Made in Easthampton” themed Art Walk Easthampton on June 14, from 5 to 8 p.m.
This exhibition is free and open to the public.
In “My Last Link to Sanity,” Kaisla set out to probe his impressions of the works of Louise Nevelson and Picasso through his memories of a college art history course taken over twenty years ago.
The resulting sculptures, assembled from salvaged loading pallets and painted in dove-like hues, pay homage to the pioneers of Cubism, yet in Kaisla’s view reveal the imprecise nature of memory.
Weathered and knotted scraps of wood throng Kaisla’s tidy boxed frames and project the character of a compressed cityscape seen from above. The works also suggest the chaotic angles and fragmented architecture of Kurt Schwitters’ “Merzbau” in miniature. Kaisla did not initially intend to create his sculptures from recycled materials; however, he could not resist the elemental textures of abandoned pallets and discovered that “people leave so much good wood by the side of the road.”
Kaisla was born in Finland and came to the U.S. to study art. After graduating from Holyoke Community College and Massachusetts College of Art, he spent over twenty years working within the fields of graphic design, pre-press and printing.
During this time he neglected his own art practice. After a period of unexpected unemployment in 2010, he enrolled in Westfield State University's Post Baccalaureate Teacher Licensure Program and became an art teacher, an experience which galvanized his desire to create new artwork.
This exhibition is free and open to the public.
The ECA+ Gallery is located in Easthampton’s Old Town Hall at 43 Main St. The gallery is open Monday to Thursday and Saturday from noon to 6 p.m.
For more information, visit EasthamptonCityArts.com.
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