Photos and text by Robert Kokenyesi, Ceramic Artist, Beachfront Pottery, Godfrey, IL 62035, USA.

The Foundry Art Centre hosted the “Putting it Together: The Art of Assembling” multimedia exhibit from August 12 to September 23, 2016.  The Foundry Art Centre is a refurbished building that once was a foundry.  Now it is hosting community art events, has studio space for about two dozen artists, and has gallery space for simultaneous exhibits.

 

The Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, Missouri.

 

 

 

 

 

The exhibit had a good number of 3 dimensional pieces; many of the made of wood, store-bought items, steel or other metals, and found objects.

 

The exhibit title on the gallery wall.

 

 

 

 

 

There were also many 2 dimensional pieces such as collages, photographs, encaustics.  For many pieces, especially for the 2D pieces,  it was difficult to see how they relate to assembling. The abundance of non-ceramic art pieces left me to report on the only ceramic art piece int his exhibit.  This was a piece that certainly lived up to the “assembling” requirement.

Bruce lists this work under the “toy” category on his web site.  After reading his artist statement this makes sense. He writes that during his childhood he frequently broke his toys, and then spent hours in his father’s wood shop to make new toys by mixing usable parts from several broken toys.  In this piece we see a figure who is fixing a toy while the broken parts (heads) of other toys piled up under the chair.

He writes that these “toys” are a reminder of a carefree past where we didn’t have to think about answering a million emails, or to attend meetings, rather, we were occupied by the thought of what we are going to play with next.

To compose this piece Bruce used (played with) ceramics, wood, and hobby grass.