March LAI exhibit features the works of Tony Crowley

 

[March 18, 2022] 

The Lincoln Arts Institute opened its March exhibit on Thursday, March 10th with an artist reception for solo exhibitor Tony Crowley. The weather was nasty that night, and attendance started out slow, possibly due to the weather. If you didn’t make it out to the exhibit last week, you still have plenty of opportunities. Crowley’s work will be featured through the rest of March, with the LAI open on Friday evenings from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.



Tony Crowley is a professional artist with works on display in a large number of art galleries including the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Harwell Art Museum, the Sheldon Memorial Gallery, the Cedar Rapids Art Museum, the Galesburg Civic Art Center, the Academy of Art Museum of Maryland, the Association Mouvement Art Contemporain of Chemalieres, France, the Maytag Foundation, the Pioneer Corporation and a variety of university and private collections.

Currently, Crowley is also teaching drawing, watercolor and art criticism at the Illinois State University. He plans to retire from that position at the end of May this year.

Around the gallery at the LAI, there are a large variety of charcoal, pencil and ink pieces that are original works of Crowley. In many cases, viewers noted that in close proximity to the black and white drawings there were colored versions of the day work done via silkscreen. These are two versions of his piece entitled “Triad” Crowley explained.

He does all the original drawings, then he works with a former student, Luther Davis, who is currently located in Brooklyn, New York.

Crowley’s works are inspired by music and poetry. In the Triad pieces the inspiration was a “An Hymne to Heavenly Love.”

An Hymne of Heavenly Love by Edmund Spenser - Famous poems, famous poets. - All Poetry

Crowley explained his process.

“I select works that I find especially moving and/or meaningful, study them closely and record my responses, questions and discoveries about the sources. I sketch out my visual reactions to them using the typical art elements: shape, line, texture, value, and etcetera. During this process, I find myself developing a palpable connection with the poets or composers through their work. I feel as if we are engaged in a very intimate dialog. We share ideas, challenge each other, and explore our mutual interest in the creative process.”

Inspired by the poem, he draws his interpretation of the written word. He utilizes grayscale materials, such as pencil, charcoal and ink to create the first piece.

The next process is then to re-create the art in relief, on sheets of acetate according to the colors he wishes to incorporate into the silkscreen. He noted that when working on the acetate, what is dark in the original work becomes light and what is light becomes dark, like a photo negative.

Crowley ships the completed sheets to Brooklyn then joins Davis there to create the final color pieces. They talk about the color choices and the layout of the drawing. Then Davis submerges the acetate sheets in a chemical solution that take away all the areas that are currently without color. This creates the template for the silkscreen. With the drawing done in negative, the colors will pass through the areas that are now missing and creates a color replica of the original drawing.

Crowley explained that each piece of acetate represents a layer of color and through several steps all the colors are added to the work. After several applications of color to the silkscreen the work is finally complete. Crowley said that it is important to understand that the process is quite complicated, and it requires a very precise hand and arrangement of the acetate sheets to duplicate his original works.

After the first work is completed, the acetate templates are still usable. Crowley said that there are works in the gallery in Lincoln that will show bits and pieces of original silkscreens. He and Davis work together combining the acetate sheets to create new original silkscreens.

Though the silkscreens are quite interesting and a large part of the March exhibit at the Lincoln Arts Institute, there are several other freehand grayscale drawings on display as well, all original works by Crowley.

Thursday evening, the guests in attendance spent a good deal of time studying the pieces, many of which are inspired by spiritual writings such as Sonnet 19 by John Milton “When I Consider How My Light Is Spent.”

When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent

That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state

Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.

Which inspired the work by Crowley done in pastel and charcoal, entitled 'Insight.'

Other works are inspired by well-known authors such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and William Shakespeare.

If you missed the artist reception last week, you may want to consider stopping in the gallery this weekend and soaking up the works of Tony Crowley. All are unique and interesting. The eye can more easily appreciate the complexity of the work when realizing the methods displayed and the messages being expressed transforming written word into art.

[Nila Smith]