September 10-29 at Venice Art Center
The artist uses concertina sketchbooks—made of accordion-folded pages inside a front and back cover—as her rolling narrative, unravelling the story of her life. This exhibit features 16 concertinas and more than 30 paintings inspired by the sketches.
(September 8, 2022) “Where We Live,” an exhibit of concertina sketchbooks and paintings by Jill Krasner, is September 10-29 at Venice Art Center, 390 Nokomis Ave S, Venice. An opening reception with the artist is September 16, 5-7 p.m. For more information, visit www.veniceartcenter.com.
Krasner says she first discovered the art of creating concertina sketchbooks during the first few months of the COVID lockdown. “Exploring YouTube became one of my go-to activities to fill the long, lonely hours of isolation,” she says. “I discovered artists like Karen Stamper, Louise Fletcher, and Lewis Noble, each of whom uses concertinas in their art practice, each in different ways.
Krasner was hooked.
“I made one; then another and then another. They are piled up on my worktables, fill up my display shelves, hang from my pegboard-covered walls. I even keep one in my car to work on when caught in traffic,” she laughs. More seriously, the artist works on them at night to help with her chronic insomnia.
Krasner, who lives and works in Sarasota, now has completed more than 50 books, which are filled with collage scraps and random marks, abstract studies, and panoramic murals. “I use paint, pencils, crayons, collage, rubber stamps, stencils, inks, pastels and oil sticks,” says Krasner, adding that she then integrates pieces of old canvases, discarded watercolors, and fabrics and beads. “I paste and glue and sew and staple. Each one tells a story, unravelling my tales from cover to cover. My concertinas are my narrative—my past, my present, my future.”
In this exhibit, Krasner also showcases more than 30 of the paintings inspired by the sketchbooks. These include florals, abstracts, landscapes, and architecture and will be displayed on the walls above the sketchbooks that inspired their creation. Sizes, techniques and colors of the paintings will vary, offering the viewer an exciting glimpse into the full range of Krasner’s work.
After a career in broadcasting with Metromedia and Westinghouse television, Krasner returned to her first love, making art. Over the years, she added new mediums and techniques to her foundation of the basics. This exhibition offers an enticing exploration of a successful mix of tradition and experimental art. Krasner’s work is in galleries locally (Art Uptown, Chasen Gallery), and around the country and world. For more information about Jill Krasner, visit www.jillkrasnergallery.com.