Painting Big Ideas

It’s called crowd sourcing, Brendan O’Connell says. When a company or, say, a government has a problem, it broadens the search and asks the public for help. This painter says he is doing something like that. O’Connell, working on “the art of the everyday” as he puts it, walked into Torrington’s Walmart one day back in 2004 and ended up making a name for himself by photographing the shelves and the shoppers. He had the idea that superstores like this have replaced commercial boulevards where people once picked up food, clothes, news, a sense of community. Now Walmart has crammed all that under one roof creating what O’Connell sees, with his refreshing sense of hyperbole, as “the most visited interior architecture on the planet.” Then, back in his studio in Cornwall, he projects images of these photos onto a canvas as a loose template, settles into the dark and paints over them, picking up the the colors and patterns he finds there. His painting, and probably his verbal gifts, have earned him exhibits from here to Shanghai and attention in art journals, on National Public Radio and, as he says on his Everyday Walart site, “Hollywood’s A-list.” Now he’s crowd sourcing, “foraging for more inspiration,” he says, asking people to send him their photos of Walmart shelves piled with Wonder Bread and Velveeta or of shoppers poring over T-shirts, sneakers, bath towels, underwear. “Of course you can’t go in there with a big phallic machine” as O’Connell did with his Canon camera back in 2004, which got him kicked out of the store. He says a cell phone will get the shot and go unnoticed. Then just upload images from Walmart or Sam’s Club stores to Facebook.com/everydaywalart. “If your photo becomes Brendan O’Connell’s next painting,” the site promises, “you will receive a signed print.” And no attribution. And for those who simply want to see O’Connell’s work, he is exhibiting his paintings at The Hotchkiss School’s Tremaine Gallery through Nov. 18, with an artist’s reception Oct. 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. For information: 860-435-3663.

Latest News

Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less