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Paper Cuts
Henry Bermudez, Elizabeth Bisbing, Florence Putterman
September 7th - 29th 2007 Projects Room

The dichotomy of paper is its simplicity and its complexity. It is often the first material utilized by an artist. From the preliminary sketching stages, to the fully realized final project, few artists can escape their elemental connection to the material. In the spirit of exploring the boundaries and use of this media, Projects Gallery presents “Paper Cuts”, a multi-artist exhibition showcasing the works of Henry Bermudez, Elizabeth Bisbing and Florence Putterman and other artists with mastery of this material.

Venezuelan-born Henry Bermudez works by painting his enigmatic images on paper, before cutting out and collaging the swirling abstract deities. Here, paper is cut, overlapped and constructed, becoming as much a subject as the pointillist figures painted upon it. This new work features his signature cutout technique as well as dabbling with reflective elements, pushing the nature of space within his dense works. Continuing to experiment with his swirling forms by reintroducing color to his paintings and building upon his layering techniques, Bermudez has created a new and vibrant body of work steeped in his personal language of mythology.

Elizabeth Bisbing was inspired by Matisse to begin cutting paper to create her images. Her paper collage “invented domestic interiors” are borrowed from scenes painted by classical artists and peopled by members of her family. Bisbing is fond with toying with the convention of the paper doll, using the same cut paper and collage technique. Exploring the nature of identity entrenched in the costumes of childhood, the artist crafts nude characters as well as the clothing to cover them, layering dozens of slim colorful shapes, pushing the dimensionality of the tradtionally two dimensional paper doll. The trophe of the paper doll also invites the viewer to take control of the image, to control how Bisbing’s paper characters will be perceived.
More known for her petroglyph-like paintings, Florence Putterman’s print works commune with the sheet as a solid unit. Her imprints focus on the texture of paper and the impact of ink and paint. Putterman’s freeform shapes toy with the concept of what is applied and what is revealed as the artist marks the surface. Akin to Putterman’s textural mixed media paintings, her works on paper utilize tactile visual elements. The effect of the mark to the surface is as engaging and inseparable from the work as the image itself. “Paper Cuts” presents works of and on paper that encourage reinvestigation of this simple and often maligned essential element to artistic expression.
To view works from the show, click here