Visual arts: Upper Arlington artist's exhibit a quirky meld of shapes, colors and images
It’s tempting to look for a story, a theme or a message in the colorful collages of N. Penney Denning. That’s a futile exercise.
Her small works created with recycled, cutout media images are filled with incongruous objects — fish, plants, fruits, snack foods, lizards, armchairs and a recurring little white dog. The point is the beauty and appeal of image, color and composition that work well together, not any overriding narrative.
“Collage: The Art of Recycling,” an exhibit of 57 works by Denning, is on view through June 2 at the Dublin Arts Council. Denning, 81, who has two first names — Nan and Penney — lives and maintains a studio in Upper Arlington.
A graduate of Cornell University in New York with a Master of Fine Arts in painting from Ohio State University, she earlier incorporated collage in her paintings and, for the past 12 years, has worked exclusively in the medium of collage.
The works in the exhibit — all 8 by 6 inches and titled by number — are hung at eye level. The juxtaposition of unlikely images, some distorted perspectives and jaunty colors creates a quirky atmosphere not without humor and irony.
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“Still Life #525” has a big artichoke dominating a bowl of pink flowers and two dolphins. In “Still Life #613” a goat and a pig stand on a blue cabinet with a speckled pitcher and plants in the foreground. A huge stack of pancakes dripping with butter and syrup stars in “Still Life #592” with a small peanut and a blue chair with a banana on it as co-stars.
Several of the pieces have clippings from the Ohio State University newspaper, The Lantern, and one has clippings about the Spanish influenza of the early 20th century paired with modern images, including an airplane and an Oreo cookie. This may be the closest Denning comes to sending viewers a message — connecting the Spanish flu to contemporary times and COVID19.
In creating her works, Denning said she spends a lot of time poring over magazines, newspapers and other media, cutting out images she finds interesting and appealing.
“When I start a new piece, I look over the images and one will capture my attention and that will be my centerpiece,” she said. “I pick a background, a color or a pattern, and then I go looking for other things to go with that first image and that ‘go with’ is very broad.
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“There’s no narrative meaning although often, after I’ve done a piece, I will notice relationships.”
Using recycled pictures is a nod to a concern for the environment, she said, but is more about wanting to use beautiful images that are there for the taking.
“We have all these great images that we see in magazines, and we just don’t notice them,” Denning said. “That little white dog, you find him in dog food ads and all sorts of things. He must make a bundle of money because he’s everywhere.”
“Collage: The Art of Recycling” introduces an artist in love with shapes, colors and images. Denning’s quirky collages makes a viewer appreciate the appeal of individual objects and how the seeming randomness with which they are put together can result in an enjoyable art experience.
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At a glance
“Collage: The Art of Recycling” continues through June 2 at the Dublin Arts Council, 7125 Riverside Drive, Dublin. The gallery is open by appointment from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. the second Saturday of the month. To schedule an appointment, call 614-889-7444 or visit dublinarts.org.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dublin Arts Council hosts exhibit of collages by N. Penney Denning
