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exquicorpse

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Cassilhaus GalleryChapel Hill, NC

January 29 - May 31, 2017

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Exhibition ideas often organically present themselves. Early last year, our friend Diana Gaston, the Executive Director of the Tamarind Institute, a fine art press in Albuquerque, New Mexico, let us know about a portfolio of eighteen lithographic prints from her press entitled Exquisite Corpse. Over a period of fifteen years, Tamarind visiting artists waiting “on press” were invited to participate in a game of exquisite corpse by creating renderings of heads, torsos, or legs without knowledge of what other collaborating artists were producing. We were entranced and added the prints to our collection. The moment they arrived I knew we needed to do a show.

Exquisite Corpse (or, Cadavre Exquis) was a Surrealists’ parlour game in which players write or draw in turn on a sheet of paper, fold it to conceal part of their writing or drawing, and then pass it on to the next player for a further contribution. The name is derived from one round of the game that resulted in the nonsensical phrase, Le cadaver exquis boira le vin nouveau, “The exquisite corpse will drink the new wine.” Since its beginning, artists, as well as writers, have drawn from the concept of the game to create collaborative and fantastical drawings, poetry, and prose.

The Tamarind portfolio is a variant of the game and inspired me to mine our own collection to unearth hidden “corpses.” The Cassilhaus Collection is portrait heavy and I was able to look at each piece with fresh eyes. It was a delightful challenge to find correlations and juxtapositions, in content, tone and form to create full sets that force us to look again at familiar images with new meaning. Needless to say the artists were not complicit in this activity!

While in the planning stages of this show we visited The Penland School of Crafts in western North Carolina and discovered the collaborative work of Mercedes Jelinek and Jess Rees. Their ‘conversations,’ as they call them, start with scouting and visiting locations together. Mercedes then makes a series of images and sends a selection of printed photographs to Jess to choose from. Jess and Mercedes continue to pass the photos back and forth, now beginning to remove parts of the images and adding new details in their own ways. The resulting photographs have many layers of acrylic paint to conceal parts of the photo, as well as gold leaf additions to bring attention to particular architectural elements left within the frame. This volleying continues until both are satisfied with the final print—creating a different sort of exquisite corpse.

This is the first exhibition I have solo curated at Cassilhaus and I hope you have as much fun with it as I did. This show would not have been possible without the patient and diligent work of the indispensable Jessina Leonard. Thanks are due also to Milli Apelgren and Fred Hutchinson. And of course, this show, or anything else of worth at Cassilhaus, would not have been realized without the heart and soul of Cassilhaus, my super creative husband, Frank Konhaus.

Thank you,

Ellen CassillyJanuary 2017

E X Q U I S I T E C O R P S E

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SerpentValeriy Gerlovin and Rimma GerlovinaRussianChromogenic Print1989

Small ApplesKristoffer AlbrechtFinnishToned Gelatin Silver Print1984

Septima with TadpolesDeborah LusterAmericanToned Gelatin Silver Print1993

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Philipp, 2000Mona KuhnBrazilian AmericanVintage Gelatin Silver Print2000

Nikki’s HandsMona KuhnBrazilian AmericanVintage Gelatin Silver Print1998

X #6Robert StiversAmericanGelatin Silver Print2003

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DeepAnita WolfendenSwedishArchival Watercolor Paper in Lucite Box2008

White SlipMeredith BrickellAmericanEarthenware2008

Draw #4Marc MaioranaAmericanSteel2007

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Valle Crucis, NC, 1981John RosenthalAmericanVintage Gelatin Silver Print1981

Untitled (from Natural Findings Series)Cheryle St. OngeAmericanArchival Pigment Print2012

UntitledBrian GabermanAmericanGelatin Silver Print1999

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UntitledJóse BediaCubanLithographic crayon, electrostatic copier toner powder applied with brush and fused with heat to the plate.2002

UntitledYoshimi HayashiJapaneseA lithograph drawn by the artist and printed in magenta from aluminum.2002

UntitledMary SnowdenAmericanA lithograph drawn by the artist and printed in black from aluminum.2000

UntitledLiliana PorterArgentinianA lithograph drawn by the artist and printed in black from aluminum.2000

bear breastedGendron JensenAmericanA one-run, one-color lithograph drawn by the artist.2014-2015

UntitledToyin OdutolaNigerianA one-run, one-color lithograph drawn by the artist.2014-2015

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Alien ChickAndrea DezsöAmericanA four-color lithograph drawn by the arist.2000

UntitledOsmeivy Ortega PachecoCubanA one-run, one-color lithograph drawn by the artist.2015

UntitledVictor GolerArgentinianA two-color lithograph drawn by the artist.2000

Benin HeadRobert PruittAmericanA one-run, one color lithograph drawn by the artist.2014

UntitledLarry BrownAmericanA lithograph drawn by the artist and printed from aluminum.2001

UntitledNick CaveAmericanA one-run, one-color lithograph drawn by the artist.2015

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Slightly Ahead of the SeasonsWilliam WileyAmericanA lithograph drawn by the artist and printed in green from aluminum.2001-2002

UntitledSusan DavidoffAmericanA collage and two-color lithographic drawn by the artist.2000

UntitledHayal PozantiTurkishA two-run, two-color lithograph drawn by the artist.2014

UntitledEnrique Martinez CelayaCubanA lithograph drawn by the artist.2014

UntitledLiu HungChineseA two-color lithograph2000-2001

UntitledElena ClimentMexicanA lithograph drawn by the artist2001-2002

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Birth of AphroditeValeriy Gerlovin and Rimma GerlovinaRussianEktacolor C-print1992

seeing the songMarie NavarreAmericanFilm and thread on paper2004

Circurlo Vicioso (Vicious Circle)Elsa MoraCubanImbue print on handmade watercolor paper2003

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Wind #2Lauren SemivanAmericanArchival Pigment Print2012

Bronx 1, 1950Aaron SiskindAmericanGelatin Silver Print1950 / printed later

Untitled 11.89-6Igor SavchenkoBelarusianVintage Toned Gelatin Silver Print1989

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Sudanese, CairoSean KernanAmericanToned Gelatin Silver Print2005

Untitled, 1998 (from the Deep South series)Sally MannAmericanToned Gelatin Silver Print1998

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Women’s StudiesJulie SpeedAmericanHand-colored polymer gravure with chine collé2005

Burkas, Sultan Ahmet Parki, InstanbulDan GottliebAmericanArchival Pigment Print2010

Retired WorkerEve ArnoldAmericanDye Transfer Print1979

Kalia and TV Westchester 2002Michael PrinceAmericanC Print2002

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Found Portrait: Man 29, 2006Binh DanhVietnameseChlorophyll Print and Resin2006

Two HandsJack SpencerAmericanToned Gelatin Silver Print1995

Night Blooming CereusSally MannAmericanToned Gelatin Silver Contact Print1988

MoneyGramIppy PattersonAmericanArchival Pigment Print2013

Flowers: A Guide to American WildflowersDoug KeyesAmericanDye Coupler Print1999

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Inside the View #17Helen SearBritishChromogenic Lambda Print2006

Neil Selkirk’s Developer Tray, 2010John CyrAmericanArchival Pigment Print2010

Cy’s SlippersFrank HunterAmericanArchival Inkjet Print2010

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Smerinthus SalicetiJo WhaleyAmericanArchival Pigment Print2010

Margaret’s RhubarbSusan WorshamAmericanArchival Pigment Print2008

Chicago, 1960Harry CallahanAmericanGelatin Silver Print1960 / printed later

Structure Drawing TwoIppy PattersonAmericanInk on Arches Paper2005

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Tanzania, Benaco, Rwandan RefugeesEli ReedAmericanDigital C Print1995/2015

UntitledDiana ValleraAmericanPhoto Emulsion on Canvas1999

#1142 from NakazoraMasao YamamotoJapaneseToned Gelatin Silver Print2005

Gevaert Gevarto 47Allison RossiterAmericanFour Gelatin Silver Prints2013

Mah-jong Self PortraitIppy PattersonAmericanArchival Pigment Print2014

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Untitled Holyoke, 2000Mitch EpsteinAmericanC Print2000

Liberty Under Fire (RTNYC 77)James FeeAmericanToned Gelatin Silver Print1997

Miss Appleton’s Shoes IIOlivia ParkerAmericanVintage Split Toned Gelatin Silver Contact Print1976/1981

CupElijah GowinAmericanPigmented Inkjet Print2002

Noble SavagesMarguerite KahrlAmericanOffset Print2013

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Rival ShoesRalph SteinerAmericanGelatin Silver Contact Print1924/1981

Two Pears, Cushing, MEPaul CaponigroAmericanVintage Gelatin Silver Contact Print1999

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia WoolfHeather GordonAmericanInk on Paper2009

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UntitledMercedes Jelinek and Jess ReesAmerican/AmericanArchival Pigment Print with Acrylic Paint and Gold Leaf2016$1200

UntitledMercedes Jelinek and Jess ReesAmerican/AmericanArchival Pigment Print with Acrylic Paint and Gold Leaf2016$900

UntitledMercedes Jelinek and Jess ReesAmerican/AmericanArchival Pigment Print with Acrylic Paint and Gold Leaf2016$1200

Mercedes Jelinek and Jess ReesConversations

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