Gallery to Host Exhibit of 'Tape Works' by Mark Khaisman
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The Gallery at Penn College, on the third floor of Pennsylvania College of Technology's Madigan Library, will host "Likeness of a Likeness," an exhibit by artist Mark Khaisman, Jan. 8 to Feb. 2.Khaisman's figurative images are classically rendered from carefully layered strips of translucent packing tape applied to backlit acrylic sheets.
"I see my tape art as a form of painting," Khaisman explained. "The 2-inch tape acts as a wide brush, and the light behind the panels as an alchemist's luminous blending medium. In working with tape, like in painting, accident and control are always present."
Khaisman worked for several decades in architecture, animation and stained-glass design, all of which had a part in leading him to tape work.
"I think painting with tape relates to architecture in a very strange way, a love-hate relationship," he said. "From one side, my images are constructed and calculated. From another side, my medium is all about deconstruction, anti-construction. My images all imply a fragile, temporary presence, unlike the grandeur architecture aspires to."
His works are based on familiar images.
"They are about recognition: recognition of a tactile sensation, recognition of an image, recognition of a memory," he said. "They are very much play-it-again; it is the very essence of my work."
Born in 1958 in Kiev, Ukraine, Khaisman studied art and architecture at the Moscow International Institute. He now lives and works in Philadelphia. To learn more about his work, visit online .
The gallery will host a gallery talk and Meet the Artist reception with Khaisman from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 18, with artist's comments at 5:30.
The gallery is open Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 2 to 8 p.m.; and Wednesday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. All exhibits are free and open to the public.
For more about the exhibit and The Gallery at Penn College, visit on the Web , e-mail or call 570-320-2445.
To learn more about the college, visit online , e-mail or call toll-free 800-367-9222.