RipOff Artists “Stick It” to American Gothic

“All the really good ideas I’d ever had came to me while I was milking a cow,” declared Grant Wood whose American Gothic painting of the dour-faced pitchfork wielding farmer and his sister is famous worldwide.  Wood’s masterpiece became a national symbol; a vision of hope during the Depression that still resonates today. “Because American Gothic is so iconic, it was the perfect mark for this year’s RipOff challenge,” raves fiber artist, Terry Irvine.

This July the RipOff Artists stick it to American Gothic at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre in Oliver, BC. This multi-media collective includes artists working in fibre (quilting, felting, weaving), photography, mixed media collage, oils and acrylics, 3-D installations, and encaustic (hot beeswax).  For the fifth year in a row, this nefarious group has dared to take on the grand masters of art. To mark such an auspicious occasion, they added a twist to the proceedings. Each artist has chosen another artist through which to interpret American Gothic. It’s double the ripoff and double the fun!

The public is welcome to watch the RipOff Artists assume the styles of  Picasso, Klimt, and Degas, along with seven other famous artists, and reinterpret Wood.  

American Gothic Challenge
Monday July 4 – Saturday July 9
Opening Reception:
Monday July 4, 
6 – 8 pm
Daily Hours:
Tuesday July 5 – Saturday July 9
9 am to 3 pm 

You are encouraged to come frequently during the week to get a true sense of how their artwork progresses from rough idea to finished creation.  Be sure to see the completed project on the Saturday! It will be left to you to decide: Is Wood’s masterpiece a celebration of America’s stoic determination during the Depression? Or is the finished product a critique of those same American values? Come view the action and decide for yourself.

Incidentally, the treasures from the four previous “RipOff raids” are currently on display at Leir House Cultural Centre in Penticton until June 23. You can view their “stolen” interpretations of Gustav Klimt’s Emilie Floge, Goergia O’Keeffe’s Pink Tulip, Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Cypresses, and Lawren Harris’ Mount Lefroy in a variety of artistic media.

For more information about the RipOff Artists, click on their link under “Member Groups” in the column at right.  Or use the search bar on our website (type in “RipOffs”) for photos and articles from their past shows.

RipOff Artists "Stick It" to American Gothic

“All the really good ideas I’d ever had came to me while I was milking a cow,” declared Grant Wood whose American Gothic painting of the dour-faced pitchfork wielding farmer and his sister is famous worldwide.  Wood’s masterpiece became a national symbol; a vision of hope during the Depression that still resonates today. “Because American Gothic is so iconic, it was the perfect mark for this year’s RipOff challenge,” raves fiber artist, Terry Irvine.

This July the RipOff Artists stick it to American Gothic at the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre in Oliver, BC. This multi-media collective includes artists working in fibre (quilting, felting, weaving), photography, mixed media collage, oils and acrylics, 3-D installations, and encaustic (hot beeswax).  For the fifth year in a row, this nefarious group has dared to take on the grand masters of art. To mark such an auspicious occasion, they added a twist to the proceedings. Each artist has chosen another artist through which to interpret American Gothic. It’s double the ripoff and double the fun!

The public is welcome to watch the RipOff Artists assume the styles of  Picasso, Klimt, and Degas, along with seven other famous artists, and reinterpret Wood.  

American Gothic Challenge
Monday July 4 – Saturday July 9
Opening Reception:
Monday July 4, 
6 – 8 pm
Daily Hours:
Tuesday July 5 – Saturday July 9
9 am to 3 pm 

You are encouraged to come frequently during the week to get a true sense of how their artwork progresses from rough idea to finished creation.  Be sure to see the completed project on the Saturday! It will be left to you to decide: Is Wood’s masterpiece a celebration of America’s stoic determination during the Depression? Or is the finished product a critique of those same American values? Come view the action and decide for yourself.

Incidentally, the treasures from the four previous “RipOff raids” are currently on display at Leir House Cultural Centre in Penticton until June 23. You can view their “stolen” interpretations of Gustav Klimt’s Emilie Floge, Goergia O’Keeffe’s Pink Tulip, Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Cypresses, and Lawren Harris’ Mount Lefroy in a variety of artistic media.

For more information about the RipOff Artists, click on their link under “Member Groups” in the column at right.  Or use the search bar on our website (type in “RipOffs”) for photos and articles from their past shows.

RipOff Artists make it official

It’s official: the RipOff Artists are the newest group to join the Oliver Community Arts Council. In their own words, the RipOff Artists are “a group of talented artists in many media who join forces every summer to interpret a masterpiece by a famous artist in their own way, to learn new skills and have a lot of fun. ” Pictured at left, they are: Terry Irvine (fibre), Kurt Hutterli (3D, found objects), Barb Levant (weaving), Thea Haubrich (encaustic), Enid Baker (fine art, quilting), JoAnn Turner (fine art on objects), Marion Trimble (fine art, collage, mixed media),  Russell Work (photography) and — not pictured — Dianne Birnie (quilting).

Nearly all its members have also been  individual members of the council, with a few serving as executive officers of the OCAC over the years. All this had given the group a long and affectionate association with the council. Group status, however, confers added benefits to the collective.  The group is now able to apply to the OCAC for financial aid (a “contracted service agreement”) for any public event such as a workshop, performance, class, or exhibit, which reflects the mandates of the arts council.  The group also benefits from publicity (like this!).

Need to catch up on all four of the RipOff challenges over the years? Missed any of the following exhibits: Wheatfield with Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh (2007), Emilie Floge by Gustav Klimt (2008), Pink Tulip by Georgia O’Keeffe (2009), or Mount Lefroy by Lawren Harris (2010)?  You can see them all at once at the

RipOff Retrospective
May 12 – June 23, 2011
Leir House, Penticton, BC
Opening reception: May 12, 7 – 9 p.m.

The RipOffs have chosen their fifth annual challenge: American Gothic by Grant Wood.  You know it: the dour looking farmer with a pitchfork and his spinster daughter in an apron (not a couple, as many assume). The title of the painting refers to the architecture of the farmhouse behind them:  a gothic style window is visible in the second storey.  The image is iconic, and much parodied, so it will indeed be a challenge for these nine creative people to really “stick it to Wood” as the RipOffs say on their website.  watch them in action during the

Fifth RipOff Challenge!
“American Gothic” by Grant Wood
July 4 – July 9, 2011
Quail’s Nest Art Centre, Oliver, BC
Opening reception: July 4, 6 – 8 PM

Take a look at the wonderful retrospective of their art at their very own website:  http://www.ripoffartists.ca/index.html

February Fibre Madness

Local fibre artist Terry Irvine gave herself a challenge this past month to beat the notorious  February doldrums:

“I set myself a couple of goals for the month of February. The first one was to produce a fibre product each day. The second was to document and photograph the products. The third was to upload the photos onto my computer and share them with friends who would like to see my progress and share in the madness. I figured by the end of the month, I’ll have a nice cache of smaller items for the farmers’ market and be more computer literate in terms of uploading and sharing photos.”

Irvine is the founder of The RipOff Artists, a local multi-media co-operative that chooses the work of a famous artist to “rip off” each year, each in their own artistic medium. Terry Irvine works with a variety of yarns, spinning, crocheting, knitting, and felting to create wonderful three-dimensional pieces of art. She was inspired by fellow Rip Off artist Thea Haubrich (of Twin Lakes Encaustic Art) who set herself the goal of doing an encaustic (wax) piece once a day for a month in the spring of 2010.

By the first week’s end, Terry found herself easily mastering the fibre portion of the February Fibre Madness project, but stymied by the computer:

“I’ve an interesting (and annoying) dilemma on my hands.I can get my photos from the camera to the computer, but the computer won’t accept them. A nice little photo preview shows on the computer screen followed by a statement that talks about the program not being initialized. Then the photos disappear. Sigh…..My plan is to call in the professional who is a Mac master in the Oliver area. With any luck he’ll be able to come over this upcoming week. In the meantime, I’m continuing with the knitting, crocheting, spinning, etc. Oh yeah, and the taking pictures.”

Problem quickly solved with phonecalls to some computer-savvy girlfriends, the photos soon arrived. See below for just a few samples from Terry’s daily photo diary:

Photo 1: A ‘sitster’ fibre artist using handspun yarns, bead & pipe cleaners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo 2: Free-form crocheted flower using handspun (orange) & Hempwol (green). To be felted, beaded in the centre and made into a brooch.

Photo 3: A gym bag for my mat, weights and elastic. Crocheted, waiting for the washing machine and felting.

Photo 4: I hand felted the bowl in about 10 minutes. The red and purple yarns were knitted using a slip stitch pattern. Both yarns shrank up very quickly. I was aiming for a container to put business cards in, but ended up with a bowl that was ever so slightly too small. Back to the drawing board…

Photo 5 and 6: One of several fabric flower designs. The first few Terry made were for brooches. This one, as she describes,  “is bigger and meant to hold small objects rather than be worn as a brooch.”  

Got the blues? Why not set yourself an artistic challenge!  

RipOff Artists’ Mount Lefroy at Handworks Gallery

The multimedia collective has conquered another peak with their interpretation of Lawren Harris’ “Mount Lefroy”.  The RipOff Artists reached their first summit after a week of intense creation, demonstration and exhibit during  Summer at the Quail’s Nest. They reached another pinnacle with a feature on CHBC TV news.  They attracted attention during their guest exhibit at the Oliver Community Arts Council’s Fall Art Show and Sale on the weekend of October 2 -3 . Now the RipOff Artists have set their flag  atop Handworks Gallery for their latest show:

Handworks Gallery presents
The RipOff Artists: Lawren Harris’ Mount LeFroy
Opening Reception
Wednesday October 6
2 – 4 p.m.
Refreshments ~ Door Prize
Continuing:
October 5 – 29
9:30 – 5:00 Monday to Friday
10:00 – 4:00 Saturday
Handworks Gallery
35648 – 97 St. Oliver
250-498-6388

Oil painting, watercolours, photography, woodwork, 3-D, quilting, weaving, knitting, collage, encaustic (wax) — all media interpret this Group of Seven classic in their own way.

For more photographs and stories about the Mount Lefroy exhibit, see the July article on this website: http://oliverartscouncil.org/?p=1763

For a fantastic video of the RipOff Artists with Mike Roberts of CHBC, take a look at http://www.chbcnews.ca/video/index.html?releasePID=f5794obragGwCKDQACQpmpfwc7SlVcJm

RipOff Artists' Mount Lefroy at Handworks Gallery

The multimedia collective has conquered another peak with their interpretation of Lawren Harris’ “Mount Lefroy”.  The RipOff Artists reached their first summit after a week of intense creation, demonstration and exhibit during  Summer at the Quail’s Nest. They reached another pinnacle with a feature on CHBC TV news.  They attracted attention during their guest exhibit at the Oliver Community Arts Council’s Fall Art Show and Sale on the weekend of October 2 -3 . Now the RipOff Artists have set their flag  atop Handworks Gallery for their latest show:

Handworks Gallery presents
The RipOff Artists: Lawren Harris’ Mount LeFroy
Opening Reception
Wednesday October 6
2 – 4 p.m.
Refreshments ~ Door Prize
Continuing:
October 5 – 29
9:30 – 5:00 Monday to Friday
10:00 – 4:00 Saturday
Handworks Gallery
35648 – 97 St. Oliver
250-498-6388

Oil painting, watercolours, photography, woodwork, 3-D, quilting, weaving, knitting, collage, encaustic (wax) — all media interpret this Group of Seven classic in their own way.

For more photographs and stories about the Mount Lefroy exhibit, see the July article on this website: http://oliverartscouncil.org/?p=1763

For a fantastic video of the RipOff Artists with Mike Roberts of CHBC, take a look at http://www.chbcnews.ca/video/index.html?releasePID=f5794obragGwCKDQACQpmpfwc7SlVcJm

RipOff Artists steal a Pink Tulip

ol9_5329roa“Good artists copy, great artists steal” has become the tag line for The Rip-Offs, a collective of nine South Okanagan artists who shamelessly pilfer their creative ideas from great works of art. In a Summer Studio exhibit in July, this multimedia collective interpreted the work of American oil painter Georgia O’Keeffe, each artist in their own medium. They chose as their inspiration O’Keeffe’s dramatic Pink Tulip.

As collage artist Marion Trimble explains, “O’Keeffe was known for painting large lush flowers of dynamic energy and erotic tension.” Each artist faced the challenge of recreating the piece within five days, using a variety of media including oils, quilting, weaving, collage, 3D, wax, felting, and graphic art . The public observed their works in progress throughout the week.

Two years ago the group opened their first show, The Van Gogh Challenge, in which they each interpreted the same masterpiece Wheatfield with Cypresses using their own techniques and materials..In 2008, the collective presented Klimtomania, an homage to Art Nouveau painter Gustav Klimt and his glamorous blue portrait of Emilie Floge.

From left, the Rip-Off Artists include Terry Irvine, fabric artist (felter); Kurt Hutterli, interactive 3D installations;  Barb Levant, fabric artist (weaver); Thea Haubrich, encaustic art; Enid Baker, painter; JoAnn Turner, painter; Marion Trimble, collage; Russell Work, photographer; and (missing from photo) Dianne Birne, quilter.  Photo by Russell Work

barb-levant-pink-tulip-1Barbara Levant has been weaving, spinning, and dying for 32 years. She recreated Pink Tulip using a transparency woven with fishing line and embroidery thread (at left). Barbara also dyed yarns in the colours of O’Keeffe’s work and wove an elegant scarf.

 

kurt-hutterli-pink-tulip-1Originally a writer from Switzerland, Kurt Hutterli also works with mixed media objects to create entertaining and interactive 3D installations. In his whimsical creation, the tulip resembles an “exploded diagram” with pistil and stamens as a 3D structure standing in front of a painting of the tulip petals.

 

russell-work-pink-tulip-1Digital photographer Russell Work focuses on landscapes and other panoramic subjects, so his interpretation of O’Keeffe’s Pink Tulip closeup view was an artistic departure for him.  “When I first saw Pink Tulip, my first thought was ‘vegetables“.”  He first photographed a bean, a slice of red onion, some red cabbage leaves, and a zucchini. Using photoshopping software, he shaped and twisted each photo and then pasted each into position on a master photo to represent the various parts of the flower: the petals, stamen, pistil,  leaf, and so on. The results are displayed at left.

Marion Trimble is a mixed media artist and painter. She used homemade paper and mixed paper to create a collage of the tulip image. Dianne Birnie, a member of Double O Quilters and The Fabricators, employed the techniques of fabric painting and beading. Enid Baker paid  loving homage to the original artwork with a faithful representation of Pink Tulip in acrylics.

Encaustic artist Thea Haubrich specializes in an ancient art form which uses heated tools to melt and paint with pigmented beeswax.

joann-turner-pink-tulip-3JoAnn Turner juxtaposed the delicacy of the spring flower with a symbol of mortality: she painted the tulip across the surface of a  cow skull. (see left).

Missed the action? The Rip-Offs Pink Tulip collection will be the featured exhibit at the Oliver Community Arts Council’s Fall Art Show on the first weekend in October at the Oliver Community Centre.

For more information on the Fall Art Show, type the program name into the search engine at right.

Artwork Photos by Penelope Johnson