A Collection of Mixed Media Collage Works by Gayle Gerson
Dec. 7, 2018 – Jan. 19, 2019
Sponsored by Chuck & Kendra McDaniel
First Friday Reception December 7, 7-9pm

“I like a view but I like to sit with my back turned to it.”
– Gertrude Stein

Gayle Gerson has always loved Gertrude Stein’s quote (above), and in many ways her upcoming exhibition of collage works constructed as interiors and home scenes reflects Ms. Stein’s sentiment. This series started because of the artist’s love of windows; letting the light in and forming a luminescent and structured background. As she worked with pieces of interior design – advertisements gleaned from magazines and newspapers supplemented by her own manipulated and printed-out photographs, often using the image transfer technique – she realized she was creating particular, mystical, and slightly surreal environments for people. However, there were no people present in these environments. This leaves room for the viewer to enter and enjoy rooms with plenty of windows but very little in the way of a view.

Gerson spent two years building this body of work by collecting many images and combining them almost always with a theme in mind, such as New York City penthouses, garden rooms, backyards, living rooms, libraries, and kitchens. The two more abstract pieces, Shutters and Shades and Green Windows have been juried into the 2018 National Collage Society’s exhibition and will be available online at nationalcollage.com beginning in November.

Gerson is a self-taught artist. She has a BA in English education from SUNY in Albany, New York, and an MA in school counseling from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado. She grew up watching the women of her family sew, decorate, and pursue many different kinds of craft activities. Handiwork and crafts were always a part of her life, so it seemed natural that she should pursue the arts as a vocation, even though it happened later in her life. Gerson has made the art museums of the world her study halls and loves to talk, teach, and think about art. She especially enjoys the medium of collage because it allows her to use the stuff of everyday life in the form the paper scraps, advertising, text, and ephemera to embed evidence of our culture directly into the art pieces she creates. She considers herself an experimental artist and is always asking the question, “What will happen if I do this?” Gerson is a Signature member of the Colorado Watercolor Society, the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies, and the National Collage Society. She is also a founding member of the Rocky Mountain Collage Society and teaches experimental mixed media classes at The Art Center. Her work has been in many national juried shows and featured in Kolaj Magazine, Watercolor Artist, GV Magazine, Incite: The Best of Mixed Media and on the cover of the UNESCO World Heritage Forest Report (2011). Gerson shows her work in many venues statewide and maintains a studio in Grand Junction, Colorado. Her art is in many private and public collections.