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Paintings by James Mesple Poetry by Effie Mihopoulos December
9, 2004 - January 28, 2005
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Paintings by James Mesple Poetry by Effie Mihopoulos December
9, 2004 - January 28, 2005
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| This exhibition presents
a unique collaboration between two artists of two mediums. Throughout this
fascinating relationship, poems were inspired by paintings, and paintings
followed poems.
Although painter James Mesple and poet Effie Mihopoulos have known each other for many years, they reconnected a few years ago to collaborate on an exhibition and performance for the Chicago Humanities Festival. As they prepared for the festival, the two artists became reacquainted with each other, and Mesple began re-reading many of Mihopoulos’ published poems. As he selected a half-dozen poems for which he wanted to create paintings, he became aware of a curious fact. Even though they had little contact over the years (save for the occasional meeting at various art-related functions), Mesple and Mihopoulos had nevertheless led somewhat parallel creative lives. Both had developed a burning interest in mythology, especially Eros and the Moon, Mihopoulos through her Greek heritage, and Mesple through a love of storytelling that emerged from memories of childhood and his Native American heritage. Both reflect mythological archetypes in a contemporary context. For example, Mihopoulos published a book of poems entitled Moon Cycles at the same time Mesple was painting Creation, in which he envisioned the Moon Goddess as the active force for the creation of life on Earth. Mesple found many more creative parallels in their choice of subject matter over the years. As they began working on this exhibition for Oakton’s Koehnline Gallery, Mesple drew upon an older poem of Mihopoulos’ to create a new painting, Blue Moonlight. Mihopoulos, in turn, chose a very early Mesple painting, Adam and Eve, to inspire a new poem. This ability to draw upon each other’s early endeavors to create completely new works emphasizes how they have followed similar creative paths. The process of working with a poet was so inspiring for Mesple that during the final stages of the collaboration he wrote his first poem about one of his paintings. The ideas that were evoked while making the painting were profoundly different from those he had while writing a poem about the painting. “Suffice it to say that after I read my own poem a couple of times,” he says, “I had a new idea for a completely different painting! Reticently, I read my first attempt at a poem to Effie. She liked it, and responded by writing her own poem about the same painting (Sun/Moon Kite). And so the process continues and comes full circle.” Nathan Harpaz, Curator |
| PEGASUS
I live inside a box
Effie Mihopoulos |
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