THE MAGIC WORD: Featuring New Work by Jared Freihoefer Opens At Blend Studio 11/7, Artist Talk 11/21

THE MAGIC WORD Featuring New Work by Jared Freihoefer runs November 7-28, 2009 Opening Reception: First Saturday Gallery Crawl; November 7; 6-9pm

Artist Talk: Saturday, November 21; 1-2pm

Hours: Friday 11am-5pm; Saturday 11am-3pm; First Saturday Gallery Crawl 6-9pm; & by appointment

Jared Freihoefer, Nashville mixed media artist, shares with the community a love of text and books through The Magic Word. Jared's new work incorporates collaged pages from donated books, mixed media figurative and portraiture imagery, and text from thoughts collected from the community. Jared is collecting used books for use in his work and to share with the community. The results of this community-based project will be on display in the exhibit, The Magic Word, from November 7 to November 28 at Blend Studio in Downtown Nashville.

Books serve as tangible proof of shared ideas. It is only through the sharing and propagation of these ideas that we are able to grow and mature as a community and as a society. The collection of stories presented in the artwork reflect the collection of stories being played out within our community. In the same way the concepts we read about transform with our interpretation of them, Jared will be literally transforming the books into new and innovative solutions.

The Magic Word exhibit and installation at Blend Studio will create awareness for the need of preserving literacy and ideas shared through text. The community is invited to become directly involved in the creative process by donating books. Jared will be donating 10% of his proceeds from the sale of artwork during The Magic Word to a charity or library of his choice.

Get Involved! Call for Books!
For this project, we are collecting used books in any condition. Some of these books will be used to create new works of art, while most books will be shared and donated to libraries or others in need. Anyone donating a book will be able to see the ideas they love juxtaposed with other ideas and transformed into visual interpretations of what those ideas, and the mixing of them, means for our society on a larger scale.

Give and Take!
During The Magic Word, a bookshelf will be set up in the studio to collect and share books with the community. The public is invited to interact with the bookshelf through the giving and taking of books, resulting in a constantly changing and growing collection. The collection will reflect and be controlled by hands-on, collaborative audience participation.

How to contribute!
Items may be dropped off or mailed to Blend Studio at 79 Arcade, Nashville, TN 37219. We encourage the public to contribute to the project and interact with the bookshelf by bringing books to the studio during regular hours, as well as the opening reception during the First Saturday Gallery Crawl on November 7. Please contact us for additional options or to make an appointment.

Artist Statement
For centuries, text has been the cornerstone of human thought and progress. It is as if humans have this innate need to document, create, and share ideas. For many, books serve as a tangible manifestation of these shared ideas. It is only through the sharing and perpetuation of ideas that we are able to grow and develop as a people. Some books are written to promote grandiose concepts on life, death, and The Common human struggles that seem to define us as humans. Others are written simply for enjoyment or educational purposes. All are important. As individuals we accept the ideas we agree with into our consciousness where they begin to slowly form our personality. Similarly, the series of paintings being presented were created by cutting out and piecing together sections of various books, focusing on a range of topics. Fusing this seemingly random selection of texts allowed me to more accurately reflect the collection of ideas that exist within the community as a whole, and not necessarily just in my own mind. The collection of stories that sit quietly on a shelf in the library until they are dusted off and opened by an interested reader can be compared quite easily to the collection of stories being played out in the community around us; or to the ideas that lay dormant in the back of our minds until they are awoken by the stimulation of a good book.

The paintings themselves are like illustrations to the book that is each of our lives. Everyone in the community has their own unique story, while simultaneously playing into the stories of those around them. By collaging, illustrating, deconstructing and repeating, I am trying to show that we are all constantly spilling in and out of each others lives, affecting the outcome of one another's stories like variables in a calculus equation. Using fragments from various books allowed me to analyze the idea that we rarely adopt entire texts into our conscious. Instead we pick out the pieces we like and hold onto them like precious keepsakes. It could be a quote, a phrase, or simply even a word that conjures special feelings for us. In keeping with this theme, I have developed a series of works created using almost exclusively book materials in conjunction with paint, graphite and canvas.

About Blend Studio
Blend Studio is located on the second floor of the historic Arcade building and in the heart of the gallery district in downtown Nashville, Blend Studio offers a diverse range of contemporary art and unique opportunities for artists to merge with the community. Blend Studio features engaging and informative community-based art projects created through partnerships between artists and the community. These collaborative experiences develop dialog, awareness and growth for local and global communities.
Hours: Friday 11am-5pm; Saturday 11am-3pm; First Saturday Gallery Crawl 6-9pm; & by appointment

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