Art Hounds: What would you do with a blank canvas? A small town puts community creativity on display

September 17, 2020 4:00 AM

"Water Whip", 10x20 poured acrylic on canvas by artist Geordin Crist. — "Water Whip," 10x20 poured acrylic on canvas by artist Geordin Crist. "Water Whip" is the namesake of a technique from the TV show "Avatar: The Last Airbender." "I layered many similar colors to show how the flow of all of the thin threads of soft water came together to form something solid and powerful," Crist says.
Courtesy of Geordin Crist

Quilter Terri Charlsen of McGregor, Minn. is sharing the word about the Community Canvas, an art exhibit at the Jaques Art Center in Aitken. The Arts Center distributed blank canvases of varying sizes to anyone who wanted to participate, and the resulting collection showcases the talents of residents young and old. There are just under 200 canvases this year and they’re painted, beaded, quilted and more. Charlsen said part of the fun is “searching for who did what.”

Community Canvas will be on display through Oct. 24.

"Rainbow Body", 8x10 poured acrylic on canvas by artist Geordin Crist. This piece is an interpretation of grief, Crist says. "When my father passed, it felt dark and deep and quiet, but it also helped me learn that behind grief is love. I think acceptance comes when you can learn to hold both the dark and the light."
Courtesy of Geordin Crist

Art lover Jessica Bergman of northeast Minneapolis appreciates the paintings of Geordin Crist of Falcon Heights. Crist paints in different styles, but since the start of the pandemic, they have been experimenting with paint pours and posting the results on Instagram multiple times a week. Crist creates paintings without the manipulation of brushes. Bergman finds that these abstract works sometimes evoke the sea or flowers, and she’s drawn to Crist’s bold colors and contrasts.

Editor T. Martin Crouse of Minneapolis is looking forward to an improv/burlesque fusion event, “Whose Bra is it Anyway?” at 8 p.m. Saturday. The Zoom audience chooses the music before the performance, leaving the performers just minutes to create a routine. This event used to take place quarterly and in-person but will now happen over Zoom.

“People hear ‘burlesque’ and they think ‘stripping,’ but it’s not; it’s undressing with humor, and that really elevates it to an art form that is just surprisingly invigorating,” Crouse said. “The burlesque community is very body-positive, and really embraces the LGBTQ community. You’re going to see a lot of colorful characters of all shapes and sizes. I can’t stress the comedy enough.”

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