New Look, Plus "The Fragrance of the Invisble Flower"

I'm pretty -- no, very -- psyched about the new look for Art & Argument, which you, long-time reader, have no doubt made a mental note of, even going so far, perhaps, as to subtly nod your head in approval. The old look was very straightforward, nearly anachronistic, which I liked. It let the words and images do all the heavy lifting. This new template from Blogspot is really killer, though: clean and elegant and aesthetically pleasing all around, while still putting the words and images up front.

One feature of this template is that it has a large banner space up top for signature images. When it came time to choose an image I looked no further than the website of Judith Trepp, the most regularly featured artist on this site. The work featured here, from 2009, is ink on handmade Indian paper, and is 18.5" x 29". The vertical dimension of the actual work (below) is greater than the shown here in the banner. The form actually moves across the middle of the piece. In a way, the piece as presented on the banner is another work, entirely. Call it the creative conversation that happens when works are actually out there in the world, liberated from the safety of home.


Certainly Judith is wide open when it comes to interpretations of her work. In the process of working together to create our monograph, called "The Fragrance of the Invisible Flower," I saw time and again how my conclusions and takeaways about or from a given piece bore little relationship to the event or object that instigated the piece for Judith in the first place. For example, here I see a detail of a creature (a dragon?) chasing its own tail, or perhaps it's a detail of that point in the Zen circle where things remain unresolved instead of connecting. What Judith had in mind is a mystery, as it should be.

For those of you in the Northeast, we'll be having a reception for "Fragrance" on August 20, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, at the gallery Art Market Provincetown. This will coincide with the group show that Judith will part of at AMP, which opens Friday, August 11. If you can't make it, but are in P-town some other time of the year, do stop in at AMP. Owner Debbie Nadolney is a delightful person and her gallery is a gem.

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