Provoking Proshka
CHANNEL 7 NEWS -
http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=15527
posted (November 13, 2009)
We’ve featured many artists on this newscast but Angela Gegg is in a zone of her own. She’s a writer, a poet, a painter, a thinker – and more than all that, she’s one outspoken lady. She isn’t afraid to speak her mind, write exactly what she thinks or let her art challenge notions of what’s acceptable in the public discourse. In a word, she’s bold, and…after years of consistent and quite prolific production, she’s proven that she’s committed.
She launched her new art show, “Impulse” to coincide with her birthday today. The staging ground for this major exhibit is the Institute of Mexico – which really is the only art space big enough to fit her paintings, poetry and installations.
Angela Gegg, Artist
“When people come into the exhibit it is going to kind of them a sense of not just pictures on a wall. You want to walk in and just be part of something. When you’re walking into the exhibit there is little things, I am not going to point them out, but I want people to play with their minds a little bit. So they are going to be walking through all the galleries, once the galleries are opened, watching videos, looking at crazy abstract art, looking at photography, looking cubist art, looking at all kinds of stuff and it is a bit provocative. So they say, so you people say in Belize. I personally don’t think so but they say it is provocative what I do so it is.”
But it is provocation says the artist – not just for the sake of it – the provocation is to engage the viewer.
Angela Gegg,
“Yes and I want them to think outside the box. It is not just coming in and looking at work. I want them to be part of the artwork themselves.”
And if you want to be a part of this show, you have to be prepared to be confronted with imagery that you won’t see any other artist daring to try.
Angela Gegg,
“A lot of people might not like me for it, some people love me for it. I take hits either way. Some people really appreciate what I do, some people are appalled by what I do. But personally I feel that it is the freedom to express myself, why should I not have it.
From the book, wash, mash, trophy wife, you know. And what a lot of people don’t understand is these things stem from what people may say to me or things in my life. I am trying to insult nobody, that is part of my book – it is a part of the whole installation. Like you said, you thought it was a rich girl stage. A lot of man look at me and think trophy wife and I see the opposite because I work damn hard.”
That work shows in the varied presentation, spread out over three rooms – exploring a broad range of painting styles.
Angela Gegg,
“This has been like a whole week of putting the show together. You don’t just hang stuff on walls. What we do is very very, it is a lot of work, you have to think where you want to put things. The placement of everything is specific. Nothing is done without order. Everything has a place, everything has a purpose. Nothing is done with a system and a format at all.”
The diligence demonstrated by an artist who’s been painting and writing for most of her life and she says she is far from done.
Angela Gegg,
“I love what I do, I love painting, I love writing, I love anything creative. I love building, I love anything; designing. I love art, art to me is just the best thing in the world.
There is so much to do. So much more to say. So much more to see. So much more to show.”
Angela Gegg also launched a book today and that stirs a controversial brew all its own. We’ll tell you about that on Monday.
Posts
