‘Bakery’ by Dirk Wales. Courtesy photoMPL News:
Assemblage and collage have a long history in contemporary art and Mesa Public Library Art Gallery shows a local master of mixed media, Santa Fe artist Dirk Wales.
From densely texted paper juxtaposed with reprinted photographic images, bits and pieces of tickets and paper bric-a-brac, Wales’ works are small worlds contained in one-of-a- kind boxes.
An artist, author, and film maker, the eclectic work of Wales is intriguing and engaging.
A steady influence for this work is the presence of the American artist of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, Joseph Cornell who essentially invented box art, that is, collage and assemblage in boxes. Wales follows Cornell’s lead with assemblage in photographs and in boxes.
Join Wales for a Gallery Talk from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30 at the Mesa Public Library Art Gallery. See the show from Jan. 29-Feb. 27 during Library hours.
‘China Stamps’ by Dirk Wales. Courtesy photo
