Art

Item Description

Two springs ago I found myself in cold Detroit, MI for an artist residency. At first, I regretted my decision as I typically hate cold weather, and it seemed Detroit didn’t get the memo that Spring had come. But there I was, in the snow, in an old meat packing factory turned studio, trying to make art. Before I departed Atlanta, I had already started to work with beach balls (those round colorful things that signal fun and play for most of us); they had become a bit of a fascination for me. The first beach ball I placed out in the snow, it seemed to stand in such stark contrast to the rest of the landscape; all I could think was “Spring Break: Detroit!”. It was a purposefully ironic exclamation, but it lead to a path of deeper understanding; the process of finding a way to interact with the environment through creation and contemplation. As we turn into another winter, I hope this bright photograph brings warmth into your home.

Item Special Note

Ron Saunders is Professor of Foundation Studies at SCAD, Atlanta and a multi-disciplinary artist who works in both traditional and experimental media. Ultimately, he enjoys the tension and play found in the theoretical aspects of contemporary art, the creation and realization of an object, and the contemplation and challenge that the natural environment and daily life gives him. He has participated in many international artist residencies including the KunstDoc Residency in Seoul, South Korea in 2007, the Raumars AIR in Rauma, Finland in 2010, and spent two weeks at Het Wilde Weten, Rotterdam, Netherlands. His projects have been supported by New York Foundation for the Arts, The New York Council for the Arts, The Arts of the Southern Finger Lakes, The Arroyo Time Bank, The Creative Capacity Fund of Los Angeles, and the Finlandia Foundation. Notable shows include solos “Latent Cartographies” at Houghton Gallery, Corning, NY, “Chronoskopia” at SWYS Gallery, Long Beach, CA, a collaborative project with Dirk Van Lieshout, “Mobile Food” at Door Gallery, Seoul, South Korea, and group shows “Mita Meri?, 2010 Rauma Biennale Baalticum” at the Rauma Art Museum in Rauma, Finland, “MESH!!!”, at Gallery Jung Mi So in Seoul, South Korea, “Art Obituaries” at the M.W. Offit Gallery, Columbia University, NY, “DPI” (Digitally Propelled Ideas) in at the Kellogg University Art Gallery California State University in Pomona, CA, and ‘Triple Play”, at Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA.