News and Reviews
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2007
Painting Featured in Textbook
The Aleph ©
Marjorie Mikasen 1996
pp. 382-3 2006
Newspaper Feature Excerpt: . . . visually, the
rehanging works both as a showcase for some of Sheldon's best work and some
of its newest purchases, including paintings by Lincoln artists Dan Howard
and Marjorie Mikasen, and as an illustration of the connection between art
and identity. . . . Newspaper Feature Excerpt: . . . I write my list on the flight to Lincoln,
noting information I need before presenting the Chamberlain on Monday to the
Sheldon Board. Dan and I will present the David Smith, a Weldon Kees work on
paper, a painting by Marjorie Mikasen and a monotype by a New York artist. .
. . Artblog Review by Libby Rosof, fallonandrosof.com, May 17 Excerpt: . . . Marjorie Mikasen's geometric forms made me think of slants of light
falling on a church congregation. . . . Newspaper Feature Excerpt: . . . "Foci" is a treat with the
intricate patterns and compelling interlocked colors capturing the eye and
sending it shooting around the paintings. . . This
captivating show shouldn't be missed. But be sure that you have some time when
you stop by to see her paintings. Their complexity demands that you actually
look at them and follow the shapes and lines and follow them and follow them
and follow them. Newspaper Feature Excerpt: . . . confronting
Mikasen's colorfully intense abstractions, a viewer is more concerned with
appreciation and analysis, and it is her adherence to an evolving singular
expression that provides one of the keys and clues for interpretation. Her work is challenging but viewer
friendly. It is neither evasive
nor patronizing . . . . Catalogue Essay by Roberta Fallon, February Excerpt: . . . Like an illustration
for a journal article on chaos theory, Marjorie Mikasen's "Proprio"
displays a fractured microscopic
or macroscopic stew. The piece has a maze-like structure (few points of
entry, many dead-end avenues and a center that's hidden). Is it a cubistic
portrait of our complex universe? A graphic display of data processed by a
Cuisinart? While "Proprio" suggests the chaotic, the arrhythmic and
the dysfunctional, its lines, shapes and colors have somehow achieved harmonious
interplay. Indeed the piece seems to celebrate the natural world and its
crystalline, multi-faceted beauty. . . . 2005
Magazine Feature Proprio, acrylic on canvas, 42" x
42", 2002 New Kouros, acrylic on canvas, 52" x
48", 2003 Rasa 3, acrylic on canvas, 16" x
32", 2000 Excerpt: Ask anyone to list the characteristics
of the typical artist and you're likely to get descriptors like:
free-spirited, spontaneous, daydreamer, and disinterested in schedules,
orderliness, business or details. Such right-brained
characters probably belong in the category of great American myths; or, if
they do exist, would not be likely to achieve much career success. One thing is for certain:
the left side of Marjorie Mikasen's brain functions extraordinarily well. She spends every day in
her perfectly ordered, light-filled studio, producing crisp, colorful,
geometric paintings that delve into worlds of science, geometry, mythology,
philosophy, psychology and literature. . . . Magazine Feature Excerpt: . . . Marjorie L.
Mikasen's painting, "Rasa 3" ( rasa is Hindu for "the essence of"), is what
the artist calls a "stereopair," defined as
a "side-by-side image that is meant to be viewed using free vision
or cross-eyed vision." Part of an ongoing series, "Rasa
3," evenly divided into two sections, gives us a pair of images to
focus on and merge, their translucent architectonic structures based on
a profusion of rectangles and triangles. Rising against a field
that is partially patterned with curvilinear forms, "Rasa" suggests
a schematic plan for a futuristic complex and demonstrates
Mikasen's deep involvement with the physiological and psychological processes
of perception. . . . 2004
Press Release The Avery Hall Art Selection Committee,
which conducted the search for art for this newly renovated structure at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is pleased to announce the winners of this
competition. The following is a list of the artists whose work will be
featured (listed by name, media of work purchased, and artist's home
location): 2003
Newspaper Feature Excerpt: 2002
Magazine Feature
Excerpt: 2001
Review: The Nature of Both: Stereopair
Paintings, The Haydon Gallery Color Illustrations by Marjorie Mikasen: Embodied Light, acrylic on canvas, 16" x
32", 1999 Gnostic Unit #1, acrylic on canvas, 12" x
20", 2000 LINCOLN - Marjorie Mikasen worked three years to
prepare for her exhibition, The Nature of Both: Stereopair Paintings, at the Haydon Gallery. Now, viewers
must do some work. The focus of
the show is a series of eight hard-edge paintings Mikasen calls
"stereopairs." Each painting has two images - different, but
sharing a common template - divided by a vertical line. By focusing your
vision on your index finger aligned with the center line, then moving it
toward your face, the two sides will begin to fuse in a third image that
appears to be three-dimensional with some movement thrown in for good
measure. For those who
have trouble with this "free vision" or "cross-eyed
vision," the gallery has provided a stereoviewer that does the work for
you - but, of course, you lose the drama of seeing the large-scale, original
image. The
three-dimensionality of the images is reminiscent of holography - something
that seems to most of us a commercial trick. So does that bring Mikasen's
works closer to gimmickry? I don't think
so, for a couple of reasons. First, whether
seen stereoscopically or not, these images hold up artistically. Despite
their precision, her terse balance of architectonic, figurative and abstract
forms is dynamic. Mikasen also uses color in a particularly engrossing way.
Using a broad range of hues, she manipulates value and intensity in each
painting, yielding entirely different effects from piece to piece, especially
when fused. Second,
Mikasen's paintings open a number of avenues of interest. In ways, she
has followed in the footsteps of Frank Stella and others who moved from
hard-edge abstraction to three-dimensional work. Yet, the allure to Mikasen
has been the illusion of the third dimension. For her work, there is an
interplay among the degrees of spatial illusion that continue to emerge as
her work is viewed. Mikasen uses a
computer to aid with design of her images, then transcribes to canvas. This
balance of technology and handwork allows for a degree of spontaneity while
assuring exactitude. It also suggests a number of questions regarding the
place of technology in contemporary art. "This
series is about the dynamic interplay of '2,' " Mikasen says. "I am
using this device as a visual metaphor to explore aspects of splitting,
doubling, occlusion, opposition, creation and wholeness. " Try to see The
Nature of Both: Stereopair Paintings. There is a lot to look at and you have to admire Mikasen's
organization and obvious hard work in preparing for this exhibition. Mikasen
received the Savoir Faire Award from the National Acrylic Painters
Association of Great Britain and the United States in 1998. Her work was
shown in the 14th Annual ARTstravaganza Juried Exhibition at Hunter Museum of American Art in
Chattanooga, Digital Elements National Art Exhibition at St. John's University Gallery in
New York, Making Space: Perspectives on Spatial Relationships at Valencia Community College in
Orlando and YLEM: Artists Using Science and Technology at Gallery on the Rim in San
Francisco. She was
interviewed on Open Studio on Voice of America TV in Washington, D.C., by Branko
Mikasinovich and on Dialogue on the Arts on Cox Cable TV in Omaha by Kyle MacMillan, former art
critic for the Omaha World-Herald. The Nature
of Both: Stereopair Paintings will be on display through May 26. The Haydon Gallery is
located at 335 North 8th St. in Lincoln's Historic Haymarket District. The
Haydon is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. 2000
Television Interview From the Press Release: Lincoln artist Marjorie Mikasen will be interviewed
on a Voice of America television broadcast in June. the five minute interview
will be taped in Washington DC and aired June 16, 2000, to a European
audience comprising millions of viewers in a geographic area from Great
Britain to Turkey. The interview, conducted by Journalist /
Broadcaster Branko Mikasinovich, will include discussion of her artistic
background, recent exhibitions, the content and technique of her art, current
and future projects, and will show examples of her work. Voice of America programs originate from
its headquarters building in Washington, DC, located at 330 Independence Ave,
SW, where broadcasters produce newscasts, features, Americana programs,
English-teaching programs, and music shows in 53 languages. The VOA has
broadcast United States, regional and world news to listeners around the
globe for over 57 years. Featured Artist 1999
Review: Computer Generated Art Exhibition,
Appleton Art Center Excerpt: © Marjorie
Mikasen, All Rights Reserved |
