'Carol Wax ~ Dance of Shadows' At the Herakleidon Museum in Athens

Written by Antonis Christodoulopoulos Sunday, 20 May 2012 21:09

Athens.- The Herakleidon Museum in Athens is presenting 'Carol Wax: Dance of Shadows" until 19th June 2011. The exhibition includes 100 works on paper by the contemporary New York artist Carol Wax. The majority of these works are mezzotints, however a number of pencil and mixed media drawings are also being shown. The antique sewing machines, typewriters, electric fans, toys, instruments, cameras, projectors, textiles and other items she collects inspire Carol’s images. Living with these objects in her home and studio means she is constantly studying them from different angles and finding new and diverse ways to revisit subjects, making the ordinary seem extraordinary.

Artifacts of early industrial manufacturing, discarded shards of recent technology, and kitsch of any era reveal a great deal about our materialistic culture and changing attitudes toward the “stuff” in our lives. Common objects are laden with magic and symbolic associations that reflect and affect the psyche. Her interest in kitschy items has recently been heightened by things she finds in the street. Whenever she come across these items, (gag gifts, broken children’s toys, etc.) she asks how they came into being and the effort that went into making them. How many sketches, meetings, prototypes, office memos, man-hours, plastic, and energy went into their manufacture? Who would buy these items, how were they used, and did anyone care when they were discarded? Even finding a single child’s sock on the ground makes me think of the effort that went into its manufacture, thoughts the mother had while buying it, and the sadness that must have been felt upon discovering its loss. It’s not just a lost sock, it’s a mini-opera of human pathos. Each item and the manner of its discovery seem to shout, “Pay attention -- something happened!”



The Herakleidon Museum is privileged to have among its permanent collections the entire body of works of Carol Wax’s printmaking career. In addition, the museum owns several of her pencil drawings and an original copper plate, a generous gift from the artist. The founders of the museum, Paul and Belinda Firos, avid collectors of her work, recognize Carol Wax’s place among the great artists of the emerging twenty first century. She is the foremost authority on mezzotint and has written a book on the subject, The Mezzotint: History and Technique, first published by Harry N. Abrams in 1990.  Carol Wax is an internationally recognized artist whose work has been widely exhibited. While she also works in pencil, pastel, and oil paint, mezzotint is her principal métier and the work for which she is best known. With the exception of several printmaking classes, she is self-taught as an artist.

The need to learn techniques about which there were no existing texts prompted her to conduct research that ultimately led her to write The Mezzotint: History and Technique. Published in hard cover in 1990 and again in 1996 in soft cover, it has become the definitive book on the subject. Her ongoing research has produced, among other things, a system for weighting mezzotint rockers that facilitates the grounding process. Now manufactured by toolmakers Edward C. Lyons, the weights are the first improvement on this tool in over three hundred years. Carol Wax’s prints are in numerous museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Museum of American Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and the Boston and New York Public Libraries. She has had more than fifteen solo exhibitions and has participated in numerous group shows.

A private museum space in the heart of Athens, under the shadow of the Acropolis, the Herakleidon Museum opened its doors to friends of the fine arts in the summer of 2004. The exhibition program consists of artists who play or have played an important role in the evolution of Art. Mr. Paul Firos and his wife Anna-Belinda, collectors and art lovers, were inspired to create this new private museum by their love of neoclassic buildings and their commitment to preserve such buildings. This is combined with their desire to share with others their enthusiasm for the fine arts and thus contribute to the artistic life of Athens. The museum's mission is to introduce visitors to the art of the exhibited artist, to show how the artist has evolved through the various important periods in his or her career, to explain the various techniques used by the artist to express his or her vision, and to help the visitors connect to both the artist's life and work. To accomplish this, not only will works of the artist be on exhibit, but also preparatory sketches, drawings, photographs and personal items. Audiovisual and other aids provide complete and detailed information on the life of the artist, each phase of his or her work, and his or her techniques. In addition to the permanent collections, the museum "Herakleidon, Experience in Visual Arts" hosts exhibitions of work by Greek and foreign artists. The museum also hosts other events, such as musical performances, literary events, book presentations, scientific and other seminars, corporate presentations, conferences, and lectures beyond those pertaining to the visual arts. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.herakleidon-art.gr

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