MAKING WINGS

MAKING WINGS WORKSHOPS

ART 4 U

TALES TO TELL

FOUNDER

FOUNDER BIOGRAPHY

ART

OPUS SERIES

PRELUDE SERIES: BEETHOVEN

PRELUDE SERIES: NIELSEN

PRELUDE SERIES: WEBERN

HUMAN FORM STUDIES

FINAL EXAMS

PHOTOGRAPHY

THE LEAP PROJECT

WATERSCAPES

BLACK AND WHITE

TINTERN'S MAN

ASPECTS OF NARCISSUS

WRITING

CURRENT WRITING

LIBRARY LECTURES

LIBRARY SERIES 2011--2012

QUESTIONS AND INFORMATION

LIBRARY FILM SERIES

LINKS

OPUS 10: JUNE 2011

 
My art is a dynamic reaction to the world around me.

I see my art as visual pieces of music, often using the concepts of musical structures as a response to specific events, dreams, or emotional states.  

I compose my works with a deliberately chosen “alphabet” of shapes, colors and designs.  Geometric forms—especially circles, rectangles, and triangles—handwriting strokes, etching marks made with knives and pencils, smudges created with erasers, along with a bold color palette form my basic language. 

I use crayons, pencils, and pens because of their simple immediacy and because they form an autobiographical link straight back to my childhood.  Thus my art and the tools used to make that art are my fingerprint, my retina scan, my DNA signature.

           
Each drawing is a narrative, a unique composition that tells the viewer something about me as well as the object or event being explored, whether it’s a performer at Carnegie Hall, a song, a piece of classical music, a nightmare, or an hour of evening meditation.



This page shows three examples of the work that I can provide through Making Wings.

In addition to the two drawings and collage found on this page, additional pages on this site contain larger or on-going projects. Simply click on the drop-down menu and choose the page you'd like.


 


EXHIBITIONS


February--March 2012
Patchogue Arts Council
Art Space Gallery/Patchogue Theater Gallery
Juried Group Show.  Two collages.  Richard Vaux, curator.

February 2012
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Tintern’s Man No. 11.  David Reuss, curator, Salmagundi Club, NYC

January 2012
Astor Center, NYC
Juried group show; fund-raiser auction for Weill Cornell Community Clinic. Elisa Iberti, curator

December 2011
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Two photo-collages:  Study No. 49 and Study No. 50
Ilene Skeen, curator, Barebrush.com Gallery

December 2011
Starbucks    
Photography Exhibition
Six original photos on display in the Sayville Starbucks; Barbara Lux, Manager

November 2011--January 2012
Islip Art Museum
Juried group show called JAM SESSION
Four pieces.  Karen Shaw, curator

November 2011
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Three photos: Tintern’s Man No. 11, Aspects of Narcissus No. 6, and Aspects of Narcissus No. 7. 
Ilene Skeen, curator, Barebrush.com Gallery

November 2011
Walking Arts Tour (Patchogue Arts Council)
Patchoge, NY
Juried Group Show.  Patchogue Arts Council, curators.

August 2011
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Aspects of Narcissus No. 12.  Vaughn Lewis, curator, Magnan Metz Gallery

June 2011
South Country Library
Bellport, NY
Group exhibition

May 2011
Phoenix Gallery
Bellport, NY
Group show. Three pieces; honorable mention award.

April 2011
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 47.  Robert Curcio, curator, TheGreatNude.tv

April 2011
40 South Gallery
10 pieces (drawings and collages) in a two-man show.  Joseph Frezola, curator.

March 2011
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study. David Maselle, curator, artist

February 2011  
Rogue Space, Chelsea, NY     
Group Art Show   
One of 21 artists chosen in a juried show sponsored by Barebrush Gallery.  Multiple curators.

January 2011  
C2Gallery. Patchogue, NY     
Group Art Show   
One of 11 artists chosen in a juried show: The 1st Annual Long Island Invitational. Chip Hunter, curator.
  
January 2011
Starbucks    
Photography Exhibition
Eight original photos on display in the Sayville Starbucks; Barbara Lux, Manager

December 2010
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Tintern’s Man No. 8. Kelly Worman, curator, Rogue Space, NYC.

November 2010
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 5. Bob Mueller, curator, Salmagundi Club, NYC.

August 2010  
Sayville Art Walk   
Photography Exhibition

July 2010
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Tintern’s Man No. 8. Mikaela LaMarche, curator, ACA Galleries

May 2010 ff  
Making Wings    
Creative Project
Creating art, photography, and motivational workshops (DELIBERATE LIVING) for individuals, businesses, and organizations; inventive projects to help enrich lives.

May 2010
Dowling College   
Art Installation   
Permanent Installation of FINAL EXAMS at the Brookhaven Center of Dowling College

April 2010
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 10. Beth DeTal, curator, Rogue Space, NYC

May 2010
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Tintern’s Man No. 11. Gary Erbe, curator, Allied Artists of America, President Emeritus

February 2010
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 21. Tom Picard, curator, Salmagundi Club, NYC.

January 2010
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 35. Tom Picard, curator, Salmagundi Club, NYC.

November 2009
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 35. Marina Hadley, curator, Monkdogz Urban Art.

October 2009
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 3. Mary Logan, curator, Kim Foster Gallery.

September 2009
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 10. Mary Logan, curator, Kim Foster Gallery.

June 2009
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 32. DelBouree Bach, curator, Salmagundi Club, NYC

May 2009
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 10. Sara Hardesty, curator, artist.

March 2009
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 18. Sherry Carnhy, curator, Art Students League

February 2009
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 17. Della Sperling, curator, Dulack & Sperling Gallery

January 2009
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 17. DS Wade, curator, First Street Gallery

November 2008
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 13.  Mikaela LaMarche, curator, ACA Galleries

September 2008
Barebrush.com Gallery
Distinction Award
Study 5.  Robert Hogge, curator, Monkdogz Urban Art

January—March 2008 
The National Museum of LGBT History/The Center      
Exhibition, Chelsea, NY 
Three pieces chosen to celebrate the Museum’s 25th anniversary.

January 2008 ff
Barebrush.com Gallery
Ongoing Exhibition
Drawings and photography on permanent display in virtual online gallery.  Ilene Skene, Director. Guest cuartors chose works for a monthly online calendar display.

December 2007  
Monk Dogz Urban Art, Chelsea, NY 
Exhibition  
One of nine artists chosen for a group show called “Flashing Flesh”
  
November 2007 
Dowling College    
Exhibition   
One-man showing of photographs and 10 drawings.  

August 2007  
WCBS-TV “The Morning Show”  
Interview

July 2007 
Monkdogz Urban Art, Chelsea, NY     
Exhibition   
One of 28 artists chosen by a jury from over 1,000 entries to be represented in an International Show called “Heat.”  Marina Hadley, curator.
  
June 2007 ff  
Monkdogz Urban Art, Chelsea, NY  
Consultant
Chosen by the owners and staff to be language consultant for international artists whose native language is not English.  Help artists develop statements and articles about their works.

March 2007  
Monkdogz Urban Art, Chelsea, NY  
Exhibition
One of six artists chosen for a group show called “Vertical Rising."  Robert Hogge, curator.
  
December 2006 
The New Yorkers   
Interview
Cable Access Program on Channel 26 in Manhattan; 15 minute interview with James Chladek.

Spring 1994  
Bloomingdale’s Gallery, Garden City NY 
Group Art Show
One of twenty artists represented in a group show at Bloomingdale’s Department Store.

Winter 1993  
Pascal Gallery, Northport, LINY  
Group Art Show
Eight works chosen by gallery for display and sale with their inventory.

 
PRELUDE 14: BACH
STUDY 25

GALLERY&STUDIO
Volume 12, No. 1
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009

ART ONLINE

William Thierfelder: New Age Renaissance Man


The late graphic master Saul Steinberg once stated that he felt more like a writer than a visual artist, since he was most comfortable drawing on the scale of his handwriting. And William Thierfelder, an artist and a recently retired Professor of English at Dowling College, in Oakdale, N.Y., whose work can be seen on his website (http://www.thierfelderwilliams.com), would probably concur. For like Steinberg, Thierfelder prefers drawing to painting.
“I craft drawings,” he says. “This is a conscious choice, as is the size of my work: Few are larger than 20 x 30 inches; many are smaller My authentic self as an artist is a poet at heart; I speak best in smaller, succinct, compressed forms on basic paper with basic tools ilk pencils, crayons, and colored ink pens. I am creating for the eye that wants to examine a cross section or explore a visua poem, even if that route puts me against popular trends.”

In fact, in the tradition of William Blake, Thierfelder is a double threat, being a writer as well as a visual artist. He publishes poetry and short stories under the pseudonym T. Richard Williams, and that some of his writings make their way online makes his website more interesting in a literary sense than most. Especially poignant are his reminiscences about growing up in Flushing, Queens, written in the third person, presumably to gain a bit of distance from the pain: “While he was a high school junior in Hollis, some seniors pummeled him over the hood of a car for being gay. Looking up at the school building, he could see the principal, who was an Episcopal priest, and the principal’s secretary watching through the windows, doing nothing.”

It took many years, but Thierfelder finally learned to redeem that early pain through art, choosing photography, along with drawing, as “another way to experience the world around me.” Often, he focuses in close-up on everyday objects, such as a pair of eyeglasses, old sneakers, or even a mound of raw potatoes, in a manner that makes one aware, perhaps for the first time, of their abstract beauty and recall the advice of the great American vernacular poet William Carlos Williams (he of “red wheelbarrow” fame): “Not in ideas, but in things.”

Thierfelder also uses photography to celebrate his gay identity, not only with a picture of a man walking casually under a rainbow-flag umbrella that would probably have delighted the martyred activist Harvey Milk, had he lived to see it, but also with unabashedly erotic photographs of the male nude.

The latter is not as simple a subject to do justice to as it might seem, since in a photograph the flaccid penis can appear almost comical, like a little hand puppet peeking out of its pubic bush. But in “Narcissus,” a picture of a muscular youth peering into a mirror, as well as other, even more explicit nudes, Thiefelder employs light and shadow sculpturally, to lend the living body an eternal quality harking back to the immortal marble figures of the ancient Greeks. More of his erotic photography can be seen on “Barebrush Art Log, dedicated to the Art of the Nude (http://www.barebrush.com/Featured/WilliamThierfelder.html).

However, some of the most spectacular works on his own website are the colorful drawings, some of which also grace the website of Mongdogz Urban Art (http://www.monkdogz.com/chelseagallery/artistart/Thierfelder/artist_thierfelder.htm), where Thierfelder had his memorable solo exhibition a couple of years ago in Chelsea. “I use crayons, pencils, and pens because of their simple immediacy and because they form an autobiographical link straight back to my childhood,” he says. And he is not kidding: He often works with the ordinary Crayola brand crayons that we all used in kindergarten. Only, he achieves them with a luminous finesse that we often associate with the more sophisticated wax-based medium called encaustic, which dates back even further than his childhood—to classical antiquity!

“The majority of my work is a response to specific events, dreams, or emotional states, using a deliberately chosen ‘alphabet’ of shapes, colors, and designs,” he says. “Each drawing is a narrative, a unique piece that tells the viewer something about me as well as the object or event being explored, whether it’s a performer at Carnegie Hall, a song, a piece of classical music, a nightmare or an hour of meditation. Geometric forms, especially circles, rectangles, and triangles, spermatozoic shapes, handwriting strokes, etching marks made with knives, pencils, smudges created with erasers, along with a bold color palette, form my basic language.” Although Thierfelder’s materials and methods might suggest a so-called “outsider,” the innate sophistication of his personal iconography prevents his work from being relegated to that specialized ghetto of contemporary art marketing. Rather, the Byzantine intricacy of his mazelike compositions and the intensity of his colors can be likened to those of the eccentric Austrian painter Fritz Hundertwasser, while his range of subject matter and willingness to experiment with a variety of forms and symbols on an intimate scale is more akin to Paul Klee. Indeed, the sheer diversity and richness of his oeuvre can be seen by comparing the iconic simplicity of a piece such as “In My Dreams, I Free Myself,” with its primitive floating figure, to “And Then in My Freshman Year...”, wherein a plethora of brilliant geometric and organic forms evokes a veritable universe in miniature. Other complementary contrast can be seen in the bejeweled baroqueness of a crayon composition such as “Beethoven Piano Concert Three” and the emblematic boldness of works such as “Study 9” and “Study 10,” in which the artist uses prints of his own male nudes as a starting point for vibrant coloristic excursions, combining photography and drawing in innovative ways.

What makes all of these works especially remarkable is that, for all their diversity, they come across as unmistakable elements of a unified vision. Unlike, a lot of other artists, their creator obviously has no need to impose the self-limitations of a “signature style.” True style, after all is a product of individual character, and William Thierfelder, who along with his artistic ventures is active in numerous LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations, obviously has character to spare.

Ed McCormack


CONTACT:  MakingWings@gmail.com