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Author
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Comment
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molly
Registered User
(2/27/04 6:14 am)
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why are fairy tales still important?
hi, I am currently making art work based around fairy tales, I am trying to understand the reasons why fairy tales are still important in todays society.
I believe that fairy tales hold an important role as they create an important unconscious social narrative within society.
We all recognise the signs ,eg, the red cape, glass slipper,evil step mum.
My work at the moment has been on taking stories and subverting them in some way, I have made wall paper and such. However I really feel that I want to move on, but feel that I need to resolve this question to help sort out my ideas.
any help would be appreciated.
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Terri
Windling
Registered User
(2/27/04 9:14 am)
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Re: why are fairy tales still important?
Molly, I recommend a truly wonderful book by Jane Yolen called Touch Magic: Fantasy, Faerie, and Folklore in the Literature of Childhood. Jane talks about more than just the importance of fairy tales for children, she addresses some of the very questions you are asking.
You also might be interested in some of the articles and art exhibits
on the Endicott Studio web site (www.endicott-studio.com),
which features contemporary writers and artists who incorporate
fairy tales and mythology into their work. Some of the contributors
to the site have insightful things to say about why fairy tales
are meaningful to them. (And for others, the work itself speaks
for them!)
Edited by: Terri Windling at: 2/27/04 9:19 am
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molly
(2/27/04 6:26 pm)
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ta
thanks for the reply it was most useful. i thought I`d take this opportunity to see if anyone knows any well known contemporary artists that use fairy tales as a source. I know Paula rego(great artist) David hockney and cindy sherman. Any others that anyone knows of would be great. cheers.
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Terri
Windling
Registered User
(2/28/04 7:59 am)
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Re: ta
I love Rego, Hockney, and Sherman's fairy tale work too. Are you asking specifically for the work of gallery/museum-oriented artists working with fairy tales rather than those whose work is primarily known throught books? I know there *are* others out there besides the three you've named, but I'm having trouble jogging my memory at the moment.
You might be interested in the work of Virginia Lee (www.virginialee.net),
whose art falls somewhere between gallery art and illustration.
And Jacqueline Morreau's work on the Cupid and Psyche myth -- which
isn't a fairy tale exactly, though it's a fore-running of the Beauty
and the Beast story. (www.jacquelinemorreau.com)
Another interesting artist whose work is myth-oriented rather than
fairy tale per se is ceramicist Adrian Arleo. (www.ferringallery.com/gallery/arleo/portfolio.htm)
Two other good books *about* fairy tales:
-- From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and Their Tellers by Marina Warner (a close friend of Paula Rego's)
-- Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales (with terrific essays by A.S. Byatt, Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, Ursula K. Le Guin, Midori Snyder, and many others).
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Veronica
Schanoes
Registered User
(2/28/04 9:10 am)
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visual art
If the focus is visual arts, I just found a listing for an exhibit in a Chelsea NYC gallery called "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," which is apparently an exhibit of folklore/fairytale-inspired work. I'm planning to check it out this weekend.
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Terri
Windling
Registered User
(2/29/04 9:54 am)
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Re: visual art
Good gracious, please let us know all about it! Is there any info on it on the web???
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Jess
Unregistered User
(2/29/04 11:07 am)
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I found this on the gallery using Google
www.tomostudio.com/free_money.html
Is this it?
Jess
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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(2/29/04 2:35 pm)
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Re: I found this on the gallery using Google
Found the following listing on this page:
www.nypress.com/17/6/listings/art.cfm
White Columns 320 W. 13th St. (Horatio St.), 212-924-4212, www.whitecolumns.org Weds.-Sun. 12-6, Free "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," named after a folktale this exhibit revolves around the concepts & archetypes everpresent in folklore [through 3/14].
And here's a link to more information on the White Columns website:
www.whitecolumns.org/schedule.html
I would love to see an exhibition catalog, but the site doesn't list one for sale.
Heidi
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Jess
Unregistered User
(2/29/04 3:26 pm)
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I wish I knew of exhibits like this in Seattle
Jess
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Veronica
Schanoes
Registered User
(3/1/04 7:20 pm)
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I missed it...
Urgh, I must confess that I did not get to see the exhibit while I was in town, and now I am back in Philadelphia. My Sunday plans got switched around at the last minute and the gallery is closed on Mondays. Oh well. The show should be up through 3/14, so I'm hoping I can see it in the next couple weeks. Anyone else on the boards in NYC?
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tlchang37
Registered User
(3/2/04 3:31 am)
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Re: I wish I knew of exhibits like this in Seattle
Jess - No kidding! There was that "Children's Book Illustration Gallery" that had some fun exhibits across the street from the Seattle Art Museum, but with the soft economy, he closed his doors a few months back.
We don't have the art scene that NYC or other big Eastern cities have, but with the number of galleries (and MicroSoft money) that abound here, you would think there would be *something*. I keep pretty close tabs on the galleries on the East side - let me know if you hear of anything elsewhere!
Tara
(my personal email is tlchang1@hotmail.com if you'd like to continue this conversation off-board).
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Maatera
Unregistered User
(3/2/04 9:23 am)
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exhibits
There is an exhibit coming up at Union Street Gallery in Chicago
Heights (far south suburbs) called "Myth, Magic and Metaphor".
You should be able to find info about it here: www.unionstreetgallery.org
Unfortunately this is a little late, but I was in an exhibit last fall entitled "The Mythic and the Mundane" at the Orleans Street Gallery in St. Charles, IL. You might find my artwork interesting though. You can find it here:
www.connietoebe.com
Connie
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molly
(3/2/04 11:15 am)
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great art work
I just wanted to say how impressed I am at your art work connie Its sort of similar to the work I have been making. Have you exhibited it?
I went to a exhibition of paula rego`s new work the other day, it is based on the story of Jane Eyre. One of the drawings was definitely a resemblance to Bluebeard. Her work is fantastic in real life. I was lucky enough a few years back to see a retrospective collection of her work, which included the snow white pictures and Pinocchio pictures.
If you ever get a chance to see them go!
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molly
(3/2/04 11:20 am)
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sorry
would help if I actually looked at your web site properly. I saw your exhibition dates and now feel a bit daft, sorry
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Helen
Registered User
(3/2/04 2:04 pm)
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Two things:
A)What absolutely stunning work!
and,
B) Veronica, if you do come into town to visit the gallery, I'd love to come along - just say when!
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molly
(3/2/04 2:28 pm)
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change of subject( sorry)
I hope you don`t mind me changing the subject, but i have had a browse through the discussion boards and wanted to recommend a book to people. I don`t know if it is well known over there. so excuse my ignorance(again) But it is the dark materials trilogy by philip pullman. Great books and relevant to people with a love of fairy tales and myths.
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janeyolen
Registered User
(3/3/04 6:50 am)
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Re: change of subject( sorry)
Er--where is "over there?" The trilogy is by British author Pullman, first published in Britain to great acclaim and greater sales. Won many prizes. Then it came to America and took America by storm, making it on to the NY Times bestseller list for weeks.
The books are now international bestsellers, finding their way across the world.
Am I missing the "over there" that doesn't know about the trilogy?
JaneY
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Terri
Windling
Registered User
(3/3/04 9:00 am)
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Re: change of subject( sorry)
Molly, where is Paula Rego's new work being exhibited? If you could
post the exhibition info (place, dates, etc.), I'll put a notice
up about it over on the Interstitial Arts (www.artistswithoutborders.org)
Discussion/Bulletin Board.
The Rego exhibition is in England, yes? Darn -- I live there half of the year, but I'm in U.S. at the moment and will probably miss it. Darn, darn, darn! I've seen some of her Jane Eyre prints however, in the fantastic book on her prints that Thames and Hudson published recently. It contains her fairy tale and Peter Pan work too, so folks here might want to look it up on the Thames and Hudson web site. It's worth every penny of the cover price.
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Terri
Windling
Registered User
(3/3/04 9:16 am)
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Re: change of subject( sorry)
Here's another show coming up that will include art based on folk and fairy tales:
"Ancient Spirit, Modern Voice" at the Defoor Centre Art Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia. May 1- June 12, 2004.
"The exhibit boasts the works of contemporary artists whose
imagery draws on universal archetypes that resonate deeply with
the human spirit. Over 100 paintings, illustrations, sculptures,
prints and photographs showcase varied cultural traditions of myth,
story and ritual." Curated by Charles Vess and Karen Shaffer,
and run in conjunction with Mythic Journeys -- an interdisciplinary
conference on myth sponsored by the Mythic Imagination Institute
and the Joseph Campbell Foundation. More info: mythicjourneys.org/passages/newsletterp6.html
Edited by: Terri Windling at: 3/3/04 9:18 am
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Ktales
Registered User
(3/4/04 9:16 am)
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Kiki Smith
There is also the beautiful current exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, in their temporary Queens digs, "Kiki Smith: Prints, Books, Things." I spoke on the show, and fairy tales in art and literature, at the Gramercy Theatre last week along with Smith, Jack Zipes and Francine Prose (a recording of that event may be available through MoMA's education department). The show is great and includes many, many, fairy tale images, nicely spoken of in the exhibition catalogue by curator Wendy Weitman.
But, it's only up until March 8. Hurry, New Yorkers.
www.moma.org/exhibitions/2003/kikismith/
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Connie Toebe
Unregistered User
(3/4/04 11:50 am)
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sorry
No reason to be sorry Molly. I'm just thrilled that you (and Helen?)liked my work. (blush, blush) You mention that your own work is similar. Do you happen to have any of it on line? I'd love to see it.
Connie
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