Sidewalk, 2012
36 x 92, oil on panel board
Sidewalk is a new work that is part of the Sarah Carney's Entertainment District series. Throwing back to abstract expressionism with large monochrome wall paintings with minimal line, these new works anchor painting and drawing in a concrete representational theme of a sidewalk.
The concept is explored by a sidewalk being something that is considered public space, where as graffiti/tagging or kissing a painting with lipstick in a gallery space is considered a criminal act. The sidewalk series is meant to be observed and to play on the motivation and/or tendency of viewers to see it as a surface to be drawn upon. This piece tests whether or not viewers feel the need or necessity to participate, by using pieces of coloured chalk that are located on the ground near the paintings.
This is an ongoing series of work: some pieces that have been drawn upon will remain in the gallery space, others will be painted over and replaced, and others will be fixed as complete pieces. Colours of chalk will change with the duration of the piece; some viewers will find only one colour within the gallery while on other days, there may be different colours. Participants can take a piece of artist-created chalk with them to continue works on other site specific locations of their choosing. There are currently 40 panels that will be completed by the end of 2013.
Sidewalk is Sarah Carney's first work that touches on group drawing or crowd-sourcing material.
To contact Sarah in order to set up the piece in a gallery space, please email sarahbeancarney@gmail.com or @sarahbeancarney.
