Saturday February 25th, 2023 through Saturday March 25th, 2023
Opening reception on Saturday February 25th from 5-7 PM
Please join us to celebrate the sculptural works of artist Jeff Madeen in a one-person exhibit. The works on view represent a vast range of variety and methods of steel sculpture fabrication. The sculpture entitled Parlor Tricks and Other Games of Chance is the focal point of the works on view. It is a large round black sculpture with two joined pieces of perforated 16 gage steel that conveys a moiré effect. The moiré pattern, in physics, is a geometrical design that results when a set of straight or curved lines is superimposed onto another set; the name derives from a French word for “watered.” Madeen’s sculptures are constructed with a deep understanding of the vocabulary of sculpture. His works make the viewer think about what it is we are seeing and how we are related to the work in the physical space. Jeff Madeen’s philosophy connects his creative output to his current vocational drive as the founder of the Blo Back Gallery in Pueblo. Located in the Grove neighborhood in Pueblo, it has the following mission:
To provide an uncensored platform that may challenge what we believe to be true.
In relation to art and neighborhood revitalization Jeff states:
We as a people are sleepwalking into a future that will not benefit us, but will definitely benefit some people. I find it hard to classify them as human.
The exhibit continues at MoF through Saturday March 25th and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am until 4 pm. Jeff Madeen will be presenting an Artist talk on Art public program. He will discuss his work with insights into his creative process and philosophy. Date and time to be announced.
Artist's Statement:
2/15/23
Jeff Madeen Art Statement for the show titled:
Parlor Tricks and Other Games Of Chance
This show was at Blo Back Gallery in Pueblo for the month of December 2022.
I did an installation from strike anywhere matches that was lit at the opening on one of the gallery walls, the installation started with a Fibonacci sequence and transitioned into words that said Home Of The Freeist Slaves On The Planet. Why did I use those words? Most people do not see the direction we are being shoved towards, have no idea that we are propagandized from the news agencies and newspapers every day.There was a law created by two Senators called the Smith-Mundt act. This law came into being in 1948 to prevent the government from propagandizing it’s own citizens.This law was repealed during Obama’s term and was replaced with the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 which allowed for materials produced by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to be disseminated (widely spread) within the United States. Maybe some of you know this, but sadly most don’t, does knowing this concern you, what might be the ramifications from allowing the government and the six news organizations to put out anything they want, true or not?
These latest artistic works reflect the times we are navigating, what happened to Rome, why did their civilization collapse? The United States spends a trillion $$ a year on the military not including the NSA that legally spies on it’s own citizens. There are two parties (duopoly) that always votes for a larger military budget and never votes against wars. This duopoly gets us to fight against the other side, this is called divide and rule one of the oldest plays in the play book. Too graduate from high school it takes 15,000 hours, but critical thinking is rarely taught. There are 53 high schools in Illinois and there isn’t one student in any of those schools that can do math at grade level. What is this a symptom of? Who benefits?
Many of my pieces have no additional finish, but the accretion that comes from time and exposure to the elements. The two totems were carved from a single piece of 3⁄4” thick steel with a plasma torch. Materials were found in the train yard and a lot more were gifted to me. I’ve always been an artist that uses multiple (many of the same) objects that assembled represent nothing like the singular object.
The term in the show title Parlor Trick is represented by the black round sculpture with Moiré effect, created by two pieces of perforated 16GA steel with a 3” offset. We as a people are sleepwalking into a future that will not benefit us, but will definitely benefit some people, I find it hard to classify them as human.
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