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Studio Visit: Philomena Marano of the Coney Island Hysterical Society

Posted in art, tagged Coney Island, Coney Island Hysterical Society, Philomena Marano on October 26, 2010| 4 Comments »

Philomena Marano with cut paper installation Giant Lolly, Homage to Philip's Candy. Photo © Tricia Vita

Earlier this month, we visited the Gowanus studio shared by Coney Island Hysterical Society co-founders Philomena Marano and Richard Eagan. In this two-part post, ATZ’s photos are interspersed with the artists’ own words about their Coney-inspired artwork.

Lately I’ve been considering one of the strains that run through both of our works- something I coined as a “Fool the Guesser” concept- Loosely defined: things seem like one thing, but may be another -perhaps bordering on “optical illusion” but not in the strictest sense- more like a form of visual play.

Eagan has a series of painted target constructions which take on a kinetic quality as one changes their point of view, and I have work in which it is really tough to decipher the medium it was created in- printed, paper or painted… thus summoning a sense of wonderment or an invitation to a guessing game.

We’re planning to group these selected works and hope to find a venue for an exhibition.

My new PLAY FASCINATION piece actually revisits an earlier set of works with the same name, but it’s more “unhinged.” In this piece I used a perception shifting ploy. What seems to be flat is actually sculptural. Is it caving in or blowing out? – there is no “one way” to view it.

To create it I made a cut paper composition which I then cut up into pieces. Next I reassembled them so that the pieces sit on different levels, some tilted inward, some outward and some level, thus adding dimension and delirium.

I originally borrowed the type face I use in my PLAY FASCINATION works from a decaying metal sign that hung on the side of the Faber’s Fascination building on Surf Avenue. In 1990 I recomposed the elements and created 5 similar works with the same title; one in cut paper and four hard edged paintings. I recall viewers engaged in examining the work as it hung side by side in an exhibit, wondering or “guessing,” is this paper, painted or printed?

This “fun house” or” magic show of illusion” concept appeals to me because it parallels my subject matter. I think it’s time to explore & embrace this unique Coney Island essence a bit further- to pay tribute to it.

Related posts on ATZ...

October 26, 2010: Studio Visit: Richard Eagan of the Coney Island Hysterical Society

October 1, 2010: Oct 2: Coney Island Hysterical Art on Gowanus Artists Studio Tour

September 19, 2010: Art of the Day: Play Fascination by Philomena Marano

October 4, 2009: The Wonder of Artist Philomena Marano’s Wonder Wheel

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Studio Visit: Richard Eagan of the Coney Island Hysterical Society

Posted in art, tagged Coney Island, Coney Island Hysterical Society, Richard Eagan on October 26, 2010| 2 Comments »

Artist Richard Eagan's lovely alter ego Kay Sera with Oceanic Baths. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

In 1985, the artists of the Coney Island Hysterical Society created and operated a Spookhouse behind Nathan’s, exhibited artwork at Sideshows by the Seashore and had a group show at LaMama. Society co-founders Richard Eagan and Philomena Marano continue to collaborate on Coney-themed art. A recent visit to the Gowanus studio shared by Eagan and Marano inspired this two-part post…

I began my career as a visual artist with a series of dreams about Coney island. Ten in one year (1978) – Steeplechase, The Thunderbolt, many locales, and I realized I had hand skills to evoke those places. Eventually I understood that’s what artists did. It snuck up on me. Generally speaking, I launched into a series of realist-based portraits of many of the places I had known in Coney Island. I needed to bring these places to life. Although my work has developed and changed through the years, I still return to the architectural portraiture of my early work.

Oddly, though, one of my very first pieces was an installation for “Tricks and Treats at the World in Wax Musee” curated by Dick Zigun back in… 1980? I filled a display case with a piece evoking the demolition of the Steeplechase Pavilion of Fun, titled “I Must Have Been Dreaming”- the curving space of the Panama Slide was filled with jagged, broken shards of wood.

During the Spookhouse Project of 1984-85, I began a series of paintings with bulls-eye imagery, and I imagined a few of them might want to have those shards bursting through the picture plane into real space, as if a wall had exploded out. Though they were not executed then, I returned to the idea in a series of small 12″ square canvasses in the 1990’s. They were an immediate hit, and I sold quite a few of those.

The short hop to combining the Coney work with the exploding architecture was a no-brainer once I accepted that the Coney Island of my childhood was imploding, burning, and would never return. I didn’t foresee the Thor paradigm, of course, but I needed to create pieces expressing my anguish over the ruins of my beloved playground. Hence the work with exploding shards, broken glass, and faded, ghostly signage. “Oceanic Baths” (not an actual Coney place name) was the first in this series, and the piece that helped me combine constructed sculptural work with abstract expressionist-style paintwork and pop culture imagery.

I expect I will be working the various styles in different combinations for some time to come as the future of the place of my inspiration and dreams unfolds.

Oct 2: Coney Island Hysterical Art on Gowanus Artists Studio Tour

Posted in art, Events, tagged AGAST, Coney Island Hysterical Society, Gowanus Artists Studio Tour, Open Studio, Philomena Marano, Richard Eagan on October 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »

In 1981, Brooklyn artists Richard Eagan and Philomena Marano co-founded the Coney Island Hysterical Society because they were “Hysterical” at the rate that the amusement rides and attractions were shutting down. ATZ found the whimsical sketch pictured above in one of the CIHS newsletters which Richard sent us this summer. The Society’s very first newsletter, in 1983, explained the design’s origin: “Oh Boy! Oh Joy! Where do we go from here? The Coney Island Hysterical slogan (or ‘motto’) accompanies the dancing figures on our letterhead, and will appear in the 1983 Coney Island Mural. We chose this logo for its optimistic statement and varied assortment of characters united in celebration.”

Richard Eagan and Philomena Marano, 25 Shoot, 39 x 52 x 8, Mixed media, 2009

Richard Eagan and Philomena Marano, 25 Shoot, 39 x 52 x 8, Mixed media, constructed collage, silkscreen print, enamel on wood. 2009

Nearly three decades later, Eagan and Marano continue to create Coney-themed art in the studio that they share in Gowanus. This invite arrived today:

To All our Coney Island Fans, “Savers”, friends and beyond

On as short a notice as possible, please accept our invitation to tomorrow’s open studio event as part of this year’s Gowanus Artists’ Open Studio Tour. As most of you know, Philomena Marano and I are the core of the Coney Island Hysterical Society (still crazy after all these years); we have been sharing a studio and exploring collaborations based on Coney Island themes. We are also planning a joint exhibition of Coney works, and are seeking a venue to that end. We’d love to see you tomorrow some time between noon and six!

Best wishes on a rainy day,

Richard Eagan
Philomena Marano

Annual Gowanus Artists Studio Tour (AGAST), Richard Eagan & Philomena Marano Open Studio, Saturday, October 2, 12 – 6pm. 267 Douglass Street, 3rd Floor, between Nevins St. and Third Avenue, Brooklyn. Subway: R Train to Union Street, one block to Third Avenue, three blocks to Douglass Street

Related posts on ATZ...

September 19, 2010: Art of the Day: Play Fascination by Philomena Marano

October 31, 2009: Traveler: Carnival Rides as Public Art at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche

October 4, 2009: The Wonder of Artist Philomena Marano’s Wonder Wheel

June 13, 2009: June 13: Coney Island Hysterical Society Artists in Conversation at A.M. Richard Fine Art in Williamsburg