Pre-Existing Conditions 9” x 12”, pen & ink on Bristol board, 2020
Signed, limited edition prints are available for $100 each.
Artist Statement - The Pandemic Art Series
“Be of your time.” These are the words of Dr. Robert Nelson in reference to any artist’s choice of subject matter. I had the good fortune to spend an entire year under his tutelage in graduate school before he retired. This is just one of his maxims that he drilled into us. In 2020, at 95, his wicked sense of humor in tact, “Doc” is drawing, blood red bats in chaotic flight. I likewise find the Pandemic inspiring, it has all the stuff of great art. Death, disorder, human suffering, economic collapse, social unrest, gosh, it is hard to know where to begin.
“I got a hell hound on my trail.” —Robert Johnson
Let us begin with human fragility and a plague that has no cure. It spawns fear, apprehension, despair, and nihilism. The Russian cure for nihilism is vodka but to portray these feelings artistically brings about a moderate sense of liberation, history has been recorded, the grim reaper duly noted. The random, silent, and invisible pattern of infection is the main reason this exhibition is on-line. Even in the pre-COVID19 world Death was always omnipresent. Now he rides on every float in every parade, through-out America.
All of these pandemic components, like Chinese ventilators waiting in the ICU, beg for symbolic, visual clarification through art. We owe it to the survivors and who ever comes after us to leave an artistic record of this mess, beyond photographs. With these scratchy pen and inks, I have made a modest attempt to capture the past five months of 2020.
Bio
Ray Noll, received a BA in Art from The Pennsylvania State University State and a M.Ed. in Art from Millersville University, Millersville, PA. He participated in post graduate seminars and field workshops in Traditional West African Art at the University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana, and the University of Ife, Ife, Nigeria. His novel of those experiences, “Initiation Rites: A West African Odyssey” can be found on Amazon. He has 25 years of experience as a graphic designer, publishing books and magazines in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. In addition to his commercial work, Noll has consistently exhibited his drawings and paintings in art galleries and public spaces through the years. He has taught art to all grades, K thru 12, university under-graduate and graduates, as well as Continuing Education classes with students of all ages. He has designed and implemented art and design courses at the university level since 2003, for Penn State Altoona, Washington College, MD, Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, and currently Valdosta State University. Samples of his art and philosophy can be found at Noll’s website; nollart3.wixsite.com/mysite
.
Artist Statement - The Pandemic Art Series
“Be of your time.” These are the words of Dr. Robert Nelson in reference to any artist’s choice of subject matter. I had the good fortune to spend an entire year under his tutelage in graduate school before he retired. This is just one of his maxims that he drilled into us. In 2020, at 95, his wicked sense of humor in tact, “Doc” is drawing, blood red bats in chaotic flight. I likewise find the Pandemic inspiring, it has all the stuff of great art. Death, disorder, human suffering, economic collapse, social unrest, gosh, it is hard to know where to begin.
“I got a hell hound on my trail.” —Robert Johnson
Let us begin with human fragility and a plague that has no cure. It spawns fear, apprehension, despair, and nihilism. The Russian cure for nihilism is vodka but to portray these feelings artistically brings about a moderate sense of liberation, history has been recorded, the grim reaper duly noted. The random, silent, and invisible pattern of infection is the main reason this exhibition is on-line. Even in the pre-COVID19 world Death was always omnipresent. Now he rides on every float in every parade, through-out America.
All of these pandemic components, like Chinese ventilators waiting in the ICU, beg for symbolic, visual clarification through art. We owe it to the survivors and who ever comes after us to leave an artistic record of this mess, beyond photographs. With these scratchy pen and inks, I have made a modest attempt to capture the past five months of 2020.
Bio
Ray Noll, received a BA in Art from The Pennsylvania State University State and a M.Ed. in Art from Millersville University, Millersville, PA. He participated in post graduate seminars and field workshops in Traditional West African Art at the University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana, and the University of Ife, Ife, Nigeria. His novel of those experiences, “Initiation Rites: A West African Odyssey” can be found on Amazon. He has 25 years of experience as a graphic designer, publishing books and magazines in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. In addition to his commercial work, Noll has consistently exhibited his drawings and paintings in art galleries and public spaces through the years. He has taught art to all grades, K thru 12, university under-graduate and graduates, as well as Continuing Education classes with students of all ages. He has designed and implemented art and design courses at the university level since 2003, for Penn State Altoona, Washington College, MD, Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, and currently Valdosta State University. Samples of his art and philosophy can be found at Noll’s website; nollart3.wixsite.com/mysite
.