Six Questions with Michael Loderstedt

Looking ahead to his Spring exhibition, William Busta asked artist Michael Loderstedt some questions about putting together a show.

 

William Busta: When you schedule an exhibition of your work, what is important to you as you think of presenting it?

 

Michael Loderstedt: Generally speaking, I think most about the overall theme of the works I plan to include and how they relate to one another As much as it is possible, I try and think of the exhibition as it is seen by an outside viewer. I try and consider the flow of how the works will be sequenced in the gallery. Always I have to see the works in the space, and usually these considerations become more clear.

 

WB: What does the work in this exhibition have to do with the work that you have done before?

 

ML: Materially, I’m finishing a new suite of prints that hopefully will look rather un-labored, but in fact, are quite complicated to create. I’m revisiting my own personal narratives and history, growing up on an island. I’m hoping to extend the metaphor of island to my current home in north Collinwood, and to island states of mind as well. I’ll be further developing the ideas that were present in Aviary Station, but in an entirely new work.

 

WB: If you don’t believe in climate change, will that prevent sea levels from rising?

 

ML: You’re kidding here I suppose. Sea levels are rising, polar ice and glaciers are shrinking, weather is becoming more severe regardless of what we collectively believe. In these new works I’ve created some rather absurdist responses to climate change, in part as a coping mechanism perhaps, but also as a satirical look at how little most of us are willing to do to offset our carbon-rich lifestyles. I try to spend a good amount of time outdoors. I grew up outside and it was my salvation as a child, and in many ways it still remains vital to my own sanity.

 

WB: Is white a neutral color?

 

ML: In the context of a gallery, nothing is neutral. Everything is fairly directed, colors, textures, signage, lighting, placement and proximity to other works of art. It’s hard to think of neutrality in such a sensory heightened environment as a gallery or museum.

 

WB: What is the best color for gallery walls?

 

ML: I’m always partial to sort of steel-blue-grays. The deep eggplant walls in our museum are quite lovely. Since WBg is a one-man operation more or less, I think we’ll stick with white, right?

 

 

 

 

William Busta Gallery

2731 Prospect Avenue

Cleveland, Ohio 44115

williambustagallery.com

Michael Loderstedt / March 7 to April 19

Matthew Kolodziej / March 7 to April 19

Christi Birchfield   painting and drawing / April 25 to May 31

Artists at Laurel School: Jane Berger, Catherine Butler, Renee Psiakis, Jeanne Regan / April 25 to May 31

Susan Umbenhour / April 25 to May 31

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