GEOLOMORPHOSIS “Rock-Butterflies” Archeoart exhibition by Chuck Davidson, USA

Chuck Davidson’s archeoart compositions, first exhibited at the State University of New York’s Fine Art Gallery and Main Entrance Arts Gallery of New York’s famous Empire State Building… are now on the wings of butterflies.

Chuck Davidson has migrated across Atlantic Ocean to the cultural Capital of Russia.

Rock-Butterflies “Geolomorphosis” – is the latest in a series of very involving ”Archeoart” installations by the artist that represents absolutely amazing transformation of heavy rocks into light magical butterflies.

By his own words, creating “Geolomorphosis” is a metamorphosis of the stone itself. Stone and unearthed man made objects, decayed and aged with patinas only time can paint, come to life and continues to live in another incarnation.”  The constructions express a social/environmental reunification and worth through their transformations.   The works rejuvenate the lifeless objects with new purpose, interactions and dependencies.

Old rocks become butterflies that emerge into a new dimension. This is absolute metaphysics!

Dominique Lambardi, Art-columnist of New-York Times characterizes Chuck Davidson’s Archaeoart as having “surrealistic tendencies”.

Mystical transformations of lost in time and earth artifacts.  Davidson’s talent and imagination brings exhausted objects back to life, magically, vividly, into expressive art-objects.

The exhibition opening

August 20, 2011

3:00 PM

Museum “Apartment of A.I. Kuinji”

Chief-curator Elena Prasolova

e-mail: kuindji@nimrah.ru

Asked what inspired him to create GEOLOMORPHOSIS Davidson replied, “Observation… walking through the woods I came upon a rock that was cracked in half with its parts askew. I noticed the symmetrical fit of the two halves and put them back together. Only a thin line was visible where the weathered sedimentary layers had separated. I opened them again, like one would open an empty clam shell at the ocean, and saw the butterfly metamorphose out of the stone.”

“It started me thinking, before these stones were split by the forces of nature they were as unassuming as a chrysalis, the camouflaged cocoon containing the pupa that eventually becomes a butterfly. The stone too expressed a true metamorphosis.”

“I collected other split stones from the woods in Cragsmoor, NY, for the GEOLOMORPHOSIS constructions. Many of the rocks were split by expanded moisture that has seeped into their stratified layers before the winter freeze. Other specimens were split from natural traumas. Finding well formed split stones I imagined was like discovering a rare species of lepidopteran,” Davidson expressed.

Davidson spreads and rotates the symmetrical stones halves to achieve the images of butterflies and other insect wings. Once he is satisfied with his positioning he connects the halves with steel rods inserted and bonded into hidden drill holes. Smaller stone halves are connected together with strap metal and adhesives.

In concert with other unearthed found objects, many from the same woods he discovers the stones, Davidson completes his incarnations with patterns and details as diverse as butterflies themselves.

Butterflies migrate and so will Davidson’s GEOLOMORPHOSIS Lepidoptera. After leaving the Red Eft Gallery they will alight at the Ellenville New York Regional Hospital Healing Art Gallery (summer 2010) with future migrations as far away as Moscow.