By CHELSEA COMPTON
chelsea@communityartscenter.net
At the Community Arts Center’s artist reception earlier this month, the question most visitors asked was, “How does he do it?”
Kentucky-based artist Marco Logsdon’s work almost defies description. The planetary art pieces that he calls “tar landscapes” are made of a combination of weathered wood, tar and other seemingly unknown materials. They are on display now at the Arts Center at the corner of 4th and Main in downtown Danville. Logsdon will also be featured presenter this Wednesday at noon at the center’s Lunch with the Arts.
Logsdon, a mixed media and abstract artist based in the Bluegrass, will discuss his artistic process and the pieces currently on display in an exhibit titled “Weathered and Reclaimed.”
“The main objective of my current work is to create awareness of the amount of wood and other materials that are destined for the landfill unless someone breaks the cycle and finds a way to put it to use,” Logsdon says.
The larger artworks of weathered wood came from a porch roof torn from a historic building in downtown Lexington. Smaller works on display and in Logsdon’s body of work began as doors, tiles, old magazines and books.
Logsdon was born in Seville, Spain, on a U.S. Air Force Base but grew up in Arkansas. After attending Asbury College in Wilmore, in the 1980s, he stayed in the Kentucky. He has a studio in Chicago and in Kentucky.
All of the pieces in “Weathered and Reclaimed” are available for purchase, but sales are not a driving force for Logsdon.
“Whether I sell what I produce is a secondary concern,” he says. “The process keeps me from feeling lost. I have shown in galleries across the U.S. and have kept active in the pursuit of representation. I have always worked on non-art projects to create a balance. My hope is that this balance and my craftsmanship goals are evident in the work.”
Lunch with the Arts is an informal program that gives community members the opportunity to meet artists, to learn about what motivates them and to better understand different creative processes. It combines food and the arts, and is presented the third Wednesday of each month.
It includes a performance, demonstration or other presentation from locally or nationally known artists, musicians and creative professionals. Each program includes time for questions from the audience.
This event is $10 in advance when registering by Monday, which includes a boxed lunch from Melton’s Deli. Participants are also welcome to bring their own lunch and pay $5 at the door for the program only.