"100 Hours" Artist Lana Z CaplanBy Susan Bush
12:00AM / Wednesday, January 10, 2007
 | | Artist Lana Z Caplan |
It was a chance encounter at a Zurich art museum that delivered an epiphany to Boston-based artist Lana Z Caplan.
Why Not Show Your Own?
Caplan was an art history student who was studying in Paris when she and a stranger struck up a conversation at the museum, she said during a Jan. 9 interview.
"We were talking about we did with our lives, and I was a student of art history," she said. "And he said 'Why would you want to show the work of others? Why not show your own?'"
The conversation and the stranger's questions struck a chord with Caplan, she said.
"I think I was always an artist but I didn't realize it could be a career," she said.
Caplan is among the 18 artists who agreed to spend from Jan. 25 to Jan. 30 at the MCLA [Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts] Gallery 51 creating art.
The 100-hour collective creativity session will culminate with select artists works launching a "100 Hours In The Woodshed" exhibit that will kick off with a Jan. 30 evening gallery-hosted reception.
Multimedia Artist
A diverse range of artists and their chosen mediums will add to the collage-like nature of the event. Caplan is a multimedia artist who works primarily in alternative and traditional photography, film, video, and installation.
Her work often focuses on "the contemplation of existence and mortality, the human condition, and current political climate," according to information posted at a www.lanazcaplan.com Internet web site.
Artistic Energy And Inspiration
Just which of her talents will consume the 100 hours hasn't been decided, she said.
"I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do," Caplan said. "My thoughts are turning to doing some sort of film collage."
She is very eager to join the artist contingent expected to gather at the downtown gallery.
"One thing that's great is to be able to see all the people I don't usually get to see, and to work with them," Caplan said. "The other thing that's great is the energy that will be created, and the ability to inspire and feed off each other. It's really exciting."
Caplan said she participated during a group event at the Contemporary Artists Center about six years ago.
"There are some similarities but this is different in that we all will be creating during a marathon session," she said.
Caplan earned a bachelors' degree in fine art and a masters degree in fine art the Boston University. She also studied art history at the Universitie d' Attaches des Presse in Paris.
Caplan's artistic psyche may well have been seeded during her childhood; she and her family lived in the Philadelphia area directly across the street from an art museum, she said.
Exhibits of her work have been held at a vast number of venues, including the John Stevenson Gallery in New York City, Gallery NAGA in Boston, the William Benton Museum in Storrs, Conn.,the Coney Island Film festival in Coney Island, N.Y., and DNA Gallery in Provincetown, Mass..
A public reception for the artists is planned for 5:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25 at the gallery.
The public may also watch artists work from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. beginning Jan. 26 - Jan. 28, and during Jan. 29 10 a.m.- 8 p.m..
A gallery-hosted reception is scheduled to kick off the Jan. 30 exhibit. The reception is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and conclude at 9 p.m..
Information about the exhibit is available by calling 413-664-8718 0r visiting a www.mcla.edu/Gallery51 Internet web site. |
