July 31st, 2015

The Jealous Curator alerted us to a new series of installations by Jim Bachlor, consisting of mosaics covering potholes. In Finland!

You’ve got a street full of potholes… what should you do? Call Chicago based artist Jim Bachor and ask him to fill ’em up with ice cream! “Treats in the Streets” is Jim’s latest series, in which he uses the ancient art of marble/glass mosaics to transform damaged roads into works of art… and if filling potholes with ice cream doesn’t scream happy weekend, well I just don’t know what does. -TJC

 

We could surely use his artistry in Park City!

Trying to leave your mark in this world fascinates me. Ancient history fascinates me.  Volunteering to work on an archaeological dig in Pompeii helped merge these two interests in to my art. In the ancient world, mosaics were used to capture images of everyday  life. 
These colorful pieces of stone or glass set in mortar were the photographs of empires long past. Marble and glass do not fade. Mortaris mortar. An ancient mosaic looks exactly as intended by the artist who produced it over two millennium ago. What else can claim that kind of staying power?
I find this idea simply amazing. Using the same materials, tools and methods of the archaic craftsmen, I create mosaics that speak of modern things in an ancient voice. My work locks into mortar unexpected concepts drawn from the present.By harnessing and exploiting the limitations of this indestructible technique, my work surprises the viewer while challenging long-held notions of what a mosaic should be.
Like low-tech pixels,hundreds if not thousands of tiny, hand-cut pieces of Italian glass and marble comprise my work.
This work is my mark. -JB