NOW THROUGH MARCH 14 — RECEPTION & TALK RESCHEDULED FOR FEB. 19

“YOU WILL BE DRIVEN TO A POINT MIDWAY BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH! SHOCK-FULL OF THRILLS!” That sort of B-movie hype, in stand-up red letters, is just one of the elements you’ll find in the collages of Chris Lawson and Jared Ragland. But it also might be an apt description of the viewer’s response to the unique world these artists create. It’s a realm where movie still photos meet holy relics, where pulp illustration intersects with the poignant found object, where exploitation meets the ineffable. Their collaborative show, Cut Slash Paste: Collage Work By Chris Lawson and Jared Ragland, will be highlighted with an Artists’ Talk and Reception, 7:00 to 9:00 PM at Photoworks Gallery on Friday, February 19 (rescheduled from February 5 due to inclement weather.) Curated by Photoworks’ instructor William Knipscher, the exhibition runs through March 14.

Both Lawson and Ragland consider themselves collage artists from the south, yet each brings their own individual influences to the collaborative effort. Chris Lawson’s background is in creative writing and visual art – using collage, drawings, and paintings to drive narrative themes. Living and working in Haiti, Cambodia, Northern Ireland and his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, he describes his work style as “on the fly” – perfecting the concept of the “studio suitcase” – he can work just about anywhere, with diverse materials and methods. He also admits to a soft spot for horror. Jared Ragland, another Alabama native, has worked as a documentary photographer in Haiti, Bosnia and a dozen other countries. His artistic work includes everything from indie-rock show posters for a Birmingham, Alabama club, to a New Orleans-based photography project. He appreciates collage in that it allows him to work within vernacular language and appropriated forms. He is a sucker for album art, war photography and illustrated Bibles.

Cut Slash Paste runs February 5 – March 14, 2010, at Photoworks Gallery, located on the first floor of the Arcade Building, in historic Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Boulevard, Glen Echo, MD.