Joel Lage Finds Artistry in Junk

If you've ever wondered "What became of Joel Lage?", Dave Schoenbacher solved the mystery and introduced us to the wonderful world of Joel's art. From a gallery announcement: The third in the series of Parks Gallery’s Showcase Exhibitions, “Joel Lage: Tin Maidens,” opens Saturday, August 25, with a reception from 3 to 5 pm. Lage will be exhibiting a new series of found object sculptures that are characterized by his sharp wit and his immaculate handling of materials – tin cans and cartridge brass, cow bones and baling wire. "I’ll look at a piece of junk and get an image of a figure, and then the challenge is to replicate what I’ve seen in my mind,” Lage says about his art. “That’s when the work begins. There’s a tremendous amount of labor, I get obsessed with detail, and basically my only tools are pliers and tin snips.” “I know it’s a fantasy,” he continues, “but I like to think that these figures are being sent to me from the future, from a tribe that mines the landfills, all the stuff we’ve thrown today, and they channel the figures back to me. The tribe has a name – I call them the Sowa.” Lage’s studio is an old school bus in Ilano San Juan where he’s lived for more than 30 years. “I’m from Chicago originally,” he says, “and in a former lifetime I worked in advertising, doing graphic design and marketing. I’ve always loved art. I never studied it formally but I grew up in the Chicago Art Institute. My two great heroes are Rauschenberg and Duchamp. In the late 1960s I had a vision about being an artist and working in metal. I stayed in the business world for another ten years, saved up enough money to buy some land here and began making jewelry out of recycled materials.” “Joel’s an original,” Parks says, “as an artist and a person. There’s a terrific twinkle in his eye, and his infectious sense of humor always comes out in his art. With all the political wrangling that’s going on these days, this seems an especially good time to showcase art that’s intended to make us laugh. Humor is a grossly underappreciated quality in the art world.” “I’m after a smile,” Lage concludes. “My slogan is, ‘Laughter is prayer.” Lage has collectors across the country. He has often exhibited at New York’s prestigious Outsider Art Fair and he was featured in a wonderfully ribald book, Folk Erotica: Celebrating Centuries of Erotic Americana, (by Milton Simpson, Harper/Collins). “Tin Maidens will be on view at Parks Gallery through September 13. There are numerous "Joel Lage" sites listed on Google, many featuring his wonderful works of art. Check them out. Also I originally gave credit to Dave Spero for locating Joel -- what was I thinking?? I guess I wasn't. My sincerest apologies to Dave Schoenbacher, the classmate who found Joel. I'll try to control my senior moments in the future.