Ramsay Wise to feature work at CelebrARTy
Ramsay Wise, an assistant teaching professor of film studies in the School of Visual Studies, will be one of the featured artists at CelebrARTy in September. During the fundraiser, art created by local teams of celebrities and artists will be sold at an auction with proceeds benefiting Access Arts, a non-profit organization that provides creative learning experiences. Wise, an assistant teaching professor of film studies in the School of Visual Studies, was paired with Connie Morris, a bank project specialist.
“Connie Morris (Go Team Connie!) was a great collaborator. We discussed how we were going to approach our “maker’s day.” I discussed my approaches to painting, and she shared her ideas and interests in making art,” said Wise, who enjoyed the collaborative process. “I think we sort of bonded over the idea of just getting in there and improvising it—which is basically how I work. And then we got together in one of Access Arts studios on a Sunday afternoon and started improvising on canvases with some of my techniques. Essentially, we just laid out a few canvases and started moving paint until we arrived at something we liked.”
Team Connie created five paintings for CelebrARTy. “This has been a great experience,” said Wise, “Everyone involved has been thoughtful, helpful, and energized. Access Arts is a great organization and I’m excited to be a participant in the process.”
CelebrARTy takes place September 17 at the Blue Note.
Spray paint and acrylic on canvas, 23” x 48”
About the Artist
Wise primarily works in abstract art, having worked through trial and error before finding his niche. “There was, and still is some trial and error,” says Wise, explaining his evolution as an artist. “I guess it was about nine or 10 years ago when I started to find some techniques that worked for me and that significantly changed my approach to painting. I like to take sort of a 70/30 approach. That is, 70% I know what this technique is, how to achieve it, what basically will happen when I do it, and then the other 30% is experiment in the moment. Then I fold the results from experimentation into the 70% and continue trying to expand from there.”
Wise has created more than 1,000 pieces with an array of abstract landscapes and weather. “I respond to them aesthetically. And they are very suitable subjects or conceptual frameworks for the sort of Abstract Impressionism, that I think I am drawn to. I think I also find them cinematic in a way which maybe draws from my work in film studies.”
With his paintings, Wise prefers not to use paint brushes typically associated with painting. Working on larger canvases, he uses house paintbrushes, masonry brushes, trowels, squeegees, and spray paint directly from the can. “These tools move paint differently than conventional art paint brushes and they allow me to work quickly and with a sort of physicality and immediacy that results in interesting outcomes. I always paint standing and on a flat canvas so I can have a freedom of movement over the entire surface during the process.”
Wise shares advice to upcoming and returning MU students majoring in or pursuing art non-academically:
“My best advice to students who are pursuing art in their studies is to embrace their creativity now and express it through whatever medium they have access to. And if they don’t have access, seek it out. Seek out and involve yourself with the supportive and creative community here in SVS, at Mizzou, and the community. Columbia has so many great organizations like the Columbia Art League, Vidwest Studios, and, of course, Access Arts, that help build a supportive creative community.”