A group of 12 artists known as “The Splinter Group” gathered at the Varsity Theatre on Tuesday for their second Art Bazaar.
The idea for the group came from artist Jay Michael who is known for his psychedelic band and event posters. “I’ve been doing posters for different venues all around the area, and I’ve sold posters at shows and worked with bands,” Michael said. “In doing that over the past few years, I’ve met all kinds of different characters and artists.” When the Varsity offered Michael the opportunity to host an art show, he extended the invitation to different artists he met throughout the years. “I decided to call in all these people that I knew that didn’t know each other. We would build a group called The Splinter Group and we would promote each other through the group together,” Michael said. “From the group, we would splinter off into different configurations and do art shows. It would always be different and changing, but you would always know there was a quality and standard of The Splinter Group.” A variety of photography, watercolors and acrylics was shown at the Art Bazaar Jill Mulkey, one of the original members of the Splinter Group, paints with acrylics on an unusual canvas – blue jeans.
“It was just a fluke, and I started doing it,” Mulkey said. “I’m about to have a show on Oct. 19; opening my fashion line, which is called Violet. It’ll be the jeans, couture clothing and that type of thing.”
One of Michael’s goals for The Splinter Group is to help young artists.
“I know what I went through in getting myself together and carrying myself for this much time,” Michael said. “If you don’t have the right people talking to you, you can stagnate in a certain area for a long period of time. If you have 10 to 15 artists around you, you can get around a lot of problems.”
Some of the University students in The Splinter Group said being involved with the group has helped them.
“[Meeting other artists has been] the most beneficial thing so far. So you can’t look at it as a loss if you don’t sell something directly,” said Cristina Fletes, photography senior. “As long as you get people to see your work, that’s the most important thing.”
People from the Baton Rouge community attended the Art Bazaar to experience something unique.
“We were at the bar at The Chimes and ended up sitting next to one of the artists, and he just told us about it,” said Aditi Joshi, Baton Rouge resident. “We thought we’d check it out because we’re always looking for new things to do.”
Laura Gall, former University student, said she paid a visit to the Art Bazaar “to support local art, to get to see some good pieces of artwork and possibly see some of our future big names, especially Joy Bruce.”
Michael said he is pleased with the response to the Art Bazaar and The Splinter Group.
“I think it’s been a very good beginning and there’s a lot of ideas in the works,” Michael said. “A lot of these artists are working in their own areas, and they’re all succeeding, doing great things.”
Michael said the local art scene has changed since Hurricane Katrina.
“Some people just need to step forward and make themselves known,” Michael said. “There’s a new day in Baton Rouge. We’re getting together, and there is a scene. It’s very diverse, and there’s lots of different types of art being put out there.”
—Contact Sarah Aycock at [email protected]