Upcycling Junkmail by Making it Art

A view of the exhibit at Catapult Gallery. On the left, a 3-D torso created from junkmail and on the right, A collage of junkmail with monoprinted dress.

During the months of February & March, The Catapult Gallery at SEMO is pleased to be showing a unique exhibition of art created from junkmail. Entitled "The Endless Junkmail Scroll and Other Trashformations", the artworks were created by New York artist, Vernita Nemec in response to the proliferation of junkmail that continues to overflow our landfills.

Vernita Nemec, also known by the performance name Vernita N'Cognita, is a visual and performance artist, curator, and arts activist based in New York City. She was born in Painesville, Ohio, earned her BFA from Ohio University in 1964, and has resided in New York City since 1965. She is also known for her soft stuffed sculpture, collages, artist's books, photographs, and installations.

The Endless Junkmail Scroll Installation is an interactive site, hanging from the ceiling and twisting through space, requiring the viewer to walk beneath and through it. According to writer Stacy Gross, “The dynamic nature of the piece allows it to morph and adapt to any space in which it is shown, allowing Nemec to fill the air with detritus transformed and creating a physical space out of the art itself.”

And Ed McCormack of Gallery & Studio magazine said, “The Endless Junkmail Scroll with its intricate array of symbolic, diaristic, autobiographical, and spontaneous elements, encapsulates the philosophy of aesthetic ecology that prompted her to found the Art from Detritus movement. Along with numerous other career-spanning concerns, in an innovative ongoing conceptual format, it is a major statement which seems slated to extend this artists influence for beyond the underground where it has for too long languished as one of the better kept secrets of the avant garde.”

A view of the Endless Junkmail Scroll from above.

In addition to the exhibition, Nemec, gave a recorded talk as a part of the “After Hours: Conversations on Art and Culture Lecture Series” at Catapult Creative House. Her talk will also be available via zoom at this link: https://semo.zoom.us/j/97506566036

The exhibition and artist’s talk are free and open to the public. Attendees are welcome to tour the entire Catapult facilities including the Southeast Missouri State University Department of Art and Design students’ studios upstairs. Additionally, an exhibition of Ashlyn Kinman’s multimedia works will be featured in the second-floor student gallery. Visitors are also invited to browse the merchandise in the Shoppe, which features student work and local business products.

Catapult Creative House is located at 612 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO. Hours of operation are Monday through Saturday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm. All gallery exhibitions, events and talks are free and open to the public. For more information contact Leah Powers at lepowers@semo.edu or 573-651-2742.