HANCOCK – A new exhibition opens at the Copper Country Community Arts Center on Oct. 11. “Icons Americana” is a collection of mixed media assemblage constructions by Charles Kirk Lucas, an artist, songwriter and small business owner from the lower peninsula of Michigan.

He states, “Art and creativity have long been part of my life. I began working with collage after becoming enamored with a collection of Russian icons. Suddenly all the mumbo jumbo, the rigmarole and flimflam of the world I grew up in made some sort of sense. The collections of vintage images, random objects and curiosities have purpose in a kind of glorious contradiction.”

Lucas uses repurposed plywood and cabinet doors as his “canvas”. Construction includes screws, nails, tacks and adhesives. Curious colorful images are taken from vintage books, magazines, junior encyclopedias, Sears catalogues and old science books. Unusual objects that serve as decorative additions might include clock gears, tiddlywinks, shoe stretchers, or the blades of an old garden tool.

Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, Oct. 11, 6 to 8 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

“Icons Americana” is on display in the Kerredge Gallery at the Copper Country Community Arts Center 126 Quincy Street in Hancock and runs Oct. 11 through Nov. 2, 2019. The exhibition is supported in part by a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.