View photos of the previous exhibition, taken by Victoria Tribout:
Ken Worley's rich landscape paintings are featured in the Marsh Gallery at the Schmidt. He creates his works by using oil pastels to make sketches and then milling his own oil sticks in the studio for painting. By applying layers of color and then scratching into the surface, he arrives at his final image, which is extremely vivid in
color and texture.
Ken's paintings have been described as very theatrical. His landscapes frequently feature trees shown in a very dramatic light, which gives them a surreal, quiet and almost lonely feeling. Reminiscent of Giorgio de Chirico and Edward Hopper, his artworks are like stage sets, frozen before impending action. "Landscapes are sensory things," says Ken. "They are always changing. One has no control over a landscape. And there's a mystery to them. Viewing a landscape is like looking at chaos and discovering order by making some sense of it. There's so much adventure in there, so many possibilities."
Swansea artist and 2001 SWIC graduate B.j. Vogt created "A Human Geology" specifically for the Schmidt Art Center. For this installation, he overlaid images of brain slices onto the gallery floor plan to create the layout. This detailed and time-consuming process required extremely precise measurements, light observations and anticipation of the visitors' movements. B.j. then stacked cardboard and foam board shapes to create a cavernous topographic landscape that links earth systems with brain processes.
"'A Human Geology' is comprised of works that explore the concept that human evolution and structure of the human body are directly linked to processes inherent in geology, plate tectonics and volcanology," says
B.j. "These are all tied together by the histories of their structures and biological compositions."
Vogt talks about the installation and creative process behind his exhibition:
Jason Urban Charles Schwall CUSP
August 21 - October 4, 2008
Urban's optical paintings and prints complement Schwall's biomorphic paintings. Schwall emphasizes the refined use of gesture, contour, silhouette, and color though a careful process of layering paint; Urban manipulates Moire patterns, stripes, and halftones to alter and amplify imagery from popular culture in this bold exhibition.
Charles Schwall's works appeared courtesy of the artist and Bruno David Gallery.
Conjunctions, Ubjects, Stories and Places (CUSP)
This two-part community exhibit contains unique and unusual objects from residents of Belleville, Chester, East St. Louis, and Collinsville. Works by Troy, Illinois artist Pat Vivod illustrate themes among the objects. Curated by students of SWIC, SIUE, and UMSL.
Michael Mason: Homage to Louis H. Sullivan Michael Aaron McAllister: Saints and Sinners Snail Scott: Inclination
June 16 - August 9, 2008
Maryville artist Michael Mason scans images of various natural elements onto a computer, then uses photographic and graphic arts software programs to manipulate the images. “Sullivan combined geometric shapes and plant motifs to create beautiful, elaborate ornaments for his buildings,” says Mason. “I found that through computer manipulation, it was possible to create geometric designs directly from these plant materials.”
“Saints and Sinners” highlights needlework pieces by St. Louis artist Michael Aaron McAllister, whose work includes stitched portraits of several famous, some infamous, individuals, such as Mother Teresa, Bonnie and Clyde, Leonardo da Vinci, Richard Nixon and Malcolm X.
“The great portrait artist John Singer Sargent created his own world, surrounding himself with the wealthy and socially envied,” says McAllister. “I populate my world with writers, Nobel Prize winners, musicians, royalty and other notable persons who have captured the imagination of the world for one shining moment. My mission is the assurance their stories and lives will continue to live forever through my work at the needle.”
In Inclination, Edwardsville artist Snail Scott creates provocative works by combining unlikely imagery and materials that offers a connection with the real world. Through her sculptures, she uses common and familiar materials to invite the observer to “create a new understanding of the object.”
“My recent work articulates the concept of engineering as a deeply rooted human endeavor, by which we attempt to create the reality we desire,” says Scott. “In principle, it represents a rational approach to practical goals.”
Photos of the exhibit by Victoria Tribout:
Want more? Watch the artists speak at the opening reception on June 26:
LUMINOUS:
Tom Scarff & Sandra Marchewa
SHADOWS OF THE ROCK:
Mary Butkus
May 8 - June 14, 2008
Since 1968, Chicago artist Scarff has investigated the latest in lighting technology. Recalling Matisse, he says, "Light is an echo of the mystical glow from within. It allows the manipulation of space. What I do would be impossible with paint."
Sandra Marchewa creates three-dimensional paintings with an inner light through the careful layering of paint, wood, Plexiglas, epoxy resin, and hand-made or found objects. "In the past, my wok has been heavily influenced by dreams, nightmares and the intangible realities we all face, but are often too afraid to confront or question," she states. "My current work still faces these issues and plays with the contrast of the commercial, plastic world and the organic, living world."
In Shadows of the Rock, St. Louis artist Mary Butkus captures light filtering into the abandoned Alcatraz prison. She says, "I photographed Alcatraz like a photojournalist would cover an assignment, looking for the different, the unusual, the minutia that most would miss."
View photos of the exhibit, taken by Victoria Tribout:
SWIC Student Show
April 17 - April 25, 2008
High School Student Show
March 27 - March 4, 2008
Construction / Deconstruction
John Watson and Sandra Abrams
and Architectural Drawings from the
Labor & Industry Museum, Belleville
January 17 - March 8, 2008
One of the things that makes us human is our ability to use tools to construct shelter and to express ourselves. In this exhibit we invite viewers to complete the process by deconstructing art and architecture and create their own stories and meaning.
