Archway Gallery Exhibitions - 2018
Liz Conces Spencer
The Drift of Stars
December 1, 2018 - January 3, 2019
Spencer’s new body of work, The Drift of Stars, explores her visual thoughts on the passage and mystery of time.
Being present is key to the personal and intimate experience of making art, particularly drawing or painting the figure or working from the landscape plein aire, or directly onsite. At the point in time that the muse is translated by the artist to a substrate of canvas or paper or glass, the present moves with it, and a new reality is born, assuming its own life, qualities and personality. Inasmuch as the muse existed in a specific moment in time, the work of art is what has evolved, surviving as testament to that moment. As the work in its own new life morphs and changes, it too exists in consciousness only in the present, not in the future nor in the past. And, as philosopher Jacques Maritain postulated, the two-way communication that exists between art and viewer allows an ever-present, always changing charged experience with each successive encounter. The muse is further invoked by other art, including music and poetry. The title of the exhibition is based on a line from T.S. Eliot’s haunting Burnt Norton. Other pieces are inspired by the poetry of Diana Conces, an award-winning and published author who will read from her selected works during the opening reception.
Spencer’s landscape, figurative, and non-representational studies are often reworked extensively, creating new realities far removed from the moment of inception. The figurative works frequently superimpose human forms from several different sessions and models. Landscapes are abstracted to abide by a generous dollop of creative intuition in color placement and patterning. Some works are deceptively simple. The blending of timelines, subjects and materials is intentional, with threads of meaning suggested in titles that focus attention on our shared mortality, our memories of the past, and our hopeful yet flawed expectation of the future.
Being present is key to the personal and intimate experience of making art, particularly drawing or painting the figure or working from the landscape plein aire, or directly onsite. At the point in time that the muse is translated by the artist to a substrate of canvas or paper or glass, the present moves with it, and a new reality is born, assuming its own life, qualities and personality. Inasmuch as the muse existed in a specific moment in time, the work of art is what has evolved, surviving as testament to that moment. As the work in its own new life morphs and changes, it too exists in consciousness only in the present, not in the future nor in the past. And, as philosopher Jacques Maritain postulated, the two-way communication that exists between art and viewer allows an ever-present, always changing charged experience with each successive encounter. The muse is further invoked by other art, including music and poetry. The title of the exhibition is based on a line from T.S. Eliot’s haunting Burnt Norton. Other pieces are inspired by the poetry of Diana Conces, an award-winning and published author who will read from her selected works during the opening reception.
Spencer’s landscape, figurative, and non-representational studies are often reworked extensively, creating new realities far removed from the moment of inception. The figurative works frequently superimpose human forms from several different sessions and models. Landscapes are abstracted to abide by a generous dollop of creative intuition in color placement and patterning. Some works are deceptively simple. The blending of timelines, subjects and materials is intentional, with threads of meaning suggested in titles that focus attention on our shared mortality, our memories of the past, and our hopeful yet flawed expectation of the future.
John Slaby
The Male Gaze
November 3 - November 29, 2018
Closing Reception / Late Night Pie and End of Silent Auction
DATE: Saturday, November 24, 2018
TIME: 6 - 9 p.m.
Carya String Quartet
DATE: Sunday, November 25, 2018
TIME: 6 p.m.
DATE: Saturday, November 24, 2018
TIME: 6 - 9 p.m.
Carya String Quartet
DATE: Sunday, November 25, 2018
TIME: 6 p.m.
All the work in the show will be offered in a silent auction which starts on opening night and closes on Saturday, November 24. John Slaby will be donating 50% of the proceeds of his show to local charities that will be selected by the patrons via popular vote.
Breathing life into a staid and overworked art form, John Slaby paints the human figure, predominately female, in a traditional, realist style with a contemporary twist. He chose the provocative title, The Male Gaze, as a challenge to the criticisms of this genre and sees his work as using the female form to represent all of humanity. These figures are the language Slaby uses to express his thoughts and feelings on the human condition. The artist clarifies, “These women are anything but objects; they are a part of me. They reflect my self and my life. As my life has changed, so too has their depiction.”
Slaby began painting the human figure over 20 years ago. Then, the female form was depicted in vulnerable positions within dark rooms. “That was when I first entered recovery,” says Slaby, “and those women were clearly expressive of my emotional state at the time.” The attraction to the female form is also driven by its stereotypical associations - compassionate, nurturing, the creator of life - and conversely repelled by those associations with the masculine - aggressive, distant, violent. “Part of this attraction to the feminine is the fear I have of men,” says Slaby.
The figures in this show reflect modern realities, where women have continued to take on the burdens traditionally reserved for men; thus, the depiction of Atlas as a woman. Several pieces in the show also confront issues of body shame. Barbie, one of the larger canvases at six feet in height, depicts a woman defiantly stepping on the eponymous doll. Flood, Slaby’s homage to the effects of Hurricane Harvey, is another large canvas and depicts a recovered photograph taped to a stained backboard. The trompe l’oeil style is disoriented by the large scale of the canvas.
Breathing life into a staid and overworked art form, John Slaby paints the human figure, predominately female, in a traditional, realist style with a contemporary twist. He chose the provocative title, The Male Gaze, as a challenge to the criticisms of this genre and sees his work as using the female form to represent all of humanity. These figures are the language Slaby uses to express his thoughts and feelings on the human condition. The artist clarifies, “These women are anything but objects; they are a part of me. They reflect my self and my life. As my life has changed, so too has their depiction.”
Slaby began painting the human figure over 20 years ago. Then, the female form was depicted in vulnerable positions within dark rooms. “That was when I first entered recovery,” says Slaby, “and those women were clearly expressive of my emotional state at the time.” The attraction to the female form is also driven by its stereotypical associations - compassionate, nurturing, the creator of life - and conversely repelled by those associations with the masculine - aggressive, distant, violent. “Part of this attraction to the feminine is the fear I have of men,” says Slaby.
The figures in this show reflect modern realities, where women have continued to take on the burdens traditionally reserved for men; thus, the depiction of Atlas as a woman. Several pieces in the show also confront issues of body shame. Barbie, one of the larger canvases at six feet in height, depicts a woman defiantly stepping on the eponymous doll. Flood, Slaby’s homage to the effects of Hurricane Harvey, is another large canvas and depicts a recovered photograph taped to a stained backboard. The trompe l’oeil style is disoriented by the large scale of the canvas.
Kevin Cromwell
Deep Space Communication
October 6 - November 1, 2018
With a sketchbook and something to drink, Kevin Cromwell ponders on ideas of space, connection, and communication. The artist has always been interested in space and has been recording the experience of travel through that dark sea on this blue-green planet. Without access to a celestial bathysphere dropped into the depths, he restricts his records to views of pin-pricked surface and the planet. He hopes that one day we will be able to communicate with others in the greater community and, like all explorers, he tries to cultivate a love of mystery and an openness to the unknown. This is counter to the belief that we have all the knowledge, and that we should automatically define and bind all things.
As a child, Kevin could walk out his front door at night and look up to see the Milky Way crossing the sky. Viewing that wondrous sight in the nighttime sky is no longer possible for many. We have sacrifice our connection to the greater universe in order to illuminate and define the shadows around us. This loss of connection and mystery forms the tapestry wherein Kevin pins the record of his current work.
As a child, Kevin could walk out his front door at night and look up to see the Milky Way crossing the sky. Viewing that wondrous sight in the nighttime sky is no longer possible for many. We have sacrifice our connection to the greater universe in order to illuminate and define the shadows around us. This loss of connection and mystery forms the tapestry wherein Kevin pins the record of his current work.
Barbara Able
Transparent
September 1 - October 4, 2018
Barbara Able's new body of work, Transparent, is inspired by her childhood fascination with her grandmother's stereoscope. The stereoscope is a device by which two photographs of the same object taken at slightly different angles are viewed together, creating an impression of depth. Able constructs her new collages with two layers: the top layer of images is on transparent film, which allows the viewer to see the images below them as well.
Colorful acrylic and oil paintings explore the effects of translucent boxes on Able's imagery, including reflections of viewers as they peer inside. Night scenes are created using luminous lights, which cast colored shadows on the images below.
Colorful acrylic and oil paintings explore the effects of translucent boxes on Able's imagery, including reflections of viewers as they peer inside. Night scenes are created using luminous lights, which cast colored shadows on the images below.
Michael Mistric
Pictura-Ferramento: A Duet for Painting and Iron Work
August 4 - August 30, 2018
Pictura-Ferramento: A Duet for Painting and Iron Work is an exhibition featuring the recent collaborative works of painter Michael Mistric and metal worker Richard Brian in two and three dimensional formats. Mistric’s bold, colorful, and highly rhythmic abstractions in oil set the themes for Brian’s improvisations in metal, which frame or support the painted works. Each artist’s contribution harmonizes with the other’s, creating a dynamic and exuberant whole.
The geometrical shapes, patterns, and fluid curves silhouetted in black over strong colors that predominate in Mistric’s work spring spontaneously from his head to his hand without prior deliberation. Brian riffs on these, using metal cutouts, mesh, and iron, sometimes in counterpoint to and at other times in completion of Mistric’s forms. Together, the artists produce works which generate a distinctly personal visual association for each viewer, while expressing their overall joy in the process of creation itself.
The geometrical shapes, patterns, and fluid curves silhouetted in black over strong colors that predominate in Mistric’s work spring spontaneously from his head to his hand without prior deliberation. Brian riffs on these, using metal cutouts, mesh, and iron, sometimes in counterpoint to and at other times in completion of Mistric’s forms. Together, the artists produce works which generate a distinctly personal visual association for each viewer, while expressing their overall joy in the process of creation itself.
Silvia PintoSouza
Dwellings
June 2 - July 3, 2018
Through the centuries, each civilization has typically had different types of dwellings developed by society of the time. Vitruvius, a 1st century Roman architect, described the three qualities required of architecture in his treatise, De architectura as being: Firmness, Usefulness, and Delight; these include aesthetic, sensual, and intellectual qualities. Silvia PintoSouza explains, “No matter where I go, I recognize these architectural qualities and when viewing dwellings from afar, I feel invited to imagine what goes on in these spaces… What kind of people are behind those doors and windows? What type of life they are living? How do they feel and what are their thoughts about life? Clusters of buildings bear a remarkable testimony; they are buzzing with life…. We can imagine that everyone inside has a sense of belonging both to the city and to the dwelling that shelters them. Each one of these structures has many stories to tell. Their walls touch but they hide so many separate intimate activities of their inhabitants. The buildings are alive; they resemble their occupants and their cultural values… Some are colorful and light in design while others are simply white-washed; and then there are some which are soberly built in stone.
PintoSouza is a painter for whom artistic aesthetics is very important. She feels that much of our cultural life is visual and the aesthetic appreciation of art is a major part of it. “When I look at something that I find striking and beautiful, I feel the need to paint it. I start by creating in my mind a pre-image: I look at the shapes, the colors, the light, the shadows and I create the painting in my mind. I want to produce something of aesthetic value, a work of art that I would enjoy looking at.” The artist feels that in today’s art world the ‘Art for the sake of Art’ idea has given way to an art that essentially refers to a political or social issue. She continues, “Of course, there is room for all concepts; we all have different ideas we want to express in different ways, but I feel that the aesthetic side of the work seems to have become secondary and of a lesser importance.” We are reminded that Fernando Botero, a world famous Colombian artist, once said, ‘‘The true objective in art is the pursuit of happiness, but the world seems to have forgotten about it.” Silvia PintoSouza totally agrees with this statement and comments, “Happiness is also beauty. Since the aesthetic element in art is very important to me as an artist, I spend days working on a painting trying to accomplish what is beautiful or pleasing as seen through my eyes.” While she spends time on the composition, color scheme, and textural aspects, ultimately, the important thing to the artist is that when a work of art leaves her studio, she has to be in love with it; it has to give her happiness. She paints what impacts her visual senses and says, “I want my work to speak for me with simplicity. There is no need for pompous words or descriptions that take away from what I feel is the real purpose of art… Finding pleasure in viewing art is what I call happiness!”
PintoSouza is a painter for whom artistic aesthetics is very important. She feels that much of our cultural life is visual and the aesthetic appreciation of art is a major part of it. “When I look at something that I find striking and beautiful, I feel the need to paint it. I start by creating in my mind a pre-image: I look at the shapes, the colors, the light, the shadows and I create the painting in my mind. I want to produce something of aesthetic value, a work of art that I would enjoy looking at.” The artist feels that in today’s art world the ‘Art for the sake of Art’ idea has given way to an art that essentially refers to a political or social issue. She continues, “Of course, there is room for all concepts; we all have different ideas we want to express in different ways, but I feel that the aesthetic side of the work seems to have become secondary and of a lesser importance.” We are reminded that Fernando Botero, a world famous Colombian artist, once said, ‘‘The true objective in art is the pursuit of happiness, but the world seems to have forgotten about it.” Silvia PintoSouza totally agrees with this statement and comments, “Happiness is also beauty. Since the aesthetic element in art is very important to me as an artist, I spend days working on a painting trying to accomplish what is beautiful or pleasing as seen through my eyes.” While she spends time on the composition, color scheme, and textural aspects, ultimately, the important thing to the artist is that when a work of art leaves her studio, she has to be in love with it; it has to give her happiness. She paints what impacts her visual senses and says, “I want my work to speak for me with simplicity. There is no need for pompous words or descriptions that take away from what I feel is the real purpose of art… Finding pleasure in viewing art is what I call happiness!”
Empty Bowls
Invitational Exhibition and Silent Auction Benefiting the Houston Food Bank
May 5 - May 30, 2018
Archway Gallery is once again honored to be a part of the Empty Bowls Houston’s fundraising endeavor by hosting the 4th annual invitational exhibition of bowls and artworks. More than 30 Houston-area craft artists working in clay, wood, glass, and fiber will be invited to donate one-of-a-kind, finely-crafted bowls, and they will be joined by several Archway artists. These Empty Bowls artworks, excellent additions to any art and craft collection, may be purchased through the month-long Silent Auction, with proceeds benefiting the Houston Food Bank.
The Archway Gallery Invitational Exhibition complements the annual Empty Bowls event, which will be held May 19, 2018, 11 am - 3 pm, at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, 4848 Main Street. The event itself is free, but for a minimum donation of $25, attendees have the pleasure of selecting one or more bowls from the 2000 handcrafted bowls donated by area craft artists, and then receive a simple lunch of soup and bread prepared by the Houston Food Bank’s Keegan Kitchen while listening to music or watching pottery, wood turning, and other artist demonstrations. Now in its 14th year, Empty Bowls has contributed more than $800,000 to the Houston Food Bank, the equivalent of more than 2,400,000 meals for those in need in the Greater Houston area.
The Archway Gallery Invitational Exhibition complements the annual Empty Bowls event, which will be held May 19, 2018, 11 am - 3 pm, at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, 4848 Main Street. The event itself is free, but for a minimum donation of $25, attendees have the pleasure of selecting one or more bowls from the 2000 handcrafted bowls donated by area craft artists, and then receive a simple lunch of soup and bread prepared by the Houston Food Bank’s Keegan Kitchen while listening to music or watching pottery, wood turning, and other artist demonstrations. Now in its 14th year, Empty Bowls has contributed more than $800,000 to the Houston Food Bank, the equivalent of more than 2,400,000 meals for those in need in the Greater Houston area.
Larry Garmezy
Flyover Country: The Past Preserved in the Northern Rockies
April 7 - May 3, 2018
The remnants of a pioneer past are preserved in the hidden valleys of the Northern Rockies. There’s a profound beauty in the almost empty, wide-open expanses portrayed through the images of this show and the large format of many of the works places the viewer squarely into the landscape. For Garmezy, the photographs convey, “a healthy dose of respect for the settlers who survived harsh winters and the hardships of life on a remote frontier.” In this exhibition, he traces some of the history behind the images and chronicles small communities which have been left behind in our increasingly urban world.
In the 1970’s and early 1980’s Garmezy spent many summers mapping the geology of Eastern Idaho and Southwestern Montana. While mapping, he was “adopted” by the locals; by one specific family in particular. Flyover Country reflects Garmezy’s re-immersion into the world of his “second family” as the photography for his current body of work captures the pioneer past he had little time for as a young geologist. “It’s amazing how well you get to know people and their link to the land while studying rocks. In my old Willy’s jeep and on foot miles from any paved roads, I passed relics of a past far too recent to delay a geologist, but I remembered the spots knowing that one day I would return,” Garmezy reminisces. Those hardy people included his “adoptive" mom, who rode on horseback to attend “The Edie School,” a one-room school house built in 1909, a day’s ride from the nearest town.
Through digital deconstruction of details in original photographic images, the fundamental form and texture, color and light emerge in Garmezy’s work. Seeing rhythms in the natural world is an offshoot of his geologic background and much of the work captures the unusual and subtle patterns he finds at every scale of observation from the microscopic to the grand panorama. He finds solace in the remote landscape and strives to convey the serenity of these spaces.
In the 1970’s and early 1980’s Garmezy spent many summers mapping the geology of Eastern Idaho and Southwestern Montana. While mapping, he was “adopted” by the locals; by one specific family in particular. Flyover Country reflects Garmezy’s re-immersion into the world of his “second family” as the photography for his current body of work captures the pioneer past he had little time for as a young geologist. “It’s amazing how well you get to know people and their link to the land while studying rocks. In my old Willy’s jeep and on foot miles from any paved roads, I passed relics of a past far too recent to delay a geologist, but I remembered the spots knowing that one day I would return,” Garmezy reminisces. Those hardy people included his “adoptive" mom, who rode on horseback to attend “The Edie School,” a one-room school house built in 1909, a day’s ride from the nearest town.
Through digital deconstruction of details in original photographic images, the fundamental form and texture, color and light emerge in Garmezy’s work. Seeing rhythms in the natural world is an offshoot of his geologic background and much of the work captures the unusual and subtle patterns he finds at every scale of observation from the microscopic to the grand panorama. He finds solace in the remote landscape and strives to convey the serenity of these spaces.
Isabelle Perreau
"Féminitude", A Path Towards Femininity
March 3 - April 5, 2018
"One is not born, but rather becomes a woman." (“On ne nait pas femme, on le devient.") Simone de Beauvoir.
Perreau explains, “Like Simone de Beauvoir, and from my own experience, I believe that feminine gender, as an aspect of one's identity, is gradually acquired; it is a metamorphosis that occurs throughout a woman's life, encompassing body, mind and spirit. Witnessing my daughter's transformation from child to woman, lover, and mother has been an essential part of my own feminine journey; it has been a fascinating experience which I explore through these images.”
Essential to the artist’s creative approach is the mutual degree of trust established with the subjects she photographs. Accepting and welcoming the artist into life’s intimate moments is key in capturing that ephemeral “Féminitude” conveyed by the photographs
Perreau explains, “Like Simone de Beauvoir, and from my own experience, I believe that feminine gender, as an aspect of one's identity, is gradually acquired; it is a metamorphosis that occurs throughout a woman's life, encompassing body, mind and spirit. Witnessing my daughter's transformation from child to woman, lover, and mother has been an essential part of my own feminine journey; it has been a fascinating experience which I explore through these images.”
Essential to the artist’s creative approach is the mutual degree of trust established with the subjects she photographs. Accepting and welcoming the artist into life’s intimate moments is key in capturing that ephemeral “Féminitude” conveyed by the photographs
|
Listen to Isabelle's interview on the
Artists of Houston Podcast |
|
Sherry Tseng Hill and Jim Adams
Houston Remixed: Songs, Dances, and Sentinels of Time
February 3 - March 1, 2018
Having lived in Houston for most of her life, Sherry Tseng Hill has observed the quiet transformation of the city from a scruffy, sprawling, swamp of a place to a powerhouse of intellect, culture, and diversity. For this show, she weaves her observations, experiences, and stories of the city's past, present, and future presenting them in a collection of wide ranging works that is reflective of this diversity.
In contrast to the fluidity of time in Sherry Tseng Hill's work, Jim Adams’ Sentinels seem timeless and permanent. Fashioned from square and rectangular pieces of steel tube sections, the 11 monolithic pieces articulate a strong and omniscient quality. Each seems solitary and distant, yet all are linked together and connected to one another. They silently stand watch over the transformations of time and our city.
In contrast to the fluidity of time in Sherry Tseng Hill's work, Jim Adams’ Sentinels seem timeless and permanent. Fashioned from square and rectangular pieces of steel tube sections, the 11 monolithic pieces articulate a strong and omniscient quality. Each seems solitary and distant, yet all are linked together and connected to one another. They silently stand watch over the transformations of time and our city.
Joel Anderson
Submergence
January 6 - February 1, 2018
Joel Anderson turns inward and downward in his new works, exploring depth in the subject matter as well as in technique. As Anderson explains, “My last solo show incorporated 3D-printed elements projecting outward from the paintings. This show is almost a complete reversal of that, inviting the viewer to experience the dimensionality downward into semi-transparent layers of encaustic.”
In a series entitled “Basswood Confessions”, memories - most fairly scandalous - are buried under twenty or more layers of encaustic, leaving a hazy impression under a foggy forest of stalwart trees. “As we age and some of us confront failing memory functions, there is a desire to write down some of our stories. But goodness, I don’t want everyone to know all the dirty details”, Anderson reflects.
In his “Crash and Burn” series, Anderson literally set his artwork on fire to produce the impressions of waves crashing ashore or alternatively lava eruptions. “One interesting thing you can do with encaustics is to apply shellac to the surface and then light it on fire. With some additional manipulation with a blow torch, I was seeing that the shellac would in some cases submerge into the encaustic, giving a new dimensionality to the piece” Anderson says. This effect is also used as a background for his geometric social/political commentary pieces “Out of Balance”.
And in the more direct interpretation of the show theme, scenes from Anderson’s 10,000 gallon koi pond are depicted, again utilizing layers and layers of encaustic to effect an underwater world of hazy abandon.
Encaustic painting -- beeswax mixed with damar resin -- was practiced by Greek artists as far back as the 5th century B.C. In fact, the word encaustic comes from the Greek word enkaiein, meaning to burn in, referring to the process of fusing the paint. A mid-20th century revival, including works by Diego Rivera and Jasper Johns, brought encaustic painting back into prominence. Anderson’s creative process uses modern, digital methods incorporated into the ancient medium.
In a series entitled “Basswood Confessions”, memories - most fairly scandalous - are buried under twenty or more layers of encaustic, leaving a hazy impression under a foggy forest of stalwart trees. “As we age and some of us confront failing memory functions, there is a desire to write down some of our stories. But goodness, I don’t want everyone to know all the dirty details”, Anderson reflects.
In his “Crash and Burn” series, Anderson literally set his artwork on fire to produce the impressions of waves crashing ashore or alternatively lava eruptions. “One interesting thing you can do with encaustics is to apply shellac to the surface and then light it on fire. With some additional manipulation with a blow torch, I was seeing that the shellac would in some cases submerge into the encaustic, giving a new dimensionality to the piece” Anderson says. This effect is also used as a background for his geometric social/political commentary pieces “Out of Balance”.
And in the more direct interpretation of the show theme, scenes from Anderson’s 10,000 gallon koi pond are depicted, again utilizing layers and layers of encaustic to effect an underwater world of hazy abandon.
Encaustic painting -- beeswax mixed with damar resin -- was practiced by Greek artists as far back as the 5th century B.C. In fact, the word encaustic comes from the Greek word enkaiein, meaning to burn in, referring to the process of fusing the paint. A mid-20th century revival, including works by Diego Rivera and Jasper Johns, brought encaustic painting back into prominence. Anderson’s creative process uses modern, digital methods incorporated into the ancient medium.