The intriguing invitational art exhibit now on view at Fort Lewis College is well worth a trip to the ivory mesa. Featuring works by seven area artists who are in their prime, this quiet show is a distinct pleasure. That the exhibit carries a cumbersome title and even more convoluted description should not deter anyone from a long look.
If you go
WHAT: “Spaces, Locations and Imagined Places,” art by seven area artists.
WHERE: Fort Lewis College Art Gallery, 1000 Rim Drive.
WHEN: Now through Oct. 14, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday, or by special arrangement.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.fortlewis.edu/art-gallery, email jklema@fortlewis.edu or call (757) 810-4890.
“Spaces, Locations and Imagined Places” is the exhibit’s official title that offers no portal into the beautiful works on display. Ignore the name and drink in the mature, fully-realized works by artists who have found their medium, method and imagery.
Works by Annie Brooks, Holly Hagan, Chyako Hashimoto, Tim Kapustka, Lorna Meaden, Ted Moore and Gilmore Scott are on display through Oct. 14 in the white cube known as the FLC Art Gallery. Each artist has evolved over time and seems motivated by a strong, individual vision and purpose. Modes of expression vary from realism to fantasy, formal beauty to utilitarian purpose. Exploration, wonder, a sense of curiosity and even playfulness drive much of the work.
The heavy, awkward title misleads viewers to expect an exhibit of realistic and/or imaginary landscape art. It’s so much more.
“I have to admit, we didn’t have a clear curatorial vision of the show from the outset,” said Julia Klema, gallery manager. “The show is diverse, engaging, and the work is a testament to the skill of these artists.”
Recently, a panel discussion made it abundantly clear that each exhibitor is fully in the middle of a mature career and each has pursued a very different expressive path. The artists rose above simplistic questions like: “How do you know when a work is finished?” to address what compels them to create the first place. Despite the limited questions, the artists managed to articulate the complicated business of vision, beauty, wonder, process, persistence and the vagaries of pursuing a career in the wider world after art school.
Exhibition highlights include:
- Tim Kapustka’s 10 digital prints are deceptively simple and elegantly executed. He chooses mundane objects, places them in mysterious settings, adds evocative titles and invites viewers to the world of imagination.
- Holly Hagan’s semi-abstract acrylic paintings and pencil drawings radiate intense encounters with the beauty of nature. Complex and yet clear, her imagery is fractured and yet whole, astonishing in its singularity.
- Chyako Hashimoto’s ceramics are serene, whole and all about the beauty of form. You will see mysterious vessels, cloud plaques, an idea of a Zen Garden and two usual bowls with bold, blue-glaze gestures.
- Tom Moore’s passion for wood, ancient and new, shimmers in his ink drawings of gnarled joints or limbs as well as a splendid cabinet, “Pando’s Box.”
- Gilmore Scott’s three relatively small acrylic paintings combine the boldness of Diné weavings with imaginative symbols that defy scale.\
- Lorna Meaden’s functional porcelain objects pack whimsy into sophisticated shapes and surface design that are a universe unto themselves.
- Annie Brooks’ skill as a miniaturist and storyteller play out in elaborately detailed pages, vignettes and a book: “Ankaret Ilhaam,” which you can leaf through page by page.
Let’s hope more invitational exhibitions by serious area artists in mid-career will continue at FLC.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
