October 6 - November 3
(click on artist's name to view artwork)
Exhibiting Artists
Jason John Best of Show
Carrie Alter
Adrian Alexander Andrade
Brad Bachmeier
Meredith Carr
Dianne Corbeau
Craig Cully
Dustin Farnsworth
Barry Focha
Sandy Frank
Jessica Liggero
Eric Mantle
Michael Marling de Cuellar
David Mazure
Melanie Pickrell
Chris Riccardo
Arthur Sekula
Hugo Shi
Stephanie Smith
Modern and contemporary art have changed and evolved just as society and technolgy have. The modernist revolution from Impressionism to Abstract Expressionism emerged from the mechanization of the western world and the collapse of traditional belief systems. The postmodernist revolution from Pop and Minimalism through Conceptual Art, inspired by the development and proliferation of communication technology, rejected the modernist idea of art as the pursuit of spiritual absolutes–as a private or surrogate religion. In today's pluralist esthetic climate, there is no clear consensus on what art is, or should do; and, because the history of modernism is strewn with the bodies of uncomprehending critics, we today–critics not excepted–tend to overvalue novelty; overcompensating for the past, we assume that all experimentation is valid. We have largely abrogated critical judgment, embracing the fuzzy notion that it's all good, or will be, or might be, some day.
It is thus always heartening to find work that earns its keep with vision, imagination, craftsmanship and (a word not in current art parlance) heart. 2D-3D 2011: Figurative Works brings together a selection of paintings and sculptures that focus on the human body and human life, subjects that are never irrelevant, despite esthetic fashion. Abstraction and figuration are not antithetical, as was hotly asserted in the 1940s and 1950s, but complementary, the best work combining both: figuration that transcends mere illustration always has a strong abstract organization; abstraction that transcends decoration always suggests reality, seen afresh.
The works of the exhibiting artists require no theoretical justification; rather, they inspire reflection about the human condition. I hope that viewers of the show will enjoy the work as much as I did.
–DeWitt Cheng