LOOK AT US
A look at the legacy of R.I.T.’s School of Art & Design from the 1960’s.
Featuring Multiple artists from the decade.
August 2, 2019 – September 19, 2019
Art during this period was being taught in a way that encouraged the students to experiment and develop their own voice, yet there were still strong influences from teachers to students, among the students themselves, and probably from student to teacher, both in philosophy and style. Nevertheless, there continued to be a strong movement toward a more personal less objective means of expression.
Out of this learning environment, grew life-long friendships and associations that kept some of these artists in touch with others and their work.
This exhibit explores the work of this select group of artists and their provenance as each has developed their own unique style. Threads of common language can often be found between and among them as they grew out of the shared an environment of aesthetic synthesis fostered by teachers and expanded by students.
Vincent by Bob Conge
A Series of Paintings with Collage
May 4, 2019 – June 29, 2019
“My previous exhibition of paintings at Axom Gallery in 2016, was a response in part to the deaths of multiple friends. Many paintings from the series were literally ripped in half on a table saw and reassembled in a symbolic gesture of sudden change and subsequent renewal after disjuncture and rupture.
Pleased to say COME-IN, the extended series presented here uses a less dramatic and more sweet-tempered approach. I have experienced great joy in putting together this large group of works. The process of assimilating collage elements into the paintings in a manner that was unforced and natural presented welcome, fascinating and at times difficult challenges.
Most works are relatively small. Small things are often overlooked, ignored or paid little or no attention whatsoever. It is my hope that the viewer will be brought into the paintings and come-in through careful and close observation. For this reason some of the work has been placed on surfaces perpendicular to the wall. They are meant to be gently handled, picked up and read as one might approach a letter, a book or a hand held device.
The titles are oblique and elusive; not intended to specifically direct but to serve as intimations.”
Heart Doesn’t Know Rules
Paintings by Lin Price
March 1, 2019 – April 23, 2019
About the Artist
Lin Price is an artist whose paintings can be described as loosely constructed semi-narratives that tap the subconscious, and open up a window to the complexities of the human condition against backdrops of abstracted painterly landscapes that hint towards the recognizable.
These works represent fleeting moments of contemplation that Price hopes all viewers can identify with; the experience of reconciling our worldly states of being with desires of the soul. They are not meant to be interpreted into reason or narrative, rather a poetic reference to the subconscious states of internal conflicts and irrational space – like dreams often do.
Price’s concerns are just as much about the intimate details of our inner psychological worlds as they are about the formal elements of painting. The loosely realistic style utilizes color, shape, line, texture, and form which reference elements from color field painters to abstract expressionists all while harkening back to the narrative themes of the Romanticist. These elements guide us as we navigate through the sub-realities and psychological landscapes that straddle the lucid divide between the dream world and real life. The outcome is a sense of the surreal in a playful, witty, unexpected and undefined aesthetic.
“Themes that arise in my paintings are the experiences of desire, regret, and joy. Through imagination, playful creation of abstracted spaces, and color composition, I attempt to show an inner world that is mysterious and noble…as dreams and life often are.” -Lin Price-
“Shapely”, a show of recent paintings and prints by Alan Singer which celebrate a blend of art and geometry. Design and color are also guiding principles here, and a feel for experimentation, giving birth to dynamic forms on paper and canvas. Paintings resembling cellular neighborhoods are arranged to create circulation and mutual affect. Primary colors equal energy, with a correlation to astronomical events, and the imagery in Alan Singer’s new art crosses boundaries between science, visual art and mathematics.
This is Alan’s 28th solo exhibition and it contains recent paintings in oil and acrylic as well as select prints from the past four years.
Paintings by Belinda Bryce
October 20, 2018 – November 24, 2018
Spanning the past few years, the work here represents a progression of sustained exploration. My artistic approach focuses on the formal qualities of color, line, shape, texture, and composition. Like many artists, I create a visual patois that makes sense intuitively. I rely on process rather than intent. Venture first; meaning may follow.
Some argue that formalism is void of significance; art for art’s sake is less than…, say, a portrait, a political stance, an examination of what’s out there. I disagree. I believe there is value in an inner recursive approach to creation. How do I know what I mean until I reflect on what I’ve created?
2015 to 2018 has been a time of shifts in both my personal world and the outer world as I have experienced it. There is a story here. It chronicles the journey of creating and reflects my response to the currents of time, the changing political landscape, daily life, and the solace of nature. I try to capture what excites me and keeps me working in face of no obvious external rewards.
The story begins after 2014 when I took a year off from making art. I had completed two series of works in quick succession and a friend urged me to simply stop painting in order to rest and renew.
After a year off, I started back up when I took a month-long residency at Byrdcliffe Arts Colony in Woodstock. The result included three paintings–North Clearing, South Clearing and West Clearing. The palette is pared down to avoid the distraction of color. Each piece is composed of dark forms, land masses perhaps, set against a textured white surface. The masses float off to the sides, presenting a cleared space from which to start again.
The Path Forward
An Installation of Work by Nate Hodge
September 8, 2018- October 13, 2018
About the Artist & Exhibition
A native of Brockport, NY, Nate received his BFA at the SUNY College at Brockport in May of 2013, and went on to earn his MFA from the University of Buffalo in May of 2015. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Moss Award (2013), the Elliott Painting Award (2014) and the Fairchild Award (2016).
Nate Hodge works in a variety of media including watercolor, gouache, pen and ink, acrylic and various mixed media. This exhibit will include drawings paintings and constructions including the use of found objects.
Of this exhibit Nate says, “For this project I wanted to explore what my paintings would look like in a more physical form, a space that could be navigated by a viewer using more senses than the eyes. What kind of materials would be used? How would the representation of space on a canvas translate into an environment? Why not use skills and tools used and acquired through other lines of work to create something different? With an assortment of materials from previous projects I set about creating the elements for a space that I call the Blues.”
Given the multimedia nature of this installation, one can imagine the experience of spatially walking through one of his drawings or paintings while viewing the exhibit of his two dimensional works.
Beyond the Surface
(The Spiritual Beauty of Abstraction)
Paintings by Carey Corea
June 9, 2018 – July 21, 2018
We live in a world where the forces of disintegration and integration affect everyone’s life. We may interpret them as chaotic and disruptive to our wellbeing. Many times, our response to these paradoxical forces is one of confusion and discomfort.
My work seeks to counteract these responses through the power of beauty. Beauty – that is a source of comfort and tranquility for the troubled soul. Beauty – that is born from the unification of diverse elements and the harmonizing of color. Beauty – that arouses the emotions and awakens thought. Beauty – that brings joy to the heart and opens the mind to reflect on the mysteries of life.
One whose work is frequently expressed in hyper-detailed layers celebrating the imperfect and beautiful mess that is this thing we call life, it’s appropriate that Ketchum tugs and pulls exuberantly and it must be said, downright uncomfortably. Get used to it.
Graphic designer by trade, artist by heart, the dichotomy continues to push and shove the man as it does his art. Informed by a solid fundamentals of swiss design, he relentlessly blurs the lines determined to find the perfect imperfect. Whether he’s reshaping Kodak, amplifying Def Jam or diving headlong into the X-Games, his connection to the DNA of global brands is characteristically bold. There is nothing subtle about Ketchum’s art.
Or is there?
Take urban grime and grit.
Toss in a love for typography, barcodes, crop marks and the endless numeric symphony that abounds our everyday.
Fold in obscured messaging from poets, musicians, mystics, scientists, and some vintage DR.J funk.
Mix. Remix. Regurgitate.
Some would call it art. He calls it engineering, interior design, furniture, fashion, objects of curiosity, and poetic evolution.
Constantly seeking opportunities to stretch artistic boundaries, Ketchum has shared his visions in group shows locally, regionally and internationally. You can find him unintentionally looking lost in Rochester.