Center for the Visual Arts Gallery

11/07/2013

HIGHLIGHTS of the Athena Society Annual Juried Exhibition:

Lucy Jane Webster, City in Winter

City in Winter is an oil painting by Lucy Jane Webster. The painting looks as if Webster painted it looking outside her studio window. It captures downtown Toledo on a winter morning. The snow looks untouched on the buildings and some cars, as if the snowfall was from the night before. The lighting of the painting suggests that it is a few hours after sunrise. This viewpoint of the painting’s scene from the artist’s room or studio can be compared with some of Gustave Caillebotte’s paintings – his stylized depiction of urbanizing Paris during the city’s Haussman transformation in the 19th century from his various rooms. Paintings particularly like Boulevard Haussmann Snow (1879) can be seen as inspirational Webster. Boulevard Haussmann Snow captures Paris after their nightfall. Their viewpoint practice may be similar but their styles differ, Caillebotte was an Impressionist and Webster is more of an illustrative realist. Caillebotte’s short brush strokes would show static and transforming city; whereas Webster’s broad and smooth strokes shows a buried, still city.

by Elizabeth Quintero

11/04/2013

HIGHLIGHTS of the Athena Society Annual Juried Exhibition:

Erin Palmer Szavuly, Inhabitant of Florence

Inhabitant of Florence by Erin Palmer Szavuly is reminiscent of Gothic era gargoyles. The watercolor painting appears to have been inspired by the stone beasts of centuries past that often look over European cathedrals and buildings. She chooses an extreme close up view on the inhabitant’s gaze to capture the dramatic intensity of its expression. One may feel a sense of intimidation as the creature peers back. Szavuly’s choice of blues, purples and grays blends nicely into the monochromatic coldness of a stone statue. Szavuly’s stylized touch helps portray undercuts, and the craftsmanship of its facial expression is smoothed. It is as if the inhabitant itself may come alive from its eternal slumber, even as a mystery remains as to the particular location that inspired Szavuly.

by Nathan Perez

11/04/2013

HIGHLIGHTS of the Athena Society Annual Juried Exhibition:

Inga Reynolds, Untitled 1 and Untitled 2

A reading of a piece of largely solid color forms must always decide on the service the colors perform. It might be assumed that the lack of piquant of the yellow in Untitled 1, the sharp cordons about the forms of Untitled 2, or the consistency of structure among the solid, almost architectural blocks of color equates to a lack of lyricism. Perhaps true of the analogous-hued parcels of Untitled 1, but for the deep blue field that seems squeezed as it emerges from the left to the right. Pausing and shaded by deeper chromatic variations in the forms surrounding it, slowly it bursts into dynamic triangular form, only to stumble under its own weight, heavier than the satisfied yellow it tumbles over and diffuses into. The simple excitement of catch and release plays out in the piece. Untitled 2 likewise is no pure exploration of staid, emotive content by fields of color. It's a geometric shape in a palette of a kind with its sister piece sitting, demarcated to the point of disembodiment in a trough of warm muted compliments, but the shape still hums. Color lifted from the otherwise darker & weighty left side; green broadcasted into the neighboring central pane of yellow, both evoking transparency and reflection. Delineated foreground panels shift angles at the point of connection; their lower border slicing the background. They disperse their color on the upper left, it all suggests a form seen from multiple vantages in multiple atmospheres. Reynolds pieces are not focused on the removal of gesture and action to study colors' intrinsic effects, the hues are used to confer, supplement, and acknowledge the mild tension and languorous motions in living space created by their interaction.

by Ken Dailey

11/04/2013

HIGHLIGHTS of the Athena Society Annual Juried Exhibition:

Kathy Palmer Genzmen, Don't Give Up the Ship

Don't Give Up the Ship is an artwork demonstrating wonderful skill with watercolors. The artist, Kathy Palmer Genzmen, produces painstaking detail, showing each and every twist of each rope. Genzmen strategically uses washes and visible brushstrokes to give the wood of the ship texture and form. She also uses crisp clean lines, and accurate foreshortening to bring the ship to life. Compositionally, the painting takes a viewer’s eye throughout the image. Great swooping lines of the ropes and beams bring the viewer around the border and back to the center where under further inspection, a single figure can be seen, climbing the rigging in the background. One can easily become lost in the great array of ropes, nets, and pulleys. Perhaps this single, solitary living thing was strategically placed there to remind viewers that this complex detailed network of rigging, this perfect symbiosis of wood, canvas, metal and rope, is really just a tool created for use by man.

by Jared Geisman

11/04/2013

HIGHLIGHTS of the Athena Society Annual Juried Exhibition:

Ann Bridgmen, Margarita

Ann Bridgman, a graduate from Miami University, is a retired textbook editor turned artist who paints primarily in watercolor. This painting titled Margarita is dominated by a young Latina woman wearing a long black dress decorated with red flowers and a white apron with similar decor. Her black hair is braided into pigtails to indicate youth and she is seated in a chair, alone, as if she is observing her surroundings. Taking note of her young features, the festive looking dress and accompanying apron and immediately we are brought to the time of a “coming of age” celebration, commonly known in Latin American culture as “quinceañera,” a festival to recognize a young fifteen year old girl’s introduction into becoming a woman. There are contrasting colors of dark and light; the dark of the dress surrounded by the lightness of the background emphasizes the young woman in the chair. This indicates that she is the center of attention, as she would be during the time of her quinceañera.

by Crystal Maddux

10/26/2013

HIGHLIGHTS of the Athena Society Annual Juried Exhibition:

Nancy Beeman, Out of this World

Out of this World, a work of art by Nancy Beeman, is a combination of ceramic and textile in the form of a non-functional bowl. The base is brown glazed ceramic, surrounded by a black and white striped pattern with small orange beads, continuing around parts of the outside of the bowl. The bowl forms upward into a sewn textile African – like pattern, containing colors such as orange, black, brown, and white.

In contrast to outside appearance, the inside of the bowl is much brighter and contains vivid colors such as orange, green and light grey, with the center of the bowl falling into a shiny orange glaze. The outer rim of the bowl contains the same black and white striped pattern found on the base of the piece, drawing your eye around the bowl in its entirety. This non-functional piece reminds one of African textiles, particularly those used on many kinds of Kuba skirts. Examples of Kuba skirt textile patterns can be found at http://www.hamilltribaltextiles.com/kuba_skirts.html.

by Brittany Lenner

10/26/2013

HIGHLIGHTS of the Athena Society Annual Juried Exhibition:

Sue Stewart, Lunar Sea and Caladium Chaos

Using acrylic ink and colored pencil Sue Stewart has created contemporary abstract pieces titled Lunar Sea and Caladium Chaos. Stewart carefully blends background colors to create a deep glow. Her precise line work stretches across the surface in an intricate tangle of neural-like activity, while sparks of white colored pencil highlights add visual interest to the rich colors. Both pieces are reminiscent of natural phenomena. The textures behave like cracking ice, rolling waves, the veins of a plant, or the surface of a distant planet, suggesting the wonder of biological processes and cosmic events. The artist creates tension by contrasting light and dark as well as blended and sharp elements in these energized, but meditative artworks.

by Courtney Stahl

10/26/2013

The UT Dept. of Art Annual Holiday Art Sale is approaching fast! We are looking for students, faculty and alumni to participate as sellers. Sign up in the CVA Dept. of Art main office or send a message to: [email protected].

09/26/2013

Come visit Panorama before it is too late! The last viewing day is this Saturday, September 28!

09/24/2013

08/13/2013

Natalie Lanese and UT_ART majors hard at work transforming the gallery walls. Join us for the opening Friday, August 23, 6pm-8pm.