Event: Reconstructed/Deconstructed Still Lifes

Saturday, November 12; 11 am to 5 pm / Sunday, November 13; 11 am to 5 pm

Art will be on view throughout the building along with this exhibit featuring NEST Arts Factory artists Ellie Mesa, Strive Glass, Stella Whittle, and invited artists Maralyn Adlin, Larry Morse, Miranda Updike showing paintings and 3D art, whimsical pottery, glass and upcycled furniture, curated by NEST artist and City Lights Gallery #20 director Suzanne Kachmar. This exhibit dusts off an old concept of still lifes, through a conglomeration of creations, on and off the canvas, presenting representational works that are abstracted, imaginary, kinetic and breathe with process, exploring materials, marks, shapes and scrapes, line, form, color and fantasy. Historically in painting the glorification of the object could represent religious and philosophical concepts, joys of domestic life, wealth and status. For some, art based on still-lifes may seem trite. But for the art student and the many artists who explore painting and the principles of design, still lifes are the building blocks for new visual ideas and ways to work. This exhibit dusts off an old concept of still lifes, on and off the canvas, presenting representational works that are abstracted, imaginary, kinetic and breathe with process, exploring materials, marks, shapes and scrapes, line, form, color and fantasy. There is an immediate energy to these works, although complete and well executed, they have a sense that the artist just stepped away and may return to keep working. Representational paintings that abandon logic, toy with realistic rendering in the exchange for the passion of painting. The viewer is present, experiencing the physical application of paint, sensing the artist’s thoughts, process and feelings. “It’s like a musician riffing on a classic Jazz standard, translating the beautiful arrangement of notes with the artist’s specific character,” says curator Suzanne Kachmar. “As a painter I find it cathartic to make still lifes with objects that signify a feeling or current event.” Continuing the playful exploration of the still-life concept, Kachmar includes actual still-life objects, the fantastic pottery by Ellie Mesa, mini abstract sculpture/maquettes that painter Larry Morse builds for the visual reference of his large abstracted still life creations and the fantastical manipulation of stretched and twisted glass bottles by Strive-Glass. Event: Black Rock Art Guild #36 Members’ Art in the Brick