Juror’s idea of
‘Best of the Best’
By Alec Clayton
Published in the Weekly Volcano, March 24, 2019
"Full Intersection With the Here and Now," encaustic by Teri Bevelacqua, courtesy the artist |
by definition,
the Juror’s Invitational at South
Puget Sound Community College should be an exhibition of the best of the best.
Featured are works from the award-winning artists from the 2018 Southwest Washington Juried Exhibition, selected by juror Asia
Tail. Absolutely, she did choose some outstanding artists, but she also picked
a few whose work, while admirable, is not so stellar as to be considered the
cherry on top of the sundae.
Included in the
show are: Susan Aurand, Teri Bevelacqua, Judith Hochman, Lisa Kinoshita, Carrie
Larson, Spencer McDowell, Patsy Surh O’Connell, Vladimir Shakov, Jason
Sobottka, and Chris Wooten.
“Adventures Through the Anthropocene,” painting by Jason Sobottka, photo by Alec Clayton
Among the most striking works in the show are a suite of nine encaustic and mixed-media paintings by Bevelacqua. In these paintings, Bevelacqua capitalizes on the ability to create deep transparencies with encaustic to creating stunning, multi-layered images of hell on earth — urban scenes and scenes of war with drawing and collage elements such as dollar bills, a United States flag, city buildings and a statue of a woman borrowed from classical art. Viewers should take the time to take in first the overall grouping, and then each individual painting, and search out the many images and think about how they reflect the world we live in today.
Kinoshita’s “Dumb
Love” is a funny and striking piece of found art. It is the shiny chrome bumper
of a Hummer. Written on the wall above it in
pink script is the word “Dumb.” Such a simple statement so blatantly presented.
Kinoshita uses found and manipulated objects to comment on society and on
history and the natural world, often with quirky humor. I take this piece to be
a commentary on machismo.
Among the most
striking works in the show are Hochman’s four mixed-media drawings of
cold-black shapes that look like charcoal or ink prints taken from lace
doilies. I do not know what the specific media is; it was listed only as mixed,
but the imagery is strong and gritty, and the possible interpretations are many
— from pure abstract forms with no outside reference to images of smoke and
fire — delicate and precious personal items such as hand-crafted doilies
reduced to ash, a metaphor for loss.
Highly impressive
are O’Connell’s four ink with tea-finish drawings of leaves and ducks and
something in one that looks like eggs sparkling with electrical current. These
drawings are on scrolls that are approximately six feet tall. The drawing is
precise, delicate and smooth; the imagery conveys a deep love of nature.
Also included are a number of funny and enticing little paintings from
Sobottka’s “Adventures Through the Anthropocene” series that includes strange
creatures and cartoon figures and bombastic color and form.
2019 Juror’s
Invitational, noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, through April 19, South
Puget Sound Community College, Kenneth J Minnaert Center for the Arts Gallery,
2011 Mottman Rd. SW. Olympia, https://spscc.edu/gallery
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