Edges and Lines
Juror:Chris Gregson || Catalog || Flier
Awards:
- Waiting to hear from you mixed media by Sandra Sell of Little Rock, AR
- Bones of Iraq oil painting by Mary Sokol of Charlotte Hall, MD
- Evacuation acrylic painting by Susan Garnett of Culpeper, VA
Honorable Mentions:
- Ruins acrylic painting by Elvira Dimitrij of Atlanta, GA
- Judson School Revisited, ND watercolor by Bro Halff of San Diego, CA
- Lodge of Reflections photograph by Sheila Jones of Fredericksburg, VA
- Sunrise Lake mixed media collage by Lisa Leon of Dumfries, VA
- Graces di la Primavera acrylic on muslin by Caitlin Lofaro of Fredericksburg, VA
- High Energy ink on paper by Rita Rose & Rae Rose of Spotsylvania, VA
Juror's Statement
"Edges and Lines" is the title of this exhibition. These words define elements that are essential characteristics of art. Edges and lines define the boundaries of form. Here, form is realized in abstract, representational, photographic and three dimensional creations. A major criterion for my selections was works that had exceptional depth on many levels. The pieces that moved me and had me coming back for more, featured innovative materials, construction methods, subjects and techniques.
I noted examining each piece, the artist's process. Some pieces represent an inner life, others represent a perception of the outside world and several are a combination of the two worlds. The pure abstractions include either non objective work or reconfigurations of the real world. Even the more representational work and photography I chose are characterized by some decision making based on abstract relationships.
Another part of my criteria was to look at the work through the filter of art history and contemporary trends in art today. I have witnessed first-hand, the changing artistic conversations in the last four decades from Pop Art through the proliferation of styles in our world of globalization. Recently, I visited an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City called The Forever Now: Contemporary Painting in an Atemporal World which featured prominent artists working today. The term "a-temporality" describes a cultural product of our moment that paradoxically doesn't represent, through style, through content, or through medium, the time from which it comes. In this exhibition are styles and content that is reminiscent of early expressionism, abstract expressionism and early modernism to name a few. The rehashing of past styles and genres can be identified as a reflection on historical forms by artists in today's world as a starting point for invention often without any particular alliance to the original content or meaning.
Another context I was conscious of is the influence of the internet as a prevalent source of knowledge of techniques, styles and communities these artists can draw on for inspiration. Pluralism now dominates the worlds of art without any one form defining who we are and this exhibition is representative of this trend. Finally, I also included works with a unique idiosyncratic approach to art outside of the academic perspective. But in the end, the joy in "Edges and Lines" is the work's simple existence and your personal response. Let the works speak to you!
