SAN ANTONIO, TX.- Blue Star Contemporary Art Center presents San Antonio Painters II, an exhibition juried and curated by Barbara MacAdam, Deputy Editor of ARTnews magazine. This exhibition, the sequel to summer 2012’s San Antonio Painters I, continues through November 17, 2012.
After receiving an overwhelming number of artist submissions for San Antonio Painters I, over 135 individual proposals, both Blue Star and MacAdam recognized the need for another exhibition in order to showcase the vast amount of local talent in this unique city.
MacAdam was thrilled to help usher in this dream of ours. While re-reviewing the submitted work, she took a new approach in choosing the featured artists, stating, “Where I’d originally intended to concentrate in San Antonio Painters II on the rich variety of abstract painting taking place among artists in the community, I found, instead, a strong and very fertile vein running between abstraction and figuration. Suddenly the distinction became almost irrelevant, as nature and narrative kept agitating for attention.”
The exhibition features the following eight artists: Bryson Brooks, Ana Fernandez, Chrys Grummert, Megan Harrison, Chris Sauter, Corbin Spring, Cornelia White Swann, and Jason Willome.
George Tobolowsky: found objects
I make abstract metal sculptures from steel and stainless steel “found objects”. These found objects however, are not of the everyday sort, but rather bulky industrial metal castoffs that I scour scrap yards and fabrication plants to find. I rarely alter theses metal pieces but instead work to fit the individual scraps together – much like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle – into balanced compositions. My sculptures are one part assemblage and one part recycling, which follows closely with the philosophy of another early artistic influence, Louise Nevelson.
My titles are typically added upon completion and offer a suggestion for interpretation but mindfully allow room for various readings within each piece. My works represent a logical extension of the welded steel sculpture tradition that can be traced from Julio Gonzalez to David Smith. I have several works in Museums, Universities and Public and Private Collections and have had Exhibitions in Vail, CO., Portland OR., Chicago IL, New York City, New Orleans LA and throughout Texas and many other locations. For more information, please visit my website at www.georgetobolowsky.com which is linked to YouTube for some videos on my work.
Jessica Battes: Genome
My current body of work included in Genome explores concepts and phases in genetics and human cells. The human genome refers to the entirety of an organism’s hereditary information. From an early age I was aware of the fact that my physical traits were very similar to those of my mom’s and other women on her side of the family. It made me wonder what other hereditary genes I carry and could potentially pass along. In thinking about these genes I questioned what they might look like, how they would move within cells and how they function biologically. In this body of work I give these unseen entities form that ranges from an intimate four inches to a consuming six feet. Creating these forms in a more life-size scale reinforces the real connection between these organisms and ourselves.
The three main materials I have chosen for this body of work are clay, fabric, and bronze. Ceramics has the potential to possess traits of strength and impermeability as well as delicateness and fragility. The fabric in my work serves as a skin to my sculptural pieces, referencing the body or exterior layer of a cell. The bronze elements are used to imply an opening on a form, serving as the orifice between the internal and external layers of the piece. These bronze elements suggest movement and participation in biological life cycles.
All of my pieces are influenced by the same concepts; the utilitarian work has an added layer of function to the content. Through the act of using my utilitarian forms the viewer participates symbolically and literally in a biological, physiological process.
