New art exhibition opens in Mt. Lebanon
Harry Funk / Observer-Reporter Lori Hepner with her series of digital chromogenic prints
Harry Funk / Observer-Reporter John Fox with three of his "13" series
Harry Funk / Observer-Reporter Glen S. Gardner's "Bent Stack"
Harry Funk / Observer-Reporter John Eastman with "Abstract #15," left, and "Abstract #14"
Harry Funk / Observer-Reporter Josh Mitchel's "Study for Schysm #2," left, and "Study for Schysm #1."
Harry Funk / Observer-Reporter "Stepping Out" by Paula Weiner
Harry Funk / Observer-Reporter Robert Howsare's "trickster" tetraptych of serigraphs
opens in Mt. Lebanon
Three untitled paintings, each of a jacketed, cap-wearing individual with his or her back to the viewer, represent John Fox’s contribution to “Entity,” the latest group exhibition at the Artsmiths of Pittsburgh in Mt. Lebanon.
The trio of images actually represents a total of 12 on which the Butler County artist is working, with variations on the same premise.
“What I’m going to try to do is find a gallery that will put all 12 of them up at one time. And when they do, what I’m hoping for is a circle,” Fox explained. “It’s going to be called ’13 Figures,’ and there’s only going to be 12 figures there.”
The 13th, of course, will be the gallery patron who’s stepped into the middle for the full effect.
Fox’s concept is indicative of what exhibit curator Jill Larson noticed among the work of participating artisits in coming up with a unifying theme:
“If you go around and you look at the work closely, hopefully people will see the same thing I saw, a sense of oneness in the works and something singular,” she said.
The 34 “Entity” creations, in a variety of media, tend to convey the type of imagery she describes, ranging in scale from a diminutive Plexiglas doll’s leg to a sizable site-specific installation featuring with a lone black funeral cloak hanging above rocks and sand on the floor.
“Stonings,” the work of mixed-media artist and art therapist Dafna Rehavia, draws on the disturbingly prevalent practice in some societies of “honor killings,” with women most often the victims.
“We tend to think it’s far away from us, and it’s easy to talk about something that happens ‘over there’ in the Middle East, in other countries,” Rehavia explained.
The equivalent in this country is domestic abuse.
“That’s the main thing about this work,” she said. “It’s important for me to show the aggression of the males. What is left is just fabrics, a couple of stones, some strings, stones turned into dust.”
Perhaps less dark but just as enigmatic is Carolyn Frischling’s “Cloud,” a bronze sculpture on black marble base for which the North Hills artist employed some relatively advanced technology, using the Autodesk Meshmixer to design the work in three dimensions.
“First, I 3-D printed it in plastic,” she said. “Then I worked with a foundry to cast it.”
Frischling is one of 17 artists whom Larson selected to participate in “Entity,” which in turn is one of eight regional exhibitions scheduled to open between September and December featuring the work of Associated Artists of Pittsburgh members.
“Each show has its own curator assigned to it,” AAP office manager Dawn Henry said. “The idea is to select artists, not artwork. Then they work with the artists to build their shows.”
Larson has extensive experience as a curator, including numerous opportunities as founder and executive director of the former Fe Gallery, named after the elemental symbol for iron, in Lawrenceville.
“Frequently, I would come up with a title, and then I’d go looking for the artists. So this was a little bit different for me,” she said about the “Entity” sequence of events, “having the artists first and then coming up with the idea for the exhibition, looking for something that would connect all of these amazing works.”
And she enjoys the South Hills location.
“I was very intrigued and excited about the opportunity to show Pittsburgh artists who are mainly living on the East End or somewhere else, and bringing them to Mt. Lebanon,” Larson said. “I’m a big supporter or crossing bridges and cross-pollinating.”
For more information, visit www.artsmithspgh.com/exhibition-listings.