MARCH EXHIBIT REVIEW: McGrath, Kernen, and Lampe

At the Community Arts Center, March was a whirlwind month– blowing by so quickly I was left wondering where it went.  Usually I post these blogs within the month of the exhibit and if you’re looking at the date on this one, you might notice it is a bit late.  So I guess this is a recap of March’s exhibits.  The exhibits in March were quite diverse, each one dramatically different from the other and equally interesting – So I’ll give a brief review of each.

 

Quiet Places – Landscapes by Dan McGrath

 

“After the Harvest” by Dan McGrath

 

Dan McGrath is an excellent oil painter out of Lexington, Kentucky who specializes in realism.  Although this particular exhibit focuses on landscapes there are a couple of paintings in the show that also hint at Dan’s other loves- still life and equine art.  A plein aire painter, Dan’s work captures the essence of each location, to make the viewer feel as if they are there on location with the artist.  One can tell from looking at Dan’s work that this is an artist that has studied painting and composition at length, although he has only been painting professionally for around six years.  Interesting composition choices makes his work stand out from your average landscape.  In Slope, treetops and clouds appear to mimic and compliment the shapes and textures of the other, while shadows of clouds cross the foreground to allow the viewer a gradual transition into the painting.  In another work, Blowing Snow, we are treated to a somewhat unconventional composition, that breaks the rule of thirds (common composition in which the bottom third of the painting is the foreground, the middle third is the background, and the top third is the sky) to great effect.  A large white country house looms far in the distance across a winter field, sitting a little lower in the composition than one would usually expect – allowing the cold winter sky to occupy and dominate the mood of most of the painting.  This unusual composition makes the viewer feel as if they are actually standing in the field, approaching the house.  The cold sky and fields of the painting make the house look all the more comforting.  The painting I have chosen to represent Dan’s work on this blog is After the Harvest, which he also chose to send out on the postcards advertising the exhibit’s opening.  This painting features a vineyard in the foreground, the perspective of which leads the viewer’s eye toward the background where the autumn horizon, ablaze with the colors of the season, mirrors the tones and textures found in the grapevines.  It is well balanced compositions such as this that really set Dan’s work apart.  You can see more of Dan’s work at his website at http://home.insightbb.com/~danmcgra/index.htm.

 

 

Cathedrals – Sculptures by Elizabeth Kernen

 

“St. FinBarrs Cathedral, Cork, Ireland” by Elizabeth Kernen

 

Elizabeth Kernen was Elizabeth Taylor’s stand-in for the movie Raintree County when it was filmed in Danville some 50 years ago.  Not only does she look very similar to Elizabeth Taylor to this day, she was also married to a man with the last name Taylor at one time – making Elizabeth Taylor’s stand-in none other than . . . Elizabeth Taylor.  It is unusual, for certain.  I wasn’t aware that Mrs. Kernen was an artist until just a few months ago when I was told about these amazing cathedrals that she had made.  When I went to check them out, I was surprised at the level of detail and charm that each of these miniatures  held.  The best part (and my favorite part) is that the cathedrals were made out of nothing more than cardboard and other found materials, or as Elizabeth calls it, “junk.”  Everything from pine cones, styrofoam bowls, wind chimes, rocks, and spools were used to make replicas of twelve cathedrals from around the world.  Cathedrals from Ireland, Greece, Japan, and Africa (to name a few) were represented.  From a distance the cardboard replicas look like actual buildings, creating the illusion that our gallery has been somehow transformed into a small city.

 

 

Staying Centred- Glass Forms by Jeremy Lampe

 

“Behavioral Problems” by Jeremy Lampe

 

Jeremy Lampe has been in Danville since last August, serving as Centre College’s Graduate Assistant in the art department.  As he was working in the program, he also got the chance to make a lot of art and focus on his craft.  Almost all of the 30+ pieces in his exhibit at the Community Arts Center were made during his time at Centre – hence the name, “Staying Centred.”  Jeremy’s work is an interesting mixture of glass, ceramics, and found objects.  He likes to focus his work on what he calls, “Industrial Castoffs” – objects that once held a degree of functionality, but are no longer used.  Most glass artists tend to focus on the beauty of the medium, making the most out of the transparency and almost liquid nature of the glass.  Jeremy’s work tends to lean more toward organic or biological forms, with pieces resembling microorganisms or parasites – although each piece is beautiful in its own right, if you were to encounter it in the real world as a living being, you might not be sure to squash it like a bug or keep it as a pet.  With as many pieces as Jeremy had in the exhibit, the show had a tendency to look like an invasion of glass creatures.  Instead of just being displayed on pedestals as ordinary sculptures, the artist arranged the work so that pieces were hanging from the walls, basking in sunlight, cavorting on windowsills, and some known as “Donut Walkers” precariously perched on a lattice divider in the middle of the room.  One of the more interesting aspects of Lampe’s work is his ability to switch between ceramics and glass – often in the same piece.  It is not unusual to see one of his pieces be half ceramic and half glass.  One particular work, Behave, looks as if the glass portion is emerging from a ceramic cocoon.  The strongest element of this exhibit is the apparent effortlessness of the pieces,  each looking as if it were something that should have already existed somewhere in some form.  The mark of a true artist is the artist that makes the work look easy.  I’m sure that each of the pieces were quite labor intensive in both design and execution, but they all look as if they just became into existence.  I also appreciate the artist’s use of lo-tech solutions and found objects.  In this exhibit, it was very difficult to identify what elements of the work were created by the artist and which were applied as found objects.  The found objects in Lampe’s work do not call attention to themselves.  They exist as a part of the work rather than the basis or the focal point of the work itself.  Jeremy’s work is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before and I’m sure he has a great career ahead of himself.  I’ve attached a couple of Youtube videos of Lampe, shot by Jennifer Brummett at the Advocate Messenger News here in Danville.  They should give you a greater insight into the artist and his process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9mirVeAktI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yhllbTPL3c

Thanks,

 

Brandon Long

Executive Director

Community Arts Center