The Central West End is home to a thriving arts scene- and FIVE brand-new exhibitions are opening on Thursday, Sept. 13!
Atrium Gallery
Atrium will open the fall season with with an inaugural exhibition of new abstract paintings from former St. Lousian Caroline Weld. Currently living in Nantucket with an active studio there, she has recently become known and very well respected for her abstract works. Her fluid paintings are accomplished explorations of colors and forms and how they come together to create a sense of emotion.
She paints using natural light from her solarium studio and in addition to brushes, uses unconventional tools to create the texture often seen in her works. Weld’s paintings will be shown along with work by established Atrium sculptor John Schwartzkopf.
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 13
6 – 8 p.m.
Duane Reed Gallery
The gallery is pleased to present the amazing glass work of Seattle artist Nancy Callan, the imaginative fiber sculpture of St. Louis artist Luanne Rimel, and the incredible imagery of St. Louis artist Mary Borgman.
Nancy Callan– “As I approach twenty years of working with glass, I am amazed at how much there still is for me to explore in the material. The quest for the perfect form matched with the ideal surface, color, or pattern is an ongoing challenge. But most exciting are the new possibilities that open up through experimentation. Using the traditional techniques to create something fresh and modern is what I am most interested in right now. This approach allows me to feel grounded in the traditions of the material but also free to depart and explore the possibilities, which are indeed infinite.”
Luanne Rimel– “My work explores the passage of time and lingering memory of the present. Sculptures that stand as guardians of human history, detailed images of cloth and figurative elements, are incorporated into my quilts, imbuing the statue with mysterious significance. I use repurposed flour-sack cloth dishtowels, printing the images onto the fabric with a wide format inkjet printer. Detailed sections are collaged and stitched onto the cloth, referencing earlier domestic practices of mending and repair, reuse and repurposing. The repetitive hand quilting creates shadows and textures, alluding to the marking of time. Each piece quietly takes its own shape as the threads are gently drawn and pulled through the cloth.”
Mary Borgman– “Formerly a professional sign language interpreter, I now translate into drawings the personalities and dignity of individuals. I work with charcoal on frosted Mylar, a polyester film. This tough, translucent support allows me to aggressively build up marks and then work the charcoal with erasers to reveal a luminous quality of light. The sitters assume frontal, uncompromising poses and look directly at the viewer, turning the observer into the observed. The larger-than-life size format magnifies the intensity of the sitter’s gaze and infuses the portrait with a psychological presence.”
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 13
5 – 8 p.m.
Houska Gallery
The gallery is pleased to present “My Life as an Atom: Recent Paintings by John Marksbury.” John is a St. Louis-based artist and designer who relocated from Boston, Massachusetts in early 2013. John’s colorful paintings explore ideas of time and space, the fantastic and mystical, symbolism, and the tension between objective and subjective experience.
John has found a supportive home in the local arts community, exhibiting work at Art Saint Louis and most recently at Saint Charles Community College’s biannual painting invitational. He is honored and excited to have his first solo exhibition at Houska Gallery.
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 13
5 – 8 p.m.
Philip Slein Gallery
The gallery is pleased to present, in her first St. Louis exhibition, noted painter Andrea Belag, of whom Time Out New York says: “Belag is a veteran abstractionist who has been working in New York for 35 years. She’s an unabashed colorist whose paintings can be described with one word: Bold. Bold colors, bold compositions and bold gestural marks are the defining features of her approach to paint, which she applies to her canvases with rags and knives as well as brushes. She’s waging a one-artist war against a ‘chromo-phobic’ culture, as she calls it, in which good taste masks a fear of color’s emotional impact on viewers. Judging from her work, it’s a battle she aims to win.”
Andrea’s paintings are a perfect match for the focus and philosophy that has become the cornerstone of Philip Slein Gallery. Her long term interest in pure painting, based in color, form, and composition wonderfully distill what they think are the most significant themes in abstract painting today.
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 13
5 – 8 p.m.
projects + gallery
The gallery is pleased to present the opening reception and official book release of “To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults.”
Made over a five-year period and recently published as a hardcover book, this project is a collaboration between photographer Jess T. Dugan and Vanessa Fabbre, a social worker and Assistant Professor at Washington University in St. Louis. The featured individuals share a wide variety of life narratives spanning the last ninety years, offering an important historical record of transgender experience and activism in the United States. Signed copies of the book will be available for purchase.
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 13
5 – 8 p.m.
*There will also be live music on McPherson Avenue from 5-8 p.m.