May 18 - June 29

Group Exhibit

ab-strak-shun: (noun)

"Abstract art - not for me," is something I would have said before my most recent adventure working at Unsettled Gallery. But that changed when the first exhibit of abstract work hung in the gallery. I remember thinking, "Wow!" I had no idea these old, adobe walls would embrace such contemporary art. It took several more exhibits of similar work before I truly felt comfortable that the gallery should focus more on abstract and non-representational work, and even more time before I could explain to myself the reasons why.

And so, here we are with ab.strak.shun: a noun, the gallery's most recent exhibit of abstract work. The exhibit brings together five local artists whose careers have been spent pouring their creativity into their abstract art.

Many viewers may have mindsets similar to what mine once was whose collections consist of representational art (that is, work that resembles a "real" landscape, portrait or object). But, as Carey Crane declares, "all art is abstract." So perhaps the gates of the corrals artists into which have been sorted . . . maybe theses boundaries should be broken down in order to allow us, the viewers, to consider how and why color, pattern, gesture, fracture, smear, drip, flow can speak to us in such powerful ways even though these techniques may not result in an art work in which the subject matter can be identified as a "real" object.

In reading the five artists' statements, I was struck by their articulation of the many reasons each chose to work on the abstract side of the art world. In addition to Crane's declaration in the preceding paragraph, I've "abstracted" for this narrative a thought from each artist's statement and sketch a few details about their career and work. Click on the artist's name to jump to a page to read his or her complete statement and see images of the artist's work. Proceeding alphabetically through the five artists participating in this exhibit, I begin with Carey Crane.

Carey Crane grew up in Florida spending time in his father's studio where the senior Crane created work in the "abstract expressionist" style. Carey says it was easy for him to make art a career choice and paint in the abstract style because of his dad's example. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from the University of Florida, Gainesville, where he studied painting with Hiram Williams, a renowned figurative expressionist.

Raul Dorn says he is "captivated" by abstract or non-representational artwork "as it tends to invite and engage what dispositions and history the viewer brings to the experience." Dorn is active in the local and regional art scene and a long-time art instructor at Alma de Arte, a Las Cruces charter art school. He is represented in Albuquerque by the Matrix Gallery.

"Abstraction," says JD Jarvis, "is important because it presents imagery that is open-ended." Jarvis, though grounded in traditional artist's materials of paint and canvas, early-on in his career experimented with creating art using video and electronic sound. After returning to paint and canvas for a period of time, he became an early adopter of digital painting to create his art. Jarvis has exhibited internationally, nationally and regionally. His work appears in many collections.

As a 9 year-old in New York, Myriam Lozada saw the work of artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Robert Delaunay and Jackson Pollack. She was "captivated by the variety and freedom of Abstract Art." Her work has been included in many group and solo exhibits internationally, nationally and regionally including venues in South Africa, Mexico, New Mexico, Texas and New York. Most recently her work was included in a group exhibit at the Preston Contemporary Art Gallery.

Louis Ocepek wears many hats as an academic (recently retired), graphic designer and artist. In his fine art he uses conventional and digital media to make low-relief constructions, photogravures, relief prints, screen prints and paintings. Ocepek says, "Abstraction is the truth revealed, the world beyond the world we live in." Ocepek has exhibited internationally, nationally and regionally. He is a member of the local Border Artists group. Most recently his work was selected for inclusion in Unsettled Gallery's exhibit, Crossroads: Book Arts on the Border.

And so to our art aficionados, live dangerously . . . live on the edge. This is an exhibit that can change perceptions.

Unsettled Gallery and Studio; May 2013