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Four Exhibitions, Deferred

Andrew Redington, Roundabout, 2016. Sculpture, upcycled furniture, canvas, 70 by 70 by 30 inches.
Andrew Redington, Roundabout, 2016. Sculpture, upcycled furniture, canvas, 70 by 70 by 30 inches.

If this were a normal 2020, the James Watrous Gallery would be featuring solo shows by artists Robin Jebavy and Andrew Redington over the summer months and then Kyoung Ae Cho and Dakota Mace in the fall. However, as the gallery will be closed until Overture Center for the Arts can confidently reopen, all of their exhibits have been postponed. In the meantime, we hope you’ll enjoy this small sampling of these four Wisconsin artists’ incredible work.

Robin Jebavy, Plate with Wreath (Mary Nohl’s Sunrise over Lake Michigan), 2017. Acrylic on canvas, 68 by 67 inches. Robin Jebavy makes paintings with a dizzying, kaleidoscopic impact. They describe a shimmering infinite field, with no apparent limits and a teasingly ambiguous depth of field. Layers of transparent hues are interrupted by shafts of reflected light, creating brilliant highlights within a rich interplay of colors. The effect is almost hallucinatory, like an ecstatic vision composed in stained glass. She begins each painting by photographing arrangements of thrift store plates, serving dishes, and glasses filled with colored water. By layering and mirroring these images in Photoshop, she creates a structure that can be projected on canvas as a starting point. Working loosely at first, Jebavy gradually builds up the painting, adding new elements as the image evolves. There’s an alchemical aspect to her process, transforming repeated images of cheap glassware into sumptuous, radiant canvases.

 

Andrew Redington, Thwarted Stool, 2015. Print from chair parts, 32 by 20 inches. Trained in woodworking, Andrew Redington has a long-held fascination with furniture form. His sculptures are made by deconstructing old pieces—chairs, wardrobes, sideboards, and vanities—and reconfiguring their parts into unexpected shapes. While the final form may be radically new, the original furniture elements are recognizable, and Redington often applies strong color to emphasize their individuality while adding visual resonance. Several years ago, Redington began making prints directly from his sculptures, inking impressions from them as if they were huge woodblocks. More recently, he has been creating prints with individual furniture parts, using color to enliven and isolate the different elements. The warm wood-grain, familiar shapes, and lively compositions give these abstractions a playful quality, as if old chairs and tables, left alone in the attic, had begun to dance.

 

Kyoung Ae Cho, Spring, 2019 (detail). Leaves collected in spring, burn marks, thread, matte medium, and Korean rice paper on canvas, 12 by 12 inches. Kyoung Ae Cho is engaged in a conversation with nature. Encompassing sculpture, installation, and fiber-based works, her art is grounded in an intimate dialogue with her materials. Cho starts each piece by mindfully gathering and preparing organic matter and objects of little value, attending to the way their physical properties reveal nature’s language of growth and change. As she explains, “Each meditative, repetitive gesture, each cut, stitch, and placement is part of the experience of merging the natural and the man-made, the physical and the spiritual.” Cho’s patient, collaborative approach to working with natural materials is a poignant metaphor for our relationship with the environment. At a time when we are facing the twin crises of intense climate change and species loss, the humility and tenderness of her process offer both hope and inspiration.

 

Dakota Mace, Dootł’izh, 2018. Handmade abaca paper, seeds, indigo dye, 12 by 16 ½ inches. Dakota Mace extends the vocabulary of traditional weaving to re-interpret the Diné (Navajo) concept of balance within nature. Her art often centers on the symmetry of the four-pointed motif representing Na’ashjéii Asdzáá, or Spiderwoman, who brought weaving to the Diné, as well as the four sacred colors and mountains of Diné culture. While Mace’s work can be appreciated purely for its graphic power and sensitive use of color, it is also a rare and generous offering: a window into the world of the Diné. Mace is skilled in several media, including weaving, beadwork, papermaking, and photography. As with the work above, she often favors alternative photography processes, translating traditional motifs into the language of contemporary art. No matter what medium she chooses, Mace weaves in her understanding of the symbolic abstractions in the Diné creation story.

 
Subject Tags: 
painting and drawing

Contributors

Kyoung Ae Cho

Kyoung Ae Cho is an artist who works with fiber and mixed media. She is currently a Professor at UW-Milwaukee's Peck School of the Arts.

Robin Jebavy

Robin Jebavy has been exploring glassware imagery in painting for many years, drawing inspiration from still life artists including the 17th century Dutch Masters, Paul Cézanne, Giorgio Morandi; and contemporary figures like Janet Fish and Beth Lipman.

Dakota Mace

Dakota Mace (Diné) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work focuses on translating the language of Diné history and beliefs. Mace received her MA and MFA degrees in photography and textile design at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her BFA in photography from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.

Andrew Redington

Andrew Redington is a professional artist who specializes in three-dimensional work. He received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin where he studied metalsmithing, woodworking, and sculpture.

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James Watrous Gallery 
3rd Floor, Overture Center for the Arts
201 State Street
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608.733.6633 x25