Three CWE galleries held openings on Friday, July 12; Duane Reed and Houska Galleries on McPherson, and Square One Gallery at 4814 Washington. If you missed the openings, there is still plenty of time to stop in and view these exhibitions before they close. Hours and closing dates follow each listing.
Houska Gallery describes its mid-summer show Salt Lick, as “drawing inspiration from a trove of Summertime references – sweat, beaches, bodies, and blue skies – artists embrace these fluid ideas and offer us the salt of Summer!”
The group show features works by Kurt Herrmann, Roscoe Hall, Zackary Petot, Jacob Janes, Nick Erker, Sarah Paulsen, Amy Reidel, Larry Torno, John Marksbury, Philip Lesicko, Julie Malone, and Justin King.
Also featured is new work by Janie Stamm, who uses a craft-based approach to her art.
Shown above, Jacob Janes Mushroom in White Ground, oil on panel, 22 x 19 inches. Far left, Roscoe Hall A Power in That, mixed media, 24 x 26 inches.
Clockwise from top: Roscoe Hall, Thinking of Home, mixed media, 24 x 48 inches, Justin King’s Bison #4, mixed media, 30 x 22 x 21 inches, Jacob Janes, Hat, oil on panel, 16 x 20 inches and lower right, Janes’ Mushroom on Black Ground, oil on panel, 22 x 18 inches, Janes’ Bull Rope, oil on panel, 33 1/2 x 26 inches, and Roscoe Hall’s Fighting Against Conviction, 24 x 48 inches.
Sarah Paulsen’s Good Vibrations, oil on panel, 10 x 8 inches.
According to her bio, Janie Stamm “lived at the edge of the Everglades in Broward County, and after earning her MFA in Visual Art from Washington University now resides on the western banks of the Mississippi River, where she continues to be inspired by the unconventional artifacts of her home state.”
From left, Rainbow Parrotfish, 13.5 x 20 inches, thread, canvas, and sequins. Right, Mahi Mahi, 30 x 58 inches, thread, glass beads and sequins.
Here is a close-up of Rainbow Parrotfish showing Stamm’s beautiful embroidery.
Stamm’s Big Eye, 16 x 20 inches, thread, canvas, sequins, tulle, glass beads.
Houska Gallery, 4728 McPherson, Tues. – Sat. 11 to 4. Salt Lick will remain on view until August 30.
At Duane Reed Gallery:
Gallerist Duane Reed. above right, is photographed next to Kensuke Yamada’s sculpture, To Leave Something Behind 2024, stoneware, 47 x 26 x 11 inches.
Artist Kensuke Yamada posing with A Little Self-Love Can Help, stoneware, 43 x 15 x 10 inches.
Anna Johnson, a jeweler and metalsmith in Asheville, North Carolina, collaborated with Yamada on the sculptural pieces shown above. From left: State of Mind, ceramic, brass, bronze, 24k gold leaf, 10 x 7 x 6 inches, middle, White Summer Dreams, ceramic, brass, gold leaf, cast hyacinth, 9 x 6 x 6 inches, and right, Fungeyes, ceramic, bronze, 23k gold leaf, cast-shell mushroom, 9 x 7 x 6 inches.
Kensuke and Johnson met while teaching at Penland School just outside of Asheville. Anna Johnson had wanted to do more sculptural work for a long time, so she and Kensuke approached Duane Reed about a collaboration, which Reed encouraged. Kensuke created the ceramic pieces in Little Rock—where he was based until recently (he’s now headed to teach in Chico, CA)—and then shipped the pieces to Johnson to complete.
Sun Smith-Foret is a professional studio artist, teacher, and independent curator. Her bio states that: “During her long career spanning sculpture, fiber, quilting and amulet objects, Smith-Foret’s latest series of paintings reference a rich history of fauvist and postmodern tradition, deployed with the artists’s sense of play and contemporary design. After years of knotted linen works, the artist exchanges her fibers for soft material with a keen eye.”
From left above, Still Live with Geometry. An Upper East side Artifact with Snowdrops, Amaryllis and Tea Towel Tanager, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 inches. Still Life with Dawn’s Hydrangea, Field Flowers Stems Leaves, and Plasma Screen on which recently screened Godfather I, Yellowstone, Women in Love, Ozark, Harold and Maude, 2024, acrylic on canvas. Stella Homage in Fictive Space based on Jane and Don’s CWE Interior Garden, 24 x 24 inches.
Sun-Foret’s Upper East Side Interior with Charlotte’s Kitty/Tray/Nut Dishes Peppi Montesino’s Ikebana, Maui Ridge Line, Monogram Jumble of High Influence Predecessors, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 inches.
Duane Reed Gallery, 4729 McPherson, Tues. – Sat. 11 to 4, Current exhibition closes August 17.
Square One Gallery is exhibiting Rachel English’s paintings titled Between Heaven & Earth. The artist, who is from the Texas Hill Country and was in town for the opening, is photographed in front of Cloudscape 123, oil on canvas, 48 x 30 inches.
A close up of Cloudscape 123. According to English’s bio: “These paintings are my personal way of wrestling heaven to earth, in an effort to satisfy the human urge to cherish Existence, and to revere its transcendent meaning.”
English’s Cloudscape 124, oil on linen, 40 x 30 inches.
Lightening Strike 38, oil on linen, 18 x 18 inches.
Also on view at Square One Gallery is:
Dewitt’s Skulls (Red), acrylic and diamond dust on canvas, 30 x 30 inches.
DeWitt’s Cathedral (Red), acrylic and diamond dust on canvas, 20 x 24 inches, framed.
Square One Gallery, 4814 Washington, Ste. 312, Mon. – Fri. 9 to 6. The current exhibition closes August 6. Tiger Moth, a solo exhibition by contemporary artist and painter Sarah Giannobile opens Friday, August 9 from 6 to 9 p.m.