To celebrate this week’s thaw, consider heading over to McPherson and view the exhibits at Philip Slein, Houska, and Duane Reed Galleries. Your best bet to find all three open at the same time is Thursdays through Saturdays from 11 to 4. Houska and Duane Reed Galleries are also open Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
This post offers a peek at an opening that took place on Friday, January 16 at Duane Reed Gallery, above, featuring the work of Quynn Douglas Dale, Leslie Song, and Katie Chung. The exhibition runs through February 28.
Artist Quynn Douglas Dale, above, left Brooklyn for St. Louis and a residency at Craft Alliance in 2020. Soon after, they joined the staff at Duane Reed Gallery handling Customer Relationship Management, Website Development and Press and Publications. Their arrangement with Reed was that they work 4 days a week, so the remainder of the week could be devoted to creating art.
The artist is photographed with Liza (the buck) and Bernie, 60 x 58 x 13”, yarn on decoys.
According to Dale’s bio, “their latest body of work draws inspiration from quilting blocks and a culture prioritizing community, feminine labor, and the elevation of overlooked or discarded remnants.”
It took Dale approximately 300 hours to create Red Headed Quilting Block, above, yarn on wood, 102 x 102”.
Dale’s Block Prints, yarn on wood, 10 x 3.5 x 1.5”.
Leslie Song, photographed alongside Obangsaek, acrylic paint, string gel edit, metallic pant and archival paper on wood paper, 35 x 35 x 2.25”.
Song is a St. Lous-based designer, painter, and fiber artist. From the website: “Her current work consists of high-relief structures made up of paper discs, repeating in undulating patterns reminiscent of bird feathers or animal scales.”
Song’s Obansaek series: White, Yellow, Red, Blue, and Black, acrylic paint, archival paper on wood panel, 12 x 12 x 2”.
According to her bio, Chicago-based artist Katie Chung, not photographed, is “a sculptor, illustrator and mural artist inspired by the history of her materials. Her current body of work utilizes dry cleaning tags, fabric shears, and sewing pins sourced from her mother’s business. As a second generation Korean-American, Chung interrogates immigration and cultural identity by elevating these often disposable elements of labor, incorporating repetition and evidence of sacrificed time: a parallel to the costs paid by those who came before her.”
From left, Chung’s Seakdong Star No 1, Everyday, and Overworked, dry cleaning tags, sewing pins, thread, box board, book cloth, 8.75 x 8.75 x 1.5”.
Duane Reed Gallery, 4729 McPherson, Philip Slein Gallery, 4735 McPherson, and Houska Gallery, 4728 McPherson.
Thanks so much for covering art in the CWE, your attention is much appreciated.