Shaping Boundaries-STC Weslaco

The exhibition concept, “Shaping Boundaries” is aptly supported by three artists:  Andrew W. Martin, Anne Longo, and Shawn Camp.  The overall exhibition is visually dynamic.  All three artists have delimited space within their artwork, but Martin’s soft flat charcoal surfaces contrast nicely with Longo’s busy textures and glazed planes and Camp’s glossy sculptural reliefs.  

In landscape/divide, Martin extracts an image from a featureless background. He shows us the specific area by marking it off with masking tape.  This secondary view of the landscape is tacked up with masking tape over the background image.  It allows us to see details of the landscape, but it further limits our aspect.  Both background and foreground views are bounded by our own limited ability to see beyond the framework that is provided us.  The casual application of masking tape to the image implies that the boundaries are ephemeral or lack importance.  

We see a landscape of a flat plain with an unbroken horizon line In Frontera #3 by Longo.  A road leading to the horizon provides an additional element of perspective.  The area above the horizon line can initially be perceived as sky, but slowly, a secondary landscape emerges out of the haze.  A highly textured scrawl of veinlike patterns reminiscent of earth covers the entire surface.   Close inspection of the substrate reveals that these are the contour lines on maps of New Mexico and Mexico.  Longo requires us to look into and under the surface to discover the shifting nature of boundaries. 

Camp combines expressionistic and impressionist style with studied linear elements that intersect the surface.  He creates the impression of actual terrain with thick acrylic and oil impasto in varying shades of blue, green and brown.  The lines appear to be an underlying element from which the surface is pulled away, revealing an order underlying the seemingly random and plastic undulations on the surface.  This technique doesn’t jive with his stated concept of humans imposing order out of chaos.  However, the inclusion of a 1997 painting by Camp in which he employed the technique of scraping away a built-up surface, as opposed to building areas around background elements, provides some insight.  Camp has not reconciled an old concept with his new technique.  

Martin and Longo teach at Texas Tech University, and Camp has a studio in Austin.  All three hold Masters of Fine Art degrees.  The exhibit was curated by Tom Matthews, an art instructor at STC.    

McAllen Arts Council 3rd Annual Exhibition

3rd Annual McAllen Arts Council Fine Art Exhibition in Conjunction with Festiva

The McAllen Arts Council recently held its 3rd Annual Fine Art Exhibition.  The organizers invited secondary school teachers teaching in Hidalgo County to showcase their artistic talent.  

Jessica Monroe, who teaches at Med High, explores scenes from a very close range, creating a somewhat abstract effect.  Surface patterning in each scene, such as the street in her painting Rank, is emphasized, and geometric grids are also integrated into the surface.  The surfaces values on the grid are modulated in such a way that they recede and advance over the entire picture plane to great effect.  The geometric grids counterbalance the fluidity of curvilinear shapes within the scene.  Although you can understand the concept of the artwork by its title, the picture tells the story.  The high ranking bird is established by its placement in the composition, and the contrasting values that allow it to stand out as the primary focal point.   All of the other elements are subordinate to this focal point, and have a corresponding visual weight.  A reduced color palette allows value relationships to stand out.  Monroe is a clear stand-out, because she successfully integrates concept, technique and aesthetic in her artwork.  

Several other artists exhibit effective technical skills.  Isai Mireles sets up an interesting visual tension through the subtle use of complementary colors in his painting of a pair of shoes.  This tension creates an optical effect that appears to animate the shoes--as if they are about to set off walking or dancing.  Isabel Link’s Tres Peras is a textbook example of how to use  line, shape, value, texture and color that is aesthetically pleasing.   Lisa D. Saldivar tames spiraling shapes and a psychedelic color scheme by corralling them within larger shapes in varying sizes, and by allowing areas of rest within the picture frame. Geographic coordinates stand in for perspective lines in Sol, Llios, Naytheet Ah Kin, Qurax, Grian, Surje by Marco Antonio Sanchez.  Oddly juxtaposed imagery of Nordic skiers and ancient icons populate a surreal landscape seemingly inspired by a 70’s rock song.  

The ability to successfully integrate the three fundamental aspects of a work of fine art, concept, technique, and aesthetic, is what makes a “fine” artist.  Artwork that falls short of this can be categorized as a sample, sketch, or study.  Work that is simply decorative, moves it into the realm of commercial art rather than fine art.  Much of the work in this exhibition falls short of a fully realized “fine art exhibition.”  Perhaps MAC should remove the word “fine” from its title.