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Art Passages presents The Faculty Exhibition
May - July 2011 at "Gallery 651"
651 Pine Street, County Administration Building, Martinez, CA, 9 - 5 Mon - Fri
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Contra Costa County has three community colleges, Contra Costa, Diablo Valley and Los Medanos with outstanding visual arts educators who are practicing painters, printmakers, photographers, sculptors and ceramicists. The artists who are in this exhibition were graduated with Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the California College of the Arts, University of California, Davis, the Art Institute of Chicago, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Montana State University, Bozeman, California State University at Fullerton and John F. Kennedy University. These artists bring a wealth of experience and pass on their skills, knowledge and philosophy to their students, some of whom will also become artists, but most of whom will simply enrich their own lives through an understanding, appreciation and support of the visual arts. The imagery of these artists is as diverse as their backgrounds and sometimes challenges the viewer, but is always engaging and rewarding. |
The variety of images by these artists ranges from the nonrepresentational to the photographic. Carol Ladewig's nonobjective imagery includes monoprints, digital prints as well as pastel on paper and oil/alkyd on canvas/wood and, at times, recalls the paintings of Mark Rothko. Judi Pettite uses color to express a mood along with both large and small works to play with the notions of immersion and intimacy. She intends that the viewers find themselves saturated in color and pattern, a sea of intentional and random marks evolving into something nuanced, complex and engaging. Donna Fenstermaker, originally a printmaker, now prefers plein air landscapes in the tradition of the Barbizon and Impressionist painters. Her challenge is to capture the changing light, color and mood and her pleasure is painting out of doors. Karl McDade, a ceramicist, creates serigraphs originated from architectural drawings which he used as decorative motifs to embellish large ceramic vessels. Each image is a unique overlay of screen-printed imagery, gouache and graphite. Jane Fisher prefers to paint ordinary subjects in performance and isolation. Her portraits, both human and animal, were photographed by the artist at the annual American Royal Livestock Show in Kansas City, Missouri and then transformed into these unique paintings. Photography continues to both reveal and mystify. Bonnie Holt documents tourists while on her many travels abroad resulting in some revealing insights into both tourists and tourism. Chris Marker likes to hike and view trees, yet while looking, he states that we do not always see. Beginning with a negative, Marker prints an image using two nineteenth century photographic processes, gum bichromate and cyanotype.
The Contra Costa County Arts Commissioners recognize and honor the craft, creativity, and vision of these artists.
Darwin Marable Ph.D.
Arts Commissioner, District II |
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