Up & Upcoming: Salt Lake Area
Up & Upcoming This Month
The Sculpture of JinMan Jo @ Art Access
by Geoff Wichert
Rigor, self-discipline, and restraint are not qualities popularly associated with artists, who are generally thought to be slipshod sensualists who count on the accidents associated with dissipation and extreme behavior to open them up to insights and inspiration. Yet anyone who has tried to carry a material project through from intention to completion must know that to turn paint and canvas into a convincing depiction, to carve stone into a likeness, or to weld together steel into a geometric form requires the utmost in planning and scrupulous execution: in short, discipline and self-control. It remains only to add that abstraction in no way releases the artist from these strictures. Abstraction may not involve mimicking the visible, but its obligation to the invisible is just as strict and arguably more demanding.
The sculptor JinMan Jo, one of Utah's burgeoning population of Korean immigrants, creates autobiographical metaphors that represent the product of extensive introspection, through which he hopes to start a dialog on individual responsibility within a social environment that is unraveling due to too much self-absorbed behavior. How, he asks, can we fulfill our individual potentials and actualize ourselves while simultaneously taking responsibility for the public space in which we act? Have not commercial materialism and the fragmentation of society into niche markets shattered our human interactions and left us alienated from each other?
Jinman's analogues for this ironic dilemma include swelling boxes held in shape by cobbled together straps; porous, battered barriers recalling bamboo body armor, apparently stretched skyward to accommodate their contents' aspirations; and platforms comprised of the collective, subconscious detritus of our psychic machinery, represented by fragmented gears and conduits. Titled "Self-Consciousness,"|above| "Scream Without Sound," and "The More, The Better," these looming, dark, spiky objects, with their alternately scabrous and rasp-like surfaces, seem likely to remain as forbidding on closer inspection as they feel at first sight. But as the encounter continues, another side of these daunting carapaces emerges, and we become aware of them as living things, or the products of life's longing to continue. If you've never fallen in love with a bizarre plant, or felt the charm of a loathsome beast, these works are not for you. But if, like me, you feel that life is its own truth, then these massive, brutish things may become as delicate and, if not exactly cuddly, at least as sublime for you as I found them to be.
ART ACCESS GALLERIES UPCOMING: 300 Plates. This year's fundraiser & exhibition, featuring 82 established and emerging Utah artists, will be held on May 15th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM in the Art Access Gallery. For reservations and tickets call (801) 328-0703. There will also be a reception featuring the entire exhibition during Gallery Stroll.
Through June 13.
UMFA UP: Crossroads: 5 Perspectives on Art. U of U MFA candidates Matthew Allred, McGarren Flack, Zane Lancaster, Jeremiah Moore, and Sarah Moyer exhibit paintings, drawings, photographs and a mosaic offering different perspective on art along with visual translations of their individual thoughts and experiences, ranging from a painted commentary on our health-ambivalent society to the vibrant and shining tiles of a community mosaic. Through May 18. NOTE: UMFA is not open during Gallery Stroll.
KEN SANDERS RARE BOOKS UPCOMING: Blood, Fertility, & Magic: An Evening of the Sacred, the Primal, the Belly, a performance by poets Melissa Bond and Sara Caldiero-Oertli, photographer Cat Palmer, and artist Kindra Fehr on Friday, May 9th at 8:00 p.m. at the bookstore at 268 South 200 East. "It will be an evening of searing poetry, performance, and visual beauty devoted to the magic of fertility. All four artists are conjurers. All four have shimmy in the hips. All four will be pulling magic out of their hats." Free and open to the public. Artwork and books by the performers will be available at the event and will remain on display until May 23rd.
SALTGRASS PRINTMAKERS UP: Revisited with Stefanie Dykes, Joey Behrens, Trent Call, Dave Boogart, Clyde Ashby, Cameron Bentley, Julian Hensarling, Blake Palmer, Michael Gaffney, Sri Whipple, Damon Smith and Jared Nielsen. Featured is a type of screen printing categorized as an 'excavated print' method --a very different approach from the normal use of screens we are used to seeing.
AND: the SHOP MIX exchange.
ALSO: STEAMROLLER community project, with support from the UAC. Saltgrass is looking for community groups that would like to create a large woodblock print and to be printed with a steamroller. Saltgrass will be offering instruction on how to cut and create the woodblock in May and then have an all day event where we print the images with a steamroller out in our parking lot this summer. Any interested group should contact Erik Brunvand at ebrunvand@hotmail.com
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MILLCREEK ART STROLL (3474 S 2300 E. 274-8628) The Flynn Artipelago, part of the renovated Historic Baldwin Radio Factory, on Friday May 9, 6-9 PM and Saturday May 10, 1-9 PM. 20 local artists will open their studios, including such notables as Zach Hixson, Sheryl Thornton, Candace Rideout, Dawna Barton, Stephanie Saint-Thomas, Jill Barton, Paris Gerrard, Debra Russell, Cheryl Merkley, and David Estes. Music will be performed in the evenings by bands that reherse at the Artipelago: Slickrock Gypsies, The I.B., Velvet Run, and the Red Desert Ramblers. Admission is free.
RIO GALLERY UPCOMING: Untitled, the biennial exhibition that invites you to title works by thrity local artists. Curated this year by Travis Tanner of Tanner Frames. May 16 - June 14.
PHILLIPS GALLERY UP: The fields, skies and mountain ranges of the west as painted by Tom Howard, who was raised in the Bear River Valley, completed his BFA at the U of U in 1984, and earned his MFA at BYU. In his landscapes, Howard seeks to offer solace by capturing a feeling for the tranquility and serenity found in nature: "the sense of being completely alone, and yet in the presence of something truly grand and beautiful." Through May 16th. AND: Abstract portraits by Rowland Hall Saint Marks school's 5th grade art students under the instruction of Kathryn Czarnecki. UPCOMING: Lindey Carter & Don Athay. Dibble: Stephen Seko. Through June 13.
HORNE FINE ART UP: Remembering Sugarhouse: Plein-air paintings and historical reconstructions by Ken Baxter of Sugarhouse landmarks before they fell to redevelopment -- or that have yet to fall. Through May 31. UPCOMING: A striking bronze portrait by surgeon and sculptor Jonathan Horne of Byron Katie, the spiritual teacher whose process "The Work" has transformed hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide.
DON BRADY DRIVE-THROUGH GALLERY (1301 S 2100 E 801-582-4300) UP: Storm's Coming, an installation and first collaboration by Elmer Presslee and Xkot Toxsik. The best times for viewing are rumored to be from dusk to 3 am.
Modern8 GALLERY. UP: The Still Life Project, mixed-media photography by Weber State's Josh Winegar, AND: Landscape oil paintings by graphic designerRuss Gray.
PIONEER PRECINCT BUILDING (1040 W 700 S) The Salt Lake City Arts Council, the Salt Lake City Police Department, and the Sorenson Multicultural Center present the third exhibit of children's art in the Community Gallery. The Computer Clubhouse, an after-school learning environment for youths ages 8-18, creates colorful, whimsical and sophisticated work. This exhibit, entitled "New Beginnings," celebrates the new space the Clubhouse will be moving to in the recently renovated Sorenson Unity Center.
WILLIAMS FINE ART (200 E South Temple Ste 100, 534-0331) UP: Featured artist John Berry. UPCOMING: John Collins whose multi-media works include oil, acrylic and watercolor, using bright neon colors to create abstract landscapes. U of U graduate Collins has collaborated on mural projects in Seattle, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Miami, and Salt Lake.
ART AT THE MAIN UP: Watercolorist Caryn Feeney. Through May 10. UPCOMING: Fresh Paint: New Works by Nancy Swanson, including traditional and abstract watercolors, acrylics, monotypes and oil paintings. May 16 - June 14.
WOMENS ART CENTER UPCOMING: City Crossings, a unique exploration of urban ecology featuring the work of Salt Lake artists Jean Arnold and Joey Behrens.
PALMERS GALLERY UP: New Work by Jody Plant, whose modified books bring to life forgotten and ignored stories; Monika Del Bosque, who paints postmodern narratives involving the domestic; and Justin Wheatley, who abstracts nature to show the spiritual in the mundane. Through May 9. UPCOMING: Utah Watercolor Society 2008 Spring Open Show. 70 paintings juried from submissions by artists from throughout Utah. Through June 14th.
THE WINE STORE (255 S. 300 E.) UP: An exhibit by landscape painters Joshua Baird (of Kanab) and Valerie Orlemann (of Escalante) including landscapes from the Four Corners and the intermountain west. The exhibit benefits the Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners Organization, a non-profit partner for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Their Mission is to provide volunteers, education, and financial resources to support the Monument. The artists proposed this benefit to celebrate the importance of the Monument landscape to their art and in recognition of the contributions of the Partners Organization. The artists will donate 10% of their proceeds to the organization. Through June 28.
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IAO GALLERY UP: Angela Woods: Art and City Living.
Opening May 1st, with a reception on May 14 from 7-9 pm. More than 20 pieces depicting life in the city, capturing the viewer in a familiar, energetic atmosphere. Through May 31.
SALT LAKE ART CENTER UP: Three Decades of Paintings by Gaylen Hansen. Think H.C. Westerman or Philip Guston. Look for edgy narratives with humor and heart. Through May 31 (see March edition).
A GALLERY UPCOMING: New paintings by John O'Connell. Through June 14.
TIN ANGEL CAFE UP: Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails, new work by Justin Angelos.
PICKETT FAIRBANKS GALLERY UP: Plein air paintings by Dean Bradshaw.
CHARLEY HAFEN GALLERY UP: Les Femmes, large-format photographs of sultry nudes by Barbara D Richards.
MICHAEL BERRY GALLERY (163 E. 300, 521-0243) UP: New works by Kindra Fehr.
GALLERY AT LIBRARY SQUARE
UP: The Utah Glass Arts Guild members' show. (See page 3) Through May 31.
ROSE WAGNER ART CENTER UPCOMING: Contact, photographs by Christine Baczek, April 4 through May 31.
WASATCH FRAME SHOP UP: Work by Aaron Fritz.
Through May
BEANS AND BREW (268 S State Street Ste 130; 884-7089) UP: Urban Decay. Photographs by Ben Kuhns, Bryan Allen, and Nate King.
RED BUTTE GARDEN UP: The Nature of Sustainable Art, an indoor exhibit featuring ten artists who sustainable and recycled materials. Regular Garden Admission.
GATEWAY GALLERY (In Anne Michelle Apothica, south end of Gateway Mall, 595-1600) Pastoral Landscapes by Bryan Mark Taylor.
STATIC SALON (240 S 400 W, 363-0900) UP: A unique collection of iconic and pop art from local graffiti-style artist Jonathan Olson.
VISAGE SALON STUDIOS (2006 S 900 E, 328-0069) Visual Art Institute’s 30th Anniversary Celebration Art Exhibit, featuring works by students from ages 5 to 18.
KAYO GALLERY UP: Erin Berrett. Through May 9. UPCOMING: 24 Hours
Through June 13.
GALLERYUAF UP: New Directions, innovative abstract paintings by Chase Leslie.
SOUTHAM GALLERY UP: New paintings by A.D. Shaw, Richard Boyer, Karl Thomas, Linda Curley, and Elva Malin.
ART BARN/FINCH LANE GALLERY UP: Dawn Atkin, clay and mixed media, Lenka Konopasek, paintings and Charles E. Uibel, photographs (see page 1). Through May 30.
CAFE NICHE UP: In celebration of Earth Day, Havilah Mills’ Trash to Treasure and Zach Hixson's Encaustic Paintings.
EVERY BLOOMING THING (444 S 700 E, 521-4773) UP: Carole Evans, Colleen Howe, G.J. Labonty, Megan Pingree, and Arron Stills.
UTAH CULTURAL CELEBRATION CENTER UP: Sudan:The Land and the People.
SAANS PHOTOGRAPHY UP: White Band is Coming: Images of India, photographs by M. Bryan Thompson.
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