Detail of “Strike Anywhere” by Mackenzie Kouba :: Photo by Kensie Wallner

2011 F-M Visual Artists Big Art Show at the Hjemkomst

By Millie Hanson
Arts Editor

The BIG Art Show, presented by the Fargo Moorhead Visual Artists (FMVA), will be on display April 8 through June 8, 2011 at the Hjemkomst Center. This show includes a wide variety of art from both emerging and established artists. When you’re looking at the artwork, take time to read the artist’s statement associated with it. You’ll discover the thought processes that went into the work along with inspiration and any experimentation they may have tried with mediums. It’s a rare window for you to see into the creative process.

The opening on April 19 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. offers a chance to hobnob with the F-M artistic community and also meet the FMVA artists. Make sure to come back before June 8 and spend some uninterrupted time with the pieces that resonated with you at the opening and to explore the others. Almost all the art is for sale.

There is an engaging variety of paintings, ceramics, wood carving, mixed media, mosaics, and three-dimensional pieces. From more established artists comes a study of a young girl making a wreath of daisies in “Child Braiding After Bouguereau” by classically-trained oil painter Patrick Tupa. A blown glass vase by Jon Offutt (one of the best glass blowers in the Midwest) called “Early July” in blues, dark green and white, also makes a showing.

Other exhibited work includes “Strike Anywhere” by Mackenzie Kouba. This visually arresting oil painting shows a young girl in overalls, with arms crossed in front of her, holding a box of matches in one hand and the burnt remains of a match in the other. Wrapped around her head, neck and mouth is a red and white striped cloth with one of the strategically placed wrinkles falling in a place where her mouth would be. The fact that her scarf is on fire only adds to the sense of unease in the painting that makes the viewer question the circumstances that led the little blonde girl to this moment in time.

“Sunday” by Matthew Eckelberg is one of 11 photographs in the show and is one in a series called Meck design, this one showing the Black building in downtown Fargo. The building looks to be a grayscale photo showing only pure black values superimposed on top of another photo of water drops that is then placed on a white-reddish rust-black vertical gradient. Eckelberg’s use of photo manipulation really emphasizes that this is the Black building and makes the landscape seem other-worldly and almost sinister.

Kim Jore’s watercolor called “The Nestor” is part of a collection called Pubs Off Broadway and has an interesting story behind it. Jore is doing a three-year project to raise money for the Great Plains Food Bank and also to visually document the pubs of Fargo-Moorhead. The first series captured pubs on Broadway, the second shows pubs off Broadway, and the third will show pubs revisited. What great motivation to practice your craft and donate to a worthy cause!

There are unexpected surprises at the show like “General Issue Holiday Ornamentation” by Dave $auvageau. From seeing it across the room, it looks like a ho-hum Christmas-themed piece and made me wonder why on earth it was included in the show. On closer inspection this pine packing crate filled with natural colored crinkled paper strips holds not Christmas ornaments but hand grenades! What? Yes, $auvageau wants to show how everyday themes of patriotism, religion and current events affect our everyday life. He fools our eyes by taking “known” items (Christmas ornament balls) and making them out of high quality porcelain but also using cheap wire (just like traditional ornament hangers) for the grenade pins. All five ornament grenades come packaged in a container styled after ammunition boxes and shipping crates. He pushes his idea futher by having the Baby Jesus manger-like “straw” keeping the ornament grenades safe so they don’t accidentally detonate. I never knew a depiction of hand grenades could be so charming until now.

Some pieces clearly draw on past art movements - the Abstract Expressionism of Johns and Miró, the Cubism of Picasso, the Surrealism of Dali, and the American Realism of Hopper - yet each piece speaks in the unique voice of the artist. The entire show is completely FMVA volunteer-based, from the administration in collecting the work to the hanging of the show. This year six members, including Board President Eric Syvertson and Jaqueline Andeson, were involved. Jaqueline arranged the pieces in the downstairs space.

This year there are also a lot more FMVA members in the show, since only one piece per artist was allowed. The FMVA’s BIG Art Show allows artists an opportunity to become known and exhibit along with artists who have been showing their work for decades. With 51 pieces of art in the show, there is bound to be something to appeal to everyone. Come down and check it out!

For more information on the Hjemkomst Center, check out the website at http://www.hcscconline.org.

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

IF YOU GO:
What: The BIG Art Show
When: Public reception Tuesday, April 19, 5 – 7 p.m.
The exhibit runs from April 8 through June 8, 2011.
Where: The Hjemkomst Center, 202 First Ave. N., Moorhead
Cost: The reception is FREE to the public
The Hjemkomst Center museum hours:Monday – Saturday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sunday, noon – 5 p.m. and until 8 p.m. on Tuesdays. Admission rates are adults ($7), seniors and college students ($6), youth, 5 – 17 ($5) and children, 4 & under (free).