Going to art school at the members show
Kristen Scholfield-Sweet
Imagine we are walking in the front door of the Schoolhouse Gallery, and not pausing yet in the lobby. I ask us to instead turn left and look at the far wall opposite the windows. Here we begin our lessons in the members show art school. While all the works in this exhibition have all of the art qualities I am going to talk about, each wall has works that illustrate some particular art elements. Using texture, scale, image, and the marks themselves, the artists displayed on this wall show that ART IS RECEIVED THROUGH THE SENSES.
When we look right, to the back wall of the gallery, we see a cluster of 2- and 3-dimensional works that dramatically demonstrate that SCALE IS RELATIONSHIP, COLOUR IS EMOTION, and SHAPE IS METAPHOR.
When we turn around and look at the moveable wall, we are greeted with the awareness that ART IS DISCOVERY. We see that our ability to discover in art is greater than our ability to invent.
As we walk around the moveable wall, we are confronted with the notion that ART IS BAFFLING. What are we looking at, and how does poetry fit?
As we turn around and look toward the entry into the gallery, we see a wall that illustrates that ART IS REVELATION. Art reveals not only its process of making, but its depth of narrative.
At last, we walk back into the lobby and discover works that show us that ART IS THE WHOLE. There are no dead spaces or inactive areas in the compositions. We see that every part, and every part between the part, is whole.
There is more depth to these conversations to be shared during a walking tour and critique of the members showand I invite artists and visitors to join me on Friday, August, 19, at 7 pm. Come to art school at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery.
Til soon, Kristen
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