NOOBAA Non-Objective Abstract Art is on view Friday, September 16 to October 23 at 3 Square Art Gallery in Fort Collins, CO. I'm excited to show my work, Noradrenaline Dilation, at the exhibition which was selected by Juror Lisa Hatchadoorian, Executive Director, MOA Museum of Art Fort Collins.

Noradrenaline Dilation, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 in. This work is about the chemistry of emotion. It relates color to the role of neurotransmitters that regulate our moods. Here color acts as a metaphor for Noradrenaline which repels a nimbus of gray. Noradrenaline is a transmitter similar to adrenaline that increases levels of alertness, priming us for action. It also increases our blood pressure and widens our air passages.

On May 9th chamber music ensemble Lakeshore Rush released their debut recording titled Moving Parts. My drawing Higgs Boson Study was selected for the album’s cover. The image references the Higgs boson, an invisible energy field present throughout the universe that imbues other particles with mass. In 2012 the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland proved the existence of the Higgs particle. It was discovered by smashing photons and lead ions together to discover smaller particles. Since 1964 it has been a theoretical class of subatomic particles in the Standard Model of physics. It represents centuries of human thought and an exploratory path that leads us towards new horizons. It’s a fitting image for this ensemble’s exploration of new music.

I have to extend a big thank you to MAINSITE Contemporary Art, the Norman Arts Council, and Erin Gavaghan for hosting my MFA Exhibition. The gallery is a wonderful space in the center of Norman, Oklahoma and the opening was part of the city’s 2nd Friday Art Walk, the first held since before the pandemic began. It was wonderful to see so many faces and speak with all kinds of people about this series of work. The show is on view from April 8th through April 23rd.

It was an honor to be included in the 108th SoVA Student Exhibition this year at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma. I received the Excellence in Painting Award, selected by this year’s juror Jennifer Scanlan, for my painting 100 Years of Progress. The work depicts a solar eclipse and includes stars from the taurus constellation in the same position as the 1919 eclipse used to prove Einstein’s theory of relativity.

From November 22 through December 14 we are presenting works by the current MFA students at the University of Oklahoma. It’s our first in person MFA show since 2019. Seeing the first year MFA student presentations in person was refreshing, compared to the virtual Zoom experience of 2020.

The show includes new works by:

Marissa Childers, Julie Clark, Danielle Fixico, Hannah Harper, Wesley Kramer, David Morrison, Benjamin Murphy, Craig Swan, Cody Wilson, Summer Zah

This exhibition examines contemporary painting practices in the United States. Juror Susan Palmisano used this opportunity to look at the breadth and vitality of painting today. The show, according to Palmisano, “ brings together a chorus of rich and varied artistic voices, representative of today’s painting practice.”

This spring it was absolution thrilling to be back in person for an exhibition, albeit in a limited capacity, the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. The 106th University of Oklahoma student exhibition was 100% online, a disappointing experience for my first student show at the university. Since 1915 the School of Visual Art at the University of Oklahoma has been preparing students for success as artists, designers, scholars, teachers, and influential patrons of all the arts. I’m excited to participate in this tradition during the second year of my MFA program.

It’s always fun to visit MAINSITE Contemporary Art in Norman, OK. Today’s opening was especially exciting because it was my first gallery outing since the beginning of the pandemic. I had the privilege of showing two works at this exhibit, The Problem with Plastic No.1 and The Problem with Plastic No.4. Both paintings utilize the ubiquitous plastic bag to create the image and the material adds to the content of these paintings.

Gardiner Gallery of Art
Annual Faculty Exhibition
August 20 - September 20, 2020

This exhibition features recent work of full-time, adjunct, and Emeritus faculty of Oklahoma State University’s Department of Art, Graphic Design and Art History. It offers students and visitors an opportunity to view new directions in work and research by some of the region’s most dynamic artists and educators.

Richard Anuszkiewicz a pioneering practitioner of OpArt (Optical Art) died on May 19th, 2020 at his home in N.J.. He was 89. Born in 1930 in Erie PA, Anuszkiewicz was a student of the great German/American color theorist, Josef Albers. His studies with Albers set the stage for his life long exploration of the contextual relationships of color. Through this lens Anuszkiewicz explored light, chroma, and line, creating sophisticated but playful work. “Color function becomes my subject matter, and its performance is my painting.”

On my calendar this spring is the Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist exhibition that was scheduled to open at the Whitney Museum of American Art on March 13th in NYC. Of course the show is now suspended as a result of COVID-19. The Whitney’s website now has the caption “Dates To Be Announced” under the exhibition heading. I’m skeptical, that when the Whitney does reopen, travel to NYC will be practical, but fingers crossed. I certainly would love the chance to her paintings in person. After New York, the exhibition travels to its final stop at the Palm Springs Art Museum in California. Again dates are TBD.

Sonia Gechtoff is a painter who continually explored shifting relationships between abstraction and figuration. Born in 1926 (d. 2018) she achieved early success on the west coast with a solo show at the de Young Museum, showing along side Clyfford Still, Frank Lobdell, Richard Diebenkorn, Jay DeFeo, and John Altoon in LA.

There’s a lot going on in the world of painting right now. Personally, I’ve learned about several inspiring painters recently that have somehow flown under my radar for years. So I’m making an effort to make sure that I’m better informed. This month I’ll be highlighting two painters that I hope you will take the time to explore and get to know.