October 14, 2008, 12:40 pm
Kindnesses, John Beckelman
Hard experience with years of “Intro to Art” students has taught me that few terms can relegate a person to the ranks of overly intellectualized academia more quickly than “contemporary, non-objective abstraction”. The genre begs a hasty, concise explanation.
Resonance, John Beckelman
John Beckelman’s mixed-media paintings that just opened in our new exhibit on October 3rd are examples of contemporary, non-objective abstraction. There is nothing remotely “academic” about this remarkable body of work. Clay, pigment and oil combine on richly worked, tactile surfaces. These are also not “pictures” of anything literal. Bold use of materials alternates with a palpable restraint in compositions that drip and flow across Beckelman’s panels. Cosmic events and playful musings hang side by side in calculating coherence.
First Light and On Becoming, both John Beckelman
I’ve been privileged to a front row seat to John’s evolution of imagery. I am sensitive to the degree to which his paintings draw the viewer into a deeply personal, visual experience. Commingled with his ceramic vessels, it is my belief that, in this exhibition of two and three dimensional work, we are afforded a rare, expansive view into his artistic life.
John Beckelman and Priscilla Steele, Coe College campus, Fall 2008
September 15, 2008, 9:02 pm
It seems that most of the sea changes of my life have been marked by pilgrimages along the vast stretches of Route 80. A coupla weekends ago we drove our youngest daughter, Willa, with her earthly possessions to Providence, R.I., and stopped for a lightning quick birthday celebration in Brooklyn with Maggie, our oldest daughter. In four days we traveled 2600 miles.
Our progression from the grandeur of western Pennsylvania’s Appalachians which gives way to rolling hills and cultivated fields of the Midwest served as a backdrop to my own sentimental, blue thoughts. Three children in three distinct cities fashioning lives based on their interests and talents is, however, a source of great joy.
Likewise, returning to the space that Craig has created for my studio has allowed me to explore new directions in my drawing and printmaking. So, while our family spreads out, our deadline of October 3rd for our renovations in the gallery looms imperiously large on our domestic and business horizon. Heads up! Sea changes prevail in the Campbell Steele sphere!
September 10, 2008, 6:30 pm
I came upon the word “polymath” in a review by Michael Kimmelman in the New York Times. It means: “a person of great learning in several fields”.
I know a lot of people who know a LOT about one thing, but the only true polymath in my personal experience has been David Goodwin. On the art faculty at Coe College since 1974, David could speak spontaneously and compellingly about the visual, literary, cinematic, and performing arts. Because of his love for his subject, I loved listening to David talk about anything, but especially art. An instinctual teacher, David’s explanations endowed images and objects from remote cultures and times with an urgent immediacy.
So, conjure the most tritely beautiful spring morning of crystal blue skies and sunshine. Birds are singing and a light breeze gently lifts newly leaved boughs on the trees. This is what it was like this past April when David and I approached each other while passing between buildings on campus. In silent, smiling acknowledgment, we noted the deliciousness of the moment. Then, like a figure in a William Steig illustration, large, ungainly David broke into a joyous skip - his arms swinging from side to side in child-like arcs.
On this past Wednesday, David laid down for a nap, and never awoke. His passing is a colossal blow to the department in which I enjoy the diverse company of people who are dear to me. His presence in our circle is, indeed, irreplaceable.
Two dear friends whom we have known since we were all just beginning our careers are “transitioning”. To celebrate the culmination of their highly successful and dedicated work with the public schools, we gifted them the low-fire ceramic work of our own wacky Kathy Thor. There is nothing that is predictable about this woman’s inimitable work. (I mean NOTHING!) Who else would create a visual paean to a blender, or a mosaic tiled deer’s head trophy? Our friends were feeling somewhat at a loss on these cool, beginning- of-the-school-year- mornings, and Kathy’s work dispelled their blues with quick and hearty laughter.
Parents could not ask for more tireless, highly motivated, serious/funny people than Leon and Jean as teachers of their children. Both believe in the perennial potential of each student, and both NOW are embarking new adventures. Figuring prominently amongst said adventures is grandparenting Aleia, born into this world on a day that has gone down in local infamy- Friday, June 13th. Welcome to Aleia Lueck! All hail Leon Lueck and Jean Oberbroeckling!
Artist, Peter Thompson, looked up from some new cyanotypes by Iowa City photographer (and Coe adjunct instructor), David Heffner. With a big smile on his face he pronounced them to be, “SO Northern European Renaissance!”
We are accustomed to the easy connections we make to somewhat obscure, visual references. That we can do this, forges a comraderie based on visual delight with many colorful personalities far smarter than we. In Heffner’s “Ship of Fools” suite, there is indeed that unmistakable tie to the unwavering Northern European look at the weaknesses of Man. Portraying himself as the universal fool, Heffner takes on a Breugelian peasant’s doltish persona. He puffs mightily at a cigar as an absurd rat-catcher, and, shaman-like, poses somberly in front of a wall of hub-caps. The images are nothing less than a humorous and forthright indictment of our all too human sense of self-importance.
(And a couple of Northern Renaissance images you might like to take a look at, as a point of comparison: The Harvesters (I have to point out the
passed-out-drunkeness of the harvesters in the foreground, Bruegel’s
characteristic nod to the fraility of our species!), The Painter and the Buyer, and Hunters in the Snow, all Pieter Bruegel the Elder.)
Larry Welo woke up at 4 a.m. on Thursday, August 7th and methodically circuited through a series of pick-ups and deliveries to the galleries representing his work that dot eastern Iowa. We count ourselves lucky to know this creative soul and to exhibit his etchings. The insight and quiet humor that are revealed in Welo’s prints are such a direct expression of who he is. A bike rider recklessly mounted on a bicycle careening downhill with the improbable text “I know where I’m going” etched beneath
and an expansive view of a mid-western horizon,
are only two of the images which Thursday’s visit yielded. Of late, Larry’s muse seems to have been drawn to the woods. Clusters of trees stand like venerable presences leaning toward each other in communion. Their twined branches offer shade, silence, sanctuary.
And, after much pleading, Mary Weisgram delivered new stoneware and porcelain!
It’s always Christmas when we get new work from this artist. A great staple in the range of functional pottery that the gallery exhibits, this Ames potter’s work can make serving food and drink an aesthetic event.
