Two exhibitions
dal 28/4/2005 al 28/5/2005
Segnalato da
28/4/2005
Two exhibitions
Aron Packer Gallery, Chicago
Teresa Mucha James, The Unseen World (A little voice with infinite power). In these large and medium-scale drawings, the artist fuses numerous influences, folk art, Victoriana, and Renaissance painting. Toni Hafkenscheid, HO. Taken across North America, his recent images propose a singular perspective on ordinary landscapes and urban territory
Gallery One: Teresa Mucha James, The Unseen World (A little voice with infinite power), drawings
Have you ever felt that there was a realm utterly real, yet indiscernible by
human perception? This is the territory explored by Teresa Mucha James in
her latest solo exhibition at Aron Packer Gallery. In these large and
medium-scale drawings, James fuses numerous influences (folk art,
Victoriana, and Renaissance painting, and succeeds in lending her subjects
an air of peace and serenity. This calm is a result of an unseen reality
where its subjects hover somewhere between heaven and earth. Natural images
such as flowers and other intricately depicted plants intertwine with the
imagery and become a reminder of our life here on earth. While James has
begun using color and larger sizes for this new series, she still draws from
her past work by depicting wings and iconic hands. These images remain her
staple and speak of supernatural activity, caring, and angels on earth.
Teresa Mucha James is owner of White Wings Press. 1991-2002 Master Printer
at Big Cat Press, Printing for such artists as: Tony Fitzpatrick, Ed
Paschke, Gladys Nilsson, Jon Langford, Jim Nutt, Sam Messer, Wes Mills,
Martin Mull, and Tom Huck. She has work in collections across the U.S.
including Northwestern University's Block Gallery and the Portland Museum of
Art.
Gallery Two: Toni Hafkenscheid, HO, photographs
For several years, Toni Hafkenscheid's (Rotterdam/Toronto) work has examined
artifice as a device for blurring the limits between reality and fiction.
The exhibition HO - a name used for the scale of model train sets - brings
together his most recent photographs and blurs the line between reality and
illusion. For the spectator, his idiosyncratic photographic process --
using a very shallow depth of field and combining areas of very sharp focus
with very soft ones -- distorts the gaze into something surreal and
disconcerting.
Taken across North America, his recent images propose a singular perspective
on ordinary landscapes, urban territory, suburbs and the grandiloquent
Northern woods. Although they are taken from real life, the photographs have
the inherent quality of a mise-en-scène-- the static, perfect, even
idealized state of models and miniatures. Isolated by out-of-focus
foregrounds and backgrounds, neat houses, deserted streets, shops and trains
breaking through majestic landscapes make the dark side of things invisible.
Meticulously circumscribed, the colored scenes of HO recall a certain
American dream, a view of an immediate future typical of the 1950s.
Toni Hafkenscheid has a MFA from the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. He has
exhibited his works at Dazibao in Montréal, Napier University in Edinburg,
La Chambre Blanche in Québec, Desmet in Amsterdam, Capi Lux in Amsterdam,
the Centre for Exploratory and Perceptual Art in Buffalo, the Canadian
Embassy in Tokyo, the E3 Gallery in New York, the Power Plant in Toronto and
the Floating Gallery in Winnipeg.
Artists' Reception: Friday, April 29, 6-9 PM
Image: Teresa Mucha James, Binding Broken Hearts, drawing
Aron Packer gallery 118 N Peoria Chicago IL 60607
Gallery Hours: Tuesday  Saturday 11:00AM  5:30PM