“Unreal”
October 25-November 14, 2021
Donald D. Shook Fine Arts Building Gallery
St. Charles Community College
by Allison Carnell
Gallery/installation view: “Unreal” at St.
Charles Community College. Pictured: works by Mark Witzling. Photo by Allison Carnell.
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Gallery/installation view: “Unreal” at St. Charles Community College. Pictured: works by Jasmine Raskas. Photo by Allison Carnell. |
“I recently went to view the abstract exhibition “Unreal” presented at St. Charles Community College. It features multi-media works by ten St. Louis regional artists that focus on the concept of abstraction. The artists whose works were featured in this exhibit include Lydia Boda, EmilyDenlinger, Emily Elhoffer, John Hardecke, Jessica Lynn Hunt, Susan Kunz, Christina McNealy, Jasmine Raskas, Mark Travers, and Mark Witzling.
As a naturalistic painter, I have never been enthusiastic about conceptual work that uses nonobjective forms not found in reality. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I found that I enjoyed the artworks in this show. I was most drawn to the brightly colored works of Emily Denlinger, Susan Kunz, and Mark Travers.
Emily Denlinger. “Human Bioluminescence.”
2021. Dye, Pigment Ink on Watercolor Paper. Emily Denlinger. “Mini Brains Grown in the Laboratory.” 2021. Dye, Pigment Ink on Watercolor Paper.
Gallery/installation view: “Unreal” at St.
Charles Community College. Pictured: works by Emily Denlinger. Photo by Allison Carnell.
Gallery/installation view: “Unreal” at St.
Charles Community College. Pictured: works by Emily Denlinger. Photo by Allison Carnell.
Cape Girardeau-based artist Emily Denlinger
uses dye and pigment ink on watercolor paper to capture her psychological
interpretation of reality. In her drawings, she creates combinations of organic
and rigid lines that swirl on top of pools of intermixing color in chaotic
groupings. I particularly like the pieces that are mostly cool in color because
they evoke serenity. The repeating patterns of mirrored lines and shapes remind
me of organized designs like mandalas and bohemian tapestries, yet the lightning-like
waves also remind me of electrical activity in the brain.
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Susan Kunz. “Contradictions Converge Leaving Summerfield.” 2019. Oil on Canvas. |
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Susan Kunz. “Subliminal Depictions #1.” 2019. Oil on Canvas. |
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Gallery/installation view: “Unreal” at St. Charles Community College. Pictured: works by Susan Kunz. Photo by Allison Carnell. |
I was also intrigued by the oil paintings of Illinois-based artist Susan Kunz. Her work features colorful, naturalistic landscapes juxtaposed with abstract shapes and lines often painted in grayscale. In a show of mostly unrecognizable forms, these landscapes stood out to me. Her landscapes often feature brightly colored flowers with forms that exaggerate movement with drapery-like folds. The swirling monochromatic shapes divide the reality of the natural world and act as a portal to another dimension of cold and mysterious forms. It interests me to see a landscape framed in a unique way that seems to take it out of time and space.
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Gallery/installation view: “Unreal” at St. Charles Community College. Pictured: works by Mark Travers. Photo by Allison Carnell. |
Mark Travers: “Babylon #1.” 2020.
Acrylic.
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Mark Travers: “Meditations #3.” 2020. Acrylic. |
In contrast to these organic works, St. Louisan Mark Travers’ work is heavily geometric, with straight lines and rectangular shapes that resemble a plaid pattern. I find the simplicity of clean forms and hard lines is pleasing and easy to look at. The rectangles show structure and strength and I feel reassured in these designs of trusted, familiar shapes.
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Gallery/installation view: “Unreal” at St. Charles Community College. Pictured: works by John Hardecke. Photo by Allison Carnell. |
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Gallery/installation view: “Unreal” at St. Charles Community College. Pictured: works by Jessica Lynn Hunt, Lydia Boda and Christina McNealy. Photo by Allison Carnell. |
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Gallery/installation view: “Unreal” at St. Charles Community College. Pictured: works by Jessica Lynn Hunt and Christina McNealy. Photo by Allison Carnell. |
Overall, this exhibit displayed a variety of
works that express ideas of reality, abstraction, and surrealism in unique
artistic styles. I love finding new artwork that inspires and delights me as
the works in this exhibition did.
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Allison Carnell is the Fall 2021 Intern at Art Saint Louis and a senior at McKendree University, Lebanon, IL.
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