Axis Gallery is pleased to have Amy Owen, curator at di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, as juror for the 14th National Juried Exhibition.
Bondage Vase III, 2018
found vase, oil, fiber, steel, liquid leaf
Nature’s Mona Lisa, 2019
acrylic on canvas
Swimmer #5, 2019
Mixed Media on canvas (oil, acrylic, oil pastel, paper)
![from the Contested Terrain series [wrap around], 2019](http://axisgallery.org/cmswebsite/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Beach_000004_697230_208152_6420-1600x1389.jpg)
from the Contested Terrain series [wrap around], 2019
reclaimed foam, synthetic rope, wood and cardboard
Square, 2019
cotton,resin and spraypaint
Roar, 2018
Acrylic and oil on canvas
All My Plans, 2018
Acrylic paint on Canvas
Michael Bullock, Austin TX
Archival C-Print
Big Bend, 2019
Photography
Disembedded, 2018
Plaster, Oxides, Frit
2017 Untitled #1, 2017
Oil and silverpoint on panel
Rio Bravo II-II, 2019
lithograph
Skies , 2017
Photography
Hideaway, 2019
photography
Small Vertical Wing, 2019
3d print and metal coating
Migration North-Traveling By Rail, 2018
Acrylic on Canvas
Field Study (U3CP1), 2018
hand dyed cotton fabric, thread
FLEX/FLUX: Sway, 2018
Acrylic, Flashe & Ink on fabriano paper
Cheese Balls in the Age of..., 2017
video
Cyborg_Goddess, 2019
video
Flight of the Albatross, 2017
Acrylic on canvas
Snug, 2018
Polyurethane, tulle, polyester fiberfill, dye
Cycles 3: Extinction, 2019
corten steel
the openhearted have nothing to fear, 2018
repurposed leather , waxed twine
Woman in Printed Dress, 2019
Oil on Canvas
O’Haire Motor Inn, 2017
Photography
Sound Waves #5: Reverberation, 2018
Hand stitched thread on dye painted textile
I Am Nature, 2019
Graphite on Stonehenge Paper
absolutely, maybe., 2018
mixed media with acrylic paint
Houseboat, 2018
Multi-Plate Intaglio
All Day in the Sun, 2018
Photography
Mid-Century Modern, 2018
Digital Photography augmented with fabricated imagery
After the Fire, Part 2, 2014
Silver Gelatin print struck from large format sheet film
El Playon, 2017
Video
Venus VI, 2019
oil on canvas
Enormity, 2019
Color Photography
Ocean Dip 1955, 2019
color photograph dye infused on aluminum
Fifty States, 2018
Pigment from US map on canvas
Small O I, 2018
Textile, appliqué
Two Young Monks, 2010
Photography
Jane Springwater, San Francisco CA
Etching; Aquatint; Sharpie resist drawing on copper plate
White Sands, 2019
Photography
Horse for my Grandparents front view, 2018
ceramic and cob on wood base
Tierra de las Hadas, 2018
paper clay, wire, howlite beads, graphite, acrylic paint
Armor is heavy, 2018
papier mache, paper clay, wood, copper, acrylic and flashe
Salute to the Moon, 2018
paper clay, papier mache, ink on paper, acrylic and flashe
Wax & Wane, 2018
Oil
Paul Taylor, Berkeley CA
sumi ink and conte crayon on paper
Florence, Gallery Sitter, 2018
wood, cotton, silk, gold leaf, foam, fake fur, book ...
UPWELLING #4, 2018
kiln formed cold worked glass, metal
A Series of Tubes, 2018
Mixed (ceramic, wood, metal)
Composition REA, 2018
Relief monotype
The Philosophy Of Children, 2019
Oil Painting
Link Light, 2017
Solid cypress wood and LED lighting and handmade paper
The Importance of Green Space, 2019
dog pad,felt,chain,wood,leather,turf,patch,ribbon,wool,fur
If Axis Gallery’s national juried exhibition competitions of the recent past have demonstrated a more overt collective resistance to the tumult of our current political climate, this year’s submissions reflect a distinct turning of the tide. Of the more than 1,300 submissions reviewed, I was struck by the overwhelming prevalence of works pointing to nature, to escape, to leisure, to humor, to love, and to the sheer bliss of abstraction and materiality. I almost (guiltily) felt a sense of relief, having braced myself for a much weightier landscape of works, given our persistent uncertainty. Instead, I found myself perusing an aggregate of submissions that seemed, on the surface, less a mirror of the times and more a retreat from reality. That’s not to say that the work is any less rigorous or provocative. In fact, upon closer examination, this diverse body of output from fifty-four artists from around the country calls to mind elements of the sublime—an eighteenth-century theory that connects beauty with awe, terror, and a sense of foreboding.
Take for example Paul Murray’s Enormity(2019) which captures the epic-ness of sand dunes in the US southwest. Through uncanny composition, it calls to mind recent acts of nature—from damaging tornadoes across the southern United States to significant earthquakes in Southern California—prompting a sense of unease and fear as we anticipate the “big one.” Similarly, Dean Burton’s photo Big Bend(2019), cropped and framed in a diamond orientation akin to a traffic sign, elegantly signals a warning of the effects of climate change and our impact on the planet. While absorbing images of the natural world may act as a welcome forest bathing session or digital detox, the Anthropocene can’t help but loom large.
Other notions of escape feature prominently as well—some more literal portrayals of urgent migration, and others that transport us to states of leisure or completely fantastical realms. Myra Eastman’s Migration North—Traveling by Rail(2018) depicts immigrants fleeing gangs, violence, or poverty and conjures the horrific trials of children separated from their mothers and detained at the Texas border. Patrick Watson’s The Philosophy of Children(2019) captures a dreamlike scene of children dancing on a floating scaffold hovering above what lies beneath, a welcome antidote to the times.
Lindsay Garcia’s humorous video Cheese Balls in the Age of… (2017) provides levity via the adventures of economy-size jars of cheese puffs (a now oft-used Trumpian meme) that the work’s trio of performers just can’t rid themselves of, however hard they try. And Stephenee Borelli’s painting Roar(2018), which captures a child silently screaming into the void, harnesses this frustration and anger in a single image to near-comic effect.
Another thread traces elements of Northern California’s artistic legacy of reuse and reclamation and pushes the limits of materiality. Joanne Tepper Saffren’sGallery Sitter(2018), a soft sculpture-cum-chair made from wood found on the shores of Folsom Lake, offers a moment of comfort and repose while also paying tribute to the 130 million trees that died in the 2012–17 drought. And Elaine Buss’s experimentations with plaster, oxide, and frit, as seen in the intimate vessel Disembedded(2018), carry forward the revolution in ceramics begun with Peter Voulkos, Ron Nagle, and Viola Frey.
Taken as a whole, these works suggest a quieter, more contemplative protest and present a range of opportunities to imagine alternative realities and new perspectives. While our dismal political and societal situation may continue to wear us down to the point of wanting to run and hide, we are reminded that art, with its powers of beauty, lightness, and escape, also has the capacity to disrupt, critique, and raise awareness.
Amy Owen
About the Juror
Since 2013 Amy Owen has been the curator at di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art in Napa, where she is in charge of the collection of Northern California art and head curator for temporary exhibitions. Her recent exhibitions include Viola Frey: Center Stage(2019); the two-part Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times(2018); Based on a True Story: Highlights from the di Rosa Collection (2017); and Equilibrium: A Paul Kos Survey(2016). Forthcoming exhibitions include the first institutional survey of work by Jean Conner (2020). Owen previously held curatorial and exhibition management positions at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; Artists Space, New York; Independent Curators International; and the Dallas Museum of Art. She holds a BA in art history from Southern Methodist University and an MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College.