Congruent Fragments
Works by Artists of the Midwest Collage Society + 3 Sculptors
Tall Grass Arts Association is honored to welcome artists of the Midwest Collage Society along with three prominent contemporary sculptors to our Gallery. Our new exhibit, CONGRUENT FRAGMENTS, Works by Artists of the Midwest Collage Society + 3 Sculptors, opens for viewing on Saturday, September 30, 2023, with an Artists Reception on Saturday, October 7.
These twenty-one artists will provide a broad range of two- and three-dimensional art works that mix a variety of elements – media, surfaces, found and created objects – resulting in wall-hung collages and assemblages and free-standing floor and pedestal pieces. The artists share an interest in emphasizing textures, space, form, process, and the integration of multiple images or materials into a coherent whole.
Founded in 2003, the Midwest Collage Society promotes collage as a fine art, providing exhibit opportunities and professional development activities to its members. Many have established strong resumes of solo and group shows and awards for their outstanding approaches to collage as an important and valid art form.
Included in the Tall Grass show will be MCS members Adreinne Austin, Tania Blanco, Marjorie Boyd, Nancy Castner, Andrea Fox, Beth Gollen, Margi Hafer, Judy Hanacek, Alice C Jacobson, Bonnie Jaswith, Laura Lein-Svencner, Joan Lucht, Debbie McEllenbrough, Janice Meitl, Maryann Staroscik, Nancy Staszak, Nancy Swingle, and Carol Weber.
Joining them in CONGRUENT FRAGMENTS are three sculptors who are well-known through their numerous exhibits in galleries, museums and collections, and who share the collage artists’ concern for combining and integrating multiple materials.
Randy Buvala’s work merges abstraction with expressionism, mainly using charcoal on paper and found objects such as wood, glass, metal and more. He uses his constructed images as vehicles to question the fragility of our everyday lives, and they reflect the delicacy of family dynamics, relationships and connections.
Nathaniel Foley’s sculpture focuses primarily on dynamic and iconic forms of flight. Strongly influenced by his father, he was led to create forms related to aviation, utilizing construction techniques and processes, such as riveting and sheet metal fabrication, that have been used throughout aviation history, and mixing a number of materials, including various woods, metals and fabrics.
Colin Sherrell incorporates many aspects of art history, theory, conceptualism, craft, process, and his own personal life experiences into his artwork. He often includes but is not limited to woodworking, fiberglass, glass, ceramics, stone masonry, and metal fabrication, using whatever process suits the concept of the piece at hand.
All of these artists bring us amazing works that invite us to linger, to study the incredible detail in them, and to appreciate the time and effort devoted to collecting huge treasures of personal materials and images, and the skill developed over time for selecting and organizing them into such wonderful compositions.
Curated by Claudia Craemer and Debbie Craemer, CONGRUENT FRAGMENTS will be on view from September 30 through November 4, 2023. All are welcome to meet the artists and view the show at the Artists Reception on Saturday, October 7, 1 – 3pm.
Tall Grass Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11am – 4pm each day.
Tall Grass Arts Association, 367 Artists Walk, Park Forest, IL 60466 www.tallgrassarts.org 708 748 3377 .