Patricia Hobbs' "After Frieske's Garden Parasol" at the Quad City International Airport Gallery -- through October 30.
Through Monday, October 30
Quad City International Airport Gallery, 2200 69th Avenue, Moline IL
Offering a visual playground of colors, textures, and shapes from four women who push the boundaries of traditional materials to create an exciting collective experience, the Quad City Arts exhibit Hobbs, LeBreton, Montalvo, & Simonson will be on display at the Quad City International Airport Gallery through October 30, showcasing fiber art by Patricia Hobbs and Maria Montalvo with ceramic sculpture by Sara Simonson, all three from Macomb, Illinois, and paper sculpture by Laurie LeBreton of Chicago.
Simonson, Montalvo, and Hobbs are three creative friends who live and work in Macomb. When the trio realized that their work shared some common themes, they proposed a joint exhibition to Quad City Arts. Staffers at the Rock Island venue agreed that the three would bring to the Quad Cities a particularly dynamic exhibit, and decided to add works by Chicago-based papermaker LeBreton to the mix.
Most of the work in the airport gallery's Hobbs, LeBreton, Montalvo, & Simonson exhibit falls under the category of “fiber art,” but each piece utilizes different materials and processes. While Simonson’s work is made of clay rather than fiber, she fabricates modular units out of clay that are shaped like individual quilt pieces that she arranges on walls in quilt-like patterns. Hobbs pushes the notion of traditional quilting by adding found objects into her quilted wall hangings and choosing subjects that are more commonly found in paintings rather than quilts. The artist also creates figurative sculptures using a variety of materials.
Montalvo, a multi-faceted artist, exhibits her hand-dyed and felted objects that range from teapots to abstract vessels. LeBreton, meanwhile, is a papermaker who likes to create multiples of the same shapes. As she explains, “Multiples highlight both changeability and commonality. As an artistic strategy, they offer an opportunity for experimentation within a structure, for stillness with many variations. As a visual strategy, they calm a busy eye.”
The Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery is located opposite the airport's gift shop and restaurant, there is a $1 fee for parking, and more information on the Hobbs, LeBreton, Montalvo, & Simonson exhibit on display from August 31 through October 30 is available by calling (309)793-1213 and visiting QuadCityArts.com.
