Lisa Raabe's "Under the Weather" in “Raabe, Rial, & Xiao" at the Quad City Arts Center -- through June 23.
Through Friday, June 23
Quad City Arts Center, 1715 Second Avenue, Rock Island IL
A trio of gifted Midwestern artists are currently showcasing dozens of glorious works in a variety of mediums at the Quad City Arts Center, with the Rock Island venue's exhibition Raabe, Rial, & Xiao, through June 23, boasting recent sculptures by Lisa Raabe, fused-glass works by Michelle Rial, and paintings by Peter Xiao.
Based in Peoria Heights, Illinois, Lisa Raabe presents both two-dimensional and sculptural pieces composed of densely packed panels built in various sizes, combinations, and conversations. The visual artist employs eco-dyeing, metal patinas, embedded natural materials, and drawing with thread, and as Raabe states, these collaged works “form rhythmic patterns that transform, conceal, and reveal an inner investigation in the midst of random and unexpected connections to natural forces.”
Michelle Rial, of Serena, Illinois, presents the new exhibit Shifting-Glass, a series of fused-glass artworks inspired by nature. Each piece is created with multiple layers of powdered glass that have been kiln-fired to achieve a textural surface. Some compositions can have more than one panel and variations of depth raising the design from a half0-inch to three inches from the wall.
A professor of art at Augustana College, Bettendorf's Peter Xiao is a prolific painter. After completing his BA in fine arts and English at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Xiao went on to Temple University for his MFA in painting, was employed by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, taught art part-time, and exhibited in Philadelphia, New York, and at Chicago’s Art Expo. As the artist states, his current body of work takes issue with the “so-called alternative truth or lies and rumors that have been rampantly spreading, accompanied by matter-of-fact “portraits of plain, unremarkable object as concrete facts.”
Raabe, Rial, & Xiao will be on display in Rock Island through June 23, regular gallery hours are Mondays through Fridays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free. For more information, call (309)793-1213 and visit QuadCityArts.com.
