Friday, June 29, through Friday, August 17
Opening Reception: Friday, June 29, 7 p.m.
Quad City Arts Center, 1715 Second Avenue, Rock Island IL
Scultpures and paintings by Iowa- and Illinois-based talents will fill the Quad City Arts Center from June 29 through August 17, as the Rock Island venue houses Dean Kugler's Relics and Erik Ohrn's Momentarily Present – exhibitions boasting works by two gifted artists who use figuration to communicate ideas about psychology, internal states of being, and the solitary nature of existence.
Its creator a sculpture artist based in Davenport, Relics finds Kugler focusing on works that capture a certain period of development within the sculpture. Rather than pushing his figures to “completion,” he has chosen to present segments of the figure that are stripped-down or at various stages of work. Additionally, Kugler blurs the line between presentation and art by making highly decorative stands and bases that become one with the sculpture. As Kugler says in his artist statement: “I am an artist that focuses on the beauty I find within our species. I have always been motivated by the human figure and the intricacies associated with it. There is a shared experience between the artist and the viewer that better allows me to convey thoughts, feelings, and emotions than with any other subject matter.”
A Quad Cities native now based in Joliet, Illinois, Ohrn is a figurative painter who believes that paint can capture myriad thoughts and feelings, as he expresses in his new painting exhibit Momentarily Present. He works on panels so that he can scratch into or sand down areas of a painting, an act which leads to textures as unique as the portraits he creates, and by omitting crucial details in otherwise ordinary scenes, Ohrn invites multiple readings of each piece. As Ohrn writes in his own artist statement: “Making art is about being present and acknowledging that anything can be key for the work to take an exciting shift in direction. Thoughts and feelings are constantly coming and going, swiftly slipping by and out of reach. I am driven to latch onto these fleeting moments with hopes to capture something meaningful.”
An opening reception for Dean Kugler's Relics and Erik Ohrn's Momentarily Present, featuring meet-and-greets and complimentary food and beverages, will be held on June 29 at 7 p.m., and the Quad City Art Center's gallery hours are Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free, and more information is available by calling (309)793-1213 or visiting QuadCityArts.com.
