“Niebuhr & Ryan" at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery -- October 31 through January 5.
Friday, October 31, through Monday, January 5
Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery, 2200 69th Avenue, Moline IL
With both artists hoping that viewers will take some time to look for meaning in their works and enjoy a diversion from the tensions of the day, talents from Iowa and Wisconsin will be showcased at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery, the Niebuhr & Ryan exhibit, from October 31 through January 5, boasting arresting oil paintings by Michael S. Ryan and mixed-media works by Gary Warren Niebuhr.
Michael S. Ryan is a painter residing in Cedar Rapids, and his landscapes capture the essence of the Midwest. Ryan presents a new series titled Mississippi Poems, and explains, “When we think of poetry and poems themselves, we often think of a written or verbal description of the poet’s feelings or reaction to someplace, someone, or an emotion evoked. My use of the term poem is meant to describe a harmony created by color, image, and technique in the painted form.
"Specifically, the Mississippi Poems series is meant as a celebration of a very special place. A place of a mystic and ancient tradition that Hemingway called “The great Magnificent." This place is the Upper Mississippi Valley. The images in this series are my feelings about this great landscape, as well as the hand of man upon this area. This great river, so central to this continent, both literally and figuratively, never fails to get a visceral response from me. To me it is an ancient presence, a sacred land, that I wish to convey in my paintings.”
Gary Warren Niebuhr of Milwaukee is a found-object, mixed-media, collage, and assemblage artist. His objective in making art “is to take objects and images, repurpose them in harmony with a theme, and construct a work that is entertaining and delivers a message.” Niebuhr goes on to say, “I like to use irony, satire and humor to make my points. I like to tell a story. I am a lifelong reader and an occasional book maker. I love photography. I believe that the one common link between assemblage, reading, book making and photography is story. If my works of art are successful in telling a story to those who view it, then I am satisfied with the effort.”
The Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery is located opposite the airport's gift shop and restaurant, there is a $2 fee for parking, and more information on the Niebuhr & Ryan exhibit on display from October 31 through January 5 is available by calling (309)793-1213 and visiting QuadCityArts.com.
