MOLINE, ILLINOIS (January 23, 2023) — From January 4-February 28, 2023, Quad City Arts’ Art at the Airport at Quad Cities International Airport (2200 69th Ave, Moline, Illinois) presents mixed media paintings by Corrine Smith of Rock Island, acrylic paintings by James Eli Bowden of Peotone, Illinois, and steel sculpture by Matt Moyer of Columbia, Missouri.
Corrine Smith is a mixed-media artist with a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Kentucky. Her work is a formal approach to exploring the elements and principles of design. Smith begins by rendering organic and geometric shapes visible in everyday surroundings to create stylized flat shapes. By combining acrylic paint and handmade papers, Smith blends contrasting forms and colors to create ambiguous spatial relationships within the work. “I do not perceive any of my work as an end in itself,” says Smith. “I am always striving for an aesthetic surprise.”
James Eli Bowden is a retired art professor and owner of a signage company. His abstract paintings are linear with a focus on shape and color painted on sheets of PVC. His work is painted in a flat, hard-edge style that creates a visual space on a flat surface. Each painting is preconceived, based on detailed small-scale studies that he first creates. Bowden states, “The paintings represent themselves, rather than being repetitional. Shape and color are assimilated to develop tension and an ambiguous space.” The goal of his work is to create a painting that has contradictory qualities where a work appears one way at first look, then changes into something different upon further viewing.
Matt Moyer is a nationally-exhibited public sculptor. His steel creations pay homage to machines and industrial implements. Each sculpture is abstracted and embellished with patina and paint to give the work a feeling of time being passed. The body of work has a playfulness to them, hinting that real-world machines have child-like qualities; evoking notions of playfulness, the desire to explore the world, and the joy of just having fun being themselves. “I bridge the gap between development and deterioration by exploring human ingenuity, resourcefulness, and, sometimes, the absurdity of our built environment,” says Moyer. “I encourage viewers to embrace the glory of mechanization and contemplate the expressive human qualities of efficiency, agency, and ingenuity.”
In addition to the airport gallery, the artist’s works can be seen and purchased online: https://www.quadcityarts.com/art-at-the-airport.html.
Art at the Airport in The Quad Cities International Airport gallery is easy to find. It is just across from the gift shop and restaurant and right before the security checkpoint. The gallery never closes, and you will pay just a dollar for parking.
Quad City Arts is a non-profit local arts agency dedicated to enriching the quality of life in the Quad City region through the arts. Support for art exhibitions is provided by the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Quad City Arts Gallery is located at 1715 Second Avenue in the Arts and Entertainment District of Rock Island. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 10AM-5PM, and Saturday, 11AM–5PM. For more information, contact Dawn Wohlford-Metallo 309-793-1213 X108, or by e-mail at dwmetallo@quadcityarts.com.
