Opening on First Friday, February 6, 5:00-8:00pm, and running through February 28 are two shows whose pieces intermix with each other in both the Main and Studio Galleries at RiverArts, 315 High Street, Suite 106. Co-curators Barbara Parker andd Ronn Akins have been overseeing the abstract show and Chuck Engstrom curated the Wood Workers Showcase. All worked together so that these pieces complement each other.
Without Reference – The Abstract Art Show includes both 2D and 3D pieces. Abstract art can be a painting or sculpture that does not depict a person, place or thing in the natural world. Therefore the subject of the work is based on what you see: color, shapes, brushstrokes, size, scale. Abstract art began in 1911 with such works as Picture with a Circle by the Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky. Kandinsky believed that colors provoke emotions. Red was lively and confident. Green was peaceful with inner strength.
Blue was deep and supernatural. Yellow could be warm, exciting, or disturbing. White seemed silent but full of possibilities. Kandinsky also assigned instrument tones to go with each color. Red sounded like a trumpet. Green sounded like a middle-position violin. Light Blue sounded like a flute. Dark Blue sounded like a cello. Yellow sounded like a fanfare of trumpets. White sounded like the pause in a harmonious melody.
These analogies to sounds came from Kandinsky’s love of music especially that by the contemporary Viennese composer Arnold Schoenberg.
The Wood Workers’ Showcase: A Judged Show includes many types of work including tables, lamps, bird carvings and turned wood objects. Many different types of wood will be on display. In addition to our local artists, there will be works by artisans from other areas of the Eastern Shore, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Maine and New York.
This show is a judged show. Modest monetary prizes will be awarded by David Fry from Washington, D.C. who is a long-time writer, critic, and wood turner. Many of his articles have appeared in the National Wood Turners Magazine. He has also judged several shows for the Chesapeake Wood Turners.
RiverArts regular hours are Tuesday-Friday, 11:00-4:00, First Friday, 11:00-8:00 and Saturday 10:00-4. Be sure to stop by to see these two wonderful shows.
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