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Timothy Cobb Fine Arts’ latest galley nightoffering is a multi-artist exhibit exploring the many permutations oflandscapes. “Scapes: Land, Water, and Roads” features five contemporary artistsas well as 17th-20th-century landscapes from Cobb’s collection. Together, theworks transform the already tranquil, contemplative gallery space into animmersive meditation on nature.
Upon entering, the viewer is greeted by JosephFellows’ large-scale steel and wood sculpture, Tidal Study, which Cobb set in the center of a rectangular koi pondwith a bubbling fountain. The resultant sound environment, coupled with thesculpture’s form—a precarious steel frame in the shapes of twisted organicmaterials pierced through by a gigantic dowel—puts one in mind of the delicatestate of the earth’s oceans polluted by human waste.
Also treating on the subject of water is thebronze piece, Cresting Wave, byprolific Wisconsin sculptor Bernard J. Roberts. True to its name, the workresembles a mighty wave in the instant before it succumbs to gravity, but thereferences do not end there. The form also suggests a dancer, gracefullybending backward, and the metal still bears the subtle grain of the wood fromwhich the cast was made. Numerous smaller works, cast from maquettes, areincluded in the show as well, offering a glimpse into the vast array of naturalforms that preoccupied Roberts.
Linda Gee’s Horizontal Paintings contribute the land dimension of “Scapes.” Thesmall-scale panoramas convey the sweeping vistas of Indiana farm country. Thematerials—oil on wood panel—add a rustic feel complementing the rural subjectmatter.
Timothy Cobb’s own work also features in thisshow by way of three large oil paintings—all waterscapes. Employing multiplelayers of paint and scraping techniques, Cobb creates abstract impressionistvisions of moving water and the light playing over it. The effects areparticularly striking in Sunset Over LakeMichigan, which effectively suggests the winter lake by matte layers ofscraped-away clouds above the horizon and icy-looking, varnished waves below.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a seriesof photographs by the well-traveled American artist Derusha. Titled Roads, her work looks closely at thesurfaces of conveyance that we so often take for granted. The artist spent 14years in the Australian Outback where she created art with members of theAboriginal Papunya Tula movement. The reverence for land inherent in thisgroup’s philosophy is profoundly reflected in Derusha’s work here. Explainingthe common use of aerial perspective in Aboriginal sandpainting, she notes,“They believe that they’re part of the land and the land is living.” Mapmakingfigures prominently into the traditional art form as well, both as a method foraffirming the human-environment connection and as a means of survival.
Roads—the basis of maps and land organizationin the American mind—therefore make a logical point of interest for the artist.She captures in her work the many idiosyncrasies of place conveyed by roadconstruction, signage, the wear and tear of weather, variations in dust and theendless advance of nature through pioneer plants springing up in cracks.Derusha says she hopes to offer viewers what the Aboriginal artists offeredher: a different perspective on something we see every day. She notes, “I canbe anywhere and be fascinated just looking at the ground.” Roads brings this reverential appreciation of place into sharp focusfor us all.
“Scapes” is on display through March 1, at Timothy Cobb Fine Arts, 207 E.Buffalo St.
Upon entering, the viewer is greeted by JosephFellows’ large-scale steel and wood sculpture, Tidal Study, which Cobb set in the center of a rectangular koi pondwith a bubbling fountain. The resultant sound environment, coupled with thesculpture’s form—a precarious steel frame in the shapes of twisted organicmaterials pierced through by a gigantic dowel—puts one in mind of the delicatestate of the earth’s oceans polluted by human waste.
Also treating on the subject of water is thebronze piece, Cresting Wave, byprolific Wisconsin sculptor Bernard J. Roberts. True to its name, the workresembles a mighty wave in the instant before it succumbs to gravity, but thereferences do not end there. The form also suggests a dancer, gracefullybending backward, and the metal still bears the subtle grain of the wood fromwhich the cast was made. Numerous smaller works, cast from maquettes, areincluded in the show as well, offering a glimpse into the vast array of naturalforms that preoccupied Roberts.
Linda Gee’s Horizontal Paintings contribute the land dimension of “Scapes.” Thesmall-scale panoramas convey the sweeping vistas of Indiana farm country. Thematerials—oil on wood panel—add a rustic feel complementing the rural subjectmatter.
Timothy Cobb’s own work also features in thisshow by way of three large oil paintings—all waterscapes. Employing multiplelayers of paint and scraping techniques, Cobb creates abstract impressionistvisions of moving water and the light playing over it. The effects areparticularly striking in Sunset Over LakeMichigan, which effectively suggests the winter lake by matte layers ofscraped-away clouds above the horizon and icy-looking, varnished waves below.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a seriesof photographs by the well-traveled American artist Derusha. Titled Roads, her work looks closely at thesurfaces of conveyance that we so often take for granted. The artist spent 14years in the Australian Outback where she created art with members of theAboriginal Papunya Tula movement. The reverence for land inherent in thisgroup’s philosophy is profoundly reflected in Derusha’s work here. Explainingthe common use of aerial perspective in Aboriginal sandpainting, she notes,“They believe that they’re part of the land and the land is living.” Mapmakingfigures prominently into the traditional art form as well, both as a method foraffirming the human-environment connection and as a means of survival.
Roads—the basis of maps and land organizationin the American mind—therefore make a logical point of interest for the artist.She captures in her work the many idiosyncrasies of place conveyed by roadconstruction, signage, the wear and tear of weather, variations in dust and theendless advance of nature through pioneer plants springing up in cracks.Derusha says she hopes to offer viewers what the Aboriginal artists offeredher: a different perspective on something we see every day. She notes, “I canbe anywhere and be fascinated just looking at the ground.” Roads brings this reverential appreciation of place into sharp focusfor us all.
“Scapes” is on display through March 1, at Timothy Cobb Fine Arts, 207 E.Buffalo St.
