Kolman & Pryor Gallery is pleased to present its first sculpture exhibition, Beyond the Canvas. Curated by gallery artist and co-owner Patrick K. Pryor, the exhibition includes new sculptural work by gallery artists, Kate Casanova, Jodi Reeb, and Pryor, as well as work by guest artists, Jim Dryden and Betsy Alwin. Beyond the Canvas opens September 16 and closes October 28. An artist reception will be held on Saturday, September 23, 7-9 p.m.
The genesis of the exhibition began with Kolman & Pryor’s show, Tiny Art, which included Casanova’s small sculptures. “Kate created these really wonderful small works and we decided we had something there,” says Pryor. “Also, Jim had begun experimenting with three-dimensional forms that generated intriguing conversations about painting and sculpture. As Kate and Jim began moving into new areas of creativity, we decided to follow and expand by providing a forum for other artists to experiment with sculpture.”
Casanova’s small sculptures extend her art-making process, which has largely focused on biomorphic installations, by juxtaposing man-made and natural materials to create curious fragments that evoke landscape, organisms, and human detritus. Dryden describes his new sculptures, which are constructed of interlocking shapes, as totems or sentinels. “I’m exploring the relationships between painting and sculpture,” he says, “as my sculpture is inspired by my paintings and my paintings are inspired by the sculptures.” His work experiments with a range of materials and finishes, including aluminum, stainless steel, enamel, powder-coat, ebony and sterling silver.
Reeb, a painter and printmaker venturing into the realm of sculpture, describes her new three-dimensional work as “seed shapes that oscillate between drawing and sculpture. I am soldering abstracted pods that are three-dimensional drawings.” Through her sculpture-making process, Reeb adds, she’s “discovering rhythms and patterns that are nature-based as well as abstract.”
Pryor’s new work is inspired by Yggdrasil, the mythical tree that connects the nine worlds in Norse cosmology. He is soldering thick skeins of wire into modular abstractions that result in a modern interpretation of Norse mythology. Alwin’s small ceramic and mixed-media sculptures will further expand the potential for sculptural expression demonstrated in the show.
“The artists in the show have lead the way toward Kolman & Pryor adding sculpture to our gallery offerings,” says Anita Sue Kolman, gallery co-owner. “We’re so pleased to be able to provide a forum for their new and exciting work, and to help make valuable connections between the artists we show in our gallery and the collectors that seek us out in search of new artwork.”