Exhibition: “Modes of Being: Contemporary Abstract Art in Minnesota”
The Anderson Center presents Modes of Being: Contemporary Abstract Art in Minnesota, a group exhibition of artists from across the state who convey ideas through non-representational work in two and three dimensions. The exhibit opened with a free artist reception on Friday, June 24, 2022 from 6 to 8 p.m., featuring hors d’oeuvres and live music by Joel Ward, and runs through August 13, 2022.
Featured artists are Kate Bauman, Lynn Brown, Sophia Chai, Tia Keobounpheng, Adam McCauley, Kathy McTavish, and John Wells. From geometric to organic shapes, from muted to vibrant colors, these artists demonstrate that emotion and ideas that can be conveyed through abstract imagery.
“Often, people feel like they don’t ‘get’ abstract art, as if there’s one valid way to look at a non-representational piece,” shares exhibit curator Stephanie Rogers. “Yet everyone has an immediate and personal reaction to color and to the energy of shape and line. I hope that visitors will leave this exhibition with an increased understanding and appreciation of the range of abstract art in our region.”
Handicap accessible and free to the public, the Main Gallery at the Anderson Center is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
About the Artists
Lake City ceramics artist Kate Bauman embraces the hope that the work she creates is an impetus for connectivity, reflection, humor, comfort, stimulation – that it lives in the world in ways that are meaningful for people.
Lynn Brown is a 2D visual artist that creates abstracts and landscapes in oil, water media and pastel. Using a palette knife, her rhythmic abstract pieces mix primary colors while keeping a limited palette. Her work explores line and drawing elements, as well as the geometry of the nasturtium flower. Based in Western Wisconsin, she has been in her current studio at the Anderson Center since 2020.
Sophia Chai is a Korean-American artist based in Rochester, MN. Her work explores geometry, architecture, and photography’s inherent abilities to abstract and compress three-dimensional space in a two-dimensional image.
Tia Keobounpheng is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in North Minneapolis. She has spent much of her life exploring at the intersections of architecture, design, craft and art. She has been designing art jewelry under the label Silvercocoon since 2007. Her fine art practice touches on themes of women’s work, women’s armor, blood memory, and transformation.
Duluth visual artist Adam McCauley‘s work, while abstract in nature, examines the process and physicality that paint can have. Built with layers, McCauley says his work is focused on the formal qualities inherent to the medium of painting. He employs traditional and non-traditional painting materials to make abstract paintings that are “purposefully based in our physical world.”
Kathy McTavish is a media composer, cellist and installation artist whose work blends data, text, code, sound and abstract, layered moving images. A critical part of her installation work is the resonance of a space and its ambient sounds and silences. Based in Duluth, she believes art has the potential to open subliminal, submerged aspects of ourselves, to foster reflection and transformation.
Red Wing artist John Wells creates paintings, drawings and visual constructions that unite painting and sculpture. His work is process based and experimental in nature. Visually, the work focuses on composition, lines, layers, textures, and a variety of forms. John finds beauty find beauty in the simple structure within our lives and joy in the unexpected possibilities that fate provides.
Featured image: work by John Wells and Kate Bauman
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. Sophia Chai is a fiscal year 2022 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.