I recently saw an interesting show of work at a gallery not too far from my Chicago apartment. Morpho Gallery runs a regular 'emerging artists' competition, and they were exhibiting the winners of the last few competitions. The first piece that caught my eye was by Michael Klaus Schmidt:
The bold shapes and collage elements have references to cloisonne ceramic work, or collagraphs in the printmaking realm. They also remind me of 1970s poster design, which must be something to do with the curved shapes ending in heavily outlined forms. There's a lot of texture in the different areas, too, that stops them coming off as flat and dull. I believe the artist has collaborated with theatre people, and you can see the cross-over in the graphic impact of this work.
I liked this painting by another artist in the show, for its colours, and good organization of all these shapes. It's something that lots of artists seem to be doing at the moment, but this is doing it quite well:
And then this one, because I am a sucker for pure abstract art with layers of delicious textures:
Morpheus was the ancient god of dreams, who would appear to our dormant selves in any human shape he desired. I assume the gallery's name derives from the character in Ovid's Metamorphoses. It's an appropriate choice for a place that displays art, which gives us objects but embodies the spectral presences of forms that come from a place far outside our own selves.
The bold shapes and collage elements have references to cloisonne ceramic work, or collagraphs in the printmaking realm. They also remind me of 1970s poster design, which must be something to do with the curved shapes ending in heavily outlined forms. There's a lot of texture in the different areas, too, that stops them coming off as flat and dull. I believe the artist has collaborated with theatre people, and you can see the cross-over in the graphic impact of this work.
I liked this painting by another artist in the show, for its colours, and good organization of all these shapes. It's something that lots of artists seem to be doing at the moment, but this is doing it quite well:
And then this one, because I am a sucker for pure abstract art with layers of delicious textures:
Morpheus was the ancient god of dreams, who would appear to our dormant selves in any human shape he desired. I assume the gallery's name derives from the character in Ovid's Metamorphoses. It's an appropriate choice for a place that displays art, which gives us objects but embodies the spectral presences of forms that come from a place far outside our own selves.