|
Rugged, raw, and visceral—words that aptly describe similarities between Gregory Fitz’s abstract oil paintings and Jake Keeler’s mixed media works. A part of this shared expression they attribute to their Midwestern heritage. In Fitz’s energetic canvases, landscape references serve as a vehicle for cultural memory, of displaced native peoples, of civil war, and of waves of immigrants. A legacy of violence and survival also informs the mixed media paintings of Jake Keeler who draws from his own experiences as a hunter and outdoorsman. In addition, the two artists share formal interests in the tension between illusionary and abstract space and the use of gesture to establish complex surfaces that keep viewers searching for new meanings.
The dynamism between Fitz and Keeler’s art also reflects their close personal and professional relationships. Both artists graduated from Macalester College in 1999 with Studio Arts degrees and are now employed by their alma mater. Fitz is currently director of the Janet Wallace Gallery of Art at Macalester and Keeler returned there to teach part-time after receiving his M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison
The Gage Family Art Gallery
Second level of Lindell Library
22nd Avenue South and 7th Street
Gallery hours:
Monday- Friday, 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, 1–5 p.m.
For more information, contact Kerry Morgan at 612-330-1524
|
