Young GALLERY
Gary Chapman
(Xenia, Ohio, 1961 - ) Mutter und Tochter 1993 Twentieth Century Oil on linen 90 in. x 48 in. x 2 in. (228.6 cm x 121.92 cm x 5.08 cm) Verso, on center stretcher bar, "Gary Chapman '93" Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Association Purchase and Gift of Ellie and Fred Ernst and Babette L. and Charles H. Wampold and Museum Docents 1997.0004 a The artist Gary Chapman defines the "attractiveness" of the mother in "Mutter und Tochter" as based upon his personal experience of powerful, confident women. It his belief that mothers need to be strong role models for their daughters as women continue to strive for full social equality. This mother embodies the idea of physical strength, as it is portrayed in her defined musculature, and her confident pose. He further transforms the mother and her child by placing them within the association-laden format of a Baroque altarpiece, complete with the equivalent of divine illumination pouring down on the mother and child from beyond the painting. Thus he presents the mother as a figure both worthy of admiration and blessed by light and its correlative, goodness. |
Karen LaMonte
(New York, New York, 1967 - ) Ojigi Bowing 2010 Twenty-first Century Cast glass 52 1/2 in. x 23 in. x 19 in. (133.35 cm x 58.42 cm x 48.26 cm) Gift to the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in loving memory of Janis and Jimmie Sabel from their children, John Sabel, Keith Sabel, and Katherine Sabel Gayden; and the Sabel Acquisition Fund 2012.0002 a-c From afar, "Ojigi-Bowing" (2010) seems to glow from within. Without a head or hands, it seems almost ghostly. On closer inspection, the piece reveals the glow to be the overhead light refracting through the hollow interior out through the slightly frosted, but still translucent glass. As with her earlier, related series, "Dress Impressions," LaMonte is able to construct an identity and a narrative about her subject without identifying characteristics. Viewers are able to draw conclusions about the woman who wears this kimono: she is female as evidenced by the type of obi or sash she wears, she is married, as the shorter sleeve length indicates and she adopts an air of respect and reverence as depicted in the type of bow she employs, the ojigi, which is a bow from the waist. While not conveying the exact identity of this woman, LaMonte creates an individualized portrait. |
Leonard Koscianski
(Cleveland, Ohio, 1952 - ) Red Fish 1990 Twentieth Century Oil on canvas 66 1/8 in. x 48 1/4 in. (167.96 cm x 122.56 cm) Signed and dated, lower right: "Leonard Koscianski '90" Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Association Purchase 1991.0017 "Red Fish" is one of a number of fish subjects Leonard Koscianski has painted since the mid-1980s. In keeping with its metaphorical function, the fish is not a specific species; its defining characteristics are its razor-like teeth and steely eye. The unnaturally brilliant orange-red coloration underscores its ferocity. For Koscianski, while the fish also represents a yearning for physical and psychological freedom, the common phrase “fish out of water” refers to someone who is outside of his or her element. The water above which the fish hovers represents the subconscious and its unknowable complexity. American Paintings from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, cat. no. 106, p. 244. |
Jun Kaneko
(Nagoya, Japan, 1942 - ) Untitled (Dango) 2003 Glazed stoneware 60 1/2 in. x 52 in. x 20 in. (153.67 cm x 132.08 cm x 50.8 cm) “Kaneko” in script and “02-03” date inscribed in clay on underside of bottom Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Association Purchase 2008.0007 Jun Kaneko was born in Japan during World War II and immigrated to the U.S. in 1963 to study painting in California, but he was soon caught up in the West Coast’s Clay Revolution. He studied with Peter Voulkos, Paul Soldner, and Jerry Rothman, exploring unorthodox and expressive options to functional and ornamental ceramics traditions. Untitled (Dango) stands five feet tall, more than four feet wide, and nearly two feet thick. The swollen ceramic form is not nearly the artist’s largest, but it is a fine example from his series of “Dangos,” one of several triangular-shaped variants on the monumental, rounded, rectangular forms he has produced for more than two decades. |
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