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Salad Days - Part Two
New work from recent grads and current students in Northwestern University’s MFA ProgramJuly 14, 2006 – August 19, 2006
Opening Reception: Friday, July 14, 2006, 6-9pm
CHICAGO, IL -- rowlandcontemporary is excited to present Salad Days, a collection of recent work from the MFA Graduate program at Northwestern University. Part Two features the work of Heather Hollenbeck, Stephen Nyktas, Josue Pellot, Cole Pierce and Shoshanna Utchenik. Coinciding with Salad Days, rowlandcontemporary is also pleased to announce its participation in this years VISION 11. Join us for an opening reception Friday, July 14 from 6-9pm. Gallery Hours are Saturday 11-5pm or by appointment. This exhibition will run through August 19.
Heather Hollenbeck's large scale paintings give a wry nod to pop and feminist iconography. Packaged in textures, patterns, and layers of mark-making, these multifaceted paintings reveal a disconcerted under layer that is meant to unearth the artist's memories both sanguine and dark. Hollenbeck received her MFA from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, and BFA from University of Washington, Seattle, WA. She has participated in group shows at Judy Saslow Gallery (Chicago, IL), SOIL Gallery (Seattle, WA), and Artemesia Gallery (Chicago, IL).
Continuing his photographic investigation of common household items, Stephen Nyktas further explores the domestic objects he exhibited this past spring with rowlandcontemporary. By enlarging their scale, he portrays seemingly vast and sublime landscapes whose very interiority appears to belie their domesticity. Nyktas received his MA from Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, and his BFA from Albion College, Albion, MI. He is currently in the MFA graduate program at Northwestern University. Nyktas has had solo shows at both Albion College and Purdue University, where he participated in various group shows as well.
Working in various media Josue Pellot examines the collision of cultures and the authenticity of individual experience brought on by geographic dislocation and cultural separation. His installations, videos, sculpture and paintings address this cultural diaspora as distilled through a familial viewpoint. Pellot is currently in the MFA program at Northwestern University, Evanston IL. He received his BFA from University of Illinois at Chicago (Chicago, IL). Pellot's recent exhibitions include Museo de Arte Puerto Rico (San Juan, P.R.), 22nd International Festival (Sarajevo, Bosnia), and Covenant Gallery, University of South Florida (Tampa, FL).
Invoking strains of minimalism, Cole Pierce's paintings explore the residue of common objects such as eggbeaters, computer keyboards, lampshades and the like. Fascinated by attributes of pattern and repetition, Pierce's domestic "splatter" paintings are a sardonic take on our perceptions of what a painting can be. Pierce received a BSS from Cornell College (Mt. Vernon, IA). He is currently in the MFA program at Northwestern. Pierce has participated in exhibitions at GARDENfresh Collective (Chicago, IL), 22nd International Festival (Sarajevo, Bosnia), and Betty Rymer Gallery, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL).
Shoshanna Utchenik's community oriented works extend the dialogue on the importance of the social role of the artist. For Salad Days, Utchenik will plant herself outside the gallery in a makeshift factory where she will literally create a playful atmosphere where the dependence on visitor input is essential for the work to come alive. Utchenik received her MFA from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, and BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL). Utchenik's recent exhibitions include Ana Desetnica Street Theater Festival (Ljubljana and Maribor, Slovenia), Gwenda Jay Addington Gallery (Chicago, IL), and the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago, IL).
