Spring 2012 Group Show

Spring has arrived—at last—and with it comes an exciting  group show of gallery artists at 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel. The exhibit focuses on what might be, rather than what is, in a Surrealist-inspired showing of paintings, photographs, and sculpture. John Alexander Parks, an English painter, takes us to London in a freely painted street scene that distorts space and makes the viewer wonder where he or she is standing. Nadja Marcin, presents a large-scale photograph that ere-defines the word “pastoral” in a somewhat frightening way.  Christiane Draffehn mixes visual metaphors–earthly, heavenly, and hellish. She has created an image that is reminiscent of the work of Magritte, or even Dali.  Tatjana Busch, an abstract sculptor from Germany, combines aluminum, photographic imagery, and sound, displacing our sense of what sculpture is, and leading us to new ideas about what sculptural space can become.  Kristina Girke combines academic drawing with startling ranges of color, transporting viewers from their comfortable notions of what painting is, to a broader, more inclusive view of where the brush can go. Several  other international artists are represented in this show. Each one brings us closer to fresh ideas about art. Ideas fresh as spring.