On the Way to the Art Show

As I headed out on a walk to the Arts Festival to pick up the shuttle to the Midwest Art Show, I encountered a farm stand in the parking lot at 39th and Grand. Terry has operated the stand and another one at Beaver and Franklin for three years. He did not offer his last name but did answer an inquiry by saying his primary work involves overhead doors. The produce will be available almost daily for the next four to five weeks according to a woman working at the stand. Although, she added that the fields are clear now so it might be a day or two before there is enough food to bring into town. Today the stand offered Iowa’s famous peaches & cream corn, some tomatoes, and a bit of watermelon.

The next chance encounter was at the Robert Spellman Art Gallery, formerly called Bullseye Art, at 1726 Grand Avenue. There was a three-day show opening to coincide with the Art Festival, but the gallery, which has been around for a year, usually is open only on Saturdays or by appointment. Justine Zimmer has a couple metallic sculptures on display, similar in design to, albeit much smaller than, her silver tornado in Iowa City.

Sandra Gustafson also recreates nature, using acrylics on canvas. The imperfection of her shapes reflects the oddity of nature, but also indicates a lack of fineness to the stroke. She uses color well, but her use of light resembles a photographer’s studio. It is as though she is painting bright light and lesser light, instead of light and shadow. Thus, in Gustafson’s two-piece set entitled, “Free,” it is as though the butterflies are free of the cocoon but are also captive within a room.

Spellman shows his own work in his gallery. His “Duke V,” an acrylic-on-canvas bull with triangle hoofs and a curved but solid-colored body, combines with strong background colors to evoke both motion and motion. He said he prefers to work with oils because of the variety of colors, the texture, and layering effects. His paintings in oil are more abstract than the acrylic work.

The fourth artist whose work is in the show is Nick Oakland. He is a student at Grandview and just started experimenting with ink and polyurethane on canvas in the past few months. He has three untitled pieces painted within two weeks of each other. Looking at them in order of their creation, it seems as though the primal birth of the planet flowed through him. Untitled is shades of red and violet, as though molten lava is cooling. Untitled II is shades of green as though the growth of algae is building the atmosphere and filling the oceans. Untitled III uses oranges and shades of blue tending towards green as though the sky is touching water, and a golden shape is rising from the bottom as though it is the first creature seeking to breathe air.

Guest Author: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.