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5 Artist Project

Ossia Fine Arts Space
Fine Arts Building
Group show, Chicago Connection: 5 Artist Project, August-October.
Opening Reception Friday, August 8th
6:00pm - 9:00pm
Ossia Fine Arts Space presents “Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project” in a context that illuminates the cohesive abstract elements, structures and mediums of the organic drawings, paintings and sculptures of contemporary artists Frank Connet, Iris Goldstein, Darrell Roberts, Mirjana Ugrinov and Dale Washington. The “5 Artists Project” brings together for the first time the works of five dynamic Chicago artists who meticulously formulate and cultivate their art -- based on traditional mediums -- and eventually transform their pieces into unique personal statements. The exhibition encompasses artwork ranging from fine line drawings to mixed media; 3D oil paintings to relief sculptures; and textile “mosaic paintings” to painting installations. The disparate works portray people, elements from nature and the urban environment in articulate, persuasive narratives.

Frank Connet,
Memories of nature form the basis of my art. The rhythms and patterns of a leaf’s radiating lines, the cycles of growth and decay, the confluence of waters and silted sand created by currents are echoed in these cut and pieced textile hangings.
Line and form are created using the shibori process. A series of hand sewn stitches are drawn tight to bunch or pleat the fabric into a dense mass which is then dyed. The process permanently alters the surface of the wool, hemp or cotton, creating lines, ridges and washes, both of color and texture. Layered natural dyes of indigo, madder root, cochineal, walnut husks and black oak bark, alone or in combination, create a limitless palette of hue and depth. Dye on fiber creates a density of color that continues to fascinate me.
My work in textile conservation has deeply influenced my art. Studying and restoring a wide variety of ancient and historic textiles has allowed me the opportunity to appreciate pre-industrial image making and dying techniques. The fabric of a Japanese farmer’s patched and repaired indigo dyed kimono, the rhythm in a West African strip woven wrapper or the irregular geometry in a Peruvian funerary tunic provide a continuous source of instruction and inspiration.
Iris Goldstein,
My relief sculptures, made of plaster and aluminum screening, create presences which explore the connections between surface form and an emotive exploration of color. The repeated patterns of the forms, which are geometric but also sensual, play against the subtle shiftings of the color.
The search is for equilibrium, a balance of formal relationships. The surfaces are rendered to appeal to the sense of touch. Repetitions and change are used to examine the power of texture and color to add to one’s sense of well being or disquiet.
Abstraction enlarges one’s ability to bring to an artwork personal reactions and experience, and I hope for an enlargement of my ideas and experiences through the reactions of others to my work.
Darrell Roberts,
Sidewalk Voyages:
My current series is based on my walks back and forth from my studio and the path I repeatedly take. Each time with the month of the seasons changing like the wind, I encounter new inspiration. While walking I take photos with my cellphone and email them to myself for continued inspiration while painting. It may be a piece of trash that has blown by, weathered by the elements and faded in color or it may be a pipe sticking out of the sidewalk with faded yellow paint and rusty browns or a light blue metal frame of a door way, bent and abandoned, but a beautiful line, color and composition to me. Spray painted gray squares, where graffiti has been covered up make a lovely composition to me. The facades of buildings being torn down, the rubble of bricks and wood in dumpsters to the snow and colorful bits of spring vegetation creeping up through the cracks in the sidewalks inspire my art making daily.
Mirjana Ugrinov,
By using contemporary poetry as an inspiration for imagery, I continue to explore the surface and composition of my paintings. I welcome the challenge of another art form to guide me in visual expression by inviting new approaches to color, texture and materials I use. The emotional content of the poem becomes a vehicle of imagination and expansion.
Dale Washington,
The power of creation is the act of doing. The work for this exhibition reflects the vibrant present history of Chicago’s art community.
Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project. Written and edited by Amy A. Rudberg. Chicago: Ossia Fine Arts Space, 2008. An exhibition catalogue


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|Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago|
|Paintings|
|Not Just Another Pretty Face, HPAC|
|Vermont Studio Center|
|Sculptures / Assemblages|
|Darrell Roberts Biography|
|"Luscious" Hyde Park Art Center|
|"Luscious" Hyde Park Art Center|
|Interview|
|Paintings|
|Paintings|
|L2 Kontemporary, LA|
|Humming Bird Press, Chicago|
|Art-Impact.com, works on paper|
|Lillstreet Art Center|
|Brickton Art Center|
|mn gallery, Chicago|
|Noir gallery, Jacksonville, IL|
|Ossia-5 Artist Project|
|Drawings|
|contributing editor, Art Style...|
|Slide show Flash|
|Paintings|
|Corporate Commissions|
|Studio|
|Contact Darrell Roberts/Price List|
|GRANTS|
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