VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

Galveston Arts Center is pleased to present two exhibitions each referencing architecture through materials or design in conjunction with the November 28th ArtWalk. Patrick Renner: xylem, and Jonathan Leach: Beauty and the Byproduct will remain on view through January 10, 2010, and are free and open to the public. Curator Clint Willour will lead a gallery talk with the artists at 6:30 pm.

Houston-based artist Patrick Renner uses found objects, primarily painted boards and weathered wood that speak to their previous architectural uses in his sculptures. Using urban detritus, Renner reworks the castoff pieces into simple geometric shapes that are enriched by the pattern and colors of the materials, resembling three-dimensional crazy quilts.

Renner allows each piece of wood to retain its own history, he writes, “Found objects continue to be of primary importance to my [artistic] practice…. Architectural refuse from countless sources reassembles itself into new form, like a demolition explosion in reverse.” The title of the exhibition, xylem, refers to the water-conducting tissue of vascular or woody plants. The artist notes that it alludes to the fluidity and painterly approach to a sculptural format. A variety of three-dimensional wall dependent works and free-standing sculpture will be included in the exhibition.

Renner received an MFA in sculpture from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2006, and a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2004. He completed a residency at Sculpture Space in Utica, NY, in 2007 and has shown his work in venues throughout the US and in Cuba.

Issues of color and architecture also appear in the canvases of painter Jonathan Leach. Using intense day-glo colors, Leach’s geometric abstractions refer to unspecific architectural structures and urban environments. “My work reflects an architectural and iconographic landscape drawn from commercial cities and developing sprawl,” says Leach. “Bright colors… seduce and trap our wandering eyes in this urban environment. I use these commercial colors and architectural compositions to convey not just the bombarding beauty of our billboard environment but also the way that place becomes a marker of memory.”

A native of Lexington, KY, Leach received a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2000. He currently lives and works in Houston and has most recently exhibited his work at venues in Houston, Portland, OR, and St. Paul, MN.

Galveston Arts Center is currently operating “in exile” from our second temporary downtown gallery space—the site of the former Maceo’s Spice and Import Company located on the corner of Market and 25th Streets. The administrative offices are also at this location. The gallery and selections from GAC’s museum shop, ArtWorks, are open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. A flyer listing all ArtWalk participants with times and locations can be downloaded at www.galvestonartscenter.org.

SUPPORT AND SPONSORSHIP

Funding for GAC’s exhibition programs is provided by The Brown Foundation; Houston Endowment, Inc., Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund, The National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, the City of Galveston through the Hotel/Motel Tax Fund, and the generous support of the community, volunteers and an active membership. GAC’s Art for All Education Program is supported in part by the Permanent Endowment Fund of Moody Memorial First United Methodist Church, The Smothers Foundation, Brown Foundation, Inc., Fondren Foundation, Alice Taylor Gray Foundation, Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund, Target Stores, and Texas Commission on the Arts.

LOCATION AND HOURS

Galveston Arts Center is located on the corner of Strand and 22nd (Kempner) Street in historic downtown Galveston. The building is currently closed until further notice for repairs to damage from Hurricane Ike. We anticipate re-opening in 2010. For more information, call 409.763.2403 or visit www.galvestonartscenter.org.

Galveston Arts Center in Exile 2 is located at 2501 Market Street, Galveston, TX, 77550. The mailing address for GAC remains the same: 2127 Strand, Galveston, TX 77550.

Pictured above:  Jonathan Leach, detail paved with good intentions, 2008, Acrylic on canvas, 53 x 75 ½ inches, Courtesy the artist and Gallery Sonja Roesch, Houston.  (Full image below).