June 29 – August 24, 2013

Haslem, Hodge and Gallery Three
Sponsored by:  First Financial Bank

Events: Reception June 29, 3-6 p.m.

From Kris Ercums:

The Paris Salon exhibitions organized by the Académie des Beaux-Arts that dominated the nineteenth-century French art world were among the earliest juried exhibitions. Whether or not an artist’s work was chosen for inclusion, “skied,” or simply rejected could secure or ruin their career. Thankfully the stakes aren’t so high these days. But, when jurors increasingly rejected experimental paintings, the mounting resentment engendered a series of alternate exhibitions and eventually shifted the entire dynamic of the French art world. These early juried exhibitions were vital for shaping and supporting contemporary art of their day.

The flourishing of the juried exhibition mode at the Swope Art Museum in the Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition similarly promotes the expansion and growth of the local art ecology. The diverse spectrum of works submitted for review evinces the health and vitality of this visually creative environment. Like jurors before me, decisions may be thinly veiled by the rhetoric of taste or some other criteria, but in large part I feel decisions are shaped by personal factors. To explain my own motivations, I returned to works that evoked both emotional and cerebral responses—criteria that made selecting this year’s prizewinners very difficult.

The brazen color palate used by Nancy Kruse in her painting Bosco Takes a Ride heightened the common place experience of visiting an amusement park with intoxicating colors reminiscent of the Fauvist painters, who had suffered harsh criticism during the height of the Salon heyday. John DenHouter’s monumental paintings were mysterious and enigmatic in the way they combined assemblages of goal posts with deserted, even ruinous settings—two fish are suspended from a basketball goal like the detritus of some receded catastrophic flood. Harris Johnson subverts the revered history of still life painting by inserting personalized humor, even daring to disrupt solidity with a much-needed jolt. The everyday experience of the ubiquitous grocery store in Courtland Blade’s The Frozen Aisle was multi-sensorial. This painting conveyed both the cold environment and incessant humming of sanitized overhead fluorescent lights with great effect. I was also struck by Benjamin Madeska’s focused exploration of a slice of salmon and a copper pot.

Sculptural works also stood out. Ray Chen’s organic clay piece Mother and Child emerged from the crate at the start of my judging day like a sea monster from a Godzilla flick and continued to haunt my thoughts all day. Daniel Tice’s large-scale memory diorama was eerily part crate and coffin and possessed an irresistible quality. I had to peek inside every time I passed it. And Rob Millard-Mendez’s whimsical Flying High Chair was like something from a dream. Cathleen Hogan was the other side of the dream dimension, evoking nightmarish repulsions with Baby Mill. And Scott Ziegler’s fateful role of dice with Seven-Out Loses commanded great skill and a plethora of visual references to explore.

Curating and awarding this year’s iteration of the Wabash Valley exhibition was endlessly delightful and a great honor. I so enjoyed working with professional staff of the Swope Art Museum and viewing its impressive collections. Engaging with all the artists through their submissions whether or not they made the final (and I can’t help but self reflexively think of the process as somewhat arbitrary) cut encapsulated an expansive experience that will not soon disappear.

Award Winners

Howard E. Wooden, Sr. Memorial Grand Prize

Bosco Takes A Ride, 2013, oil on canvas

Nancy Kruse, Carmel, IN

Phyllis Dye Turner Award of Excellence in Honor of Ann Rutledge Hartman

Offering, 2012, oil on canvas

John DenHouter, Edwardsville, IL

Alliance of the Swope Award of Distinction

Disrupted Still Life, 2012, acrylic on canvas

Harris Johnson, Columbus, OH

Alliance of the Swope Award of Honor

The Frozen Aisle, 2013, oil on canvas

Courtland Blade, Indianapolis, IN

Arts Illiana Award of Recognition

Baby Mill, 2012, clay, vintage doll components

Cathleen Hogan, Terre Haute, IN

Brent and Alexa Bilsland Award of Recognition

Anonymous Bone Noise BLU, 2012, digital photo montage

Jim Pearson, Lawrenceville, IL

Mary Ann Carroll Award of Recognition

Vertical Skyview, 2011, oil on canvas

Dan Annarino, West Lafayette, IN

Guille and Cindy Cox Award of Recognition

Seven-Out Loses, 2012, porcelain

Scott Ziegler, Fort Wayne, IN

Vernon B. Cristee Memorial Award of Recognition

Winter Creek, 2013, oil on canvas board

James Swanson, Lagrange Park, IL

Lant and Amanda Davis Award of Recognition

Salmon, 2012, oil on canvas

Benjamin Madeska, Indianapolis, IN

Emily and John Jr. Gedrick Award of Recognition

Mother and Child, 2011, stoneware, earthenware

Ray Chen, Terre Haute, IN

Max and Jackie Gibson Award of Recognition

River’s Edge, 2012, photograph on aluminum

Debbie Goodin, Terre Haute, IN

Sharron R. Jolly Award of Recognition in Memory of Elizabeth A. Smith

Barren Mounds, 2012, die formed copper, sterling silver, nickel silver, found screws

Kathleen Garrison, Metamora, IL

David and Jerry Mitchell Award of Recognition

Flying High Chair, 2011, wood, paint, lead, steel, aluminum, found objects

Rob Millard-Mendez, Evansville, IN

Nancy and Fred Nation Award of Recognition

A Neighborhood of Citizens United, 2011, acrylic on canvas

Ralph Larmann, Newburgh, IN

Eileen and Ted Prose Award of Recognition

Spring/Winter, 2012, acrylic on canvas

Dan Cooper, Indianapolis, IN

Psi Iota Xi Sorority ETA PHI Chapter Award of Recognition

Inoculate, 2013, digitally printed silk organza on paper
(Scanning Electron Micrographs provided by Sue Eder at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Sarah Gillespie, Newton, IL

Rick and Candy Shagley Award of Recognition

Wabash River North, 2013, Prismacolor pencils on art board

Michael R. Tingley, Terre Haute, IN

Mrs. Barbara A. Vogel Award of Recognition

Fragile, 2012, linoleum print diptych

Kathleen Laufman, Plymouth, MI

David and Joan Zaun Award of Recognition

Mrk. I Mnemonic Containment Vessel Series 12-001, 2012, mixed media sculpture

Daniel Tice, Terre Haute, IN

Danette Angermeier Memorial Award of Merit

Window, 2013, acrylic on panel

Edwin Cheek, Bloomington, IN

Sherry Dailey and Tom Tucker Award of Merit in Memory of Shirley Dailey Bennett

Maquette, 2012, video, animation, sound

Michael Lasater, South Bend, IN

Tom and Connie Francis Award of Merit

Philosophy of Nature, 2013, India ink, charcoal on paper

Mike Bender, Terre Haute, IN

Indiana State University Permanent Art Collection Purchase Award

Somewhere in Tea-Time, 2013, photograph

Thomas L. Farris, Muncie, IN

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Purchase Awards

Balance, 2011, mixed media sculpture and photographs

Jeff Boshart, Charleston, IL

Fall Days, 2012, ceramic

Beth Hoke, Clinton, IN

People’s Choice Award Sponsored by the Alliance of the Swope

Boxed Death, 2012, charcoal on wood panel

Lindy Reeves, Terre Haute, IN

Additional Accepted Artists and Works

Deborah Ann Anderson

Colorific, 2011, inlaid wood, acrylic

Dan Annarino

Transitional Landscape, 2011, oil on canvas

Lisa Jo Baer

Peering at the Past, 2011, digital photograph

Karen Bekkering

Back to Back, 2010-2011, photograph

Mike Bender

Landmarks II Wabash, 2013, India ink, Archaic, charcoal on paper

Courtland Blade

The Grocery Store, 2012, oil on canvas

Tom David

Tre Vecchi Uonmini, 2011, linoleum print on paper

John DenHouter

Memorial Stadium, 2012, oil on canvas

Tom Duffy

Farm, 2012, photograph, pigment ink on Canson Baryta paper

Terri Duncan

A Split Decision, 2011, mixed media

Turning in a New Direction, 2011, mixed media and resin

Jim Esslinger

Homage to J.C. – In Perseus Arm, 2012, mixed media

Suzanne Finn

Manufactured Cow, 2012, collograph print on paper

Katherine Fries

Memory Projection: Andrea & Kathryn, 2012, oil on canvas

Chad Gallion

Voyage III, 2012, oil on canvas

Kathleen Garrison

Solitary Protection Earring Series, 2011, sterling silver

Folded, 2012, chalk pastel on paper

Sarah Gillespie

Amalgamate, 2013, watercolor and digitally printed silk organza on paper
(Scanning Electron Micrographs provided by Sue Eder at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Peggy L. Hines

Phalaenopsis, 2011, watercolor, metallic thread

Cathleen Hogan

Chimera, 2012, clay, fur, fabric, vintage doll torso

Charlie Johnson

The Falls of HIsaac 2012, 2012, photograph

Harris Johnson

Dutch Still Life with Lobster, 2011, acrylic on canvas

Candle and Mouse, 2011, acrylic on canvas

James K. Johnson

Keeper of Machu Picchu, 2011, bronze

Kira Kalondy

Ciclo de Vida, 2012, ceramic porcelain and sterling silver

Jan Kappes

Cultivator Sweep, Two Views, 2012, colored pencil

Nancy Kruse

Decisions, Decisions, 2012, oil on canvas

Benjamin Madeska

Copper Pot, 2013, oil on canvas

Stephanie McGuinness

Persistence of Vision / The Storyteller, 2013, linoleum print on paper

Rob Millard-Mendez

Travelling Dimhouse, 2012, wood, paint, plastic, concrete, bone, steel

Justin Henry Miller

Nature Mother, 2012, oil on vintage photograph

Roger Pfingston

Sea Gift #1, 2013, digital photograph

Sea Gift #2, 2013, digital photograph

Orie Shafer

Skyline I, 2013, oil on canvas

Neil Taylor

Tree Bones, 2012, color woodcut

Michael R. Tingley

River of Time, 2013, mixed media