Several new art exhibitions around town, the continuing solar-powered lighted installation, and a dance party on the square will welcome visitors to Fairfield First Fridays on July 5, 6 to 10 p.m.
Abstract Artists at ICON Gallery
An opening reception for abstract work by three Iowa City artists opens at ICON Gallery, 58 N. Main St., 6:30–10:00 p.m. “Iowa City has a wealth of talented artists,” says ICON Director Bill Teeple. “Three veteran artists from that community are Laura Young, Nancy Purington, and Anita Jung, all abstract artists. However, no matter how abstract and nonobjective the art becomes, the work can’t escape reference to the outer and inner worlds. Their work hits you with a powerful aesthetic experience of color and form, but each also delivers deep poetic, emotional, and metaphysical content.”
Painter Laura Young explores how light affects the viewer’s mood and reaction. Nancy Purington uses her lifelong fascination with water to search for beauty and dynamism in her work. Anita Jung creates artwork that contemplates “the space between existence and nothingness.”
The show will run through September 7.
Creators of these original solar-powered installations include Jenny Sammons, who contributed a hanging framed piece called Flower Power; Mendy & Hayden McAdams (for the Fairfield Chamber), who came up with the diorama Gnome Place Like Home; Pam Lander Squillo, creating A De-Lightful Bouquet; Terry Baker (of Visit Fairfield CVB), designer of Plasti-Houly; Chuck & Terri Drobny, inventors of Watering the Flowers; and Suzan Kessel, originator of the chandelier-inspired Flower Dance. Several more installations will be added as they are completed.
Kate earned her B.F.A. at Wichita State University and holds a Masters in Education Technology from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She earned her art education certification at the University of New Mexico. Kate’s family roots in Iowa date back to the 1800s, and painting, genealogy, and touring Iowa are her current passions.
“Everyday Geometry” at Fairfield Art Association
A new group exhibition, “Everyday Geometry,” curated by Harriet Burbeck, opens on July 5 in the Corridor Gallery in the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center. A reception will be held 6–8 p.m.
The artists featured in the show include Suzan Kessel, Jennifer Sammons, Harriet Burbeck, John Schirmer, Katie Bell, John Preston, Allison Honeycutt, Aleya Horlein, Elsie Smith, Steve Prettyman, and Judy Bales. In their paintings, photographs, and mixed-media works, shape, color, and texture take center stage, and the line between representational and abstract imagery becomes blurred.
“For this exhibit,” Burbeck says, “several local artists were asked to share work that highlights the shapes that comprise the world and help us forget that we know what they mean. These representational works depict the familiar in ways that emphasize their forms and skirt their identities. In other words, meaning is subordinated to form. The viewer is invited to invent new significance for the shapes they see, and in so doing, renew their perceptions of the world.”
Burbeck, originally from Fairfield and newly returned from New Orleans, has joined the FAA Board as an experienced exhibit curator and artist. She now teaches fine art and graphic design at Indian Hills Community College and is co-coordinator of the gallery.
Sasha Luse: Moving Color at Freeform Gallery
Also on the evening of Friday, July 5, Freeform Gallery, located at 508 N. 2nd Street in Fairfield’s Tetra Building, will be hosting an opening reception for “Moving Color,” an exhibition of paintings by Fairfield artist Sasha Luse. This show primarily features works in clay paint with earth pigments, a medium that lends a soft but vibrant feel to the colors as they dance together on the canvas. Show attendees will receive 10% off at Veraison Wine Bar on Friday, located in the same building. The show will remain open through September 6.