Textures and Elements — A Group Show at City Gallery

In July, City Gallery hosts the group exhibit TEXTURES AND ELEMENTS featuring work by Joy Bush, Jennifer Davies, Esthea Kim, and Tom Peterson. The multi-disciplinary show runs July 7 - July 30, with an opening reception on Saturday, July 8, 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Combining work in photography, fiber art, sculpture, and painting, the artists together create an observant meditation on the details in our surroundings — the abstractions, the patterns, the colors, the illusions.

Bush’s photographs of “Shadows and Runes” are the accidental and spontaneous abstractions which perplex and fascinate her. “Inevitably, something that might easily have gone unnoticed shows itself, becomes important, and rearranges the familiar,” she says. “These small wonders become an ideogrammatic language unto themselves.”

For fiber artist Davies, the physical world of rich textures and patterns is the source of her artmaking: the rhythm of tree bark, the flower shapes of lichen, or the lacy edges of a wave seeping into sand. “In recent years,” she says, “my awareness of these beauties has been sharpened by the environmental peril that surrounds us. I feel a more urgent need to highlight them.”

For Kim, the textures in her paintings “are, objectively, the particles, the fibers, the strands and the organic forms: also a twinkle of the movement, the air, and the wind,” and “the elements then take my gaze away toward the infinite reveries and the unseen.” The result is a stunning presentation of illusions, lively compositions, interpretations, and abstracts.

Peterson’s photographs for this exhibit were taken while walking in industrial neighborhoods that had been in a state of urban decay. As he explains “I've imaged myself discovering small pieces of abstract art, while focusing on vibrant color with an emphasis on texture.”

TEXTURES AND ELEMENTS is free and open to the public, and will be on view July 7 - July 30. Artists will also be in the gallery July 16 (Bush), 22 (Davies), 28 (Kim), and 30 (Peterson). City Gallery is located at 994 State Street, New Haven, CT 06511. Gallery hours are Friday - Sunday, 12pm - 4 pm, or by appointment. For further information please contact City Gallery, info@city-gallery.org, www.city-gallery.org.