BLANDEN ART MUSEUM

West Gallery

January - December 30, 2025

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Curators Statement:

“Even in stillness, there is movement.” – Anonymous

 

Visitors can embark on an artistic odyssey with "Harmonizing Dimensions," a curated collection delving into the intricate interplay of motion, time, and rhythm. This transformative exploration shapes and defines the creative landscape, leaving an enduring imprint on the ever-evolving art world.

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As we navigate the swift tapestry of the 21st century, our understanding of motion, time, and rhythm in art undergoes a profound transformation. Technological advancements and global connectivity dissolve traditional boundaries, providing artists with new realms to explore.

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Step into this odyssey at the Blanden, where artworks come alive dynamically, transcending conventional expressions. Let the masterpieces converge in your mind, facilitating a harmonious dialogue between motion, time, and rhythm. Across diverse mediums, artists showcase how movement breathes life into their works, time influences narratives, and rhythm orchestrates unique artistic experiences.

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Working in varied mediums, these artists share a profound grasp of the interplay among fundamental forces. Witness how motion is captured in brushstrokes, time in sculpture, and rhythm in the arrangement of forms and colors. The exhibition encourages an exploration of the dynamic relationship between the static and kinetic, tangible, and ephemeral, finite, and infinite – offering profound insights into the role of motion, time, and rhythm in shaping artistic expression.

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"Harmonizing Dimensions" invites you on a transformative journey where motion, time, and rhythm converge, unlocking uncharted realms of artistic expression. Celebrate the visionary contributions of artists worldwide as they entice us to delve into the profound mysteries within these elemental dimensions.

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May this exhibition inspire you to embrace the ever-shifting dynamics of life, fostering a deeper appreciation for the interconnected dance of motion, time, and rhythm in the realm of art.

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East Gallery

May 4 - July 20, 2024

 

Artist Statement:

In 2016, I made portraits of youth contestants at Minnesota county fairs. Each participant—some as young as four years old— spent a year raising an animal, which they entered into a 4-H livestock competition. None of the youth I photographed succeeded in winning an award, despite the obvious care they have given to their animal.

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Four years later, in 2020, I returned to photograph the young subjects, asking them what they carried forward from their previous experience. Some of them have continued to pursue animal husbandry while others developed other interests. We imagine some of these kids will choose to continue running their family farms, an unpredictable and demanding way to make a living.

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As I created the second group of photographs, I asked them what were their thoughts, their dreams, and their goals for the future? How do they fit in the future of agricultural America?

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The Unchosen Ones depicts the bloom of youth and the mettle of the kids who grow up on farms, reminding us how resilient children can be when confronted with life’s inevitable disappointments. The formal quality of the lighting and setting endow these young people with a gravitas beyond their years, revealing self-direction dedication in some, and in others, perhaps, the pressures of traditions imposed upon them. The portraits capture a particular America, a rural world, and a time in life when the layered emotions of youth are laid bare. 

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Bio:

R. J. Kern (b. 1978) is an American artist whose work investigates ideas of home, ancestry, and a sense of place. His portraits focus on intimate, interdependent relationships of people, animals, and landscape as a means of exploring how ancestry shapes identity and how myth intertwines with personal history. His camera has led him from an inquiry into his lineage in the farming communities of Scandinavia and Ireland to the examination of similar communities near his home in Minnesota. Increasingly, his attention has been captured by the next generation of young people, who may or may not be the stewards of rural communities and economies in the future.

 

Inspired by master landscape painters of the 19th-century, Kern embraces the heightened expressivity of natural and artificial lighting techniques. To draw sharper connections between traditional and modern farming routines, he adopts both historical and current photographic processes. While illuminating the ephemeral beauty of youth, Kern probes the current realities of agrarian practices, aspiring to enhance awareness and interest in the changing face of American pastoral life. 

Second Floor Gallery

March 2 - April 20, 2024

 

Artist Statement:

Virginia City is a ghost town, the skeleton of a booming Montana gold mining camp in the late 19th century. The silence of this “dead” place gives the viewer time to examine the drama of decay. Empty rooms and broken doorways invite speculation about the lives of people long gone, but the decaying wood invites viewers to search out another story, the life of a living material that grew and developed, was cut and used by hands both skilled and unskilled, and finally left to dry and rot.

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Documenting the evidence of time through photography I was moved to capture some of these “tales” with hand dyed fabric, created by the ungoverned mixing of colors, often resembles the growth patterns observed in cut and decaying wood.

I have been creating these works over the past several years with various shades of the gray and rusty reds of decaying wood. Recently I visited an exhibition of works by Clyfford Still, whose content and style reminded me very much of the decayed wood, but his use of bright colors encouraged me to expand on my color choices.

 

BIO:

Born and educated in the mountains of Montana, I moved to Iowa in my early 20’s. I have learned to love the mid-western landscape. The rich history of the prairies, the vastness of space, the dark loamy soil, and the changing seasons provide an unending source of inspiration for my vision as a fiber artist.

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My introduction to the quilt world was through the doors of a traditional quilt guild. Although I have moved into the world of art quilts, my experience there opened my eyes to the lasting power and beauty of rhythm and repetition, or as I like to think of it…visual music. It remains an essential element in my work.

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I taught art for 30 year in a small college art department, a career that was characterized by engaging in multiple mediums, as well as a good deal of art history.

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I loved it all, and still find it difficult to stick to a single medium. Looking back, however my focus remains quite steady. I gradually developed a body of work that expresses a personal  vision and style, but still explores multiple subjects and techniques.

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The five pages of my portfolio introduce the major themes of my work over the years. Each page opens with a short statement describing my vision for the body of work      displayed there.

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• Margaret Bohls - Second Floor Gallery 

  • Italian Studies - Ceramics (May 4 - June 22, 2024)​

• RJ Kern - East Gallery​

  • The Unchosen Ones - Photography ​(May 4 - July 20, 2024)

• Jack Dant - Second Floor Gallery

  • A World Observed - Paintings (July 13 - Sept 21, 2024)​