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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2008
Contact: Joy Reed Belt
405/842-6336
jrbartstudio@aol.com
DENISE DUONG NARRATIVE ART, MATT SEIKEL CERAMICS & PATRICK RILEY MASKS AT
JRB ART AT THE ELMS IN OCTOBER
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – An exhibition featuring narrative art by Denise Duong, ceramic works by Matt Seikel, and mixed media masks by Patrick Riley will open with a reception on Friday, October 3, 2008, from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m., at JRB Art at The Elms during the monthly Gallery Walk in Oklahoma City’s Paseo Arts District. The exhibits run through October 31st.
For this show, Duong has developed a fresh approach to her narrative art, utilizing different methods to develop her creations. Image transfers, including those of photographs taken during her recent European travels, lay down the environmental element while collage helps create character. According to Duong, this current body of work contains “a series of stories, thoughts and desires - all of which does not include the worries of the next president, religion’s control, or the economy.”
For the artist, her work is an embrace of the beauty in life. Many of her pieces feature Duong’s signature whimsical characters engaged in enjoyable activities such as bicycling. “Each painting strips away the cares and worries of life, diverting us from our routine existence,” explained Duong.
Duong studied at the Arts Institute of Chicago and at the University of Central Oklahoma. In 2003, she began working with Matt Seikel who also studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in addition to the Kansas City Art Institute and Oklahoma State University.
In this exhibit, Seikel will present an untitled body of work created through two very different approaches. One is represented by a collection of simple Zen inspired bowls and vessels fired in traditional Japanese methods. The pieces have been hand-rubbed and oil painted in black and white, resulting in an elegant simplicity of presentation. According to Seikel, the pieces were “conceived through a focus on productivity and process,” with the work being “not so much about the object itself, but the resulting whole.”
Seikel’s second approach is made manifest in sculptural work comprised of found elements. The resulting sculptures may be displayed on either a wall or a flat surface. “There is a discord in my process,” said Seikel. “I start by modeling fairly simple shapes and, not until later, building with them in an abstract constructed style,” he added.
“I am focusing on creating inexhaustible objects that are purely visual,” said Seikel. For him, the new sculptures are an escape from what was becoming a “groping craft of the vessel form.” Seikel explained, “I tried to cut through the distraction of ingenuity and complexity of material.”
Patrick Riley’s masks have become a seasonal favorite at JRB Art at The Elms where they have traditionally been exhibited during October. Crafted of leather, highlighted with paint and embellished with feathers, jewels and other found objects, Riley’s creations evoke an exotic sense of mystery.
Riley is a nationally recognized mask maker and artist. He has exhibited masks and presented masks workshops in many places including the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C and the Fairtree Gallery of Contemporary Craft in New York City. He is on the Oklahoma Arts Council's Artist in Residence Program and has served as Visual Arts Coordinator for Oklahoma City Public Schools. Riley received the Oklahoma Governors Arts Award in 1995.
JRB Art at The Elms, the former home of Nan Sheets which was built in 1920, is located at 2810 North Walker in Oklahoma City’s historic Paseo Arts District, and is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10-6, and Sunday 1-5. Phone (405) 528-6336, www.jrbartgallery.com.
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