LIVING WITH ART BLOG

OKLAHOMA CITY – Three noted artists and longtime friends who spent many years working together as artists, will exhibit together for the first time at JRB Art at The Elms.
An opening reception will be held for modern realism figurative painter, George Oswalt; fantastical figurative painter, Elizabeth Hahn; and abstract photographer, G.L. August Loessberg from 6-10 p.m. Oct. 6 during the Paseo Arts District’s First Friday Gallery Walk. The exhibition will be on view through Oct. 29. The exhibit, opening reception and art talks are free to the public, as a part of JRB Art at the Elms’ Beyond Art Series.

Oswalt’s paintings of figures and objects in vivid color are meditations on living in a hybrid world which has manifested into visual poems of beauty, yearning, time and space. Oswalt has spent years working on several series of paintings that deal with weightlessness, loss, and life transitions. The imagery in this current show is intended to take the viewer on a journey of human yearning which is not merely marked by striving toward something, but also by escaping from something.
Oswalt holds a MFA from the University of Oklahoma, and a M.Ed in art education from the University of Central Oklahoma. He has taught art at Oklahoma City University and other schools throughout Oklahoma.

Santa Fe artist Elizabeth Hahn was born in Louisiana, and spent her formative years in Oklahoma and New Mexico. For her “homecoming,” she brings a new series of work, whose outlook is decidedly positive and features fantastical, whimsical and sometimes surreal figures, reflecting her view of and her place in the world. Her rich and vibrant paintings take viewers on an intimate journey of her world, sharing her proficiency of minute details and love of colorful patterns.

Hahn has been painting for more than 30 years; she received her MFA from the University of Oklahoma and went on to pursue careers that involved creating and teaching art, including working as an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City University and co-owning the Hahn Ross Gallery on Canyon Road for more than 20 years.

G. L. August Loessberg’s exhibition is titled The Walls of El Tuito. El Tuito is a ranching town in the foothills of Mexico, south of Puerto Vallarta. For several hundred years, the walls of El Tuito have existed in a dynamic state of decay and restoration, painted and repainted by the townspeople in lush, vibrant colors that echo the pueblo’s identity over the centuries. To see the walls of El Tuito is to glimpse both the passage of time and time suspended, infinitely overlaid with the consequences of history, weather, and human interaction. Modern works of art emerge from this chaos, neither designed nor interpreted by humans, but created instead by the hands of time. The works Loessberg has included in this series, either magnified portions or full-size homages of the walls themselves, capture moments that, by their very nature of evolution and destruction, will never come again.

Loessberg has specialized in photography and graphic design since 1971. With subjects that encompass portraiture, landscape, pop art and abstraction, each of Loessberg’s creations carries a unique narrative, brought to life through custom formulations of permanent pigments on acid free substrates.

Next ExhibitJRB Art at the Elms will close out 2017 with two remaining exhibitions: Opening reception November 3, will feature David Phelps, Jose Rodrigus and Beatriz Maycora. In December, Christmas at The Elms returns featuring artist made ornaments.

About JRB Art at the Elms
JRB Art at The Elms presents a diverse roster of emerging, established, and internationally exhibited artists who create in a wide range of media, including paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, glass, fine crafts, functional objects, fiber art and photographs. This 8,000 square foot, award-winning gallery in Oklahoma City’s Paseo Arts District changes its exhibits monthly in a gracious environment that fosters a dialogue between the arts and the larger community while providing quality art for first time buyers as well as individual, corporate and museum collections.
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