New at Kokoon: Spirit and Matter. Continuing: Life Through The Ages, Cabinets of Curiosities, & Altered City

Life Through the Ages
This exhibition highlights artwork depicting animal life from prehistoric times to the present through sculpture,  paintings and prints by a wide variety of artists. Charles R. Knight became the first American artist to portray prehistoric  life through his murals at major natural history museums. His acute observations of contemporary animal anatomy and  a vivid imagination enabled him to accomplish this unique work. His large oil painting on display, Bengal Tiger with  peacock is recognized as a masterpiece. William E. Scheele and others in the exhibition were inspired by Knight to try their hand at dinosaurs and living animals, using artistic approaches ranging from scientific detail to ornamental design,  to expressive abstraction.

The Cabinet of Curiosities complements this exhibition of animal life with an assortment of natural and man-made  objects from different places and times, as an homage to the Art of Collecting.

Andrea LeBlond

Altered City
Michael Nekic continues his visual exploration of Cleveland and other Rust Belt cities going through 21st century re- invention. He uses his fertile imagination and a palette of computer software programs to transform digital photographs,  often of the prosaic and mundane, into an amazing variety of magical and compelling computer graphic images. Life  Through the Ages, The Cabinet of Curiosities, and Altered City continue through April 27th
Spirit & Matter
May 17th through September 14th
The Spring-Summer exhibition, called Spirit & Matter, focuses on work that embodies the primal essence of Artistic Creation, the Alchemy of creating Art. The ethereal, creative Spirit conjures and crystallizes an artwork into the physical  realm of Matter through the medium of the Artist. Susan Squires uses an ancient technique called encaustic painting,  building an image with found objects, pigments and wax. The final works have a beautiful translucent glow with  perceptible depth and a sense of mystery. Chuck Herndon’s eye for the raw materials created through various geologic  processes of our Earth enables him to transform the stone into an even more beautiful and sensual objet d’art. Soft stone  appears folded and twisted, while the hard rock pieces are polished and rough, enhancing the beauty of its constituent  elements. Andrea LeBlond’s new ceramic work has evolved into larger pieces echoing metaphysical and basic organic  elements. Utilizing a bowl format, she highlights the pieces with striking color and glazes.

 

Chuck Herndon, Soft Embrace