Harris Stanton Gallery

Joe Karlovac, Current Streaming #1, joint compound, paper collage on wood

Harris Stanton Gallery Akron and Harris Stanton Gallery Cleveland open the 2019 calendar year with two exciting exhibitions. The HSG Akron location will host our annual New Directions exhibition, which opens on January 10. Paper & Ink: new works by Yuji Hiratsuka and Hui-Chu Ying, opens on February 7 at the HSG Cleveland location.

New Directions, an exhibition dedicated to highlighting emerging young talent, has become a favorite exhibition of HSG viewers! This year’s show will feature exciting work and fresh perspectives by artists Stephanie Spyker, Joe Karlovac and Austin Turner.

University of Akron graduate Stephanie Spyker’s Polaroid montages emphasize location and investigate how a specific location can tell a visual story. Spyker manipulates photographs and uses a Polaroid printer to piece together hundreds of small images to create one cohesive landscape. Joe Karlovac’s paintings embrace dense physical surfaces and smooth graphic imagery. Karlovac, a Kent State University graduate, builds his surface by using common studio materials such as wood, fabric, foam, tape and plastic resulting in a canvas where sculptural forms emerge. Cleveland Institute of Art graduate Austin Turner uses a 3D modeling program to create scrambled renderings of a virtual place. Turner then paints exaggerated landscapes containing flat planes, perspective lines and figures in an attempt to explore our understanding of place and to help the viewer build a narrative about community, architecture and the lull of office space.

Paper and Ink: new works by Yuji Hiratsuka and Hui-Chu Ying will feature works by two contemporary printmakers. Yuji Hiratsuka’s work combines eastern influences and western sensibilities. Hiratsuka uses the intaglio printmaking process and the French technique of “Chine collé” to create prints that explore the complex relationship of paper, ink and etched plates. Hiratsuka’s playful use of simple realistic imagery combined with metaphorical elements fill the viewer with a sense of the whimsical and ironic nature that relates to contemporary life.

Hui-Chu Ying’s prints combine techniques and materials from contemporary Western-based culture with traditions from Asian art. Her work blends printmaking with painting, drawing, sewing, etching, screen printing and collage. Her silkscreens include text from several religious books including the Koran, Torah, Bible and Buddhist sutras. Layering is an important characteristic of Ying’s work. The delicate balance and intentional layering of color, pattern and language create works of opposing elements and perfect harmony.

Harris Stanton Gallery

2301 West Market Street

Akron, Ohio 44313

330.867.7600

Harris Stanton Gallery Cleveland

1370 West 9th Street

Cleveland, Ohio 44113

harrisstantongallery.com