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September 4, 2003

Boise State Exhibition Features Contemporary Realist Painters

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Sam Collett (Ore.) Martha Mayer Erlebacher (N.Y.) Laura Johnson (Ind.)   click the images above to see a larger view   �Realism Now: Paintings and Drawings,� an exhibition of contemporary realist painters, will open with a free reception from 5:30-7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, in the Liberal Arts Building (Gallery 1) and the Hemingway Center for Western Studies (Gallery 2) at Boise State. The exhibition runs through Nov. 7. �Realism Now� features 33 works by seven contemporary realist painters: Stephen Assael (N.Y.), Sam Collett (Ore.), Martha Mayer Erlebacher (N.Y.), , Michael Reedy (Ill.), Edward Schmidt (N.Y.) and Wade Schuman (N.Y.). Researched for more than five years, the exhibition was curated by Richard Young, chair of the Boise State art department and associate professor of painting, with assistance from Boise State alumnus Dan Scott, and is the first major exhibition at Boise State addressing contemporary realist painting. Two leading galleries in the field of contemporary figurative art, the Forum Gallery in New York and the Hackett-Freedman Gallery in San Francisco, assembled and loaned artworks for the exhibition. Additional works from the collections of various artists are also included. Dan Scott studied with Schuman, Assael, Erlebacher and Schmidt at the New York Academy of Art, earning his MFA in 1999, and has worked as a part-time art instructor at Boise State since his return. Regarding these artists, Scott said that a �belief in painting unifies them.� The artwork encourages the viewer of realist painting �saying, look again and see it in a new way.� Young said his interest in curating the exhibit �is due to a transition in my own studio painting practices from earlier abstract work to a more refined narrative representation, and the viability of realism as an important communicative language. Many students dismiss realism as a language partly due to their lack of exposure to interesting work and the patience to learn the craft.� Visually citing a variety of art historical references, these contemporary artists push the limits of representational painting by using traditional visual vocabulary to communicate contemporary concerns. Artists Assael, Erlebacher and Schuman exemplify the merging of painting, craft and content. Additionally, exhibited artists expand, question and redefine realism using it as a vehicle to address contemporary topics. The presentation of artworks offers viewers the opportunity to investigate the complex materiality and physical presence of the paintings and also the rare invitation to interrogate and explore individual and communal notions regarding realist and representational painting. -30- Contact Kathleen Keys Gallery director 208 426-3994 kathleenkeys@boisestate.edu Media Contact Kathleen Craven communications and marketing 208 426-3275 kcraven@boisestate.edu

Last reviewed on Thursday, July 21, 2005