Abel Contemporary Gallery Exhibits

press release:

March 8^th – May 5^th, 2019

We present Retreats by Allan Servoss, Wood-Fired: A Group Show, and

In the Cooler: Displayful Objects by Anthony Deibner-Hanson

Opening Reception Friday, March 8, 5pm-9pm Open to the public. (snow date Saturday, March 9, 5-9pm.)

This is our final show at our Paoli location, before we make the exciting move to our new location in Stoughton.

Allan Servoss: Retreats: Located in Northern Wisconsin, Servoss creates stunning landscapes that are part realism and part fantasy. At first glance these bucolic scenes feel familiar to the Midwest sensibility, but upon further reflection the spaces reveal a surreal edge. Perhaps a row of corn ends a little too abruptly, maybe an outcropping of trees grows in a not quite believable manner, or two intertwining oak trees start to take on a rather humanistic quality. Working in colored pencil and casein Servoss is inspired by the landscape around him yet, his work takes on an imagined life of its own.

Allan is a signature member of the Colored Pencil Society of America, he has taught workshops and exhibited nationally, and has been published in numerous books and periodicals featuring his colored pencil drawings. 

Group Show: Wood-Fired: The wood-fired ceramics movement has deep roots in the Midwest. Artists working in the tradition of Japanese studio pottery have been exploring the rich diversity this elemental process can yield. The atmosphere in the kiln creates unpredictable results, but this variability is part of what gives each pieces its distinct beauty.  Artists include Kevin Crowe, Joanne Kirkland, Ryan Myers, Zac Spates, Don Reitz, Reid Schoonover, and Mark Skudlarek.

In the Cooler: Displayful Objects by Anthony Deibner-Hanson: University of Wisconsin - Madison MFA candidate Anthony Diebner-Hanson has decontextualized familiar objects in order to reconsider and discover something new within something known so well it is often thought of as mundane. In his most recent body of work Deibner-Hanson has fused commonplace objects with the white pedestal used to display those items, therefore blurring the line between what is the object and what is the display.