Abel Contemporary Gallery Exhibits

media release: June 7 - July 21, 2024

We present three new shows: Charlie Olson — Quiet Precision, Spruced Up: Group Show, and in no. 5 Casey Fletcher — Extramission

Events:

Opening Reception Friday, June 7, 5 - 8pm

Shows Open Online Saturday June 8 at 10 am CDT.

In Person Artist Talks –

Charlie Olson Saturday June 15 2-3pm 

Casey Fletcher Saturday July 6 2-3pm 

Charlie Olson — Quiet Precision 

Part potter, part glaze chemist, Charlie Olson creates exquisite porcelain functional and semi-functional sculptural vessels. Often understated in their form, Olson’s works feature smooth organic shapes with impeccably applied glazes which Olson has developed and refined over his 35+ years of experience and experimentation.  

Spruced Up – Group Show

This show delves into the nuances of style and intentional visual enhancement. This theme explores various aspects of augmenting appearances, whether through adornments, such as jewelry, costuming and fashion, or drawing inspiration from elements of nature such as birds’ plumage or flowers’ petals— the exhibition is a celebration of intentional style in its myriad forms. Artists in this exhibit include: Alison Bailey, Randall Berndt, Jessica Calderwood, Gerit Grimm, Susanne Henry, Kelli Hoppmann, Lydia Martin, S.V. Medaris, Susan Richter-O’Connell, Jean Roberts-Guequierre, Erica Schlueter, Skyler Simpson, Diane Washa, Jonathan Wilde, and Ariana Vaeth. 

In no. 5: Casey Fletcher — Extramission 

The now defunct theory of extramission once supposed that sight was made possible by the emission of beams of elemental fire onto an object. An inversion of the contemporary understanding of vision–referred to as intromission–the theory held that a being’s gaze, inanimate or living, impacted the physical world. Though this theory was replaced during the early days of the Enlightenment, extramission’s legacy is clear in our present image-driven cultural moment. The works in this exhibition are reflections  on how witnessing the bodies of the neglected, the oppressed, and the punished influences attitudes and catalyzes restorative action. Further, the bodies themselves bear witness and serve as illuminations into the darkness of humanity’s collective conscience. While the light they shine contains an implicating force both to those complicit during these events and to each of us in our present context, that same light also demonstrates the unique power afforded to those in the throes of extreme adversity. The bodies depicted in this exhibition serve as testimonies to the belief found in the Abrahamic faiths: there is a proximity to truth afforded to those with profound experience of suffering, loss, and poverty of spirit. This body of work is meant to reflect on America’s history of racially motivated mob violence experienced largely - but not exclusively - by Black Americans and how these moments of violence brought to light the true state of race relations to the uninitiated, and thereby catalyzed societal change in the years leading to the civil-rights movement.