Symbolic

Symbolic January 13 - February 14, 2018. FREE opening reception Saturday, January 13, 5-7 p.m.

Please join Art Saint Louis for our new juried exhibit, Symbolic, featuring new artworks by 49 St. Louis regional artists from Missouri and Illinois.

Graphic design by Emily Amberger.

Symbolic is the first exhibit of 2018 at Art Saint Louis. This juried visual art exhibition features artworks that depict, incorporate or are otherwise are inspired by symbols; where symbolism itself is the subject matter and/or an expressive means to address other subjects. The multi-media exhibition features 54 artworks by 49 St. Louis regional artists from Missouri and Illinois. Artworks featured include works in collage, drawing, fiber, glass, handmade paper, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. Please join us on Saturday, January 13, 2018, from 5 to 7 p.m. for a free reception for this new exhibit. Meet the featured artists and exhibit Jurors. The Symbolic exhibit remains on view through February 14. We invite you to view images of all of the artworks featured in this exhibit, gallery views of the show, and highlights from our opening reception in our Facebook album here. The Gallery is free & open to the public Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4 p.m. & Saturday 9 a.m.-3 p.m. We are closed Sundays & major holidays. We are honored to have the opportunity to work with Fr. Terrence E. Dempsey, S.J. and Cheri Hoffman as our Jurors for the Symbolic exhibition. Artist Cheri Hoffman lives & works in St. Louis. She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Denver and studied painting at Washington University School of Fine Art. Her mixed media artworks have been exhibited and collected regionally & nationally. Cheri's work was recently featured in “Printmaking St. Louis Now” at the Sheldon Art Galleries, St. Louis, MO (2016). And Fr. Terrence E. Dempsey, S.J., is the founding Director of the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA) at Saint Louis University. MOCRA is the world's first contemporary interfaith art museum. Fr. Dempsey received his doctoral degree in art history and religion from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, in conjunction with the University of California at Berkeley. His dissertation topic was the "Re-emergence of Spiritual and Religious concerns in American Art of the 1980s," and he continues his research in this area, now focusing on global artists of the present day who have incorporated the religious and spiritual dimensions in their work. During his studies in Berkeley, he curated exhibitions for the Graduate Theological Union, the most important of which was "Christo and Peter Selz: The Running Fence Revisited" in 1988. Christo, Jeanne-Claude Christo, and Peter Selz attended the opening of this exhibition. Overall, Fr. Dempsey has curated over 80 art exhibitions, including nearly 50 at the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art. In addition to his responsibilities as director and curator at MOCRA, Fr. Dempsey has been part of the art history faculty at Saint Louis University since 1990. He is first holder of the May O'Rourke May Endowed Chair in Art History and Religion, a position he has held since 1995.

Symbolic Juror's Statement

"I was privileged to be invited to be a co-juror of the Symbolic exhibition with St. Louis artist Cheri Hoffman. The over 200 submissions were in a variety of media: painting, sculpture, photography, fiber art, prints, and drawings.
We each looked at images of the submissions on our own before getting together with Robin Hirsch-Steinhoff, Artistic Director of Art Saint Louis, to discuss our choices for inclusion in the exhibition. Our conversations were animated and our decisions were often times difficult as we looked at a very impressive body of art that was submitted for this exhibition. Finally, we selected 54 artworks by 49 artists.
Art Saint Louis chose just one word to title this exhibition—Symbolic-- and that word is an adjective, not a noun or pronoun. It modifies the noun and pronoun and gives them deeper meaning. A symbolic object points to more profound and often nuanced meanings. Sometimes those meanings are inspiring or consoling, sometimes they evoke a sense of wonder that can lead to contemplation, sometimes they are witty, sometimes they are cautionary or even frightening, and sometimes they are invitations to us to get involved. The symbolic meaning is also an expansive meaning, with rich metaphorical associations that can be different for each observer. These 54 artworks invite us to be active participants in experiencing them by bringing our own ability to think metaphorically to the works.
Finally, I want to thank Art Saint Louis and especially Robin Hirsch-Steinhoff, Artistic Director of Art Saint Louis, for inviting me to co-jury this exhibition and for always being available to help when I had any questions. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience."

—Terrence E. Dempsey, S.J.
Director, Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA)
Saint Louis University

SPECIAL EVENT
COFFEE WITH THE ARTISTS: SATURDAY GALLERY TALK
Saturday, January 27, 11 a.m.    FREE

Please join us at Art Saint Louis on Saturday, January 27, at 11 a.m. and meet several of the featured artists in Symbolic.

Guests can enjoy complimentary coffee tastings courtesy of Catalyst Coffee Bar while the artists talk about their works on view in the exhibit, discuss the media that they use and the various techniques that they apply to making their form of artwork. The artists may also bring in samples of their other works or also present a demo of their particular media & techniques. Guests will walk with the artists through the Gallery as they talk about their works on view in the exhibition. This event is FREE & open to the public.

Meet the following artists at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 27:
• Stephen Da Lay
• Mark Appling Fisher
• Linda Horsley
• Barbara Zucker

The 49 featured artists in Symbolic are:

Some of the 54 artworks featured in Symbolic:

Gary Netzler, Greenville, IL. "Ellis Island 2017." 2017. Acrylic on Panel, 52”x32”. $1,000.	Cary Horton, Shrewsbury, MO. "Cicada." 2017. Black & White Photograph with Applied Ink, 28”x24”. $400.	Snail Scott, Edwardsville, IL. "Reception." 2014. Ceramic, Metal, 40”x26”x22”. $2,100. This artwork was selected by the exhibit Jurors for the Best of Show Award.
Debbie Corson, Ballwin, MO. "Flight." 2017. Photo/Drawing Fusion, 17”x22”. $300.	John Salozzo, Olivette, MO. "Stone & Butterfly." 2014. Acrylic on Canvas, 30”x40”. $1,250.	Linda Horsley, St. Louis, MO. "Underneath." 2014. Oil on Canvas, 36”x36”. $2,500.
Josie Cammarata, Maplewood, MO. “Put me together or take me apart…” 2017. Acrylic, 20”x20”. $500.	Jared Nearsy, St. Louis, MO. "The Balance Which Weighs." 2017. Metal, Wood, Stain, Spray Paint, Graphite, 21.5”x21”x7.5”. $1,200.	Barbara Marshall, Chesterfield, MO. "TarArt TMP Series #1/Off N Running." 2017. Photograph on Metal, 13”x10”. $67.
David M. Yates, Edwardsville, IL. "Nighthawks Revisited." 2015. Oil on Canvas, 48”x36”. $5,000.	Eve Dake Bayer, Ladue, MO. "Exodus 20:13 Blue Series." 2017. Collagraph, Ink on Paper, 11”x14” each/9 parts. $3,400.	Lawrence Duffy, St. Charles, MO. "The Apple and the Damage Done." 2017. Photograph, 24”x18”. $350.