Art Relish

Alan Avery Art Company will hold a reception for an exhibition featuring new work from Pascal Pierme. The reception will be from 7-10 p.m. on Friday, March 23, 2012. The exhibition continues through Saturday, May 5, 2012.

Pascal Pierme creates abstract wood sculpture. Known for his extraordinary range of geometric to organic forms, as well as his unique surface finishes, Pierme looks to express the strength and texture of his materials. His meticulous attention to detail balances with his ability to allow the medium to guide him to the final form. Including pedestal and wall pieces, Pierme’s work has a great presence due to its three-dimensionality, but also because of the artist’s keen use of color. Intermixed with the tones of the wood and slick metallic- looking surfaces, bright hues or calming neutrals cover sections of a sculpture to form abstract shapes. The clean lines and color lend to a modernist aesthetic.

Pierme was born in France and has lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico since 1997. His work has been exhibited throughout France, Switzerland, and the U.S. He has been awarded several commissions for large-scale installations, and was selected by the Chinese European Art Center (CEAC) for a 2-month Art in Residency in Xiamen, China in 2009. His work is in several public and private collections.

Alan Avery Art Company
315 East Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta, Georgia 30305

Presenting new works by James Bridges and Justin Rabideau and curated by Dashboard Co-op‘s Craig Cameron and Romy Maloon, “Waste Not” portrays the artists’ response to individual experiences in their natural surroundings. Each crafts visceral depictions of metamorphosis by capturing the moments that are at the crux change, transformation, and re-interpretation. Bridges abstracts his experience, while Rabideau pulls directly — and quite literally — from his.

How can an artist best respond to a pile of rotting wood, or to the contrast of the sea meeting land? Rabideau questions how meaning can be extracted from materials whose purpose has been forgotten, while Bridges works to preserve moments by abstracting them to the point of essence.

Nothing is forgotten. Nothing goes to waste.

Justin Rabideau, an artist inspired by his natural surroundings, creates assemblage sculptures and site-specific installations from materials in his proximity. Using craft, paint, glass, and many natural elements to instill new energy into found materials, he provides a fresh perspective and re-interpretation. During this act of change and transition, Rabideau seeks to re-create a moment where there was once a touch of clarity.

James Bridges crafts multi-layered, poetic paintings of the natural landscape. Based on abstractions of environments that surround him, Bridges’ paintings are created with fast strokes and vigorous line that, quite unpredictably, imbue familiarity. His marks are effortless, spontaneous, yet confident in their placement and intensity.

Through March 24.

Barbara Archer Gallery
280 Elizabeth St NE # A012
Atlanta, GA 30307

MudFire Gallery, Atlanta’s only gallery focused exclusively on contemporary ceramic arts, presents a solo exhibition of porcelain vessels by Emerging Artist of the Year recipient Martha Grover. Displaying the elegant influences of flowers, dance, old movie costumes, and antiques, Martha’s award-winning work is lush with color, curves and grace. The exhibit opens online and in the gallery at Noon on Friday, January 27, with an opening reception from 5-9 that evening.

Martha Grover’s first ever exhibit Atlanta features an selection of her newest works in a glowing palette of blues, greens, corals and gold. The highlight of the collection is a heroic, three-tier tulipier intended to hold almost three dozen tulips. The exhibit also includes elaborate porcelain baskets, functional dinnerware, as well as a beautiful selection of jars, flower vases, and cups perfect for the discerning tea drinker.

Selected as the 2010 Emerging Artist of the Year by the industry-leading Ceramics Monthly magazine, Martha has perfected a technique for altering and decorating wheel-thrown pieces – making them as delightful to the senses as they are practical. Martha’s work is meticulously executed in porcelain. Stretched and altered, traditional wheel thrown forms evolve into silhouettes of perfectly balanced pieces, at once evoking orchids, courtesan gowns, and dancers. Her work has been described as luxurious yet not precious; fine yet not frighteningly fragile.

Asked about her creative influences, Martha states “I was constantly in the flower beds as a child, looking at the intricate details of the blossoms. I also studied ballet from the age of 3 until 18. And my sister and I were, and still are, fascinated by old movies, especially the lavish movie musicals of the 50s and 60s.”

Martha received her Masters of Fine Arts from Dartmouth and most recently has been a Resident Artist at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT. A recipient of numerous prestigious awards, Martha has been recently been featured in three important ceramics books, and been the focus of several articles in national publications.

MudFire Gallery
175 Laredo Drive
Decatur, GA 30030