The 'OBJECT PROJECT' Exhibition

Wednesday, 30 January 2008 04:30

The OBJECT PROJECT, is the culmination of two years of work by 15 contemporary realist artists from across the country. The participating artists agreed to create one multipanel painting or two paintings per person, with the only stipulation being that five common objects (a clear glass of water, a moth, a ball of string, a bone and a mirror) would appear in some fashion within their paintings. The artists were expected to blend these chosen elements into their work in a way consistent with their existing body of landscapes, still lifes, portraits and figure compositions.

The exhibition, while unified by the five common objects, celebrates the unique vision of each artist. The artists included are (in alphabetical order) Steven Assael, Michael Bergt, Debra Bermingham, Deborah Deichler, Rob Evans, Scott Fraser, F. Scott Hess, Robert C. Jackson, Janet Monafo, Pamela Sienna, Daniel Sprick, Skip Steinworth, Nancy Switzer, Jeff Uffelman, and Will Wilson.

The exhibition, made possible in partnership with Mrs. Kurt W. Kreyling, will travel through mid-2009 to the Evansville Museum, Indiana (October 14, 2007 – January 6, 2008), Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina (February 3 – April 27, 2008); the Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma (June 29 – September 21, 2008); the Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee (October 11, 2008 – January 11, 2009); and the Museum of Outdoor Art, Englewood, Colorado (February 20 – May 23, 2009).

In addition to the exhibition, a hard-bound catalogue is available in which lead essayist, M. Stephen Doherty, Editor-in-Chief of American Artist magazine writes about the exhibition, “It came together through an extraordinary collaboration between fifteen contemporary realist artists and a group of museum officials, and it now affords viewers an opportunity to consider the connections and differences between those artists. The show is exceptional because the artists initiated it and because the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science agreed to host it before any of the pictures had been created. It is quite unusual for artists to curate effectively their own museum displays, and for cultural institutions to commit their resources to an exhibition that doesn’t exist. Clearly, the concept was so compelling and the roster of participating artists was so strong that the entire program developed purely on faith.”