School 33 Art Center Exhibition

Wednesday, 24 September 2008 01:10

BALTIMORE, MD - School 33 Art Center and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts are pleased to exhibit Vision Quest curated by Jason Hughes, School 33 Art Center’s exhibitions coordinator. The exhibition runs through October 4, 2008. The featured artists in the exhibition Vision Quest include Seth Adelsberger, Sarah Gamble, James Johnson, Patrick O’Malley, and Christine Buckton Tillman.

Through the use of painting, drawing, and sculpture each of these five artists employ subject matter intended to elicit a sense of connectivity through the mysteries of what we experience. Electromagnetic fields, radiation, meditation, prayer, hallucinations, melancholy, transcendence, paranoia, and the subconscious are all themes used by these artists in expressing the infinite, unknown, or unavoidable, which ultimately binds us all irrevocably. Landscapes, mindscapes, faces and eyes are introduced over heavily worked surfaces, painstaking patterning, and intricate representation. As a result there is a dynamic shift in perspective that occurs between the visible and the invisible or the observed and the observer. While this dualism can be interpreted in many ways, Vision Quest emphasizes the longing for balance between the psychic realm and the physical world, while paying tribute to the process in striving to do so.

Seth Adelsberger b. 1979 Emmitsburg, MD

Adelsberger graduated from Towson University with a BS in Fine Art in 2002. He has been living and working in Baltimore ever since. He has had a number of solo exhibitions throughout the Mid-Atlantic and has participated in nearly two dozen group shows since 2004. Adelsberger has recently exhibited his work at Sara Nightingale Gallery, Watermill, NY; Civilian Art Projects, Washington DC; and the Delaware Center for the Arts, Wilmington, DE. In 2008, Adelsberger was granted the top Individual Artist Award for Painting from the Maryland State Arts Council and in 2007 he was a semi-finalist for the prestigious Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize. His work has been featured in issues #45, #57, and #75 of New American Paintings; Locus Magazine Issue #4, and Link: A Critical Journal on the Arts Issue #9.

Sarah Gamble b. 1975 Charlotte, NC

Gamble received her BFA from the Corcoran School of Art in 1998 and went on to attain her MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in 2001.  She has participated in solo and group exhibitions since 2004 and is represented by Pageant: Sloveev Gallery in Philadelphia, PA.  Her work has recently been exhibited at PS122 Gallery, New York, NY; Jack the Pelican Presents, Brooklyn, NY; Pageant Gallery, Philadelphia, PA; Lump Gallery/Projects, Raleigh, NC; Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA; and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE. She has participated in a number of residencies including the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE; Jentel, Banner, WY; Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE; and the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT where she received a full fellowship. Gamble was a finalist for the highly competitive Pew Fellowship in the Arts grant and her work was recently selected as part of the Viewing Program Slide File for the Drawing Center in New York City. Her work is also featured in Issue #75 of New American Painting where she received “Juror’s Pick” by Jenelle Porter, associate curator for the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania. She currently resides in Philadelphia, PA.

James Johnson b. 1973 Spartanburg, SC

In addition to being a painter and sculptor, Johnson has been the lead vocalist for the musical troupe Wilderness since 1996. He has created all of the imagery for the band who is currently in the process of releasing their third album. In 1998, Johnson and fellow band members moved to the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area to pursue their creativity, and in June of 2004, Johnson co-founded Bonsai Artransport. In 2006, his work was featured in Material Matters, curated by Jason Hughes, at Maryland Art Place as part of MAP’s 25^th anniversary. Recently, Wilderness wrote a body of music for a collaboration with artist Charles Long, which they performed at the Whitney Biennale in March of 2008. They have since taken that piece of music on the road and recorded it for release later this year.

Patrick O’Malley b. 1938 Detroit, MI

O’Malley has an extensive career as an artist, architectural designer and editor/model maker; his humanist role as artist/ teacher/therapist is equally significant. His renaissance university education includes concentrations in fine arts, architecture, math, computer technology, psychology, and art education originating in Detroit, later in New York City and Baltimore. He earned a BFA & MA in Art from Wayne State University in 1965. There he taught visual communications at the University of Detroit, Architecture School and his art was featured in the Mead Show: Art Across America.

O’Malley created Vietnam War protest art in San Francisco in 1967. He later moved to New York City in 1969 and stayed for 20 years. There he was a freelance float and display designer: for Macy’s Parade in 1972, and the Philadelphia Bicentennial celebration in 1976.  As an art teacher, he helped pioneer the interdisciplinary art movement which integrates Art with Science, English, History, Psychology and Architecture. In 1993, he was recognized as an innovative educator in Design Education by the National 

Endowment for the Arts. He finally moved to Baltimore in 1992, and as an artist/teacher, taught K-12 art/architecture in public and private schools. His art was featured in the significant Washington Project for the Art/Corcoran show: Options 2007.  He is currently employed as artist-in-residence in Baltimore City public schools by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts; and will be teaching Architecture/ Art at the community college level.

Christine Buckton Tillman  b. 1977 St. George, UT

Tillman moved to Baltimore in 2002 after earning her MA and MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Iowa. Since then she has participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions throughout the Mid-Atlantic including the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD; the Katzen Art Center, Washington DC; and Pyramid Atlantic, Silver Spring, MD. Recently, she has exhibited at Transformer Gallery in Washington DC, the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art in Grand Rapids, MI, Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston, SC, and Area 405 in Baltimore, MD. In 2005 and 2006 she was a finalist for the highly competitive Trawick Prize for Contemporary Art.  Her work has also been published in Urban Code  and Locus Magazine Issue #3. Her drawings are a part of the FlatFile Program at Transformer Gallery in Washington DC. She is currently a member of the Upper School Faculty at the Park School of Baltimore.

School 33 Art Center is dedicated to providing opportunities for artists through exhibitions, art classes, workshops, a Studio Artist Program, and special events. School 33 Art Center is a program of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, Inc., and is supported in part by grants from the Mayor and the City Council of Baltimore, Provident Bank, Corrigan Sports / The Under Armour Baltimore Marathon, the Maryland State Arts Council, and through private contributions to School 33 Art Center.

School 33 Art Center is located at 1427 Light Street Baltimore, MD 21230. The gallery is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 10am-4pm, with extended hours on Thursdays from 10am-7pm and Saturdays 12-4pm. This exhibition is free and open to the public.