Des Moines Art Center

The jury is in: Art Center unveils 62nd juried exhibition

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but art that is evocative follows particular criteria which can be assessed.

That's the belief of Gilbert Vicario, senior curator at the Des Moines Art Center, who adjudicated the Sioux City Art Center's 62nd Juried Exhibition.

"Good art is easy to identify," he said, "and comes with years of experience and training just like any other profession."

The art center will introduce the works with a free reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday. Vicario will talk about the work in the gallery at 6 p.m.

"I have been on many juries and we have always come to the same consensus," he explained. "Consistency in style, originality and pushing the limits of a particular genre or issue."

This competitive exhibition brought submissions of 668 artworks by artists from across the upper Midwest. The final selection for the exhibition includes 45 artworks by 25 artists, representing nine different states.

While the majority of the artists have graduate degrees in art and a number are professors in the region, others have become artists in less traditional ways.

For example, Alexandra Chehy of Northbrook, Ill., was born in 1991 and is waiting to decide where she will attend college. Joan Tobin of St. Louis, Mo., was born in 1926 and is still creating paintings and collage works. Peggy Wyman of Macomb, Mo., has a degree in math and now creates sculptures from pine needles. Travis Rice of Norwalk, Iowa, has a degree in landscape architecture and creates large vibrant paintings. Sioux City's Sue Ellen Kirkegaard, a disabled Registered Nurse, began a serious pursuit of painting only a few years ago by studying with local instructors and taking classes at the Sioux City Art Center.

The exhibition also presents a sample of the wide variety of materials artists in the region are using to create their works.

Artworks in the exhibition have been made from traditional materials such as oil on canvas, watercolor, photography, and drawing, while others include rather unconventional things such as warehouse stretch wrap, dinosaur bone with light bulbs, scavenged tire scraps, plywood, auto urethane with surfboard resin, and polystyrene.

The exhibition will remain on display through Sept. 25.

Museum Visit | Des Moines Art Center

You can’t imagine my consternation when I arrived at the Des Moines Art Center only to find the museum closes at 4:00 p.m. on Fridays. I had, from that moment, exactly 58 minutes to see the museum. I frequently visit museums on the run, but this was going to be too tight. Turns out 58 minutes is just about right for this particular museum. For a city this size, the museum has some great pieces (including some favorites show below), and while a couple of hours would have allowed a more leisurely pace, I didn’t have to rush and was able to make my way through the entire museum.

First observation: I might have expected a more conservative collection – focused perhaps on classical, or even folk art – this is rural, mid-west America after all. The Art Center defies this expectation and is almost entirely focused on modern and post-modern art, as well as avant-garde contemporary work. How to explain this modern sensibility? Visionary patrons and curators? I can’t say for sure, but I enjoyed the collection and the architecture of the museum itself.

The museum houses works by some of my favorites: Rothko, Warhol, Hopper (”Automat” no less) and some interesting works by artists I am less familiar with: (Jeff Koons, along with several regional artists).

My one, minor annoyance? No photography. I understand that a museum would want to avoid flash photography and would prohibit the photography of work that has copyright issues, but otherwise I find it an unnecessary prohibition. Hence, the photos below (other than the outdoor shots) are lifted from the museum’s site. Sure their photos are better than mine would be, but I can’t help it, I like taking my own photos. Still, this certainly didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the art, and perhaps it even allowed me to be more focused.

Anyway, if you have 58 minutes and happen to be in Des Moines, be sure and visit the museum!

Regarding the Edward Hopper piece: I can certainly see how this influenced his “Nighthawks” 1942. We have the original at Art Institute in Chicago. Do you know what year this other painting was done in? From the style of clothing, it looks like the 20s (or 30s) .

Here’s the link http://www.artic.edu/artaccess/AA_Modern/pages/MOD_7.

Des Moines Art Center, selected paintings, sculptures, and works on paper

Des Moines Art Center, gallery guide : selected Cowles family gifts to the permanent collection : July 30-September 11, 1994

Work ethic

The etchings of Jacques Bellange, exhibition , Des Moines Art Center, October 7-November 16, 1975, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, December 12, 1975-February 15, 1976, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 23-May 2, 1976

Paul Klee: paintings and watercolors from the Bauhaus years, 1921-1931, catalog of an exhibition Des Moines Art Center, September 18-October 28, 1973