After 5: Black on White

A collection of drawings in mixed mediums – charcoal, ink and print – from three Minnesota artists has made its way to the Ozarks. “Drawings from the North” is on display through April 27 at MSU’s downtown gallery, 333 E. Walnut St. About 15 pieces arrived last week, just in time to get hung for the April 6 First Friday Art Walk.

Springfield Business Journal took a sneak peek last week.

Simply classic

The lack of color in this exhibit has a profound effect – not the kind that blows one away or puts one in awe. The use of black and white here has a calming nature.

Two words come to mind. Simple. Classic.

At a glance across the gallery, the lack of color gives a sense of serenity. However, when each drawing is viewed independently, they each have strong voices.

The exhibit is as diverse in meaning as it is in technique.

The three artists – Riki Kölbl-Nelson, Valerie Jenkins and Kris Lowe – have three distinct styles.

Kölbl-Nelson mixes ink and printed materials for calligraphy-induced designs. Jenkins uses charcoal on paper in highly technical applications, almost to the degree of appearing obsessive compulsive with the details. Lowe also uses charcoal on paper but in a much heavier application than Jenkins.

Gallery Director Robin Lowe says she’s glad to showcase drawings, which seem to have lost some interest among galleries.

“You don’t see a lot of drawings exhibited,” she says, noting that artists have always used drawings for studies and as a practice element. “This is kind of fun in that regard.”

The drawings are clear reflections of the artists’ backgrounds.

Kölbl-Nelson hails from Austria, and her work has a foreign flair. It exudes a fondness of fashion.

Jenkins’ technical work results in a strong sense of reality. Before viewers learn Jenkins’ father was a fisherman on Lake Superior, they see a blue-collar work ethic in her art: Fishing nets and chain-link fences are prevalent.

Lowe is the naturalist in the bunch, producing farm and forestry scenes in heavy charcoal. The effect in a series of forest images draws the viewer into a dense, dark forest, evoking memories of getting lost as a young child.

About the Gallery

MSU’s Art & Design Gallery at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Walnut Street displays contemporary theory artists.

Gallery Director Robin Lowe, who was hired in September, and others in the College of Arts and Letters plan exhibits two years in advance and are lining up artists for the 2008–2009 school year. Artists’ proposals are reviewed by Art and Design Department faculty and an exhibition committee.

Exhibitions change monthly during the school year. Opening receptions usually feature the attendance of the exhibiting artists, and are scheduled in conjunction with downtown’s First Friday Art Walk.

More information is available at http://art.missouristate.edu/.

Event Details

What: “Drawings from the North,” an exhibit of large-scale drawings by three Minnesota artists

Where: Missouri State University Art & Design Gallery, 333 E. Walnut St.

When: through April 27

Hours: 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday

Cost: None, though donations are welcome

More info: Call gallery Director Robin Lowe, at (417) 829-5092

A Day without Art

MSU’s College of Arts and Letters is suspending its art campuswide April 12, in an effort to symbolically teach what life would be like without art.

Sculptures will be draped and performances will be postponed during “A Day Without Art,” an event of the college’s public art committee.

This event is a cooperative effort between area higher learning institutions, public schools and arts groups. The day will conclude with a 7:30 p.m. performance by the Missouri State University Symphony Orchestra in Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts.

The goal is for participants to complete the sentence: A day without art is ________.

For more information, contact Barbara Jones at BarbaraJones@MissouriState.edu or (417) 836-6605.