FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Shona Macdonald: Inscape Paintings and Susannah Papish Horner: New Paintings
October 14 - November 12, 2005
Opening reception: Friday October 14, 5:00 - 8:00pm
Skestos Gabriele Gallery is pleased to present a selection of paintings by two Chicago-based artists, Shona Macdonald and Susannah Papish Horner. This exhibition marks the reunion of these two artists, who were first shown together in the 1998 group exhibition, Emergence, curated by Stephanie Skestos Gabriele at the Three Arts Club in Chicago.
In her Inscape series, Shona Macdonald investigates the signs and myths of geographic mapping, specifically the utilitarian, straight-forward approach to depicting the landscape. The artist borrows imagery of mountains, forests, water systems and islands found in topographical maps and photographic sources and infuses it with a personal narrative, exploring the connection between actual mapping and invented fantasy. Macdonald reconfigures found fragments with shifting perspectives in an attempt to disorient the viewer and bring the spectator into the landscape. Instead of observing the painting from a distance as a passive participant, the viewer is led through a maze of rambling plains and varied surface textures.
The abstract compositions of Susannah Papish Horner address the formal properties of painting utilizing colors and forms that are derived from personal experience and memory. In this body of work, Papish Horner juxtaposes the delicate forms found in her early paintings with a vibrant and aggressive palette of contrasting color. The artist's creative practice is process-oriented and intuitive, as she slowly develops her imagery overtime without preliminary sketches or drawings. Papish Horner uses multiple layers of paint to simultaneously construct and erase the forms in her compositions. Through this process, she investigates the imbalance between figure and ground relationships that exist in the work.
Shona Macdonald's Inscape Drawings will be on view at the Chicago Cultural Center from November 12 - January 15, 2006. Susannah Papish Horner's paintings are currently on view at the Beverly Arts Center.
For more information, please contact the gallery at 312.243.1112 or info@skestosgabriele.com.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Friday, 11:00am - 6:00pm, Saturday 12:00 - 5:00pm.