Making It in the Midwest: Artists Who Chose to Stay

June 20 - October 18, 2009

Wall labels and selected images for contemporary artists in the exhibition

(Each artist has a panel and these pieces will be grouped for each artist)

 

Stand

Matthew Davey

2009

Oil on canvas

 

Relax for the Moment

India Cruse-Griffin

2007

Mixed media on board

 

The Passion Keeper

India Cruse-Griffin

2007

Mixed media on board

 

Bare Naked Ladies

Rob Day

1999

Oil on paper

 

Founding Fathers

Rob Day

1999

Oil on paper

 

Portrait of John Mayer

Rob Day

2007

Oil on paper

 

Lighting Up the Cosmos

James Wille Faust

2002

Acrylic on canvas

Collection of Dr. and Mrs. John Rapp

 

Earthly Arrangement

James Wille Faust

1998

Acrylic on canvas

 

Frozen Lake

Tamar Kander

2006

Mixed media on canvas

Collection of Jenna Walls

 

Cherry Blossom Season

Tamar Kander

2007

Mixed media on canvas

Collection of Clayton Miller

 

Rows of Snow

Tom Keesee

2008

Oil on canvas

 

Spring Color

Tom Keesee

2008

Oil on canvas

 

Sun and Shadow

Tom Keesee

1999

Oil on canvas

Collection of Kristin and Peter Mohlman

 

Sciscoe Creek, 10/24/07

Charlene Marsh

2007

Oil on canvas

Collection of Pamela and Richard Sheets

 

Sciscoe Creek, 6/30/08

Charlene Marsh

2008

Oil on canvas

Collection of John and Lisa Scully

 

Sciscoe Creek, 5/2/08

Charlene Marsh

2008

Oil on canvas

Collection of Raymond Polstra

 

Sciscoe Creek, 1/9/09

Charlene Marsh

2009

Oil on canvas

Collection of Peter Witteveld

 

Fallen Angels

Charlene Marsh

1996

Hand-dyed wool and cotton

 

Iconic Bracelet No. 5

David Morrison

2007

Lithograph and mezzotint

 

Iconic Bracelet No. 4

David Morrison

2007

Lithograph, nose ring

 

Iconic Bracelet No. 10

David Morrison

2007

Lithograph, bracelet

 

Boat with Blue Stripes, Gozzo Ligure De Tillin, Santa Margherita Ligure

C.W. Mundy

1996

Oil on canvas

Collection of Dr. and Mrs. John Rapp

 

Portrait of Anne

C.W. Mundy

2006

Oil on canvas

 

The White Peonies

C.W. Mundy

2002

Oil on canvas

Collection of Emily A. West

 

Baby, Inch Beach, County Dingle

Cindy O'Dell

2006

Color ink jet print

 

Sisters, Valencia Island, County Kerry

Cindy O'Dell

2006

Color ink jet print

 

Mother, Father, Son, Achill Island

Cindy O'Dell

2006

Color ink jet print

 

The Legacy of Three Girls Murdered

Jay Parnell

2007

Oil on canvas

Collection of Alan Mills.

 

Messenger's Lament

Jay Parnell

2007

Graphite on paper

Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites

 

The Secret Lives of Anna Mae

Jay Parnell

2009

Oil on wood panel

 

Fall in Nashville

Todd Reifers

2008

Oil on linen

 

Early Autumn at Duck Creek

Todd Reifers

2008

Oil on linen

 

My Ava

Maria Tomasula

2007

Oil on panel

 

My Alba

Maria Tomasula

1998

Oil on panel

 

A Bouquet for You

Nhat Tran

1998

Urushi lacquer, gold and silver leaf on plywood with crushed egg shell

Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Gift of Raymond Garcia and Fruzsina M. Harsanyi

 

Inclination to Believe

Nhat Tran

2004

Urushi lacquer and silver leaf on Polystyrene

 

Attached and Detached

Nhat Tran

2009

Urushi lacquer

 

And All Mankind #2

Audrey Ushenko

2007

Oil on canvas

Brauer Museum of Art, Sloan Foundation Purchase, Valparaiso University

 

(3-D PIECES)

 

A Kiss on the Lips

Matthew Davey

2007

Bronze

 

Arch

James Wille Faust

2005

Acrylic on wood

Collection of Jan R. and Cynthia Martin

 

Bird on House

James Wille Faust

2004

Acrylic on wood

 

Bench Maquette

James Wille Faust

2003

Acrylic on wood

 

Bloom

James Wille Faust

2006

Acrylic on wood

 

Laura IX

Les Miley

2007

Stoneware with Evans okra glaze

 

Astral Horizon XXXII

Les Miley

1995

Stoneware with black, copper, and rutile glaze

 

Harvest Bowl

Les Miley

1988

Salt-fired stoneware with rutile/iron slip

 

Nocturne Contours XXIV

Les Miley

1992

Combed porcelain with Albany slip and wood ash glaze

Bound

Les Miley

2005

Stoneware with variegated copper glaze

 

Octo II

Les Miley

2007

Salt-fired porcelain with saturated iron glazes

 

Spiral Trap

David Morrison

2008

Wood, leather and steel

 

Temptation

David Morrison

2008

Wood, leather and aluminum

 

Trumpf Cloud Cup

Malcolm Mobutu Smith

2008

Clay and glaze

Collection of Robert L. Murphy

 

Albedo Tripod

Malcolm Mobutu Smith

2008

Clay and glaze

 

Platter

Malcolm Mobutu Smith

2008

Clay and glaze

 

Myers Cabinet

Tom Tedrowe

2007

Wood; Mahogany, Makore, Ebony, Black Coral

Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Robert K. Myers

 

Dream Repository

Tom Tedrowe

2009

Wood: Australian Walnut, Swiss Pear, Figured Black Cherry, Curly Maple

 

Antique Automatic

Tom Tedrowe

2009

Wood: reclaimed Honduran Mahogany

 

Jewelry Box

Tom Tedrowe

2008

Wood: Honduran Mahogany, Birdseye Maple

 

(Installations)

 

Urban Geometry

Greg Hull

2009

Steel, Fabric, Plastic

 

Untitled

Artur Silva

2009

Inkjet on Vinyl

 

 

Matthew Davey (b. 1962)

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Matthew Davey's flawless bronzes and sensitive two-dimensional works reveal complex human emotions through facial or bodily expressions. Described by the director of the North Carolina Museum of Art as being "in some ways tribal and in some ways contemporary," A Kiss on the Lips presents the viewer with many possible interpretations.

 

Davey attended the Herron School of Art and Design and the University of Illinois, studying both fine art and graphic design. He ultimately opted to earn his degree in engineering from Purdue University to secure a job as an electrical engineer. Exhibiting his work for the past decade, Davey's Creative Renewal Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis in 2003 allowed him to pursue his art full time for a few years. Unafraid to compete on the world stage with his art, Davey has had significant success garnering prizes and acceptance in juried competitions in New York; Munich, Germany; Canada; and the Pacific Northwest.

 

 

Rob Day (b. 1962)

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Although Rob Day calls himself a professional illustrator, his works are far more than obvious representations of objects. His complex imagery, which invites multiple interpretations, is undeniably fine art. With his conceptual imagination and painstaking skill, Day utilizes landscape elements, portraiture, and references to Renaissance and Surrealist styles to illustrate people and ideas.

 

Raised in Carmel, Indiana, Day majored in graphic design at the Herron School of Art and Design. After graduating in 1984, he successfully blended fine art and illustration to make a living in the competitive commercial illustrator's world. His long list of work for magazines includes Rolling Stone, Smithsonian, and Sports Illustrated, as well as book cover illustrations for such publications as Alias Shakespeare, A Century of Spies, From West to East, and The Science of God.

 

 

James Wille Faust (b. 1949)

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

James Wille Faust earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from the Herron School of Art and Design and Master of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Illinois. A native of Lapel, Indiana, his work has been featured in national exhibitions at universities, galleries, and museums. His recent projects -- including a permanent public sculpture for Artspark at the Herron School of Art and Design, and a mural installation at the new Indianapolis Airport terminal -- reflect his distinctive style of complex, colorful geometric shapes inspired by natural phenomena.

 

In 2000, Faust began creating wood maquettes representing arches, benches, meteors, and birds that move in the wind. He wrote, "My dream is for these models to become monumental pieces [that] people can walk through or sit on. I want my sculptures to work well in any environment, natural or manmade."

 

(above: James Wille Faust, Earthly Arrangement, 1998. Acrylic on canvas)

 

 

India Cruse-Griffin (b. 1958)

Richmond, Indiana

 

India Cruse-Griffin uses bold colors, shapes, and patterns to tell stories of love, pride, and community spirit. Her paper and paint collages often reflect her own upbringing. "My childhood is not a bad story or a tortured story," she explained. "My grandfather grew up a mixed race person near [Richmond] and he never allowed us to feel like we were different. He would take us anywhere and everywhere, daring people to say anything. He would tell me that people were staring because I was wearing a beautiful dress. I never realized that a lot of it was prejudice."

 

In addition to being represented by Artjaz in Philadelphia, Cruse-Griffin teaches art at Richmond High School. "I want the kids to understand creativity and know that everyone can be creative." She has served on the Indiana Arts Commission and is a current board member at the Richmond Art Museum.

 

(above: India Cruse-Griffin, The Passion Keeper, 2007, Mixed media on board)

 

 

Greg Hull (b. 1963)

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Greg Hull is a sculptor working with a variety of media including metal, wood, stone, glass, video, and light. An associate professor of sculpture and three-dimensional design at the Herron School of Art and Design, he creates sculptural objects, environments, and installations. His projects in the 21st century -including installations at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, the Richmond (Indiana) Art Museum, and the new Indianapolis Airport terminal -- often use movement or light to attract and capture the viewer's attention.

 

"For me, it's liberating to be able to work with every type of material," said Hull during a recent interview. "The fairly traditional materials as well as sound and light are still raw materials to me. My works typically begin with writing a lot of words and ideas rather than drawing. As ideas start to form, visuals also begin to form. The materials really present themselves for me toward the end of the process."

 

 

Tamar Kander (b. 1958)

Nashville, Indiana

 

To build her impasto surfaces, Tamar Kander works with a variety of materials, including powdered gesso, cold wax, drywall compound, acrylic medium, marble dust, and oils. She is inclined to create paintings in groupings of palette preferences, with large canvases often influenced by landscape or architecture. Although her pieces convey subjective responses to experiences and surroundings, like the Abstract Expressionists, her measured process begins with sketches, notes, and diagrams.

 

Kander has won numerous local and national awards and her work is included in permanent museum and corporate collections in North and South America, Europe, and South Africa. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a Master of Fine Arts in painting from the University of London. In addition to Ruschman Gallery in Indianapolis, Kander's work is represented in Bloomington, Indiana; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Louisville, Kentucky; Atlanta, Georgia; and Chicago.

 

 

Tom Keesee (b. 1954)

Fort Wayne, Indiana

 

"For years I have been attracted to painters that layer heavy amounts of paint on their canvases: Van Gogh and Soutine," writes Tom Keesee. "I try not only to create the illusion of space, but also a real space in my paintings. The three-dimensional property of the paint exists as a physical presence that enters the space of the real world. It is this play between illusion and reality that gives my work its meaning."

 

Keesee's abstract landscapes are about design, color, and shapes: "Sky becomes shapes, trees become lines, and designs found in nature become my inspiration."

 

Known for his printmaking, Keesee is an adjunct professor of art at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Herron School of Art and Design, and his Master of Fine Arts at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. His work has been exhibited regionally and nationally for the past 20 years.

 

(above: Tom Keesee, Sun and Shadow, 1999, Oil on canvas. Collection of Kristin and Peter Mohlman)

Charlene Marsh (b. 1956)

Nashville, Indiana

 

"To me, [the woods] are very interesting because they change all the time," said Charlene Marsh. "And I've found in my third year of full time [painting en plein air] that I really know those woods... I know how the light falls in the valleys and on the hills. There's a saying, 'Some people travel far and wide. Some people travel near and deep.' I'm in the latter category."

 

Charlene Marsh has exhibited her tapestries throughout the United States and Brazil. She has won numerous awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts/Arts Midwest Fellowship and the Indiana Arts Commission's Individual Artist Project Grant. Her work is in public and private collections, including the White House, Minnetrista Cultural Center, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Evansville Museum. Marsh's paintings are represented in the Brown County Art Gallery in Nashville, The Venue in Bloomington, and a gallery in Madrid, New Mexico.

 

 

Les Miley (b. 1934)

Evansville, Indiana

 

Ceramic artist Les Miley is Professor Emeritus at the University of Evansville and runs the Indiana Ceramics Workshop in New Harmony, Indiana. His work is in collections of the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Evansville Museum, New York Stock Exchange, and Axner Contemporary Ceramics Collection in Oviedo, Florida, among others. His honors range from the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana's 1996 Artist of the Year to the University of Evansville's 1986 Outstanding Faculty Scholar Award.

 

"Most of my pieces have titles. They come more from my days as a painter and a printmaker than as a potter," Miley said. "I'll make a basic kind of shape, but what I do with that will have a lot more to do with sculpture than to [making] pots." Recognized for his innovative salt glazing techniques and surface treatments, Miley is also known for destroying any of his pieces that display even the tiniest flaw.

 

David L. Morrison (b. 1956)

Plainfield, Indiana

 

"Recent themes focus on iconic objects and the role they play in contemporary society," writes David Morrison. "Some of these pieces describe beauty as it is defined by different generations and cultures, such as totemic bracelets in contrast to classic nudes." Known for his meticulous prints, Morrison also creates sculpture and installations. When immersed in a theme, he produces both two- and three-dimensional pieces as his ideas evolve.

 

Morrison earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of South Dakota, and Master of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin. Currently an associate professor of printmaking at the Herron School of Art and Design, he has won awards for both his art and his teaching, and has a long list of publications to his credit. He's been honored with a National Endowment for the Arts/Arts Midwest Fellowship, Indiana Master Fellowship (twice), and Indiana Commission for the Arts Fellowship (twice).

 

 

C.W. Mundy (b. 1945)

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

"If I'm not having fun, and if I don't have a passion for what I'm creating, then I'm dead in the water," said C.W. Mundy. "I say I'm like Pac-Man, continually chewing up new territory because that's just the way I'm wired." Mundy uses a combination of quick brushstrokes, palette knife sweeps, and rubbing or flicking with tissues to create his neo-impressionistic oil paintings. His images, despite their loose and spontaneous ambiance, are firmly based on Mundy's expert realist draftsmanship.

 

Along with his studio and plein air work, Mundy, who teaches workshops, is a Master Signature Member of Oil Painters of America as well as a Master Painter in the American Impressionist Society. In addition to his own Indianapolis studio/gallery, he is represented in galleries in Denver and Charlotte, North Carolina. He has earned numerous awards and invitational exhibitions, and his paintings are included in public and private collections throughout the nation.

 

 

Cindy O'Dell (b. 1970)

Greencastle, Indiana

 

Cindy O'Dell was recently an Artist-in-Residence at the Burren College of Art in Western Ireland. She used a 2006 sabbatical to launch Migrations, an exploration of the Irish diaspora and the concepts of transience and dislocation. She wrote, "In these photographs I place black and white transparencies of photographs from my family album into the Irish landscape... I am seeking beauty [in] the loss that is the history of so many Irish Americans."

 

Cindy O'Dell is a professor of art at DePauw University, and has traveled extensively and taught workshops for the past two decades. Exhibitions at Pfizer Headquarters and the Viewing Room Gallery in New York are among past solo shows. Her work has been included in more than 40 invitational exhibitions throughout the United States. Her Common Threads project depicted women living with breast cancer and traveled to 16 venues across the United States.

 

 

Jay Parnell (b. 1968)

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Inspired by the writings of James Baldwin and Toni Morrison, as well as the hip hop swagger of Saul Williams, Jay Parnell's work represents the inner feelings of contemporary African Americans. His dark paintings simultaneously convey foreboding and optimism, as in Messenger's Lament. Interpreted by the artist as a depiction of the slumbering race of African Americans in need of awakening, he commented that blacks have limited themselves through their own low expectations.

 

Represented by the G. C. Lucas Gallery in Indianapolis, Parnell was recognized in the Indiana art scene with a 2007 Creative Renewal Fellowship through the Arts Council of Indianapolis as well as a Resident Artist studio in 2007-2008 at the Stutz Building. He has exhibited at the Indiana Black Expo, J. Martin Gallery, Hot House Art Gallery, Dean Johnson Gallery, Eli Lilly and Company, University of Indianapolis, Indiana Governor's Residence, and the Society of Illustrators Gallery in New York.

 

 

Todd Reifers (b. 1948)

Fishers, Indiana

 

Plein air artist Todd Reifers is passionate about his artwork and constantly strives to perfect his neo-impressionist methods. "A good painting is not derived from an arbitrary episode at the easel, but rather requires analysis and time to design, develop, and construct," he writes. "The daily challenge is to continually develop style and technique. Development is difficult because it involves letting loose of ingrained habits that have served us well."

 

Reifers's landscapes conjure images from yesteryear, and he has found inspiration at Conner Prairie for suitable buildings and genre scenes. An associate member of the Oil Painters of America, he has won the Best First-time Exhibitor as well as the Best of Show award (twice) at annual Hoosier Salon exhibitions. His work has also garnered many awards at the annual Indiana Heritage Arts exhibits. He is an artist member of the Gloucester, Massachusetts North Shore Arts Association and the Small Painting Society of Indiana.

 

Artur Silva (b. 1976)

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Artur Silva's recent public installations on the Washington Street Bridge in White River State Park and near the Dean Johnson Gallery on Massachusetts Avenue demonstrate his ability to conceive and execute large projects. Since moving to Indianapolis from New York City in 2001, his numerous awards have included an Individual Artist Grant from the Indiana Arts Commission and a Creative Renewal Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis. Over the past year, Silva has also created installations for the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Racine, Wisconsin, and the NavtaSchulz Gallery in Chicago.

 

Known most recently for his colorful outsized collages incorporating Pop and symbolic imagery, Silva's work is at once whimsical and ideological. "I collect images," Silva said in a recent interview with NUVO's David Hoppe. "It's about making connections -- for the person who buys the iPod but has no idea where aluminum comes from."

 

 

Malcolm Mobutu Smith (b. 1969)

Bloomington, Indiana

 

Malcolm Mobutu Smith earned his Master of Fine Arts from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1996, after first studying at the Kansas City Art Institute and Penn State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramics. After teaching at Western Kentucky University, Smith was recruited to teach ceramics at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he is an associate professor. He is an active lecturer, recently presenting workshops at Purdue University, Parkland College, Syracuse University, and Michigan State University.

 

"The formal language that guides much of graffiti letterform structure underpins much of my working method in sculpture," he explained. "My work also embraces the improvisational attitude or energy that is central to graffiti." Combined with the influences of historical pottery from Africa, South America and Asia, as well as organic earthly elements, the contemporary imagery and presentation of his work plays with two-and-three-dimensional space.

 

 

Tom Tedrowe (b. 1950)

Nashville, Indiana

 

"My goal is to further understand design and stylistic movements from ancient ages to modern times along with their respective methods of construction, and to combine these aspects with my own ideas to produce fine contemporary furniture," writes furniture maker Tom Tedrowe. "I aspire to further explore the boundaries that seem to separate sculpture from furniture."

 

Tedrowe's works incorporate visual puns or ironic titles like Antique Automatic or Dream Repository. His original designs, combining meticulous craftsmanship and the use of exotic woods, have been included in numerous publications and have won many awards. His credentials include a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from the Herron School of Art and Design, and a Master of Fine Arts in furniture design from the Rhode Island School of Design. At the latter institution he studied with Tage Frid, who is widely recognized as one of the founding fathers of the American Studio Furniture Movement.

 

Maria Tomasula (b. 1958)

South Bend, Indiana

 

Maria Tomasula's still life paintings often reference her Mexican Roman Catholic roots and are prized for their vivid color, theatrical compositions and trompe l'oeil detail. According to Forum Gallery, "the line between devotion/redemption and pure hallucination seems thin but you are always kept interested by the unassailable technique with which these surreal still lives are executed." My Alba and My Ava are dedicated to each of the artist's daughters.

 

Tomasula received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago and then earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Northwestern University. She is currently a professor and chair of the studio art department at the University of Notre Dame. She has had one-person exhibitions at the Mexican Fine Arts Museum in Chicago, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, and her work has been exhibited in more than 100 other venues.

 

(above: Maria Tomasula, My Ava, 2007, Oil on panel)

 

 

Nhat Tran (b. 1962)

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

"As a Vietnamese-American artist, I feel fortunate to find myself at the juncture between two cultures," writes Nhat Tran. "My paintings merge motives and techniques from two distinct aesthetic heritages, equally rich and diverse. The Western influence provides me the encouragement to explore new ideas and media. The Asian influence demands of me discipline, contemplation, and an awareness of history."

 

Tran's primary medium is Urushi lacquer painting, a traditional Vietnamese mode of artistic expression. She studied oil painting at the University of Fine Arts in Saigon, then learned the basics of lacquer painting at the University of Fine Arts in Ho Chi Minh City. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi, Mississippi; the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

 

Audrey Ushenko (b. 1944)

Fort Wayne, Indiana

 

In the mid-1990s, Audrey Ushenko began to paint murals that dramatize museums and hospitals, and has met with unprecedented success. In the role of visiting artist, she makes preliminary sketches of individuals chosen to represent the institution. Ushenko then blocks in recognizable subjects, along with the artist's fantasy portraits based upon art history. "At first I thought nobody would stand around and watch... But I came to realize that this has really been missing from my life -- a sense of being part of the stream of life."

 

Ushenko's years of exhibitions throughout the country have coincided with her teaching career, which has included faculty positions at the National Academy of Art, New York; Columbia College, Chicago; Northwestern University, Evanston; and Valparaiso University. Now a full-time professor of art history and studio art at Indiana-Purdue University in Fort Wayne, her work is represented by Denise Bibro Fine Art in Chelsea, New York.

 

(above: Audrey Ushenko, And All Mankind #2, 2007, Oil on canvas. Brauer Museum of Art, Sloan Foundation Purchase, Valparaiso University)

 

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