Indiana University fine arts professor Martha MacLeish will discuss her art at 6 p.m. Dec. 11 at Indiana University Center for Art and Design in Columbus. Photos by Vasquez Photography.
Artist Martha MacLeish will talk about her work and the show “Painting: Expanded” at 6 p.m. tonight at the Indiana University Center for Art and Design.
The center, which opened in 2011, is located at 310 Jackson St. in Columbus.
The current exhibition of work by MacLeish, Timothy Linn and Michael Rouillard explores how each artist expands the physical and conceptual notions of abstract painting. MacLeish is an associate professor who teaches studio art fundamentals in the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts in Bloomington. The other two artists are based in New York City.
“Each artist here is pursuing unique visions of art steeped in painting’s history,” said Jennifer Riley, the guest curator of the show. Riley is an artist and adjunct instructor who splits her time between Columbus and Brooklyn, N.Y.
At tonight’s event Riley will interview MacLeish about her sculptures, including a new series she calls “Taking by the Middle.” In the new work, MacLeish creates solid forms by laminating many layers of colored plastic.
‘Painting: Expanded’ includes Timothy Linn’s models of large scale paintings supported by sculptures.
MacLeish’s pieces in “Painting: Expanded,” by contrast, are created from hollow plexiglass and PVC forms that are attached to the wall and spill deep into the space of the gallery. Their dynamic curves approach a sense of motion. “These are imagined forms that she has made from her experiences of viewing and responding to paintings by artists such as Corot,” Riley said.
“Working in unfamiliar ways makes for surprises and loss of control,” MacLeish said. “Moving into a new way of working with ideas — from pure painting to dimensional work — allows me to reset my sights.”
Riley said the exhibition shows a trajectory from the near-flatness of Rouillard’s paintings on aluminum to MacLeish’s deep projections into space. In between are Linn’s “hybrid villages” of models for unrealized large scale paintings supported by sculptural forms.
“Painting: Expanded” has been extended through the end of December. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Regular hours for the gallery are 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, but visitors are encouraged to email IUCA+D coordinator Lisa Westmark to check for updated hours and closures.
