November 15th, 2003 - Mysticism

Included Artists: Tim Anderson, Matt Ballou, Janet Bloch, Melissa Ebbe, Beatrice Fisher, David Gracie, Marion Kryczka, Tim Lowly, Audrey Niffenegger, Ann Ponce, Gay Riseborough, Christopher Schneberger.

Review of Mysticism, Gillock Gallery in Evanston, IL, November 15^th, 2003

Matthew Ballou

      The most recent show at Gillock Gallery was a well-attended, fully fleshed-out event. Again Gillock brought together a group of works loosely tied to a theme; this time it was mysticism. A few of the 31 artworks in the gallery seemed to have little connection to the title topic, but most of the works seemed to be typical representations of the theme. As always at Gillock, however, there were a few standout pieces that completed the show.

     New comers to the gallery this time around included two artists newly allied with Gillock. These artists included emerging talent David Gracie, a graduate student in the MFA program at Northwestern University. His two works Rosemary and Pig and Whistle highlight his deft technique, which is reminiscent of Gregory Gillespie. Beatrice Fisher, an artist who has been active in the Chicago area for the last thirty years, also appeared in her Gillock gallery debut. Her small works focused on the tropes of birth, death, divinity and sexuality.

     Some of the longstanding artists invited to show at Gillock turned up again with interesting works. Melissa Ebbe’s The Avatar of the Twins was an eerie work evocative of the two ethereal girls from The Shining, while Tim Anderson showed up with two archetypal paintings of mythic women. Curt Frankenstein’s illustrative Apparition was an impressive work that brought to mind the whimsy of Alphonse Mucha and the color tone of Maxfield Parrish.

     Of the newer artists, Tim Lowly really stood out. His wonderful, small paintings really embodied the notions behind the show, and combined a skilled technique with interesting imagery. His first painting, titled Night Swimmer, depicts a capped and goggled figure whose arms are raised to signal the viewer in some strange semaphore variation. Lowly’s other painting, Untitled (I Am), was the most amazing work of the show. Here a child rests prone against the bottom of the picture plane, while behind her an airy desert light illuminates a scraggly bush. The color range and shifts allowed by the subtle medium of egg tempera, lend this work a special power, and the references to the Biblical “burning bush” narrative situate the work within a prototypical mythic paradigm that opens the painting to interesting reads.

     The Mysticism show was an intriguing collection of works that was definitely inspired by the artistic direction of Consuelo Gillock. Some of the works suffered from positioning and odd eye levels, but in an organic space not specifically designed for artworks, a question of layout and presentation is always present. Fortunately, most of the time Gillock Gallery is able to create an alternative art experience that meshes the living space with the art space effectively. In the end, Gillock Gallery is largely about taking chances and inviting viewers to enter the proposition; this show was certainly an expression of that idea.

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All content copyright 2003 Consuelo Alonzo Gillock

Updated: 11/20/2003