January 26 – February 27
Reception: January 25, 2 – 4pm
About Works on Paper
Works on Paper is a juried exhibition for artists living within a 40-mile radius of Dayton, Ohio. This year, 70 artists from Dayton and the surrounding areas submitted 175 pieces, from which the juror, Sean Wilkinson, chose 39 artworks, representing 30 artists.
Wilkinson wrote: “I honor the intent of every artist that submitted work to this show, regardless of the acuity or failure of my ability to apprehend those intents as the artists would have wished. Rewards and rejections are largely irrelevant; neither should be taken too much to heart. All that matters for artists is to keep on doing what we need to do. The risk of attempting something meaningful is its own reward.”
Wilkinson also selected the winners of the United Art and Education Awards, totaling $1,100 (to be announced during the opening reception).
Participating artists include Brent Beck · Bridgette Bogle · Bruce Campbell · Dan Cleary · Bob Coates · Tom Croce · Rhonda Duncalf · Douglas R. Fiely · Jennifer Haack · John Hankiewicz · Rosie Huar · Martin L. Hunter · Lisa Selvia Johnson · Kelly Joslin · Richard Jurus · Colleen Kelsey · Dave Kirkwood · Paula Willmot Kraus · Elizabeth Osweiler Martin · Pete Mitas · Kathy A. Moore · Walt Murch · Tres Roemer · Francis Schanberger · Billy Simms · Leah Stahl · Sharon Stolzenberger · Douglas R. Taylor · Rebecca Tsaloff · Diane Schwob Zubrick.
2015 Juror
Sean Wilkinson had the good fortune to work closely with three of the greatest photographers and teachers of the second half of the twentieth century: Minor White, Harry Callahan, and Aaron Siskind. Upon completing his M.F.A. at the Rhode Island School of Design, he taught at Harvard University before accepting a position in 1973 at the University of Dayton, where he was hired to create a new course of study in photography. Wilkinson has also sustained an active career as a photographer, exhibiting his work in museums and galleries across the country. He has won numerous awards and grants, and his work is in many significant museum, individual, and corporate collections. Wilkinson retired from UD in 2014.
Juror Statement:
“What is art, these days? It has become an increasingly elusive term to define, encompassing as it does all manner of forms, ideas, practices, and purposes. Paper, on the other hand, remains a fundamental ground and medium for a great deal of art making. There is still a deep need to create things to look at, handle, and present to others, not just ideas but their embodiment, things that have their own existence, that can be set loose in the world, borne on this fragile yet enduringly important material.
“The photographer, Arno Rafael Minkkinen, has written: ‘Art is risk made visible.’ I believe this is true not only in the making of good art, but also when the artist seeks to put her work or his work out in the open for others to see. Ideally, a sense of awareness, connection, or illumination occurs in the synaptic transmission between artist and audience. But that is always an uncertain and highly variable matter. In the sending and receiving of signals, something is always lost, or at least altered; the intent and its reception are never entirely congruent.
“I honor the intent of every artist that submitted work to this show, regardless of the acuity or failure of my ability to apprehend those intents as the artists would have wished. Rewards and rejections are largely irrelevant; neither should be taken too much to heart. All that matters for artists is to keep on doing what we need to do. The risk of attempting something meaningful is its own reward.”
Sean Wilkinson
Commenting on his own work, Wilkinson has written:
“I am interested in looking plainly at things that yield more than plain looking is presumed to reveal. The essential thing is to be fully present. Potential material is not hard to find, and in some ways, photography is as easy as it appears to be. The challenge is to see. Like breathing, it seems so simple until you give it your complete attention.”
Award Winners
Wilkinson selected six works to receive awards totaling $1,100 sponsored by United Art and Education:
Best of Show: Colleen Kelsey, Night Letter, 2014, acrylic on paper.
First Place: Francis Schanberger, Barbie Best Buy Nightgown and Lucky Peignoir, 2014, hibiscun anthotype.
Second Place: Bridgette Bogle; Winter Drawing, Descent; 2014; gouache, gesso, and charcoal.
Third Place: Billy Simms, Did I Say Something?, 2014, etching with hand coloring.
Honorable Mention: Dave Kirkwood, Takes a Lickin’, 2014, pen and ink.
Honorable Mention: Brent Beck, chair study II, 2014, acrylic.