The Elements: Water
January 22 - February 23, 2006

WATER EXHIBIT INCLUDES BONTECOU, CHRISTO, GELLIS, KATZ, STEIR AND STEVENS AT SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY GALLERY OF CONTEMPORARY ART

Opening reception: Sunday, January 22, 1 - 3 PM and Panel Discussion to follow.  Panelists include: Sandy Gellis, Artist; Ann Chernow, Artist and Collector; Jane Sutherland, Artist; Dr. Catherine Almeten, Director of the the Center for Spirituality and Lay Ministry

Exhibiting Artists: Sonia Benjamin, Lee Bontecou, Christo & Jeanne-Claude, Nancy Eisenfeld, Roy Fowler, Sandy Gellis, Fred George, Kim Holleman, Cassandra James, Alex Katz, Cornelia Kavanagh, Michael Krondl, Samm Kunce, Keiji Shinohara, Pat Steir, May Stevens, Jane Sutherland.

This exhibition about Water is the first in a series of exhibits focusing on the Elements. The division of the world into four naturally occurring Elements, from which all other matter is made, is attributed to Empedocles (c. 492-432 BC). This pre-Socratic philosopher and poet stated that the “earth, sea, air, and the fiery aether of the heavenly bodies” were the basis of all matter.¹ For centuries, these elements continued to be the basis of our decoding of the world.

There is no doubt about water's importance. In fact, creation myths in most cultures refer to a great flood as the beginning of life. “Water is fundamental in the language, symbols, and rites of all spiritual traditions and religions. It is used in rituals to cleanse and purify, to symbolize new birth, to ensure abundance in agriculture and to invoke the need for rain to keep the Earth fertile. Water is used to bless new babies and new unions, and to prepare the dead for burial.” ²

We have always known that without water we cannot exist. It is a major component of all living matter; our very bodies are made up of 70% water. Water has several properties that make it unique and enable life on our planet. We take for granted that when water forms a solid it becomes less dense and floats (i.e. ice in a glass rises to the top) in contrast to many substances that become more dense and sink. During the winter, a layer of ice forms on the top of lakes and rivers that acts as insulation and allows animals and plants beneath the surface to remain active and alive during these frigid months. The fact that water requires a lot of heat or energy to change into gas also enables organisms to cool using water or perspiration to release body heat.

Water molecules are cohesive. This allows plants to pull water up through their roots and into their shoots. It then evaporates from their leaves to allow photosynthesis–a foundation for life on earth. Water molecules also have polarity; one end is more charged than another, making it a universal solvent. This property makes it an excellent cleansing agent. Furthermore, as it flows slowly through forests, the soil and various ecosystems, water easily purifies itself, allowing for the continual re-utilization of the same water.

There are as many parts of the world that have been devastated by too little water as by too much. The photographs of desert plains and people in parts of Africa who have no access to clean drinking water are as much a part of our collective consciousness as those of the recent hurricanes, torrential floods and the tsunami in Southeast Asia. Few of us are unaware of water conservation issues. It is significant that The United Nations has declared the years 2005 through 2015 the Water for Life decade.

This exhibit of contemporary works about water is by no means comprehensive. It simply offers examples of the ways in which contemporary artists use, depict or interpret water in their works, from dealing with ecological issues to using the flow of water as an agent to create their works.

Sandy Gellis uses the falling of rain and rainwater to actually create her works. Stepping back from conscious intervention and controlling only the parameters of a piece, she uses the effects of water on paper to make her work.  Rain Reflections and Key Fragments (1984) was created in response to a courtyard that was enclosed by many rooms that required keys for access. Ground-up metal keys were placed upon paper left in the rain.  The falling of the water on the metal fragments left markings upon the sixteen squares of paper that were subsequently preserved by sandwiching them between Plexiglas.

For Kim Holleman and Samm Kunce, hydroponics is essential to the process of creating works that resonate with environmental concerns. Using grow lights and/or re-circulating water through filtration systems and letting the living organisms dictate the actual final product also requires a stepping back from the process. In Fijifall (2004), Holleman presents many miniature environments by recycling the Fiji brand of water bottles and using them to grow small aquatic landscapes. The water that feeds the plant life is circulated through a filtration system that also provides the soft sounds of running water.

May Stevens is a feminist artist who has often revealed a spiritual connection to water, creating ethereal images of boats in water as a metaphor for life. Her lithograph, The Remains of the Dead (1993), depicts three people in boats, adrift in a sea of words taken from literary texts. The use of these texts is meant to affirm her connection to people of the past and indicate the interconnectedness of place, time and life itself.

Many of Lee Bontecou's works have included an eye or circular shape. This lithograph on black paper, Study for an Untitled Print (1979-82), has a distant sun or moon at the top. The lower third of the work displays symbolic ocean waves, revolving around a central “eye” that sweeps up the waves in a vortex.

The rhythm of ocean waves has universal appeal. In Roy Fowler's Untitled (2003), minimalist watercolor strokes create the form of a wave. Viewed closely, those watercolor gestures contrast with an underlying pale, graphite grid, reminiscent of a scientific scale or measuring device. Cornelia Kavanagh, a stone sculptor, studies the organic and complex shape of a tsunami wave and creates a series of beautiful works that conversely represent the devastating power of water. The Tsumani V (2005) maquette is made out of plaster-covered foam, a flexible medium that allows her to eliminate descriptive details and work within the tradition of organic abstraction.

Cassandra James's work also depicts the beauty of extreme weather. She lives in the Southwest, where the sky is such a large part of the landscape as to define it. In Table Mountain I, II and III (2004) we feel the billowing clouds envelop a mountaintop as they are pushed by high winds.

Falling water can elicit associations that range from the concept of plenty to a deafening threat. Pat Steir's well-known iconic water images have explored both sides of the slender line between abstraction and representation. Philadelphia Waterfall (1995) is an aquatint that features an oval-shaped source spewing water down a dark background. For a decade, Nancy Eisenfeld has created images of waterfalls while sitting near them, listening to their sounds and feeling the mist or cold.  Water Wall Column (2003) is a series of graphite and acrylic drawings on vellum mimicking water's translucency to create a column literally beginning at the top of the wall and falling onto the floor; the large-scale meant to bring the viewer into a physical relationship with the piece.

Michael Krondl is a Czech-Canadian artist living in New York who is known for his large-scale digital installations that cover a billboard or the walls or floor of a room. Waterdrawing (2005), a mysterious close-up digital photograph of water on vellum, suspended between plates of glass, seems to float on the wall.

An excellent draftsman, Jane Sutherland's work is based upon her close observation of the natural world. The Field Marshall (1996) is a tender, close-up depiction of her dog, working his way across a swimming pool. Her fascination with the contrasts and similarities of wet fur, the slickness of the dog's coat and the sparkle of sunlight on the water are evident.

Alex Katz is known for his portraits of radically flattened figures that are often cropped and so spare as to walk the line between realism and abstraction. He is represented by The Swimmer (1974), a silkscreen depicting an extreme close-up of the head of a swimmer, unaware of our gaze, with a spray of water indicating a moment in time.

Siona Benjamin and Keiji Shinohara each use water in their works that make reference to their respective origins. In reference to a mélange of cultures, water symbolizes travel in several of Benjamin's works. She is Jewish, was raised in India, and currently makes her home in the United States. In Finding Home #29 (1999) we see the body of a large lioness, with a backward facing head of an Indian woman, wearing Mickey Mouse slippers and swimming in an ocean. The tail of the animal is an electrical cord that seems to have been yanked from a socket. In the distance is a small structure that symbolizes her home, with mountains and an exploding volcano on the horizon. In direct contrast is Keiji Shinohara's traditional woodblock print, Symphony (2002), a serene, spare, quiet image of a small lake dwarfed by the presence of a mountain range. Certified as a master printer, he is represented by two of his color woodcuts from the series Remembrance of Sylvan Sounds, created just before a return to his native Japan after a twenty-year absence.

In direct opposition to his usual gritty style, Fred George's Fallen Angel (1993) is a beautiful underwater photograph of a woman with swirls of fabric trailing her that can be viewed as joyfully cavorting or free-falling into a deep void.

The Over the River (2004) collage by Christo & Jeanne Claude is the duo's latest proposed project; wrapping a portion of the Arkansas River in Colorado. The artists are known for dramatic temporary installations that transform our perception of place.

Water is so fundamental that a case could be made for almost any artist to be represented in this exhibition. These artists' unique visions can lead us to a broader, if only partial, understanding of water and our relationship to the elements as we continue to decode the world we all share.

Sophia Gevas
Director

1. Campbell, Gordon, Department of Ancient Classics, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
2. Almeten, Catherine Ph.D., Director of Spirituality and Lay Ministry, Sacred Heart University, unpublished manuscript.