The exhibition I attended was hosted by the Art Saint Louis gallery. The Art Saint Louis gallery is devoted to enriching lives through the creative activity of the local area’s contemporary visual artists. Through exhibitions, education and exchange, they connect and inspire the community and multiply the economic and cultural vitality of the St. Louis area. The gallery has been operation for 30 years and has continuously cultivated an appreciation for the role that visual art and artists play in the community.

This gallery is committed to the belief that works of art have the ability to communicate something of unconfined and transcendental meaning to the people from all walks of life. Thatby means of aesthetic experimentation and illumination of the human experience, artists play a focal role in inflaming the social and spiritual consciousness of the community, and that, by nurturing the development of art, the community in St. Louis area is more adept to appreciate miscellany, respect individuality and celebrate diversity.The gallery aims at celebrating the art of the region, and the efforts are to benefit artists by helping them achieve professional success while deepening the community’s understanding and enjoyment of contemporary visual art.

The exhibition was appositelynamed Silence and Noise exhibition. It featured new artworks by various artists from the St. Louis region and was hosted by the Art Saint Louis gallery. This gallery is located at the Park Pacific Building, 1223 Pine St, St. Louis, MO 63103. The Silence and Noise exhibition ran between April 19 and May 29, 2014. I paid a visit to this gallery on Thursday, 1^st May, 2014.

The Silence and Noise exhibition features 55 artworks by 49 St. Louis regional artists from the state of Missouri and Illinois. It is a multimedia exhibit featuring artworks that reflect the push and pull of noise and silence. The concept of these two opposites is examined and the art works in this exhibition demonstrate how the forces work against and alongside one another.The exhibition featured artworks such as paintings, woodwork, photography,mixed media and printmaking,as well as glass, drawing and more. Many of which are abstract works. The collection was an all media juried exhibit. Artworks submitted for this exhibit were to reflect the push and pull of noise or silence.

The artworks featured were either comprised of clean, simple lines and visually silent, OR the artworks were manifold, shambolic and thereby imagistic noisy. Additional to the physical representation, artworksthat wereconceptually silent or noisy were also presented.

Some of the 49 artists whose works were on display in this exhibition were: Bill Abendroth, Highland, IL , Michael Anderson, Belleville, IL , Olivette, MO, Jen Collins, University City, MO, Jennifer Deal, Maplewood, MO, Larry Duffy, St. Charles, MO, Dara Eskridge, St. Louis, MO, Suzy Farren, Webster Groves, MO  and Michael H. Rubin, St. Louis, MO, among many others.
Appearance, Disposition and Ambiance of the Silence and NoiseExhibition

The gallery is well mounted and the exhibition elegant, airy, and lets you focus on the works on display. It has two layers of high-ceilinged galleries, meaning photography, film, video and digital images, as well as pieces that necessitate regulated humidity and light levels can be shown in the right conditions. A digital wall, at present exhibiting artworks based on outmoded 1987 GIF image file technology, reminds the viewerthe journey that photography has assumed and goes on changing.

The lighting of the exhibition was tastefully and perceptively done. This lighting ensured that the pieces were accentuated rather than the actual room. It consisted predominantly of spotlighting comingfrom two sections for the statues and just basic white in combination with yellow light for the encased pieces. Though most of the art pieces were lit well, the entire gallery was relatively dim. However, this can be assumed to be purposely to allow the patron focus on the intended piece rather than the building.

With regards to the exhibition space, the gallery included intimate spaces which allowed the viewer to get up and personal with the piece on display. The gallery is big, however, with the space it looses some aspect of intimacy and interaction with the art on display. Thesomewhat weird layout on the main exhibition hall floor added something serene microclimate to the exhibition and an aura of tranquility and relaxation about it.

Successful Aspects of the Exhibition

The most prominent feature of the exhibition and which to a great extent made the exhibition successful was the variety of work submitted and the way in which the pieces measured up to the theme of the exhibition “Silence and Noise”. The representation for noise was evidently communicated by use of deeply psychological overlays, constricted densities of line and rhythmic mark-making as well as piercing staccato strokes and vibrant colors while silence was presented through bold use of negative space, the absence of color and quite narratives.

The diversity and at the same time likeness of the art work submitted provided a stimulating conversation. For example, Judith Repke’s Reaching for Silence, takes the viewer about layers of reflective space that provokes a calm quite in the mind, while Russ Rosener’s paintingPlaytown Over, expresses silence in a much dissimilar and distinctive capacity. These photographs depict what looks to be a long forgotten play space within an abandoned mall. This workdistinctly juxtaposes the subject of silence and noise as the existence of a previous bustling space lives within the image as a ghost.Sydnor Scholer’s Untitled,playfully explores commotion through staccato mark making and exuberant use of color set against a background pork-marked with algebraic equations and numerical noise. In contrast to this cacophony, Kerry Hirth’s Scarlatti Sonata K27-Map of Changes in Harmony over Time leads the viewer through a symphonic movement. This soft timeline on paper makes use of color and density of line to capture a harmonious musicality. The viewer can enter the piece through bands of color and engage within the harmonies in place.

It is the presence of this variety and array of art forms and the various ways in which the theme of the exhibition, Silence and Noise,has been depicted and illustrated, that made this exhibition successful.The art pieces collectively tell a compelling story communicating the intricacies of life, revelingthe joys of color and revealing an austere magnificence through line and space.

LeastSuccessful Aspects of the Exhibition 

Overall, the Silence and Noise exhibition made a startling and lasting impression as a whole.However, I was dissatisfied with the gallery as some art worksappearedlacking or plainly unfinished, case in point, Cheryl Dorris; Blue and Ron Vivod painting Lost in the World. There was also a privation of information on the artists themselves. It would have been courteous and appropriate to read something or a caption that the artist had written regarding their unique work of art.

A work of Art I Enjoyed

The piece of artwork that was most appealing and impressive was an installation video by the gallery titled Borders & Boundaries: Virtual & Real, by Dickson Beall. In this piece, the artist Dickson Beall presents art from the age of cave painting to the present day. In this unescapably selective review, Dickson has emphasized on the correlation of expanding “empires” and “bridges” of communication. This is inferred by the superimposed images of the Empire State Building, which is perceived to be an emblem of power and control, and the Brooklyn Bridge symbolic of two economies connecting.An indubitably engrossing piece, Borders & Boundaries: Virtual & Realcaptivates as running messages confront viewers with contemplative copy.

A Work of Art I disliked

The art piece by Bill Abendroth,Silence & Noise,a clay sculpture was mostcontradictory. It presents viewers with a study of seemingly interminable contrasting forces. The abstract work exemplifies outwardly contrasting qualities: strength and grace, natural and synthetic, mannish and womanly. The nature of the piece lures viewers to decrypt and discover their own interpretations of the piece.

General Overview of the Silence and NoiseExhibition

Overall, the Silence and Noise exhibition made a startling and lasting impression as a whole. The big number by well displayed pieces of works in this pleasantly brief exhibit greatly allows viewers to effusively study and absorb each piece, or simply to appreciate the dynamic creations on a purely aesthetic level. Visitants neednot be intimidated by the modernist artworks that are on display.

Cited works

Art Saint Louis and Various Artists. Silence and Noise Exhibition. Saint Louis: Art Saint Louis, April 3 – May 29, 2014.

 
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