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Show Art Center Notes by Choral Pepper How many artists do you know who make their own acrylics? Michael Ashcraft does, which makes him somewhat unique these days. I remember studying with a protege of Braque's when I was a student some hundred years ago. We didn't go so far as to concoct paint like Renaissance artists, but we did prepare our own canvases with a gesso made of skin glue and gypsum, a formula imparted to our insturctor by his famous French master. Things are different today. Now an artist wouldn't anymore make gesso than he would concoct paint except for Michael Ashcraft. This dedicated artists combines a special high quality pigment he purchases in new York with Liquitex Acrylic medium to form a paint as durable as the Moab terrain that influences his work. You will be able to see the . results in the Kimball Art Center Main Gallery for three weeks beginning June 27. Ashcraft, who received degrees in painting from Syracuse University and Rhode Island School of Design and subsequently instructed at both institutions, came to Utah in 1974 to teach art at the Moab Extension of Utah State University. There, he fell in love with the composition and color of Moab's distinctive terrain. You can "feel" it in his paintings. I say "feel" because Ashcraft's work is highly emotional. The mysterious shadows, sandstone folds and haunting crevices of Moab's geological formations, abstracted in Ashcraft's paintings, have a dramatic impact upon anyone familiar with that land. The Main Gallery will also feature an exhibition of two Phora wood sculptures. Phora, who uses only one name, comes from southern California. Although her sculptures are familiar to viewers in California and Europe, hers will be the, firkexhibition of minimal sculpture at the Kimball Art Center. This new' movement introduced in New York has achieved world-wide recognition during the past decade. The object of minimal painting is to rely solely upon simple forms and flat color for effect, thus rejecting space, texture, subject mattei and atmosphere. Minimal sculpture, similarly, relies upon the simpliest geometic forms and the power of presence for effect. Of monumental size, such work is typically free ol personal overtones. The idea is to take the "art" out ol art to distill it to its absolute essence. While minimal art may not be for everyone, this coming exhibit is, because the Lower Level Gallery will include work by Angelo Caravaglia, one of the world's leading sculptors, and paintings by his wife, Marilyn Stillman-Caravaglia. The Caravaglias are exhibiting here at my very special request. About five years ago, when the Kimball Art Center first opened, I happened to visit Park City and see an exhibition featuring sculpture by Caravaglia in the Main Gallery. I never forgot it. So when I returned here as Director of the Kimball Art Center, one of my first moves was to request a repeat show of his work. He was not particularly receptive. About to depart on a sabbatical from the University of Utah art department, he preferred to schedule a show after his return with a new collection. Meanwhile, our jury was negotiating with Marilyn for an exhibit of her paintings on the walls of our new Lower Level Gallery. In the opinion of our staff, this gallery is enhanced with three dimensional work on the floor. The Caravaglias agreed, and viola, Angelo agreed to show with his wife. In contrast to minimal sculpture, Caravaglia's work is intensely personal. Although he says that the product, of his work is of less importance to him than the pleasure of construction, the random collection of natural manmade objects that inspire, is a reflection of his personal choice. Marilyn's work also is personal in context. Choosing to elude artistic trends, movements or popular techniques, her free-spirited approach extends to jewelry design and fiber as well as paintings. This promises to be an exciting show in both galleries controversial, as well. |