Zolla/Lieberman Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Playthings: New Sculptures & Drawings by Josh Garber and Where Do We Go From Here?: Sculptural teapots and relief tile works by Richard Notkin on Friday, November 1, from 5-8pm. The two concurrent solo-exhibitions of new work will be on view through December 21.

“In his upcoming show titled Playthings, Josh Garber welds sculpture from ready-made material, aluminum, steel and bronze. Using a wider vocabulary of materials and techniques, Garber sets out to imbue everyday functional components such as screws and hex nuts with a fierce erotic energy. … He has a fascination with the intricate patterns in neurology and microbiology, as well as the machinations of technology. In his new work he overlays these interests with playful, romantic yearnings. Artists such as Ernesto Neto, Richard Deacon and Nancy Rubins have informed his working processes and conceptual approach.” -Victor Cassidy

Josh Garber (b. 1963, Canada, lives in Chicago, IL). Garber’s work has been featured in exhibitions across the United States and Canada, including solo shows in Montreal, Toronto, New York, and Seattle. He has completed public art commissions in Phoenix, Cincinnati, Chicago, and the University of Wisconsin. Garber has been the recipient of many honors including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, a residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, and numerous Canada Council Project Grants. His work is in the permanent collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Cedarhurst Museum Sculpture Park, and many others.

A full-time studio artist, Notkin continues to create teapots, ceramic sculptures and tile murals that are visual explorations into social and political commentary. His focus is best explained through an excerpt from his artist’s statement of the past decade: “We have stumbled into the 21st Century with the technologies of ‘Star Wars’ and the emotional maturity of cavemen. If we can’t find more creative solutions to solving worldwide social, economic and political dilemmas than sending young men and women to shred and incinerate one another’s flesh with weapons of ever increasing efficiency, we will not survive to celebrate the passage into the 22nd century. The problems of human civilization are far too complex to be solved by means of explosive devices. And too many of our world’s nations are in the hands of ideological thugs and fundamentalist tyrants who are fumbling the planet towards World War III. … As Andre Malraux observed, ‘Art is a revolt against man’s fate’.” -Richard Notkin

Richard Notkin (b. 1948, Chicago, IL, lives in Helena, MT). Notkin has been exhibited internationally and his work is in more than 65 public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Japan. Among his awards are three artist fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation. In 2008, Notkin was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council, and was also awarded a USA Hoi Fellowship by the United States Artists Foundation.

For further information, please call 312-944-1990 or email zollalieberman@sbcglobal.net .

Gallery Hours: Tues–Fri 10–5:30 / Sat 11–5:30

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Tags: Josh Garber, Richard Notkin, River North