FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2022
Evanston Art Center 2022 Exhibition

Expressive Exuberance: Shar Coulson, Christelle Desangles, Cecelia Feld, Catherine Forster, Beverly Kedzior

EXHIBITION DATES: April 16 – May 22, 2022
OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, April 15 from 5–8pm
GALLERY HOURS: Monday–Friday, 9am–6pm; Saturday and Sunday, 9am–4pm

EVANSTON ART CENTER ANNOUNCES A NEW EXHIBITION, EXPRESSIVE EXUBERANCE, FEATURING WORK BY SHAR COULSON, CHRISTELLE DESANGLES, CECELIA FELD, CATHERINE FORSTER, AND BEVERLY KEDZIOR

The Evanston Art Center (EAC) is proud to present a new exhibition, Expressive Exuberance, featuring work by Shar Coulson, Christelle Desangles, Cecelia Feld, Catherine Forster and Beverly Kedzior.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Shar Coulson’s work reflects her love of nature by embracing the essence of Organic Abstraction. Working intuitively, Shar explores the idea of perception vs. reality within the allusive figuration, gestural line work and organic forms found in her paintings. Nature is by far her greatest inspiration because of its randomness and complex beauty. Her heightened ability to see recognizable objects in otherwise unrelated patterns guides her process… animals, plant-like forms or figures often appear and often are embraced. She was formally trained in classical figurative realism, yet finds her passion runs deepest in the world of abstraction. Her sensibility is also deeply informed by a successful career as a designer and executive creative director. Shar exhibits both nationally and internationally. She lives and works in the Near West Side Market District of Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Christelle Desangles (B. 1978) is a self-taught working in Brive la Gaillarde in France.

Blue is more than a color for the artist – Desangles enjoys making and exploring this pigment as she goes through her years of creation. This color is synonymous with strength and infinite space, which allows her to imagine an abstract world. In her eyes, it is a pure color, representing the truth and accompanies it since these first artistic creations. Through her hands, her gaze, she gives it its energy, its depth, its nuances. Blue is a powerful, inspiring and endless shade. Desangles’ abstractions are between the abyss, the celestial, a world between depths and lights.

Desangles’ strong and powerful works leave a door open to unconsciousness, to travel, to wandering and to contemplation. The spectator lets themself be carried away, to go to their own feelings in each of them. The image of the sensitive artist called for great strength at once. Her works are an invitation to the imagination, to emotion and to freedom, inviting the public’s gaze to explore their feelings.

Cecelia Feld grew up in New York City and received her BA from Hunter College, N.Y. in 1963. She moved to Dallas, Texas in 1969, receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1976 from the University of North Texas. Cecelia has exhibited her paintings, drawings, prints and photographs in juried and invitational exhibits throughout the United States. She has had numerous solo exhibitions. Her artwork is in many private and corporate collections. Cecelia is the recipient of a MacDowell Visual Artist Fellowship and a Fellowship for a Residency in printmaking at the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont.

Feld’s work in printmaking, painting and collage is about exploring relationships through abstraction. The relationship of visual components in her work is similar to what happens in jazz. There are themes and variations, repetitive devices, tension and release, harmony and disharmony. There is improvisation. Serendipity is the hallmark of Feld’s work, and her love for the unpredictability of working with paint, paper, ink and plate.

Catherine Forster’s trajectory as an artist began with a career in microbiology, an experience presenting a pathway to her current practice. As a microbiologist, Forster’s preferred medium was a microscope; today it is a camera and a brush. Forster’s fascination with the world beneath the microscope transformed to the arena beyond the lens. She is forever fascinated by the capacity of the “third eye” to capture what is missed or denied. Forster received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute. Her current body of work deploys nature as muse to explore the prevailing state of social discord.

Beverly Kedzior is known for her organic shapes and richly layered abstractions. As a child she was enamored of animated movies and cartoons. She had books from those movies and traced and drew the images found in them continuously.

In art school, variations of the organic forms from these venues consistently appeared in her work. When she discovered a genetic disorder deep in her family history, she searched for answers in medical and DNA books. She found a correlation between the illustrations there and the bulbous images she was already using. Mining ideas from animated film, cartoons and medical textbooks, Kedzior creates pop paintings that merge these seemingly disparate elements.

Kedzior lives and works in Chicago. She has degrees from Barat College and the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has been exhibited throughout the US and is featured in private, corporate and museum collections across the nation.

Expressive Exuberance will be on display in the Evanston Art Center’s First Floor Gallery from April 16 – May 22, 2022, with an opening reception on Friday, April 15 from 5-8pm. The exhibition and opening reception are free and open to the public. This project is partially funded by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and EAC’s general membership.

Evanston Art Center, a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization, is dedicated to fostering the appreciation and expression of the arts among diverse audiences. The Art Center offers extensive and innovative instruction in broad areas of artistic endeavor through classes, exhibitions, interactive arts activities, and community outreach initiatives.

Evanston Art Center is located at 1717 Central Street, Evanston, IL. Evanston Art Center Gallery Hours: Monday– Friday, 9am–6pm; Saturday and Sunday, 9am–4pm. First and second floor gallery spaces are accessible. Limited free parking is available.

Due to COVID-19 protocol, when arriving at the EAC during our Gallery Hours, the EAC will check proof of vaccination upon entry for anyone over the age of 5. Masks will be optional but strongly recommended for vaccinated students, visitors, staff, and anyone over the age of 5. Anyone who is not vaccinated is required to wear a mask.

For more information, please visit us online at www.evanstonartcenter.org or contact Audrey Avril, Manager of Exhibitions, at (847) 475-5300 or aavril@evanstonartcenter.org. Visit the Evanston Art Center on Facebook: www.facebook.com/EvanstonArtCenter/, follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/#!/evartcenter, or on Instagram: @EvanstonArtCenter.

###

Official Website

More events on this date

Tags: Beverly Kedzior, Catherine forster, Cecelia Feld, Christelle Desangles, Evanston, Evanston Art Center, Expressive Exuberance, Shar Coulson