Creatures

Creatures • January 16 - February 18, 2016
FREE Opening reception Saturday, January 16, 6-8 p.m.

Please join Art Saint Louis for Creatures featuring artworks by 41 St. Louis regional artists from Missouri and Illinois.

Graphic design by Orianna Montenegro

Art Saint Louis presents Creatures, our first exhibition of the new year, 2016, on view in the Art Saint Louis Gallery at 1223 Pine Street in downtown St. Louis, MO. The exhibition is presented January 16 through February 18, 2016, with a FREE reception open to the public on Saturday, January 16 from 6 to 8 p.m.   Gallery hours are Mondays 7 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays 7 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturdays 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Closed Sundays & holidays. Free & open to the public.   Creatures was a juried exhibition open to artists 21 & older living in St. Louis and the surrounding 200-mile radius. For this exhibit, 200 artworks were submitted by 119 St. Louis regional artists for consideration by exhibition Jurors Charles Houska and Heather Woodson, from which they selected 51 artworks in a variety of media by 41 artists from Missouri and Illinois for the final show. Artworks featured in this exhibit are all about creatures, real or imagined. Some of the creatures are critters, beasts, humans, and animals. A variety of styles, techniques and media are represented in the show and artworks featured include ceramics, collage, digital media, drawing, encaustic, painting, pastel, photography, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, wood, and more. For images of all of the featured artworks as well as gallery/installation views of the exhibition, visit our Facebook album for the show here. PARKING: Not sure where to park when visiting Art Saint Louis? The Gallery is located downtown on Pine Street just West of Tucker before 13th Street. There are parking meters on Pine and all along nearby streets that operate Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. (cash or credit). There's also a garage in the Park Pacific building accessible from Olive, one half block West of Tucker, with hourly parking rates (cash or credit). If you park in the Garage, take your ticket with you when you exit your car to visit the Gallery. Otherwise, you will not be able to get back into the Garage to get to your car. For additional info on other parking near the ASL Gallery, visit Downtown StL's website here.

Photo by Emily AmbergerFREE EVENT
COFFEE WITH THE ARTISTS: SATURDAY GALLERY TALK
Join us in the Gallery on Saturday, January 23, when we host a free one-hour Gallery talk at 11 a.m. with several of the featured artists from Creatures. Guests may enjoy complimentary coffee tastings courtesy of Mississippi Mud Coffee Roasters Cafe while learning about the artists and their artworks. Artists may bring in samples of their other work or also present a demo of their media & techniques. Guests will walk with the artists through the Gallery as they talk about their works on view in the exhibition. Seating is limited.


Serving as Jurors for Creatures were Heather Woodson and Charles Houska, St. Louis, MO. Heather Woodson is a nationally and internationally exhibited ceramic sculptor and art educator based in the St. Louis area. She has been teaching ceramics and fiber art classes through Art Unleashed (previously Chesterfield Arts) since 2011, where she previously served as Exhibition Coordinator and Studio Manager. Charlie Houska is an artist and gallery owner based in St. Louis. His whimsical works are featured in collections across the U.S. and he is commissioned regularly for special projects that feature his colorful artworks—from St. Louis Children's Hospital and Harpo Studios to Absolut Vodka, his images can be found in exciting places.

The 41 featured artists in Creatures are:

Creatures
Juror's Statements

"Co-Jurying Creatures with Charlie Houska was an honor for me. The task of choosing and refusing artworks can be daunting. With a co-Juror by your side, the other juror’s experiences and questions assist in your final decisions. I found this to be a very rewarding experience. Eliminating someone’s work is never easy. Having someone next to you that agrees that the particular piece does not fit with the show, was both comforting and affirming.  

I was very impressed with the overall quality of the 200 works submitted. We quickly started to see themes in these works, based on the title of the show. Birds, imagined creatures, mechanical creatures, wild animals, domestic animals, and of course human creatures emerged. The quality of the work forced us to focus on subject matter, originality and personal tastes; Very subjective criteria in which Charlie and I seemed to be in agreement on most every selection. I can only give credit to Robin Hirsch-Steinhoff for not only being incredibly skilled at curating exhibits but also in curating co-Jurors.

I feel that the works chosen reflect a range of media as well as a range of interpretations, on the theme of the show.  I often think of themed exhibitions as many works put together, telling one story, an epistolary exhibit. One of my favorite books was written with the epistolary method of writing works in the form of letters, (the infamous creature), Dracula. I am looking forward to seeing the chosen artwork all together and telling one story in the gallery. Congratulations to the artists that were chosen to be part of this story. To my fellow artists who were not selected for this exhibit, please believe me when I say that your talent and creativity made our job difficult.  Keep telling your stories!

Thank you Art Saint Louis for inviting me to be involved and for your commitment and support of artists in the St. Louis area."

— Heather Woodson

"Being invited to be a Juror for Art Saint Louis' Creatures exhibit and selecting Awards of Excellence was an incredible honor.

I can tell you that I had a wonderful and inspiring experience viewing all the artworks that were submitted for jurying for this exhibition. With so many good artworks submitted for our consideration, selecting only a limited number of works for the final show was quite a challenging process!

To be a Juror is a subjective process, one guided by experience, knowledge, and yes, personal taste. Ideally, judgments are based on a critical eye, developed through years of seeing and feeling and discerning the various factors that distinguish a work of art. For me, in addition to identifying quality in individual artworks, I considered how the final choices would function together as a cohesive exhibition. I looked for a diversity of media, style, subject, and content.

I am very pleased with this show and want to add that like most juried exhibitions, this selection of work is only a representation of my personal preferences on that given day, and the specific guidelines of the exhibit. It isn’t a definitive critique on the merits or artistic qualities of the submitted work. I was very impressed with the professional images representing each artwork. There were so many accomplished and excellent submissions, each and every artist who entered their work for this juried exhibition to be considered by my co-Juror and myself is due recognition.

So, thank you artists, it truly made my job easier. And a special thanks to Robin Hirsch-Steinhoff, not only for the opportunity to Jury such a great selection of work but for her assistance with the entire process. Finally, I would like to thank Art Saint Louis for the privilege of entrusting me with the challenging and very rewarding opportunity to Jurying this exhibition."

— Charles Houska

Some of the 51 artworks featured in Creatures:

Margaret von Kaenel, University City, MO. "Tribute to Lecce, Italy." 2015. Acrylic, Crackle Medium, 37.25”x40.5”. $1,100.	Megan McCully, Dardenne Prairie, MO. "Chicken Sheep." 2015. Walnut Ink, Pen & Ink, Charcoal Pencil on Paper, 11”x14”. SOLD. This artwork was selected by the Jurors to receive an Award of Excellence.	Andy Van Der Tuin, Olivette, MO. "JoJo the Dogfaced Boy." 2014. Birch Plywood, Zip Ties, 13”x17”x10”. $250. This artwork was selected by the Jurors to receive an Award of Excellence.
Susan Garrett, Olivette, MO. "Hawk Eye." 2015. Digital Photograph, 15”x13”. $450.	Emily Elhoffer, Wentzville, MO. "Torq." 2015. Latex, Steel, 28”x11”x12”. $500 .	Mark Appling Fisher, St. Charles, MO. "Rex the Blue." 2015. Digital Photograph on Paper, 30”x22”. $400 .
April Dill, Herrin, IL. "Sanctuary." 2014. Oil on Canvas, 24”x19”. $1,200.	Adrian Aquilino, Richmond Heights, MO. "Birds of America #2." 2015. Cut Paper, Collage, 20”x16”. $250.	Lon Brauer, Granite City, IL. "Talking a Good Game." 2015. Oil, Enamel, Shellac, Charcoal, Tape on Panel, 32”x24”. $1,650.
Dahven White, St. Louis, MO. "Day 17." 2015. Wool, Silk, Other Fibers, 30”x20”x2”. $325.	Alaska Adams, Overland, MO. "Lump." 2015. Found Bones, Antler, Teeth, Fur, Glass, 7”x6”x5”. Not for Sale. This artwork was selected by the Jurors to receive an Award of Excellence.	Paul Ivkovich, St. Louis, MO. "Kasey Kikapoo Meets Christy Columbus." 2015. Acrylic on Board, 31.5”x22”. SOLD.