On September 19, two major exhibitions will open at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD: “John Ruppert: Grounded” and “Ken Schiano: Intuited Geometries.”
Sculptor John Ruppert’s work on display at the Museum includes elegant shapes he forms from chain-link fabric and cast metals. As a great technician with a passion for blurring the lines between natural and man-made materials, Ruppert uses cast metals such as iron, aluminum, copper, or bronze to explore this idea. Ruppert’s cast Pumpkins, which are in several collections on the West and East Coasts, including Grounds for Sculpture, Trenton, NJ, can be seen in the Museum’s front yard. Also on exhibit are Ruppert’s large scale composite photographs. Using the camera as a drawing tool and architecture and the landscape as subject matter, he creates visceral images that immerse the viewer. Ruppert investigates the relationship between natural systems and human decision making. He notes. “I have worked in a variety of materials from sand and mud, to chain-link fabric and light, to cast metals and video. Observing the phenomena of nature and of materials guides me as I work.”
John Ruppert was born in Winchester, MA, in 1951. As a child, he lived in Amman, Jordan and became fascinated with archeology. He traveled extensively in the region visiting sites and participating in excavations. Experiencing the digs and seeing the remains of ancient cities and civilizations in the barren landscapes has had a lasting effect on his artwork. Ruppert received his BA in Art and Art Education from Miami University, Oxford, OH, in 1974, and his Master of Fine Arts from the School for American Craftsman, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, in 1977. Ruppert has been a full-time faculty member at the University of Maryland, College Park, since 1987 and served as Chair of the Art Department from 1998 to 2012. He teaches all levels and aspects of sculpture and drawing including graduate studies. He is represented by C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, MD; John Davis Gallery, Hudson, NY; Eight Modern, Santa Fe, NM; and was the first Distinguished Visiting Artist for SANDBOX at Washington College, in Chestertown, MD. Reviews of his work have been published in “Art in America,” “Sculpture,” “The New Art Examiner,” “The New York Times,” and “Art China.” Ruppert has received numerous grants and awards, including several Semester Research (RASA) and (CAPAA) awards from the University of Maryland, a number of Maryland State Individual Artists Awards, the prestigious $25,000 Mary Sawyer Baker Award, and the Pollack Krasner Foundation Award. The exhibit sponsored by the C. Grimaldis Gallery, the Maryland State Arts Council and the Talbot County Arts Council.
As a painter formally trained as an architect, Ken Schiano’s skills as an artist are largely self-taught. He tends to rely heavily on architectonic principles, especially in the use of materials and process. His practice therefore has an unaffected quality. He is a staunch advocate of abstraction and is known for his intuitive sense of composition and structure. Together with an uncanny use of color and light, he creates powerful abstract presences. He notes, “My work is uncompromisingly abstract, and despite external sources, my subject matter is derived solely from the act of painting. I mix my own colors and make the media I use from scratch —- watercolor, pastel, a cold wax medium, matching them to the shape and strength of my hand. While it is not a conscious intent to extend the creative practice to include the actual manufacture of the material used, it is logical that I would be interested in their genesis and my paintings integrate such knowledge. In the process I hope my activities would also begin to suggest where the bounds between discipline and surrender lie.”
In the last two years Schiano has embarked on a project to re-evaluate the relationship between a painting’s image and the painting as a physical object displacing and altering space. This has led to a series of shaped paintings, in which the painted image and constructed object become inextricably linked. Schiano was recently selected as a semi-finalist for the 2015 Sondheim Art Prize and was the recipient of the 19th Annual Peggy and T. Denton Miller Award for excellence in Contemporary Art (in any medium) at the Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD (2014). He was also a finalist for this year’s Adolf and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant. Schiano had a recent solo show at Massoni Art, Chestertown, MD, and continues to be featured extensively in group shows there. He is currently represented by Carla Massoni. His work has also been exhibited at MOMA, NY, and galleries in Atlanta, GA, and in Portland, Belfast, Bangor, Rockland and Blue Hill, ME. His work resides in both corporate and private collections. As an Assistant Professor, Schiano has taught studio art and architectural design at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, and at IIT, Chicago, IL. He received his architecture degree at The Cooper Union, New York. This exhibit is sponsored by The Carla Massoni Gallery, the Maryland State Arts Council and the Talbot County Arts Council.
Both exhibitions will be on display through November 8, 2015 (Exhibition closed October 12 – 19). Curator-Led Tours of both exhibitions will be held on Friday, September 25 at 12noon and on Wednesday, October 21 at 12noon at the Academy Art Museum.
In addition to these two exhibitions, “Japanese Prints from the Silverman Collection” will continue to be on display at the Museum through October 11, 2015 and “The Working Artist Forum” will continue through November 29, 2015. For further information, contact the Academy Art Museum at 410-822-2787 or visit academyartmuseum.org.
..
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.