Lyco Curatorial Practice: What's Real, What's Not

“What’s Real, What’s Not”

Curated by: Alicia Skeath and Carissa Guthrie

Opening: November 18th, 2015 with a gallery talk at 2:10PM

The show ran from November 18th to November 21st, 2015

Curatorial Statement:

Artists’ visual styles can vary tremendously in accordance with the creative process employed when developing art. Whether this process is accomplished through strict observation or by pure imaginative thought, art can express anything the creator wishes it to. Artists’ techniques when employing these practices have an important role in demonstrating differences between two contrasting visual styles. This exhibition is concerned with comparing and contrasting these two methodologies of visual art: the observed vs. the invented.

“What’s Real, What’s Not” features artists Barbara Ertel, Donnell Reid-Ellis, Elizabeth Hughes, Jeremiah Johnson, and Vincent Hron, whose work is either created through direct observation or through pure invention. These artists use a variety of media and explore disparate subjects in order to represent how they read the outside world.

By looking at visual art that lies on opposite ends of the artistic spectrum as part of the creative process, viewers can note the differences in the thought processes that stand behind each artist’s work. Invented art can be seen as more challenging to the norms of artistic expression, while art that gravitates toward naturalism is more commonly accessible. Exploring the contrast in these different types of artistic methods reveals two of the styles that are available in the art world allowing viewers to experience art in an all-encompassing dichotomy.