This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: June 18, 2008 - If you're like most people in St. Louis, you need a good reason to make a trip across the river. Here's one that Missourians and Illinoisans alike should find worth a short jaunt: New Paintings: IL + MO at the Edwardsville Arts Center, an exhibition curated by St. Louis painter Daniel Raedeke and featuring some of the region's finest artists.
In addition to being a superb artist in his own right, Raedeke has a great eye for currents in painting today. In abstract works by Brandon Anschultz and Eric Spehn, paint has a tactile, object quality that invites close looking.
Chris Kahler's bubbly, biomorphic stews are irresistible.
The show is rounded out by the expressive, layered imagery of Amy Bautz, Rosalyn Schwartz, and Gary Passanise, and a gorgeous Jerald Ieans.
Also on view are Kurt Brian Webb's large carved, woodfired clay Story Jars, which tell some pretty amazing stories, indeed.
- Through August 3
- Edwardsville Arts Center
- 310 Hillsboro Ave., Edwardsville, IL
- 618-655-0337
- www.edwardsvilleartscenter.org
Ivy Cooper is an artist and professor of art history at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.