phd gallery: 18 August 2007

Confluence: The Work of Joe Chesla

Join us for the opening night reception, Saturday, August 18, 2007, 7:00 to 11:00 p.m.
On view August 18 - October 6, 2007. Hours are noon to 4:00 p.m., Thursday through Sunday.

A dramatic new exhibition of Rust Prints and and Hybrid Sculpture examines the nature and process of merging elements. The series of nearly a dozen sculptures and forty-two prints represents the artist's exploration into the idea of confluence: the flowing together of two entities at a single juncture or point. The sculptural pieces embody that moment when the convergence of two powerful elements, in this case iron and wood, resonate into a true and harmonious union. Combining wood and skillfully crafted metal parts, Chesla creates unique, yet oddly familiar sculptures which seem to tell part of a larger story. Chesla challenges conventional aesthetics, daring us to see art in his sculptural hybrids of nature and industrialization. The "Mineral Prints" continue this process-oriented approach. Working directly with the metal plates and printmaking paper, the artist couples the two elements together for days or weeks in the process of making a print. A confluence is achieved by immersing the paper and metal plate in liquid and allowing them to merge though drying and rewetting stages. When the impregnation and layering of iron oxide and salt attain an intriguing state, the print is complete.

According to Chesla, "The process of both works is pure and intuitive. There is little study or plan to what is happening in the studio. More so these pieces can be viewed as moments within an event, snapshots, if you will, of my ever-constructing mind."

phd gallery is located at 2300 Cherokee Street in St. Louis
http://www.phdstl.com (314) 664-6644