'The Artist as Diarist' at the Sandra Small Gallery

When I Die (2000) by John B. Chewning features a sign with the words ‘WHEN I DIE BURY ME IN THE WOODS SO MY HUSBAND WILL HUNT FOR ME.’ It rests on a peculiar conic wrapping of vines, with a roughly painted American flag in the background. In the exhibition we read some text below the work that explains that the building in the background is a gift shop, since lost to fire, in a city known for hosting not only the first dental college (so the artist claims) but also the Seip Mound, an ancient Hopwell earthwork site. The photo that was at first quirky invites us as per its sign to an investigation of the buried; it is symbolic of the kind of inner response one has to Chewning’s work - both celebratory and wistful for a vanishing world, more particularly a vanishing America - and also to the contributions of the artists Paula Wiggins, Lynda Riddle and Ellie Fabe in the exhibition ‘The Artist as Diarist’ at the Sandra Small Gallery, curated by Daniel Brown.

Notable also are the smallest of the works of Wiggins, Fabe’s watercolors without the invasive collage materials and Riddle’s paintings of exterior scenes.
-A.C. Frabetti

'The Artist as Diarist,' curated by Daniel Brown, featuring the work of John Chewning, Ellie Fabe, Linda Riddle and Paula Wiggins. The Sandra Small Gallery, 124 Pike St., Covington, KY. June 12-July 10. (Full Disclosure: Daniel Brown is a contributor for AEQAI.)
In photo: Chewning, John B. 'When I Die,' 2000. Photograph. Courtesy of the Sandra Small Gallery.

'Narrative Figuration' at the Sandra Small Gallery

The paintings currently hosted by the Sandra Small Gallery are, as per the exhibition title 'Narrative Figuration,' mostly figurative, sometimes with a lone personality, other times in pairs. The ambiguity of the compositions invites narrative interpretations (such as Tim Parsley's The Money Sender and His Wife, 2007). Particular compositional care is also given to architectural spaces. But what stands out in the works is the technical quality of the painting; these painters have skill.

Though young, they follow a long tradition of exemplary masters. One can sense time passed in
devotional study of color, light, composition and anatomy. This knowledge gives depth and strength to even the simplest of compositions. Their youth, though, makes them belong to contemporary life. This signifies the experience of alienation (all aspects), the voyeurism from internet videos, and the isolation of the individual. This contemporary element appears particularly in their compositions; note, for example, in the aforementioned work, how the figures’ heads are missing, giving them anonymity.

Hence their work is an intriguing encounter between the classical (technique) and the contemporary (composition); like the Roman god Janus, one face looks backward while the other forward. The results are rooted yet refreshing.
-A.C. Frabetti

'Narrative Figuration,' featuring artists Rob Anderson, Tim Parsley, Emil Robinson, Jessica Bechtel, Kate Holterhoff and Jamie Oberschlake. The Sandra Small Gallery, 124 W. Pike Street Covington, KY 41011. Through May 1. Curated by Daniel Brown (full disclosure: also a writer for AEQAI).
In photo, Parsley, Tim. The Money Sender and His Wife, 2007. Oil on Panel, 24x48in.