Arts Council debuts 2 new exhibit

Two new exhibits are opening Dec. 1 at the Oats Park Center.

Karl Schwiesow’s “pressplay: Recent works” will run through March 24. A gallery walk-though and reception for Schwiesow is Jan. 20 from 5-7 p.m. His exhibit will be displayed in the Classroom Gallery.

Schwiesow was born and raised in Homer, Alaska, where his art experience began in his father’s metal fabrication shop and in his mother’s yarn shop. As a child, Schwiesow said he was surrounded with creativity and resourcefulness. Boats and all types of marine and industrial materials were constantly being deconstructed, reconstructed, and adapted to suit new purposes.

“Today, my artwork reflects diverse elements and has been a driving force in my exploration of form and content,” he said. “Like the soft colorful yarn spun by my mother and the heavy steel plates bent by my father I am attracted toward materials with opposite physical characteristics. My artwork often uses opposing textures, colors, materials, even concepts. The sculptural pieces pull the viewer into a psychological space in which each element seems to conceptually contradict but at the same time could be thought of as necessary to the overall cohesion.”

Kevin Bell’s exhibit in the E.L. Wiegand Gallery also will extend until March 24. A talk and reception for Bell is March 10 from 5-7 p.m. Bell’s exhibit consists of painting of the new American West and is titled “Contingent Lands: Place in the Contemporary West.”

Bell’s work explores how cultural values and aspirations shape our experience of landscape. His research is informed by growing up in the western United States, including 10 years in Alaska, and eight years in Montana. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Bowdoin College, and completed a Master of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Oregon.

His artwork is exhibited nationally and internationally, including recent shows in Hong Kong, Dublin, Shenzhen, New York City, Vancouver B.C., Houston, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago. His work was featured twice in the publication New American Paintings, selected for the 2014 Dublin Biennial, and showcased at art fairs such as SCOPE and Pulse New York. He recently curated “Seeing it Again: Nature Revisited” at Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass, Colo.

He is editor of FATE in Review, a national journal dedicated to college-level art pedagogy.