Rochester, Michigan
Oakland University Art Gallery
The best group shows spark conversations between artworks, revealing new dimensions and offering fresh insights. “/spek-tr m/ variance of sculpture and form,” which showcased works by many of Kansas City’s best-known sculptors, did just that. Studios Inc is a nonprofit studio complex and residency program located just east of KC’s Crossroads Arts District. It maintains a collection consisting of works donated by resident artists as a condition of their three-year tenure. Studios Inc’s associate director, Robert Gann, drew from these holdings for “/spektr m/.” A Minimalist aesthetic dominated the show, many works evidencing an aura of quiet self-containment and an attraction to domestic and landscape references. All of the featured artists make the selection of materials a key part of their work. May Tveit’s chosen material is wheat straw, bundled into prickly blocks and encased in solid hues of plastic hard-coat paint. Frosted Flakes (2009), a wallmounted display of three blocks painted in blue and yellow, exudes an attitude of renegade Minimalism. The color both muffles and emphasizes the work’s relationship to the cereal-producing agrarian landscape around Kansas City. …see the entire review in the print version of November’s Sculpture magazine.
