GREG MURR Drawings, Paintings & Prints
JOAN WINTER Cast Resin Sculpture
Artist Talk and Reception: Thursday, April 4th, 6 – 9 pm
Susan Street Fine Art is pleased to present in White/unseen nature: drawings, paintings and prints by Greg Murr and cast resin sculpture by Joan Winter. With meticulous sensuality, Murr and Winter reflect upon the definition and design of nature through their respective practices of cultural critique and formal investigation.
Dogs inhabit the majority of Greg Murr’s works, often among tangled strands of pearls, high heels and other accessories to a social elite. In combination, such elements point to the nature of a material culture and our inclinations toward amassing personal security by any tangible means. Working in drawing, painting and print media, Murr renders these animals not as subjects in and of themselves, but with the implication that they represent a broader humanity, acting upon instinct. And so they bring to our attention the animal selves we aspire to transcend – even as our lives are punctuated by acts meant to assert mastery over our environment and to insure our personal survival. Whether viewed as a celebration or critique, these pictures invite us to meditate on notions of human nature and desire, and to think further about that which guides us forward as cognizant beings.
Greg Murr’s work has appeared in exhibitions at the Austin Museum of Art (2011), the Arkansas Art Center (2008) and the Whitney Museum of American Art (2005). He has twice served as a Visiting Artist/Instructor at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, and has been a Resident Fellow at the MacDowell Colony, the Robert M. MacNamara Foundation and the Morris Graves Foundation. His work is in permanent collections that include the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Sheldon Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Tamarind Institute and Flatbed Press have published editions of his work. Murr received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of New Mexico (1997) and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wake Forest University (1993). He is presently Visiting Assistant Professor of Printmaking at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
As a sculptor and printmaker Joan Winter’s work explores the relationship between the visible and the invisible, between the material nature of the work and its inner meaning. In this exhibition, Winter creates translucent organic sculptures to capture light as the inner source of form. Her cast resin pieces seek moments of harmony and serenity within our current culture of chaos and uncertainty. Influenced by visits to Japan, Winter’s most recent trip to absorb the spiritual quietness and connection to nature was vital to this body of work. She states that she is “interested in making delicate forms of light and air and that she is searching for ethereal qualities concealed between the layers of the seen and the unseen – between light and shadow.” Working with the band saw as a drawing tool on wood and then casting the forms in resin, Winter introduces qualities of light and transparency, while maintaining the original texture of wood in the casting. She believes art has the conscious power to bridge differences and express connections, however fragile, in the ways we are connected universally.
Joan Winter has exhibited extensively in Texas and throughout the nation, including exhibitions curated/juried by curators from MOMA, NY; International Print Center of New York, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; Berkley Art Museum, CA; and High Art Museum, GA. In addition, Winter was awarded Second Place at the 2006 Houston Assistance League exhibition “Celebrating Texas Art”. In addition to the 2013 solo show at J.Cacciola Gallery in New York, select recent solo exhibitions of note also include: Conduit Gallery, Dallas, TX, 2011; Dubhe Carreno Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2010; Holly Johnson Gallery, Dallas, TX, 2008; Flatbed Press Gallery, Austin, TX, 2007; Hwy 90 Gallery, Marfa, Texas, 2006; Forum Gallery at Brookhaven College, Dallas, TX, 2006. Winter has also exhibited at the Dallas Center for Contemporary Art and Meadows Museum, Dallas, TX; Manneken Press at Aqua Art, Miami, FL; Berkley Fine Art Center, Berkeley, CA; and a group exhibition of works on paper curated by Gus Kopriva & Jim Edwards, in Arequipa, Peru. Her work is included in numerous private, corporate and museum collections. Winter received her MFA from Southern Methodist University, Meadows School of Arts in 1993. She previously worked in the field of space planning and design for several major architectural firms in Texas and Louisiana. Winter now lives and works in Dallas, Texas.