Academic artists are a particular breed in this contemporary art world. Many professional artists make their day-to-day living with a secondary profession—commission work, design work or in some cases, by teaching their unique knowledge to the younger generations of artists, forging their way in this competitive scene. The artwork made by art educators is complex and refined, taking decades of education, contemplation and clarity into their practice.

The exhibition “Fleshed Out” takes a deeper look at ten academic artists, focusing on the human experience and form. Focusing on the California colleges, this exhibit explores the extremely diverse art practices of ten art professors and active artists. With specific attention to the human form in symbolism, representation and meaning, these ten artists touch on the many different ways of making, studying and teaching art.

“FLESHED OUT”

Opening Reception:

Saturday, December 5, 2015, 7-10PM

Exhibition Dates:

December 5, 2015 – January 1, 2016

Q Art Salon

205 N. Sycamore St. Santa Ana, CA 92701

“Fleshed Out” is a shorthand metaphor for the process of making and understanding art, in itself. These artists spend so much time deconstructing the process of art for the benefit of others, that they can become their own worst enemy or their own helpful crit group. Serena Potter explores the nature of humanity through face and form in her exquisitely detailed graphite drawings and paintings, Caleb Henderson dives into the feeling of being human, rife with emotion and sensation through abstracting the experience in a surreal landscape. Pamela Wilson paints personal narratives with her subjects, creating a unique perspective and look on different human experiences while exploring the human form and all its meticulous beauty. Leslie Batty finds a special place between reality and fantasy, straddling the experience of adolescence and adulthood; female and male—she pushes and pulls through our own cultural representations. Joe Forkan focuses on the painter’s process in great detail, while Nick Potter finds solace in exploring the man-made world and the absence of the human form as a symbol of the human experience. Robin Johnson finds the intimate moments in alternative lifestyles as a window into the humanity, while Eric L. Jones explores the spirituality of his subjects through figurative abstraction. Nicholas Spohrer finds the illustrated essence of relationships with animals and humans alike in his printmaking, and Kevin Stewart-Magee focuses on the beauty of labor and industry as human experience.

Each artist is preoccupied with a different aspect and avenue for creating their art, but all are fascinated by the one thing that binds them together—being human. As we all are constantly struggling to figure out what it means to be human, we are always learning from each other, all over the world; these artists are learning as much as they are teaching, about art and about life; and their work is a fascinating journey through the traditions of the academy of art paired with the boundary-pushing eccentricities they find in their own path through art.

“Victor Victoria” by Serena Potter

“Twins” by Caleb Henderson

“Casting Fairytales (after Velazquez)” by Leslie Batty

“Blue Ghost” by Kevin Stewart-Magee

“Man with Dog” by Nicholas Spohrer

“Troy” by Robin Johnson

“Skull 01” by Joe Forkan

“Crestfallen Interlopers” by Pamela Wilson

“Obliteration” by Eric L. Jones

“The Drowned World” by Nick Potter

“Astrid of Bedlam” by Pamela Wilson

“Facelift” by Serena Potter

“Wolves” by Nicholas Spohrer