Images from the Land:

Mary Beth Akre, Gregory Tomezsko, Eileen Wold

August 30 through October 8, 2010
Reception Saturday, September 11 from 4 to 6 p.m.

“Images from the Land – Mary Beth Akre, Gregory Tomezsko, Eileen Wold” will be on display at the Gormley Gallery at Notre Dame College from August 30 – October 8, 2010. The Artist’s reception will be on Saturday, September 11th, from 4 until 6 p.m. in the gallery.

All three artists are graduates of Loyola University Maryland, Akre  in 1980, Tomezsko in 2006, and Wold in 2000. Mary Beth, currently an Associate Professor at Loyola, was honored to have both Eileen and Greg as students in their early careers as artists.  All three use images from the landscape in their work. 

Eileen writes about her work:

My research and artistic practice question the political, scientific, economic, and social systems surrounding energy production through both a global and local lens. I am interested in how these systems are intrinsically tied to the land and its development, and the contemporary condition of a planetary environmental consciousness.

Through exploration of structures that represent fossil fuel production within our landscape such as coal mines, power plants and oil refineries, I approach the issue of power production with awareness of its ecological connection. I reach out to a variety of professionals such as economists, journalists, engineers, and scientists, to implement an interdisciplinary approach to art and with a careful eye for observation, can integrate ideas and move beyond traditional boundaries.

I use my position as an artist to create a visual conversation that challenges our inherited system of electricity creation and distribution. I record and respond to research with art making to better understand the world as a contingent network that is fluid and changeable.

Greg writes:

A painter, we say, will paint us a cobbler, a carpenter, and any other craftsman though he himself has no expertness in any of these arts, but nevertheless if he is a good painter, by exhibiting at a distance his picture of a carpenter he would deceive children and foolish men and make them believe it to be a real carpenter.

                                -Plato, The Republic

I call it flattery, and I say the thing is ugly and shameful – this I direct to you, Polus, because it shrewdly guesses at what is pleasant, omitting what is best.

                                -Plato, Giorgias

Ever since Plato condemned painting and other illusionist arts to the realm of deception and flattery, absent of any aspect of the Good, painters throughout history have tried to justify their work by aligning themselves with the Good and avoiding “tricky” Sophistry. This has proved no easy task; Plato’s Good, a state of pure being of which everything else in existence is only a lesser manifestation, not only dominates philosophy regarding the arts throughout Western history but all metaphysical topics in the West from politics and religion to science and math.

This subversion of Platonic Good should be a moment of jubilation for every artist who has ever lived in Western society for painters are finally able to simply admit that painting is about pleasure and communicating pleasure. In my art, I strive to depict an Arcadian world where I hope the viewer can take pleasure when exploring my canvases.

Mary Beth says of her work:

“I have an instinctive affinity with the land and the landscape. As a visual artist, my paintings are based upon what I see and feel. I take pure pleasure in noting the light, shadows, colors, and textures of the rural landscape. My emotional connection is my content. It may be simple; this affinity with the land, but it is a powerful connection and an ancient one. This is what I am trying to communicate with others; this is what I like to share in my work. My images aren’t necessarily “Big Sur” blockbusters, but more like simple glimpses into a slice of everyday life. I see the spectacular in the unnoticed and ordinary. I see monumental things in a field of weeds; the blue violet of chicory and the delicacy of Queen Anne’s lace. I find a particular curve of a hill to be endearing.

As the years pass by, I have noticed that open space and farms have been succumbing to the inevitable development of a growing and moving population. What once was rural has now become suburban, and the landscape reflects it. Few farms are left, and the one that are left are surrounded by new houses, and shopping centers. In an odd way, I have become a documentarian of a way of life and a landscape that is slowly disappearing.

Mary Beth, Greg, and Eileen are in different stages of their lives and careers, and their ideas behind the paintings vary, but all are connected by a deep passion for the land and environment.  

Mary Beth Akre

Gregory Tomezsko

Eileen Wold