The drive to record and interpret the natural world and the universe can be traced back to antiquity and throughout human existence by both artists and scientists. Duality–abstraction and representation, the literal and the metaphorical, science and mysticism, the unseen and the seen–is a predominant theme in both Betsy Stewart’s and Jody Rasch’s work. Rasch uses science images to look beyond what we see in the macro world of our daily lives, eliciting questions about our world views and how we react to information while Stewart’s work asks scientists to see the connections between the macros of the cosmos and a single droplet of water through patterned visual exploration. This exhibit combines the work of both artists for a dynamic exploration of the these themes. Please join us for the opening reception on November 2, 2018 from 6:00-8:00 pm. Registration will open in October.
Artists
Jody Rasch is a New York area artist whose work is based on themes from astronomy, biology, physics and spectra. Rasch transforms scientific images from radio astronomy, electron microscopy, particle accelerators and individual element’s spectrum, discovering their underlying patterns and working with color and design to create work that is both representational and abstract. Rasch edits and transforms the scientists’ images, yet his images remain representative of what the scientist would see and recognize. The scale of the actual images contrasts with the size of the artwork: the biological and physics images are massively enlarged and the astronomical images are equally drastically reduced. The goal is to bring the images to a more human scale so that the viewer can relate to the real elements that make up our world and universe. The artist incorporates gold in many of his works. This is drawn from medieval paintings in which artists painted religious figures with gold halos or utilized a gold background. For Rasch, the gold symbolizes science taking over from religion as the explanation for why things are the way they are. He utilizes a variety of techniques and media, including oil, acrylic paint, pastels, colored pencil and pen/ink.
Duality–abstraction and representation, the literal and the metaphorical, science and mysticism, the unseen and the seen–is a predominant theme in Rasch’s work. An expression of both the patterns of the natural world and the metaphors underlying modern science, his art allows us to see the beauty in the repulsive, to find knowledge in the unknown, to observe the unseen to more clearly see our world. By exploring the invisible, Rasch invites the observer to look beyond the “seen” to appreciate the beauty and mystery of the “unseen.” His art challenges us to explore the world around us.
Betsy Stewart is a Washington, DC, artist who creates paintings of nature representing origins of life from a drop of water to systems in the cosmos. Stewart’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Her recent solo exhibitions include venues in Washington, DC, Lake Placid, NY, Denver, CO, Vancouver, BC, Richmond, VA, New Orleans, LA, as well as group exhibitions in New York, NY, Palm Springs, CA, Art Basel, Miami, FL, Toronto, CA, Istanbul, TR, Aix-en-Provence, FR, and Montevideo, UR. As part of the US Department of State’s Art In Embassies Program, her works have been exhibited in worldwide American embassies. Stewart’s paintings are represented in numerous private, corporate and museum collections such as the Kreeger Museum, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, American University Art Museum, Adirondack Museum, Bellagio Hotel, Embassy of Finland, Washington Convention Center, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Art bank, World Bank Headquarters and Liberty Mutual Headquarters. In addition to other awards, Stewart has been a recipient of four Award Grants from the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities. Her upcoming exhibitions in 2018 - 2019 include the following: --“The Whole Drum Will Sound”, Ogden Museum, New Orleans, LA --“Written on Water”, Pacai Palace, Vilnius, Lithuania and Artist’s Union Gallery, Warsaw, Poland --“Duality: Art + Science”, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC --“HORIZONS: As Above So Below”, Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center, Portsmouth, VA.
