Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) News

For immediate release, April 12, 2010

Painters pump up the contrast in art at Austin-Bergstrom

AUSTIN, TEXAS – Explosive use of paint color, thought provoking abstracts, majestic landscapes and more comprise the new selection of art on display at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The cornucopia of art provides a sample of the variety, versatility and contrast created by artists who have studio space in the Pump Project Art Complex of Austin, Texas. From a small welded and painted metal collage titled, Barnyard with Roosters by Croix Williamson, to the bold colors of Movement Within by Kristi Koll and Jan Roset’s Across the Universe, the artists give a diverse view of what it means to paint different subjects in different ways.

There are large, over four feet wide, representational paintings in the exhibit. There is the heart wrenching work of Matt Wester’s acrylic on Canvas piece titled, Mercy. Wester, a former US soldier who served in Iraq, reveals elements of mercy and kindness found in places often associated with war and destruction. Jai Cochran’s natural landscape of Double Arch is an oil painting that plays heavily on the majesty, beauty and interplay of shadow and light on natural surfaces. Finally, Amber Kappes portrait of Kat Edmonson reveals a psychological realm of music, performance and the café environment.

In the refined pen and ink illustrations, Audrey Lopata shows micro attention to details in her light hearted, fanciful and feminine works titled, Mermaid and Cat Cloak. The pieces contrast accordingly to the simplicity of Dave Kucko’s Antenna Farm Sunset, a painting that provides broad fields of color and line resembling in many ways a stained glass composition.

There are also two mixed media paintings in the show. Mark Johnson’s Untitled contains subtle texture and blended color to offset the objects applied to it, while Melinda Carter’s Juke Tulips embraces the naïve and rustic folk art approach with her choice of materials and subject matter.

The Paintings from the Pump Project Complex is on exhibit through June 24, 2010 in the East Airside Gallery located behind the Austin Article bookstore, across from Gate 8, in the area of the airport past security checkpoints accessible to ticketed passengers only.

Other exhibits on display at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport:

“Travel / Places, Capital City Scribes” in the West Airside Gallery through May 13, 2010
The theme of the exhibit is “Travel” and the Capital City Scribes of Austin, Texas have created visual statements that tie their hand calligraphy to creative images that support the text. See various forms of calligraphy created with brush, pen and cut linoleum used in traditional as well as modern styles.

“Hot Glass in a Cool City” in the Concourse glass pylon cases through April 20, 2010
Ten Austin artists display a glowing variety of glass media artwork ranging from vortex marbles, fused glass plates, mosaics and sculptured blown glass. Styles range from the sublime simplicity of a blown glass vase to the detailed intricacies of a 40" tall glass orchid.

Source: City of Austin