Artists and makers are gathering from across the country this month and the next to discuss their work at Kent’s downtown art gallery.
“Aggregate III: Avalanche of Talent” is a free exhibition being held at Kent State’s downtown art gallery from Oct. 10 to Nov. 29. The exhibition features a mix of textiles, sculptures, jewelry and paintings from 22 different artists, half of whom are from out of state.
Paul Breuer, an artist and printmaker, traveled eight hours from Saint Louis to participate in the show. Breuer made the large quilt, “Red the Rising.”
“For some reason, I just started working with a lot of red, and then I started working with the different patterns,” Breuer said. “I read an article about how the red tide is so devastating to sea life, and so I thought, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’”
Breuer took up quilt-making just six years ago.
‘“I started small, and then I realized, ‘Why am I working so small? I can work with a full-size quilt, really, and I started entering quilt shows and things like that, and they were all kind of like, ‘What are you doing?’ You know?” Breuer said. “It was good; it shook them up a little bit.”
The exhibition started three years ago, originally only showcasing art from undergraduate students at Kent State. Now, the exhibition has expanded to include people from all over the country, with over 320 people submitting their works in total.
There is no set theme in place either, Karl Anderson, the Kent State Galleries and Collections assistant director, said. The 22 pieces were picked in a group jury involving students and faculty.
“The fifteen aggregate came about as a way of thinking about an amalgamation or accumulation of different styles and varieties and ways of making, and so we wanted to be able to showcase something that’s diverse,” Anderson said.
The exhibition also featured artists of varying age groups, which is new for the exhibition. One artist, Denise Buckley, a full-time artist from Richmond Heights who deals in steelworks, reflected on aging in her works.
“I think I’m dealing with aging as I’m getting older, and I wanted to work slab and hollow so that I started from the bottom and all my way up,” Buckley said.
Raymond Bugelski is an artist from Cleveland and made the runner-up piece, “Nooks and Crannies,” a mixed media work made of many different pieces. Bugelski started as a printmaker but then later moved to photography.
“Rather than make big things, we made actually a bunch of small little pieces [and] we put them together. It’s called ‘Nooks and Crannies,’” Bugelski said. “It has to do with little pieces in my head — how I compartmentalize things.”
Bugelski recently retired from working as a creative thinker for State Farm for 16 years, but had been making art since 1976.
“It’s really important for people to see your work,” Bugelski said. “I worked all the time continuously for 40 years, so it’s time for people to see it.”
Sascha Aleksich is a beat reporter. Contact her at [email protected].