In recent years there has been an increase in the creation and acceptance of figurative art and that includes, promisingly, the acceptance of such work in the high-end market. But why do artist and collectors like art of the Human Form? Simply put it is because art is a means of communicating human experiences, therefore human bodies are naturally depicted. The figurative form can be used as the ideal medium to convey a spectrum of ideas with which the viewer can resonate. The human figure has always been a common subject of visual art, “it forces the viewer to engage the artwork and enables the artist to express an entire range of ideas from the subtle to the intense”. In the history of art the human figure bears, in different ways and through different periods in time, a huge significance, being the most direct means by which art can address the human condition. We take pride in the fact that we are champions of figurative art and as this 13th annual exhibition shows we are not alone in this belief.

The Contemporary Figurative show seeks to showcase the best artwork, selected Nationally and Internationally.

I strive to paint as my mother cooks. For us, the process is absorbing, spiritual, sometimes transcendent – and complete only when you are involved in the outcome. My goal is to initiate shared experiences that we’ll enjoy again and again. I revel in bold colors applied with big brushes and palette knives. I’m looking for the essence of the subject, its truth, more than its details. Rather than rein this state in, I work to sustain it. Thus, I ensure my paintings are never too finished; in fact, they succeed only when there are conceptual spaces for you to fill. There’s no right or wrong way to do that. If you stand closely to my painting, you should begin to feel the way I felt in creating it. If you step back, we can resolve the image together. – Lisa Noonis

Jonathan Christensen Caballero’s multi-media figurative sculptures are both personal and political. Inspired by familial ties, his work focuses on the immigrant experience and gives visibility to the struggles of the working class, including Latin American laborers in the United States.

Christensen Caballero uses a number of materials to create his life-sized sculptures, including red earthenware, recycled fibers, and fabrics, readymade objects, building materials, indigo, metal, and wood. His choice of materials is deliberate and layered with meaning and history. The red earthenware faces begin as life castings of people in the artist’s life. The indigo and denim used in the construction of his figures reference the history of labor. The reused tablecloths, bedsheets, and work tools that clothe and adorn these figures relate to specific objects that laborers work with today. Additionally, the iconography and artist’s choice of color palette acknowledge the pre-colonized art of the Americas.

Jonathan Christensen Caballero depicts moments of labor and struggle alongside feelings of love and joy. Poignant, hopeful, and rich in meaning, the works in this exhibition are a reminder of existing inequities, of our common bonds and interdependence.

Jonathan Christensen Caballero was born and raised in Utah. He graduated from Utah State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramics and sculpture and completed his Master of Fine Arts in ceramics from Indiana University in the spring of 2020. He is the current Interdisciplinary Ceramic Research Center (ICRC) Artist in Residence at Kansas University in Lawrence. He is a recipient of the International Sculpture Center Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award and was recently recognized as a 2021 Emerging Artist by Ceramics Monthly.

For high-resolution images, click here. Artist bio and additional images are available on our website.

Summer Invitational

Annie Herrero, Annie Helmericks-Louder, Barbara Rogers,

Cathy Logan, Emily Sall, Jane Booth,

John Ferry, John Louder, Ky Anderson,

Marcus Cain, Mary Ann Strandell, Nicole McLaughlin,

Norman Akers, Patty Carroll, Rhonda Gates,

Rosalyn Schwartz, Sun Smith-Foret, Tom Huck,

Tom Jones, Vera Mercer

SUMMER INVITATIONAL CATALOG

TAKE A TOUR THROUGH THE SUMMER INVITATIONAL

{not} Quiet on the Western Front includes work by west coast artists from the Belger Collection who helped define the Funk Art movement. Funk came onto the art scene like a car wreck with its anti-formalist aesthetic, tongue-in-cheek commentary, irreverent character, and humor. Invoking a sense of cathartic release to the violent times of the 1960s, it was an alternative to mainstream art that made political commentary on war, gender, racial tension, and other social threats palatable. While its point of origin can be traced to 1950s northern California, the attitudes and approaches of Funk artists spread to other parts of the country and lives on in work by contemporary artists today.

Artists in the exhibition include Robert Arneson, Clayton Bailey, Viola Frey, David Gilhooly, Robert Hudson, Ed Kienholz, Ed Massey, Ron Nagle, H.C. Westermann, and William T. Wiley.

This exhibition is dedicated to William T. Wiley, a founder of the Funk Art movement, and a core artist of the Belger Collection. After a long and successful career, which included teaching at the University of California – Davis, he died on April 25, 2021, at the age of 83. He will be missed.