Robert Howsare "Interupt". 2011. Letterpress. - Credit: Northern Kentucky University Galleries
Artists
have been exploring the fusion of text and imagery in their work for decades.
But because reading and looking are two distinctly different processes, the
results are often mixed. Consequently,
few shows that examine these themes present the synthesis in a truly coherent
way.
A rare exception is this month’s Contextual:
An Exhibition of Image and Word at Northern Kentucky University’s Main
Gallery. Featuring more than 20 works by 13 artists from across the U.S., Contextual’s strength rests in its
participant’s diversity of approach. Robert Howsare’s “Interrupt” uses only
fragments of type to create a luminous abstract space, while Rose DeSloover’s
conceptualist piece “Gender Adapter” is an exercise in semantic games. Somehow
it all works, and well. Through March 2. Northern Kentucky University’s Main
Gallery is located in the Fine Arts Center on Nunn Drive, Highland Hts., Ky. 9
a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Friday through March 2. www.art.nku.edu/galleries, 859-572-5148.
