GALVESTON — Houston-based artist Patrick Renner uses found objects, primarily painted boards and weathered wood that speak to their previous architectural uses in his sculptures.
Using urban detritus, Renner reworks the castoff pieces into simple geometric shapes that are enriched by the pattern and colors of the materials, resembling three-dimensional crazy quilts. Renner allows each piece of wood to retain its own history, he said.
“Found objects continue to be of primary importance to my (artistic) practice... . Architectural refuse from countless sources reassembles itself into new form, like a demolition explosion in reverse.”
The title of the exhibition, “xylem,” refers to the water-conducting tissue of vascular or woody plants. The artist noted it alludes to the fluidity and painterly approach to a sculptural format. A variety of three-dimensional wall dependent works and free-standing sculpture will be included in the exhibition.
He has shown his work in venues throughout the United States and in Cuba.
Issues of color and architecture also appear in the canvasses of painter Jonathan Leach.
Using intense day-glo colors, Leach’s geometric abstractions refer to unspecific architectural structures and urban environments.
“My work reflects an architectural and iconographic landscape drawn from commercial cities and developing sprawl,” Leach said. “Bright colors … seduce and trap our wandering eyes in this urban environment. I use these commercial colors and architectural compositions to convey not just the bombarding beauty of our billboard environment but also the way that place becomes a marker of memory.”
Galveston Arts Center is operating “in exile” from its second temporary downtown gallery space — the site of the former Maceo’s Spice and Import Co., located at Market and 25th streets. The gallery and selections from GAC’s museum shop, ArtWorks, are open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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At A Glance
WHAT: Patrick Renner’s exhibit, “xylem,” and Jonathan Leach’s “Beauty and the Byproduct”
WHEN: Saturday through Jan. 10; curator Clint Willour will lead a gallery talk with the artists at 6:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Temporarily at Market and 25th streets
INFORMATION: Call 409-763-2403 or visit www.galvestonartscenter.org
