Fish Creek, Wis. (May 31, 2021) – Peninsula School of Art (PenArt), 3900 County Road F, Fish Creek, presents a new exhibition, 2.5 D: Breaking the Surface, June 4 through July 17, 2021. The exhibition features the works of 10 regionally and nationally recognized artists exploring the intersection of painting and sculpture.
Artists who typically work in two dimensions—those trained in drawing, painting, and printmaking, are masters of compressing the three-dimensional world onto a flat surface. But, what happens when artists who are used to working on a single plane apply their unique perspective to sculpture?
2.5 D: Breaking the Surface presents work that falls somewhere between image and sculpture. The artists represented take this step by pushing the surface forward in low relief; by cutting, layering, looping, and draping; by bending and assembling. They confuse object and image using transparency, light, and optical illusion; and by placing drawings of objects among objects they have drawn on.
Exhibiting artist, Mary Ellen Sisulak of Ellison Bay, stretched leather over a manipulated wood panel to form the surface of her large-scale painting Rebirth. In addition to raising areas of the leather with added layers of wood beneath, Mary carved lines into other areas before painting. She also incorporated stones. Her intention is to fool the eye a bit with objects coming out of the picture plane. The relief of the surface also draws attention to different shapes within the composition.
Atlanta-based painter and mixed-media artist Kevin Cole’s painted, layered, and looped pieces of cut tar paper Crossing Jordan I. At first glance, the work seems like an abstract expressionist painting whose brush strokes are leaping up off the surface, but upon closer inspection you see a tangle of vibrantly colored neckties. Kevin uses neckties to allude to both struggle and celebration in the African American experience.
Brooklyn-based artist Anne Muntges blends 2D and 3D worlds. Traditional drawings on wood panel, board and paper are done with graphite or pen. Drawn sculptures are real objects that are primed white to create a new blank canvas for black drawn lines and patterns composed of acrylic paint or ink. The work included in the exhibition is a freestanding island of black and white house plants, with splashes of color, that invites viewers into a drawn new world.
2.5 D: Breaking the Surface is is free and open to the public daily, Monday through Saturday, 8am-5pm. The PenArt campus is currently under construction, so visitors are asked to follow the signage to enter the gallery. Program and exhibition information are available by calling 920.868.3455 or emailing info@peninsulaschooofart.org. Additional information on the exhibition and other programs can be found at www.PeninsulaSchoolofArt.org.