Construct, Belief and Nostalgia: how the gallery setting affects artists' intent

13FOREST Gallery has a 500 square-foot exhibition space with movable walls that make it versatile. For Construct, Belief and Nostalgia we're calling playful attention to the gallery environment by setting up the exhibition space as three "rooms" that allow the artists to develop separate themes. While our intention is for the show's work to be viewed and interpreted alone, in such a small space it's impossible not to consider it as a whole or within the broader context of work by other artists in the rest of the gallery. It might befit the exhibition to remove the comma from its title to form “construct belief and nostalgia” since viewers will easily form associations and meanings over which the artists have no control.

In addition to our exhibition, we are presenting short documentaries on each of the three artists in Construct, Belief and Nostalgia by filmmaker Nick Noyes. The documentary series, Portrait of the Artists, will explore each artist's process, personal history and thematic focus within the exhibition. On Saturday, February 27, 4-6 pm, we will host a reception with a special screening of the documentaries and an artist talk starting at 4:30 pm.

About the Artists
 

John Campbell grew up in Muncie, Indiana, where his parents worked for the creator of the comic strip Garfield. He moved to the East Coast to earn a BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design. His artwork draws its inspiration from Mughal and Indian miniature painting as well as religious art from around the world. He creates meticulously detailed worlds in a miniaturist style, incorporating characters from mythology into scenes where they take on new meaning. His artwork has been featured on the covers of Nature and Neuron magazines and his illustrations in Current Biology. John lives in Somerville and works as a freelance science illustrator and an art teacher in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Lindsey Kocur holds an MFA in Studio Art from Tufts University in partnership with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She currently lives in Dedham, Massachusetts. Lindsey's paintings simulate encounters with the built environment in its many forms, whether they appear as settings for daily life, stages for entertainment or backdrops for advertising. Elements of idealistic, contemporary living blend with references to past architectural movements to highlight persistent social issues inherent in design. She uses images from online and print sources that communicate rapidly changing fashion trends and promote newness to elicit desire, drive commerce and inform identity. While such imagery mimics seductive, flawless representations of life, Lindsey's hand-painted surfaces reveal human qualities in a world longing for perfection and control.

Mike Ryczek graduated from Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts in 2006 with a BFA in Illustration. He now lives and works as a painter and designer in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Mike's primary interest is in dismantling objects to make sense of the world, including the raw materials used in art. In his work, he captures the tangible world, illuminates its subtleties and employs abstract shapes and color to communicate strong concepts - particularly the oddities and contradictions of the human condition. "Art for me serves two main purposes," says Mike, "it's a mode of cathartic release and fulfillment for the artist, and a projector screen onto which viewers can see their own most inexplicable and intimate thoughts and feelings expressed in ways that they might not be able to express themselves."

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