JANET ECHELMAN · Y IZHAK ELYASHIV · BETH GALSTON

BETH GANZ · JOHN GRADE · DAN IEL KOHN · JONATHAN PR INCE

SHUL I SADÉ · GEORGE SHERWOOD · CLA IRE WATKINS

Apr i l 26 through June 15

Open ing Recept ion Apr i l 26 , 6 - 9 PM

McCol l Center for Visua l Art

721 North Tryon St reet , Char lotte , NC

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Connect iv i ty is an evocat ive concept wi th profound connotat ions. I t bespeaks of the l inkage among var ious complex leve ls of organic l i fe—the avenues by which energies are communicated; the impl ic i t idea that a l l inspi rat ion shares common threads; the inv is ib le interweaving of thought, act ion and creat iv i ty. I t is the basis of a l l mapping—of how we envis ion our p lace in a broader context—from the micro to macro wor lds.

The impl ic i t connect ions of human l i fe to i ts env i ronment, of ar t to sc ience, and of natura l to man-made, have fascinated art ists for mi l lennia. In th is way, both art and sc ience serve as a connect ive rea lm, br idging mult ip le paths of knowledge to reveal broader concepts.

In promot ing th is phi losophica l inqui ry, CYNTHIA-REEVES Projects has inv i ted a se lect number of ar t is ts to share wi th us the i r v is ion on the dynamic theory of connect iv i ty. Each explores var ious aspects of th is thes is through h is or her unique v isual lens.

Connect iv i ty features the work of ar t is ts Janet Echelman, Yizkah Elyashiv, Beth Galston, Beth Ganz, John Grade, Danie l Kohn, Jonathan Pr ince, Shul i Sade, George Sherwood and Cla i re Watk ins. Many of these same art ists’ works are inc luded in the vanguard contemporary art col lect ion held by Duke Energy. This col lect ion is insta l led in Duke’s new 24-f loor headquarters in downtown Char lot te. CYNTHIA-REEVES Projects is p leased to be creat ing a v isual and phi losophic l ink between Duke Energy and the McCol l Center for V isual Arts.

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LORIE MERTES, Inter im Program Director, McCol l Center for V isual Art :

Cynth ia Reeves chose the t i t le of CONNECTIVITY to i l lustrate the concept that ideas and the i r mani festat ions share common threads. In many ways she se lected art ists whose work imagines what the space between inspi rat ion and creat iv i ty looks l ike. Whether a network of neurons and impulses, an a i r t raff ic contro l map, a ce l lu lar phone network, condui ts, matr ices inspi res i t , these exhib i ted works have a basis in sc ience, technology and nature.

CYNTHIA REEVES, Director, CYNTHIA-REEVES Projects:

CONNECTIVITY ar ises f rom the gal lery’s long-standing interest in the convergence of ar t and sc ience. Art ists f requenty draw f rom thei r observat ions of the natura l wor ld at both a macro and micro leve l . These observat ions enl iven the i r creat ive inqui ry – i t is as i f they come back to a touchstone, even i f those observat ions are not overt ly mani fested in the f ina l work. In some ways, ar t is ts can be as prescient as poets.

Thei r work can be seen as s ignposts or harbingers of sc ient i f ic d iscover ies st i l l to come. I th ink of Jackson Pol lock and h is s ignature dr ip paint ings: he was paint ing f racta l theory before f racta l theory was ever ident i f ied in the sc ient i f ic wor ld. More poignant ly, Nobel Pr ize awardee and laureate physic ist Richard Tay lor, when asked about the associat ion of ar t and sc ience sa id, “ I f someone asked, ‘Can I have nature put onto a p iece of canvas?’ the best example there has ever been of that is [Pol lock’s] 1948’s Number 14.”

CONNECTIVITY - WhaT Is ThE maIN ThEsIs bEhINd ThIs CuraTEd ExhIbITION?

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Janet Echelman creates monumenta l publ ic sculptures for the urbanscape. She achieves large-scale, vo lumetr ic forms through innovat ive use of specia l ly woven nets. Af ter graduat ing f rom Harvard Univers i ty, Echelman traveled the wor ld, studying cal l igraphy in Hong Kong, col laborat ing with local ar t isans to combine text i le t radi t ions and contemporary paint ing in Bal i , and learn ing how to weave nett ing f rom local f ishermen in India. These net “sculptures” interact beaut i fu l ly wi th the i r surrounding env i ronments: the l ight , the wind, and the surrounding archi tecture. Echelman has successfu l ly created monumenta l net sculptures in s i tes throughout the wor ld, col laborat ing with teams

of aeronaut ica l and mechanica l engineers, archi tects, landscape archi tects, l ight ing designers and fabr icators.

A two-dimensional inqui ry into wave patterns, Echelman’s Wave Drawings ut i l ize text i les imbedded with g lass micro beads. The art ist scr ibes with a meta l sty lus onto the fabr ic, crushing micro beads and changing the way the l ight is ref lected f rom the sur face of the fabr ic, creat ing a holographic image of undulat ing l ines.

Echelman is a TED Talk Alumn and a Guggenheim Fel low.

J A N E T E C H E L M A N

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Janet Echelman, Expanding Club, 2007, polypropolene, dimensions variable

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Janet Echelman, Wave Drawing, 2011, glass micro bead fabric, 48” x 60”

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Y I Z H A K E L Y A S H I V

Yizhak Elyashiv is an Israe l i master pr intmaker. His ongoing inqui ry, Maps, is a scale of pr intmaking rare ly undertaken due to i ts inherent complex i ty and technica l chal lenges. Each map is compr ised of ten panels, whose etched l ines must intersect precise ly f rom one panel to the next. This is especia l ly important in E lyashiv’s works, as these f ine connect ing threads are the basis of h is phi losophic inqui ry. There is the impl ic i t message in th is work of mapping – a lbe i t a more spi r i tua l or phi losophica l mapping – that on i ts sur face appears to be topographical in nature. The re lat ing of these two wor lds – the overt and the inv is ib le – is achieved through subt le, e legant mark-making. E lyashiv teaches at the Rhode Is land School of Design.

E lyashiv’s work has been widely col lected, and is current ly part of the col lect ions of the Israe l Museum, the Br i t ish Museum, the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard Univers i ty, The Yale Univers i ty Art Gal lery, The Brooklyn Museum, and the Cleveland Museum of Art , among others.

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Yizhak Elyashiv, Map with Gourd Containers, 2001, monoprint, 6’ x 10’previous page: Yizhak Elyashiv, Landscape Sulfur Field, monoprint, 6’ x 10’

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B E T H G A L S T O N

Beth Galston creates immers ive env i ronments for inter ior and exter ior spaces. Her s i te-speci f ic insta l lat ions draw thei r inspi rat ion f rom the natura l wor ld; of ten, she takes d iscrete e lements such as acorns or seeds and she wi l l cast them in acry l ic to achieve the precise beauty she aspires to. By adding LED l ights to these natura l ly shaped e lements, her work takes on an ethereal g low. Luminous Gardens, the p iece inc luded in Connect iv i ty , bundles hundreds of these luminous e lements, which are suspended as though they are a soft ly l i t , underwater garden.

Galston descr ibes the beginning of her process as “doodl ing” wi th mater ia ls . “ I usual ly don’t have a p lan, but I have something in my head that interests me.. . Often I create a modular uni t and

repreat i t , a l ter ing i t s l ight ly each t ime. As the e lements accumulate and the insta l lat ion takes shape, I th ink about the mood or ambience of the p iece and how people wi l l exper ience the space as they walk through i t . The mater ia ls I use are t rans lucent or ref lect ive, so they do interest ing th ings with l ight and shadow. I use the magic of l ight to create spaces that are exper ient ia l and immers ive, involv ing v iewers as part ic ipants” (Beth Galston) .

Current ly, the art ist is work ing on two permanent publ ic art commiss ions: Sound Wave at the Music Ci ty in Nashvi l le , Tennessee, and Prar ie Grass at Northwest Serv ice Center in San Antonio, Texas.

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Beth Galston, Luminous Gardens, 2009, wire, LED lights, cast resin, dimensions variableprevious page: Luminous Gardens [detail]

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B E T H G A N Z

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Beth Ganz has been explor ing new ways of layer ing photography, afford ing her f ree l icense to enhance dimensional i ty and depth of f ie ld. The Chandbib i Ser ies is the latest mani festat ion of th is inqui ry; Ganz begins wi th a photographic substrate based on the random abstract patterns of v ines. Super imposed over th is organic mot i f is the very r igorous archi tectura l deta i l of Hindu temples, drawn f rom photographs she took on a recent t r ip to India. Qui te l i tera l ly, her works represent the conf luence of the organic and the man-made. The effect is he ightened by the beaut i fu l over-paint ing the art ist has done by hand, resul t ing in a v ibrant and evocat ive abstract p iece.

Beth Ganz is act ive ly involved with the El izabeth Foundat ion for the Arts in New York, and has exhib i ted in England,

Europe, and India as wel l as throughout the US. Her work is inc luded in the permenant col lect ions at the L ibrary of Congress in Washington, DC; the New York Publ ic L ibrary Pr ints Col lect ion, NY; and the Hofstra Museum at Hofstra Univers i ty, NY.

C Y N T H I A R E E V E S p r o j e c t s

Beth Ganz, Deccan Queen I, 2012, digital print, oil paint, wax on paper, 39” x 47”

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Beth Ganz, Deccan Queen II, 2012, digital print, oil paint, wax on paper, 39” x 47”

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Beth Ganz, studio installation

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J O H N G R A D E

John Grade approaches sculpture wi th both the i r creat ion and the i r decay f i rmly in mind. Grade’s sculptures are bui l t f rom natura l mater ia ls and of ten they are exposed to weather and the seasons to see how the mater ia ls are impacted by nature. Inspi red by the eros ion of the natura l landscape, each piece is created in a way that wi l l speed up i ts own decomposi t ion and become what Grade descr ibes as “an interest ing conversat ion” between the landscape and the sculpture.

John Grade began h is Fold ser ies in 2010 – sculptures created f rom met icu lously conf igured wood “cel ls” connected by res in. The or ig ina l sculpture won the top award at the Academy of Arts and Letters in New York Ci ty that year. The two or ig ina l sculptures in the Fold ser ies are current ly interred, one in Idaho, and the other in the h igh desert of the southwest. Grade’s intent ion is for these sculptures to ref lect the i r integrat ion into the ecosystem and to show the impact of ra in, eros ion, insect l i fe , and temperature. Contro l , the th i rd in th is ser ies, represents the sculpture in i ts or ig ina l state. Grade recent ly opened an insta l lat ion the John Michael Kohler Art Museum and a 60 foot insta l lat ion at the Museum of History and Industry in Seatt le. A new publ ic art pro ject for the Ci ty of Port land, OR wi l l be opening in Ju ly.

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John Grade, Control, 2011, wood and resin, 30” x 30” x 28”previous page: John Grade, Wawona, wood, 60’, permenant installation at the Museum of History and Industry, WA

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D A N I E L K O H N

C Y N T H I A R E E V E S p r o j e c t s

Brooklyn-based art ist Danie l Kohn has begun a 10-month, seven-f loor insta l lat ion of h is exper imenta l ar twork, Instance of a Dataset, commiss ioned by the Broad Inst i tute of MIT and Harvard in Cam-br idge, Massachusetts. This gradual ly unfo ld ing publ ic p iece, compr ised of over 1500 dig i t ized or ig ina l watercolor t i les, is a culminat ion of h is cross-disc ip l inary col-laborat ion with Broad scient ists.

Inspi red by and ref lect ive of genomic exper imentat ion, the p iece is a work ing hypothesis that explores and echoes the work being conducted at the Broad, and in the broader f ie ld of genomic sc ience. Kohn br ings the same language and approach to the works inc luded here: a gr id-pattern that affords a dynamic re lat ionship among e lements that are evolv ing, interact ing, and morphing one to the other. His work with the Broad Inst i tute fo l lowed the landmark, large-scale works Seen From Above, created for the MTA in Grand Centra l Stat ion, New York Ci ty, and Looking South, created for FTCI in Rockefe l ler Center. He is the Broad’s founding art ist- in-res idence, and has been involved with the Inst i tute s ince 2003.

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Daniel Kohn, Red 1-9, 2009, oil on canvas, 9 panels, 30” x 30” eachprevious page: Daniel Kohn, DataSets [detail], ongoing, watercolor on paper, 8” x 8” each

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J O N A T H A N P R I N C E

C Y N T H I A R E E V E S p r o j e c t s

Jonathan Pr ince’s Wave Form captures the effect of l ight on water through h is met icu lously craf ted and h ighly pol ished sta in less stee l forms. His sculptures are f lu id and dynamic. The stunning s impl ic i ty of Wave Form bel ies the complex technologies employed in i ts fabr icat ion. In th is sculpture, Pr ince ut i l izes data prov ided by the Nat ional Oceanographic and Atmospher ic

Administrat ion (NOAA) and NASA, reuni t ing h im with two organizat ions he had col laborated with on the Hologlobe Project , a large-scale art and technology insta l lat ion he created for the Smithsonian Inst i tut ion.

W ith in Pr ince’s f ine art pract ice, the new El i and Edyth Broad Art Museum at Michigan State Univers i ty recent ly acquired h is work, Vest ig ia l B lock. The monumenta l ly s ized sculpture is one of three current ly on d isplay as part of the museum’s Sculpture Garden. In addi t ion, Pr ince’s G2V, part of h is Torn Steel Ser ies, was on v iew at Dag Hammarskjo ld Plaza in New York Ci ty through Apr i l , 2013.

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Jonathan Prince, Wave Form, 2011, stainless steel, 42” x 30” x 50”previous page: Jonathan Prince, Vertical Teal Ingot, stainless and anodized steel, dimensions variable, commissioned work

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S H U L I S A D É

C Y N T H I A R E E V E S p r o j e c t s

The thes is of Shul i Sadé’s artwork is concerned with the intersect ion of memory and t ime. As such, she returns to the same subject – the urbanscape – document ing archi tecture through both st i l l and v ideo photography. The h igh contrast , h ighly p ix i lated images are layered one over the other to b lur a sense of f ixed locat ion or precise memory. I t is incumbent on v iewers to in fer through the i r own memory a sense of t ime and place. Sadé’s d iptych, posi t ive

and negat ive imagery, confounds further precise descr iptors; where are we in th is landscape? Interest ingly, the layered abstract patterns read as both inter ior and exter ior, a document of th ings past or a portend of th ings to come.

Fol lowing a two year col laborat ion with New York Univers i ty ’s new Neurobio logy of Cogni t ion Laboratory, Sadé’s Reconf igur ing Memory ser ies was insta l led as a centerp iece of then new laboratory. Doubl ing as the fac i l i ty ’s conference table, Reconf igur ing Memory expresses the importance of col laborat ion and exchange of ideas. Sadé has shown both nat ional ly and internat ional ly, wi th shows at the Israe l Museum; the Hai fa Museum, Israe l ; and The Mead Museum, Amherst . A nat ive of Jerusalem, Israe l , Shul i Sadé l ives and works in New York, NY.

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left: Shuli Sade, Duree (Positive), 2008, digital print on duraclear, acrylic, 48” x 48”right: Shuli Sade, Duree (Negative), 2008, digital print on duraclear, acrylic, 48” x 48”previous page: Shuli Sade, Duree installation

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G E O R G E S H E R W O O D

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George Sherwood appl ies h is engineer ing acumen to the chal lenge of k inet ic sculpture. His organic forms, shaped f rom sta in less stee l , are f ine ly p i tched to respond to the s l ightest movement of a i r. The stee l br ings a lustrous ref lect iv i ty so that l ight and wind act in concert . I t is a choreography based on inspi rat ion and engineer ing. As Sherwood expla ins, “Each

sculpture is a three-dimensional pa int ing of sh i f t ing l ight , drawing a l l the colors of the env i ronment, pul l ing down the sky, drawing up the earth and gather ing everyth ing in between. I t is the l ight , af ter a l l , that we see and process, not the physica l object .”

Sherwood recent ly insta l led a s igni f icant publ ic art pro ject in Sal t Lake Ci ty, fo l lowing the permenant insta l lat ion at the Dana Farber Cancer Inst i tute in Boston, MA. His work has been on v iew at the Curr ier Museum, NH; Weisman Art Museum, Minnesota; and the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston. Sherwood l ives and works on the coast in Massachusetts.

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George Sherwood, Seismic Memory, 2012, stainless steel, 62” x 62” x 4”previous page: George Sherwood, Botanica, site based installation in Salt Lake City, Utah

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