MARY TOMÁS GALLERY is pleased to present Terlingua Color in Landscape featuring husband and wife artists Winter Rusiloski and Angel Fernandez. Opening reception will be held Saturday, March 28, 2020, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. in conjunction with the DADA Spring Gallery Walk from noon to 8:30 p.m. Exhibition through May 23, 2020, free and open to the public.
Romanticism is of great influence to the work in this exhibition. In the past three years, Rusiloski and Fernandez have traversed the country visiting the northeast, northwest and the southern United States. On their travels, the artists have photographed the landscapes; their children are often included and serve as small contrasting figures in sublime spaces that evoke an ephemeral existence; their process of making art is often a family affair. Interwoven into the works are dominant themes that include landscape, journey, borders, power and struggle. This focused study was supported in part by an Allbritton Art Institute Grant for Faculty Scholarship, Baylor University.
Moving through the southern Texas/Mexico border and witnessing the tire devices that the Border Patrol pulls along dirt paths to monitor fresh tracks that immigrants create were of significant visual and social interest. Rusiloski collages fragments of photographs, including tires, and integrates them in her paintings. Fernandez creates objects that include tires and utilizes the objects in his video works. In contrast, the northern border of the United States with its coastal waters and glacial lakes are juxtaposed with the desolate landscape of Big Bend. The abundance of reflective water, atmospheric space, white snow and cool colors diametrically oppose the earth-toned warmth of the west Texas desert.
Fabric was recently introduced into the artists' work to provide an emphasis on movement creating passages of color and then incorporated into sculptures. The choreographed journeys through the land while carrying, pulling and dragging fabric were a natural extension of both of their previous work. Rusiloski’s background in dance informed the movement of a 40-acre piece of raw canvas that flowed through space in the land that became a grand painting. Fernandez has utilized fabric in his soft sculptures for the past seventeen years. This choreography is documented through photography and video from both drone and traditional cameras.
While Rusiloski and Fernandez have separate studio practices, they often collaborate on projects. The immigration crisis at the Texas/Mexico border prompted their decision to include their six children in their work. The long and perilous journeys that immigrants have made and continue to make inform their work. The artists Terlingua Ranch studio is an ideal setting as it emulates a desperate environment with no water, shade or sustenance. By placing their children in extreme landscapes such as the West Texas desert, the sublime power of Niagara Falls and the majestic space of Glacier National Park, they create a tense dynamic with the land.
Winter Rusiloski is presently an Assistant Professor of Art at Baylor University, Waco, TX. She received her MFA in painting from Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX and has studied abroad in Cortona, Italy, and in Budapest, Hungary, at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts. Her work has been selected for a number of juried exhibitions and awards and may be found in a variety of public and private collections.
Angel Fernandez is presently a Tenured Associate Professor of Art, Tarrant County College, Trinity River Campus, Fort Worth, TX. He received his MFA in Sculpture at The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Angel has led a variety of lectures, workshops and presentations and his work has been selected for a number of juried exhibitions and awards and may be found in public and private collections.
MARY TOMÁS GALLERY is a member of CADD and DADA and is located in the Dallas Design District at 1110 Dragon Street, Dallas, TX 75207. Gallery hours: M-F 10-5. SAT 12-4 and by appointment. www.marytomasgallery.com
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