October 1 - November 4, 2012

The contemporary artist’s world is a dense plurality of options, framed in a similarly wide variety of contexts for viewing and interpretation. The discipline of painting is certainly no exception to this, even when applied to a genre as commonly known and accepted as the landscape. Some landscape painters convey reality in compellingly quotidian detail, reflecting or critiquing the complex relationship between humans and nature; others construct neo-byzantine visions of the future that may thrill or terrify; some work intuitively to give form to the ephemeral, conveying that which cannot be spoken; and many bend or break accepted rules of vision, reminding us that perception itself is both a privilege and a discipline. Tenses of Landscape, an exhibition comprised of nineteen contemporary landscape painters, presents both broad and dynamic depictions of landscape revealed as motif. Moreover, each artist examines the terrain dictated by these approaches and in turn addresses the act of painting itself.

The artists in this exhibition work in a variety of media— acrylic on wood, oil on canvas, and encaustic and collage on wood. Many have been featured on the website MW Capacity, mwcapacity.com, co-edited by Christopher Lowrance and Sam King. MW Capacity is known among painters and art enthusiasts as an online hub for exposure to and discussion about painting, particularly painting in the Midwest, although the artists selected for this exhibition reside in a wide variety of locations throughout the United States. Accompanying this exhibition, MW Capacity will feature an online publication in order to facilitate further thought and discussion among an extended audience. The exhibition appears on PAINTERS TABLE on line magazine and can be viewed at http://painters-table.com/blog/tenses-landscape#.UIAGVo7dJnU

Artists included in the exhibition are: Ricky Allman, Julie Cifuentes, Mike East, Emily Gherard, Grant Hottle, Michael Kareken, Tim Kennedy, Carla Knopp, Michael Krueger, Mark Lewis, Kristin Musgnug, Joseph Noderer, Margaret Noel, Casey Roberts, Claire Sherman, Kimberly Trowbridge, Shane Walsh, Megan Williamson, and Jenn Wilson.

Claire Sherman, Cave and Trees, 2011, oil on canvas, 96 x 78 inches (courtesy of the artist)

Emily Gherard, Untitled, 2011, oil on canvas, 32 x 30 inches courtesy of the artist)

Michael Karaken, Scrap Engines, 2009, oil on canvas, 84 x 96 inches (courtesy of the artist)

Michael Krueger, Mound City, 2012, colored pencil on paper (courtesy of the artist)

Ricky Allman, safe keeping, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 inches (courtesy of the artist)