Laura Beard: The Ravenna Suite

L AU R A BEA R D THE RAVENNA SUITE

bruno david gallery

LAURA BEARD The Ravenna Suite

November 21, 2014 - February 21, 2015 Bruno David Gallery 3721 Washington Boulevard Saint Louis, 63108 Missouri, U.S.A. info@brunodavidgallery.com www.brunodavidgallery.com Owner/Director: Bruno L. David This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition Laura Beard: The Ravenna Suite Editor: Bruno L. David Catalogue Designer: Laine Johnson Designer Assistant: Claudia R. David Printed in USA All works courtesy of Bruno David Gallery and Laura Beard Photographs by Bruno David Gallery Cover image:

RS 15 (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 24 x 20 inches (50.8 x 60.96 cm)

First Edition Copyright Š 2015 Bruno David Gallery, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of Bruno David Gallery, Inc.

CONTENTS

INTERVIEW

BY NATALIE ZURFLUH Afterword

BY BRUNO L. DAVID CHECKLIST AND IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION BIOGRAPHY

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AN INTERVIEW OF LAURA BEARD BY NATALIE ZURFLUH 2

Natalie Zurfluh: The work in the Ravenna Suite features very bold new directions for you, mixed media on paper not canvas, and the smaller size. How did spending time in Vienna, Austria and Ravenna, Italy affect this work?

Laura Beard: At the studio in Vienna, I had to work at a very small scale, not my usual five feet by six feet. It is often underestimated, the ability it can take for an artist to change scale.

Working in this small space was hard for me at first, but then, I don’t know, everything seemed to click. What I liked best about the Ravenna Suite and being in the Vienna studio was the fact that the work was direct. I had some paint and I had some paper. I wanted to be able to respond honestly and directly.

Natalie: What was your goal for this work?

Laura: I am a non-objective painter. I’m not an abstract painter. Abstraction means that pulling from three-dimensional worlds and the viewer can still see it. Mine does not really relate to anything outside itself. It is truly a conceptual art.

Different mediums are approached differently, at least for me; I can’t speak for other artists. If I’m on canvas, I react in a certain way.

If I’m on paper, I react in a certain way.

In the work from the Ravenna Suite, I focused on composition. I focused on asymmetry. I wanted a lot of negative space, and I also wanted authentic mark painting, stuff that wasn’t trying to reproduce the 3D world, or be derivative and decorative.

Natalie: A lot of your marks are gestural, very dynamic and expressive. When you are creating something that is very gestural, like the piece entitled, “Yellow,” versus the piece entitled, “Fifteen,” in which there aren’t gestural marks, how do two pieces end up being so different in a space of time that really wasn’t all that long?

Laura: I try to respond to the moment and this is the conceptual aspect, my state of mind. There’s something about my interior that is reacting to create these marks, whether they’re gestural, whether they seem to have a multi-colored palette, whether they seem to be achromatic or monochromatic. It’s really something more an ineffable emotional visual specificity on that day when I create it.

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Natalie: Tell me about selecting the palette and the paper you used in this series.

Laura: My palette was inspired by the mosaics in Ravenna. You have no idea how the color or medium are going to react, no matter how much experience you have. You certainly have a clue but there is an unknown. One never knows how it’s going to work out.

There was a form of experimentation with the works on paper. I like that aspect of exploration. I think that is a key element to the work that I do.

Natalie: You also explored tools used by printmakers.

Laura: I have done a lot of printmaking. My undergraduate degree is in painting and printmaking.

Michael Schneider, the master print maker and professor, invited me to have a residency at his studio at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. The University of North Texas at Denton, where I am a professor, awarded me a fellowship as well.

Michael gave me some unique printmaking materials. Using them, I would get something that was unexpected in terms of the composition by manipulating new and various media.

Natalie: You used simple tools to make something very complex and very extraordinary.

Laura: It’s actually a great situation to respond to - you’ve got your old habits but are in an unfamiliar studio space and working with new techniques. I was very lucky, very fortunate.

Natalie: The work you created in the residency resulted in a gallery exhibition there?

Laura: Yes, the show was called “Forth and Back” and it was held at Editions PS in Wein, Austria.

Natalie: How physical is creating art for you? Is it a physical experience? Was creating this mixed media on paper predominantly a mental, emotional, or physical, or is it a combination of the three?

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Laura: It’s always a combination of the three. The thing about working on paper, and I think this is a really good thing for all artists, is that you can’t really overload it. You have to make your marks and make them confidently. You do the best you can. You make the marks, you leave it alone, and then go on to another piece. On canvas it’s different, because you can make marks and scrape it off and cover it up. It is a different process.

Painting on paper was always really difficult for me, and I think the key was, “Make the mark, move on; get another piece of paper, make the mark, move on; get another piece of paper, make the mark, move on. Don’t over think it, don’t overload it.”

Natalie: That speaks to the maturity of your art and your approach to art. How do you view this series as you look at the body of work from when you began painting through the Ravenna Suite? How has your experience shaped this particular suite of work?

There are pieces in this catalog from two other of your groups of work, entitled “Antigua” and “An Accumulation of Nothing,” which are very dynamic.

Laura: The connection of these pieces is based on the change of space - the experience of new places and how that affects my psyche, my personal vision, my palette, and the new marks that I make.

Natalie: What’s next for you? Where will you find your next inspiration?

Laura: I’m moving towards not necessarily always looking at nature for inspiration – of course I always am, how can you not? – but looking at works of poetry and being inspired to create an image, where it’s almost a collaboration. It’s a new inspiration. I think I’m ready to move in this direction. It’s a different direction for me, and I’m very excited about it.

Natalie Zurfluh is a writer and producer who lives in Saint Louis. This text is one in a series of the gallery’s exhibitions written by fellow gallery artists and friends.

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AFTERWORD

BY BRUNO L. DAVID 6

I am pleased to present Laura Beard’s third solo exhibition with the gallery. Beard writes on this new series of work “Working from the tenant that nonobjective painting in its purest form is both conceptual and primal, I am constantly drawn to the elemental force that remains painting’s highest potential. The Ravenna Suite is based on a recent summer residency in Italy and Austria in 2014. My compositions create a balance between the forces of expansion and the forces of contraction. Expansion taken to its extreme results in the creation of bold negative space and demonstrative asymmetry. Contraction taken to its extreme results in a dot of infinite compression. There is significant velocity and volition present in my mark making which describes my process in terms of time, speed, direction, the ability to make conscious choices and exercise control, while continuously embracing the accidental and the random.

Perception of my environment, both physically and emotionally, keeps my imagery in flux. I concentrate on creating a body of work but resist any connection to style or reproducing the same painting again and again. What is communicated in my painting can be said in no other way.”

Laura Beard was born in Plattsburg, New York. She is an Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of North Texas.

She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and printmaking from Colorado State University and a Master of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Washington in Seattle. She lives and works in Texas.

Support for significant works of art has been the core to the mission and programs of the Bruno David Gallery since its founding in 2005. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Natalie Zurfluh for her thoughtful interview with Laura Beard. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to Cleo Azariadis Kelly, for curating and organizing this exhibition. I am deeply grateful to Laine Johnson, who gave much time, talent, and expertise to the production of this catalogue. Invaluable gallery staff support for the exhibition was provided by Keri Robertson, Cleo Azariadis Kelly, Eileen Milford, Daniel Stumeier.

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CHECKLIST & IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION

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RS 15 (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 24 x 20 inches (60.96 x 50.8 cm)

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RS 6 (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 39-1/4 x 31-1/4 inches (99.7 x 79.38 cm)

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RS Twin (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 39-1/4 x 31-1/4 inches (99.7 x 79.38 cm)

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Antigua 8, 2014 Ink and acrylic on paper 28 x 22 inches (71.12 x 55.88 cm)

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RS 19 (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 39-1/4 x 31-1/4 inches (99.7 x 79.38 cm)

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Asym Black, 2014 Acrylic and ink on paper 28 x 22 inches (71.12 x 55.88 cm)

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Antigua 1, 2014 Acrylic and ink on paper 28 x 22 inches (71.12 x 55.88 cm)

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RS LS (Series V) 2014 Acrylic and ink on paper 28 x 22 inches (71.12 x 55.88 cm)

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RS Yellow (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 20 x 24 inches (50.8 x 60.96 cm)

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RS 12 (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 39-1/4 x 31-1/4 inches (99.7 x 79.38 cm)

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Antigua 2, 2014 Ink and acrylic on paper 28 x 22 inches (71.12 x 55.88 cm)

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RS NH (Series V), 2014 Ink and acrylic on paper 28 x 22 inches (71.12 x 55.88 cm)

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RS LLL (Series V), 2014 Ink and acrylic on paper 28 x 22 inches (71.12 x 55.88 cm)

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RS 7 (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 39-1/4 x 31-1/4 inches (99.7 x 79.38 cm)

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RS 27 (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 39-1/4 x 31-1/4 inches (99.7 x 79.38 cm)

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RS YG (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 20 x 24 inches (50.8 x 60.96 cm)

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RS Two Reds (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 20 x 24 inches (50.8 x 60.96 cm)

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Hanging Black, 2014 Acrylic and ink on paper 22 x 28 inches (55.88 x 71.12 cm)

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RS AON Red & Black (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 31-1/4 x 39-1/4 inches (79.38 x 99.7 cm)

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RS 35 (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 39-1/4 x 31-1/4 inches (99.7 x 79.38 cm)

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RS AON Black Line (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 31-1/4 x 39-1/4 inches (79.38 x 99.7 cm)

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RS White (Series V), 2014 Mixed media on paper 31-1/4 x 39-1/4 inches (79.38 x 99.7 cm)

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Laura Beard: The Ravenna Suite (installation view)

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Laura Beard: The Ravenna Suite (installation view)

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Laura Beard: The Ravenna Suite (installation view)

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Laura Beard: The Ravenna Suite (installation view)

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LAURA BEARD EDUCATION 1990 1988

MFA in painting, University of Washington, Seattle, WA BFA in painting/printmaking, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2015 2013

2012 2011

2010 2008

2007 2006

2003 2001 2000

2000 1998

Bruno David Gallery, The Ravenna Suite, Saint Louis, MO (catalogue) Stern Studio, Works on Paper, Vienna, Austria Hunt Gallery, Recursion, Webster University, St. Louis, MO Space B, Antigua series, New York, NY Bruno David Gallery, Thick and Smooth, Saint Louis, MO (catalogue) Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Velocity/Volition, Kansas City, MO Perimeter Gallery, Flutter and Yaw, Chicago, IL Bruno David Gallery, New Paintings, Saint Louis, MO Perimeter Gallery, New Paintings, Chicago, IL Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Perception/Abstraction, Kansas City, MO Philip Slein Gallery, New Paintings, Saint Louis, MO Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, New Paintings, Kansas City, MO St. Louis Ethical Society, Winterkill-Drawings, St. Louis, MO Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Observations, Kansas City, MO Alice R. Rogers Gallery, Interiors/Exteriors-Paintings, St. John’s Art Center, Collegeville, MN Left Bank Books Gallery, Paintings-the Vermont Series, St. Louis, MO Forest Park Community College Gallery, Excavations, St. Louis, MO Messing Gallery, Laura Beard Aeling, Country Day School, St. Louis, MO

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SOLO EXHIBITIONS (continued) 1998 1993 1991

Left Bank Books Gallery, Surreptitions, St. Louis, MO Contemporary Art Center of Arlington, Broad and Boundless-Encaustic Paintings, Arlington, IL Arthead Gallery, Paintings/Prints, Seattle, WA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2015 2014 2013 2012

2011 2010

2009

2008

2007 2005

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Bruno David Gallery, and/or, St. Louis, MO Bruno David Gallery, OVERVIEW_2014, St. Louis, MO Bruno David Gallery, Blue-White-Red, St. Louis, MO Space B, Invitational, New York, NY Bruno David Gallery, W.O.P. 1, St. Louis, MO Stephan Stoyanov Gallery, Flowers for You, New York, NY Edwardsville Art Center Gallery, Artists Respond to Art History, curated by Brigham Dimick, Edwardsville, IL University of Texas, Group Exhibition, Denton, TX Bruno David Gallery, Works on Paper, St. Louis, MO Stephan Stoyanov Gallery, Sidetrack (with Heather Bennett), New York, NY Bruno David Gallery, RECESSION REJUVENATIONS, St. Louis, MO Arthouse Contemporary Museum, New American Talent, Juror: Hamza Walker, Austin, TX Bruno David Gallery, OVERVIEW_09, St. Louis, MO University of North Texas, Faculty Exhibition, Denton, TX Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, St. Louis Painters, Sedalia, MO Columbia Inaugural Invitational, Curated by Sherry Leedy and Doug Freed, Columbia, MO Metropolitan Gallery, Webster University Faculty Exhibition, St. Louis, MO Bruno David Gallery, Controlled Chaos, St. Louis, MO Bruno David Gallery, OVER_VIEW: Investigating What We See, St. Louis, MO Philip Slein Gallery, Small Work Invitational Exhibit, St. Louis, MO Left Bank Books Gallery, Authentic Embodiment - Collaborative Exhibition with Ann Rast, St. Louis, MO

2004

2003

2002

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996 1993

1990

Regional Arts Commission, Abstract Painting: 6 Points of View, Curated by Belinda Lee, St. Louis, MO Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Group Exhibition, Kansas City, MO Elliot Smith Contemporary Art, Group Exhibition, St. Louis, MO Kemper Museum, Washington University Faculty Exhibition, St. Louis, MO Philip Slein Contemporary Art, Group Exhibition, St. Louis, MO Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Group Exhibition, Kansas City, MO St. Louis Art Museum, Change of Space, Film by Laura Beard and D. Jansky, St. Louis, MO Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Cache, Group Exhibit/Auction, St. Louis, MO Left Bank Books, This is an Image, Collaborative Exhibition with Ann Rast, St. Louis, MO Springfield Museum of Art, Watercolor U.S.A., National Juried Exhibition, Springfield, MO Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Group Exhibition, Kansas City, MO Lemp Brewery, Inform, Group Exhibition, St. Louis, MO Des Lee Gallery, Landscape, Group Exhibition, Curator: Philip Slein, St. Louis, MO New American Paintings, Volume 22, National Juried Exhibition in Print Springfield Museum of Art, Watercolor U.S.A., National Juried Exhibition, Springfield, MO Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Group Exhibition, Kansas City, MO R. Duane Reed Gallery, Group Exhibition, St. Louis, MO Leedy Voulkos Gallery, Group Exhibition, Kansas City, MO Erector Square Gallery, International Women’s Exhibition, New Haven, CT Art Loft Gallery, Extirpate with Andy Milner and Heather Bennett, St. Louis, MO Courthouse Gallery, National Juried Exhibition, Woodstock, IL Forum of Contemporary Art, Stations of the Cross, Group Exhibit, St. Louis, MO Laguna Gloria Museum of Art, Primarily Paint, Curator: Peter Doroshenko, Austin, TX Artist’s Lofts Gallery, National Group Exhibition, Galveston, TX Wayland Babtist Gallery, National Group Exhibition, Wayland, TX McAllen International Museum, National Group Exhibition, McAllen, TX Firehouse Gallery, National Group Exhibition, Del Rio, TX Red Mesa Art Center, National Group Exhibition, Gallup, NM Henry Art Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Seattle, WA

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GRANTS & AWARDS Research Enabling Grant, University of North Texas, 2010 Junior Faculty Fellowship, University of North Texas, 2010 Purchase Award, First National Bank, Columbia, MO 2008 Fellowship, Vermont Studio Artist Colony, June 2000 Jessie Rickly Award, St. Louis Artist Guild, St. Louis, MO 1996 Graduate Fellowship, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 1990 Susan Denny Fellowship, University of Washington, Seattle, WA National Fine Art Award, Binney and Smith, U.S.A. 1988

BIBLIOGRAPHY Zurfluh, Natalie.

Cooper, Ivy. Bischof, Nino.

Cooper, Ivy. Schwall, Charles.

Nikravan, Ladan.

Miller, Rob. Peters, Megan.

Callahan, Teresa.

Norton, Sydney.

Daniels, Jeff.

Hackman, Kate.

Stapley, Caprice.

Shockley, Ben.

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“Laura Beard: The Ravenna Suite”, Bruno David Gallery Publications, Exhibition catalogue, 2015 “Review”, St. Louis Beacon, May 31, 2011 “Grounding, Flow, Release: The Painted Truth”, Bruno David Gallery Publications, Exhibition catalogue, 2011 “Light and Depth at Bruno David”, St. Louis Beacon, November 11, 2008 “Grounding, Flow, Release: The Paintings of Laura Beard”, Bruno David Gallery Publications, Exhibition catalogue, 2008 “Fresh Paint, Fresh Faces”, Inaugural Columbia Invitational, Courtesy of Jason Pollen, Vox Magazine, October 9, 2008 “Comments and Reviews of Visual Art”, St. Louis: Open Studios Tour, 2008 “Laura Beard Aeling and Gary Passanise-Perception/Abstraction” at Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art Review, Kansas City, MO, May 2007 “Varied Show of Bold Abstracts Revels in the Joy of Paint”, West End Word, October 2004 “Contemporary Moves”, West End Word, October 2004 “Laura Beard Aeling - Winterkill at the St. Louis Ethical Society”, St. Louis Post Dispatch, February 23, 2003 “Something for Everyone”, Kansas City Star, June 29, 2001 “Fresh Raises Expectations for the New”, The Review, July 2001, vol 3, #9 “Abstraction for the Sensory Overload”, The Review, 2001

Trafton, Robin.

Daniels, Jeff.

Daniels, Jeff.

Daniels, Jeff.

Zevitas, Steven T. Daniels, Jeff.

Daniels, Jeff.

Silva, Eddie.

Weeks, Stephen.

Weeks, Stephen.

Brown, Gaye.

Doroshenko, Peter.

“Driven to Abstraction”, Kansas City Star, March 30, 2001 “Landscape Go In All Directions”, St. Louis Post Dispatch, July 9, 2000 “This Just In…Painting Still Alive” St. Louis Post Dispatch, summer 2000 “Excavations: New Paintings by Laura Beard Aeling”, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Mar. 19, 2000 “New American Paintings”, volume 23, 1999 (national distribution) “Laura Beard Aeling: Surreptitions”, St. Louis Post Dispatch, April 1998 “Extirpate”, St. Louis Post Dispatch, December 17, 1997 “Extirpate”, River Front Times, December 1997 “Route 66 Brings Real Art to Life”, The Independent, September 22, 1992 “Artist Converge for Route 66 Revisited Exhibit”, The Independent, Gallup, NM, September 18, 1992 “Route 66 Art Show a Must See at Red Mesa”, Gallup Gazette, 1992 “Primarily Paint at the Laguna Gloria Art Museum”, Laguna Gloria Art Museum 1990

OTHER Present

Associate Professor at the University of North Texas

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ARTISTS Laura Beard Heather Bennett Lisa K. Blatt Bunny Burson Michael Byron Carmon Colangelo Alex Couwenberg Jill Downen Yvette Drury Dubinsky Beverly Fishman Damon Freed

Douglass Freed Ellen Jantzen Michael Jantzen Kelley Johnson Howard Jones (Estate) Chris Kahler Bill Kohn (Estate) Leslie Laskey Patricia Olynyk Gary Passanise Judy Pfaff

Daniel Raedeke Tom Reed Frank Schwaiger Charles Schwall Christina Shmigel Thomas Sleet Shane Simmons Buzz Spector Cindy Tower Ken Worley Monika Wulfers