The Diplomat
August 28, 2008
Franklin & Marshall’s weekly online newsletter
'Sensuous, Mysterious’ Airbrush Works on Display at Dana Gallery
Inscriptions by Edward Evans
Edward Evans has challenged those who would classify art by using an airbrush to create magical and illusory images with acrylic paint on linen.
A collection of the artist’s works will be on display through Sept. 29 at the Dana Gallery in The Phillips Museum of Art at Franklin & Marshall College.
Retired from teaching art at Southwest State University in Marshall, Minn., Evans has exhibited nationally and internationally.
Evans said that at first, critics looked skeptically on his work, but he didn’t care. He aimed to master the form.
“I have used airbrushes for almost 40 years. My early airbrushed paintings upset people who thought that paintings must look like paint and not be illusions,” he said.
“The few people who knew what an airbrush was thought that it was only for ?mere’ commercial artists. I kept using it anyway. Now the illusions do not bother people and my mastery of technique allows me to concentrate on ideas and communication,” Evans said.
This exhibition creates an atmosphere of calm and mystery in the gallery, noted Claire Giblin, acting curator of The Phillips Museum.
“The works defy the viewers’ sense of reality and they will find themselves surprised to learn that every piece is painted on flat canvas, and the three dimensions they perceive are the result of Evans’ mastery of his technique,” she said.
Giblin called the works beautiful, sensuous and mysterious.
The artist will visit the exhibition on Sept. 5 at 4:30 p.m. for a reception and to discuss his work.
The exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information on The Phillips Museum or for information about upcoming exhibitions, visit www.fandm.edu/phillipsmuseum.xml.
