PROCESS: Batista, Dugas, Turri is an art exhibition presented at the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination from June 30 through September 2, 2022. The paintings of three contemporary artists; Kenneth Batista, James Dugas and Scott Turri are displayed in adjacent interplay in the beautiful gallery rooms of the Freeman Center and share the poetic mystery of their creators' process.
Kenneth Batista’s “paintings live in the world between realism and abstraction. When viewed at a close distance, the work appears to be a random array of abstract squares with color being an additional unifying factor. However, as the viewer steps away from the painting, the squares morph into a recognizable image creating an entirely different relationship with the work. This phenomenon is of particular interest to me as it invites the viewer to be an active participant in the piece completing the viewing cycle. The work also draws from impressionism where I use light to define form and space. However, instead of defining form with individual brush strokes as the Impressionists did in the 19 th century, I employ digital technology to pixilate the original image. From there, the paintings take on a life of their own.”
Jim Dugas’ works are outcomes of his daily art exercise with paint and brush seeking the intrinsic, poetic and spiritual, some with resultant paint surfaces built up over decades like Albert Pinkham Ryder, with whom he identifies. “I have spent my entire career trying to understand and be directed by that which is fleeting and passing and never under control for too very long although I am sure that it sings perpetually within us all and is of profound substance and power when grasped intuitively and for a moment expresses itself in true harmony and beauty in the forms of music, literature and painting.” Three different and never previously exhibited series will be represented.
Over the last 20 years Scott Turri’s process has entailed making digital images that become the model for his handmade paintings. “For Shelter in Place, I set extremely restrictive design parameters, having used the industrial design of a laundry basket as the source. The basket has evenly sized and spaced pill-shaped cutouts. This domestic household container is a metaphor; it constrains movement; therefore, working inside this structure signals a type of confinement. This intentional choice of using an industrial design, typically made and used for its functionality, as opposed to its beauty, behaves like a ready-made for me and indicates a distancing from the self. The repetitive positioning of the pills and circles is the underlying architecture for all the paintings in this series. Endless possibilities exist within this limited framework, implying mental freedom within a physical boundary.”
PROCESS: Batista, Dugas, Turri opens on First Friday, July 1 and runs through First Friday, September 2. It will also be open First Friday, August 5. First Friday Gallery Hours are 7-9 pm and Saturdays from 2-5 pm and by appointment. The Irma Freeman Center for Imagination welcomes groups to book events and tours to experience this captivating exhibit during its 2 month tenure. For information call: (office) 412-924-0634,
Art Credit: Jim Dugas