sAcRamenTo - A Community Art Exhibit of the Sacramento Fine Arts Center and its Partners

Sacramento Art: A Community Art Exhibit is a special collaboration between Sacramento State's Art Department and the Sacramento Fine Arts Center (SFAC) to celebrate artists who inspire and value collaboration.

Ken Potter

Brain Washed Man

Cast Alloy (lead), welded steel

This was a really neat exhibit, and one that afforded me the opportunity to look at local Sacramento artists. Ken Potter's Brain Washed Man didn't do much for me at first, but the longer I looked at the work, the more it came together for me. The cast lead half works well with the welded steel of the right side. The contrasting methods of depicting form and detail are intriguing together, and had me thinking hard about theories of multiple intelligences, as well as the idea that a person can be more right brain or left brained depending on their skills.

Ken Potter

Brain Washed Man

Cast Alloy (lead), welded steel

Jan Miskulin
Mendocino Mist, 1995
Watercolor

Watercolor is fascinating, too. The methodical use of color and form. This piece has a beautiful weight to it. It sits with defined purpose, too. Jan Miskulin had a few amazing watercolors in the show, but I enjoyed this one the most. What gets me is the suggestion of time and location she is able to denote. It reads as a quiet nighttime landscape of a country farm, lit up by the night sky. Miskulin uses the Sumi-E style of Japanese Ink painting to great effect. This method is great for it's "dancing" characteristics, allowing for a fantastic sense of "flow" to the work.

Detail of Mendocino Mist

Greg Kondos
North Shore, Tahoe, 1976
Oil on Linen

This painting was my absolute favorite of all in the show. I made a point of stopping in to look at it a few times if I was in the area. I don't paint often, or as well as I'd like, but I do have an idea of certain aesthetics that I like that I wish to emulate, and Greg Kondos was quickly added to that list. When I do work, of any type, be it sculpture, drawing, or even painting, I try to utilize the "less is more" approach. This is what Kondos has done in this work. The subtle suggestion of the shore line, the gradual yet unassuming roll of the mountains behind. The simple use of color and form is excellent, and I really enjoy the slight shocks of red and orange peppering the otherwise cool palette. Like Kondos, abstract expressionism is a notable influence in the work that I do.