Mixed mediums: The Girardot National Juried Show features 64 pieces of vastly different styles

Every July the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri opens its doors to artists from around the country, displaying its Girardot National Juried Show -- one of the biggest, most stylistically diverse exhibitions hosted by the arts council.

This month's Girardot show fits with that tradition, featuring a wealth of work with vastly different styles displayed side-by-side. Sixty-four two- and three-dimensional pieces from 10 states make up the show, which starts tonight with a First Friday opening reception. Grand Chain, Ill., artist Robert Ketchens served as the show's juror, selecting the pieces from 123 that were submitted. Awards will be given for first, second and third place and Juror's Choice.

Ketchens first served as an art show juror in 2000 and has done so several times since. But the entries in the Girardot show impressed him as much as any other show has, Ketchens said.

"What I was impressed most with was the thinking outside of the box when it came to selection of subject and the way the subject matter was handled," Ketchens said.

Shows in small towns like Cape Girardeau are often weighed down with an over-abundance of traditionalist art forms, said Ketchens, but not this show.

"Alley" by Rochelle Steffen of Cape Girardeau, Mo. on display at the Arts Council.

Instead, artists from Southeast Missouri, other parts of the state and other states as geographically separated as Washington and New York took a liberal approach, some choosing to paint landscapes and still lifes, others choosing abstract mixed media and digital photography. Viewers can see art from familiar local artists like Rochelle Steffen, Herb Wickham, Cleda Curtis-Neal, Vicki Outman and Anita Dickerson while also getting a fresh perspective from Judith Fowler of Quilla, Texas and Rex Fogt of Whitehouse, Ohio.

The contrast can be seen in two adjacent pieces, the mixed media print "Untitled" by Cape Girardeau artist Nathan Elder and the watercolor "When No One is Watching" by Patton, Mo., artist Kathryn Breitenstein. "Untitled" seeks to make a statement using a somewhat undefined image of a hand pointing a gun at a flower in a vase. Next to it, "When No One is Watching" is light and humorous, portraying a farm scene of a snowman with a horseshoe smile staring at a horse in its stable. The two couldn't be more different.

Ketchens' affinity for non-traditional art didn't stop him from selecting more traditional, realistic pieces for the show. The main factor in selection, he said, was that the work couldn't just be an exercise in technique, but must have soul, feeling, experience.

"The most important thing for me was if I could look at the work and feel the truth in it," Ketchens said. "I had to see that they were familiar with the subject."

msanders@semissourian.com

"Big Fish - Will He Hold It?" by Louie Lawrence of Jackson, Mo. on display at the Arts Council.

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