BLUE

BLUE February 3rd - March 24th

at SHERRY LEEDY CONTEMPORARY ART

The exhibition BLUE explores the use of the color by eleven artists in a variety of media ranging from ceramics, painting, printmaking, and fiber.

Blue, taken for granted today, did not exist in the ancient world.

The color blue came into being about 4500 years ago when the Egyptians began making pigments from the deep blue semi-precious stone, lapis lazuli. Before that time, there was no word for blue and no mention of the color in any written text. Slowly the expensive and rare Egyptian pigments began to travel around the world and blue, due to its rarity and expense, became the color of royalty, and in 431 AD, it became the official color of the Virgin Mary’s robe.

Ancient Egyptians believed that blue was the color of the heavens and, hence the universe. It was also associated with water and the Nile. Thus, blue was the color of life, fertility and rebirth.

Today blue is commonly available and it’s almost impossible to imagine its absence. It is still a color associated with the heavens, innocence, trust, manual labor workers and, since 2000, the Democratic Party.

1.

BLUE featured artists: Jane Booth Jun Kaneko Karen Kunc Jason Pollen Barbara Rogers Cary Esser Michiko Itatani Doug Freed Christopher St. Leger Carl Corey Mary Ann Strandell

2.

JANE BOOTH

4.

Sky- Peering into a Storm Acrylic on canvas 86.5” x 67”

DOUG FREED Crepuscular Oil on canvas 36” x 32”

5.

MICHIKO ITATANI

6.

Starry Night Gouache, ink, & prismacolor on clay board 10” x 8”

JUN KANEKO Untitled, Wall Slab Hand glazed, cast raku ceramics 19.5” x 17” x 1.5”

7.

8.

MARY ANN STRANDELL Ming, Deer, Crane Oil on canvas 30” x 24”

9.

BARBARA ROGERS

10.

Unearthed Oil and encaustic on panel 40” x 26”

CARY ESSER Veil 15.10.4 Glazed ceramic 14 7/8” x 8” x ¼”

11.

CARY ESSER

12.

Veil 15.9.4 Glazed ceramic 14 7/8” x 8” x ¼”

CARL COREY Flatware Jiggerman – Homer Laughlin China – Newell, WV Photography 13.

27” x 30”

CHRISTOPHER ST. LEGER

14.

Flatrock Watercolor on paper 22” x 30”

KAREN KUNC Oscillation Shift Woodcut 16.5” x 56”

15.

16.

JASON POLLEN (left) Blue Descendants I & II Fiber and mixed media 90” x 12” 18.

(right) detail

SHERRY LEEDY CONTEMPORARY ART | 2004 Baltimore Ave. Kansas City, MO 64108 816.221.2626 | www.sherryleedy.com