BIG

BIG — an exhibition of large scale works by five contemporary artists working in diverse imagery, techniques and mediums. The artists each employ an epic scale to communicate big ideas to heroic effect.

Californian John Cerney revisits the American West with a room installation entitled Big Landscape, Big West– 40 wide, with 10 to 12 foot high figures evoking the epic history and imagery of the American west. Gulf coast artist Sharon Engelstein presents a gigantic, amorphous, inflated sculpture entitled Twins. The sculpture breathes from the force of a fan, vacillating between threatening and comedic. Mark Flood’s gargantuan, 30 foot painting presents a reclining female figure reminiscent of the famed Neolithic fertility goddess figures from the Prehistoric period. Sculptures by artist Paul Kittelson render commonplace, mundane objects (appetizers, popcorn kernels, cigarettes) into a massive scale, invoking the legacy of Pop Art masters such as Claes Oldenburg and James Rosenquist.

Eric Rudd’s sculpture, Walter’s Ontogen, is an enormous, amorphous creature whose limbs and torso move slowly and rhythmically, reminiscent of body-builders. The large scale pursued by artists since the early 19th century continues to characterize contemporary American art in this age of super-size meals, malls, and mega-mansions.

Sponsored in part by Morgan Keegan and Company, Inc.