BOSCH AND THE EXPLORATION INTO OUR DEEPEST FEARS

Hieronymus Bosch was born Jheronimus van Aken in the Netherlands where he lived all of his life from 1450 to 1516. His work was collected during his life time. Today he is seen as a hugely individualistic painter with deep insight into humanity’s desires and deepest fears.

Summit Artspace put out the call to local artists to share works that channel their inner Bosch for the show,  Boschian: Beautifully Bizarre , Feb. 21-March 28, 2020.

See the winners here. The show is free and open to the public in the THREE G Gallery on the third floor of Summit Artspace on East Market, 140 E. Market St., Akron.

EXHIBITION JUROR
Kate Wentz of Akron is the juror for Boschian: Beautifully Bizarre. She manages a collection of art inspired by the Renaissance master, Hieronymus Bosch. Kat’s experience includes co-curating the Hieronymus collection for the recent exhibition Stranger Beings: Hieronymus Objects & Other Curiosities at the Emily Davis Gallery and managing the pop-up gallery, Pish Posh, that was on view in downtown Akron in the summer of 2018. Hieronymus has actively loaned pieces from the collection to museums and institutions for exhibitions including Akron Art Museum’s Gross Anatomies and Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose.

JUROR’S STATEMENT

I want to thank Summit Artspace for inviting me to jury Boschian: Beautifully Bizarre. There were so many substantial works of art that choosing a limited amount of pieces from the over 60 submissions was a difficult task. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of bizarre beauties presented for my consideration.

When jurying the show, I looked for a strong sense of design, skill, and Boschian creative expression. The accepted artworks reflect a contemporary version of Hieronymus Bosch, the Renaissance painter of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, whose surreal artwork was the inspiration for the exhibition’s title. I asked each piece, “how successfully does this work of art reflect Hieronymus Bosch?” Beyond that, I juried the show based on the work’s sense of weirdness, hidden beauty, curiousness, and, quite frankly, humor. I made the effort to include as many different art forms as possible.

Thank you for giving me the privilege and opportunity of being the juror. It was my honor to jury the show and select the award winners for this exhibition. I give my highest compliments to the artists who dared to submit to the exhibition. Congratulations to all of the accepted entries and winners. 

The show image, 150 mg., was created by artist McKenna Carder of Akron.

ABOUT BOSCH
His work utilizes striking and sometimes seemingly surreal qualities, often depicting tales of morality. Intense scenes by Bosch encompass a sense of humor, sensuality, and grotesque quality. His masterpiece, The Garden of Earthly Delights, teems with fantastical landscapes of disturbing anthropomorphic beings composed in vivid jewel tones.

Over 500 years later, Bosch is still a source of inspiration for contemporary artists. Boschian, of or relating to Hieronymus Bosch, is used to describe everything from fine art to high fashion.

Boschian: Beautifully Bizarre is a display of curiosities with an appreciation for the surreal, beautiful and bizarre and the ability to instill both terror and delight.–Kat Wentz

THREE G GALLERY HOURS
Summit Artspace’s THREE G Gallery is open weekly Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 7 p.m., and Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. Additional hours include the March 7 Artwalk, 5-9 p.m. and 4-7 p.m. on March 19 for Third Thursday.

ABOUT SUMMIT ARTSPACE
Summit Artspace is a non-profit arts organization that provides studio, exhibit and programming spaces in Summit County and the surrounding area for local artists and arts organizations; and is a center for art education open to all residents. Contact Summit Artspace at 330-376-8480. On the Web at www.summitartspace.org. Find us on: Facebook, Twitter at @AkronAreaArts, Instagram and Snapchat.

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