gcglogo
 

TOPVEREX  EXHIBIT 2008

The gallery provides quarterly exhibits at the Verex Building, 150 East Gilman Street.
The Verex Building is located on Lake Mendota, next to James Madison Park.
The lobby is open for viewing the exhibit during business hours 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Please select from the seasons below to view exhibits

Winter   Helen Klebesadel         Spring      
Summer
        Autumn
         

Winter Exhibit
: Helen Klebesadel : Watercolors :
January - March

Artist Statement Artist Resume




 
From Left: Helen Klebesadel, Alaska Fireweed, 2006, Watercolor, Image: 22" x 15", frame: 28" x 22"
Helen Klebesadel, Finches, Sunflowers, and Dragons, 2007, Watercolor, Image: 30" x 22 ", frame: 40" x 30 "
Helen Klebesadel, Spill with Crow, 2007, Watercolor, Image: 40" x 30", frame: 50" x 40"
Helen Klebesadel, WallFlower Magnolias, 2007, Watercolor, Image: 22" x 30", frame: 30" x 40"

 

 

Left: Helen Klebesadel, Spiral Blanket Flower, 2007, Watercolor, Image: 22" x 30 ", frame: 30 " x 40 "
Right: Helen Klebesadel, Spiral Blanket Flower, 2007, Watercolor, Image: 22" x 30 ", frame: 30 " x 40 "


Artist’s Statement


 


Artist’s Statement:

Nature Inside Out
Recent Watercolors by Helen Klebesadel


It is not half so important to know as to feel. -Rachel Carson

When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I
want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they
have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not. -
Georgia O'Keeffe

I believe in God, only I spell it Nature. -Frank Lloyd Wright


Some of my family members have commented that I seem to be deeply influenced by the large rose wallpaper that covered the walls in the rural Wisconsin farmhouse where I was raised. It is true that I am endlessly fascinated by the everyday wonders of nature as well as by the many ways humans have of bringing representations of nature into our lived environments.
This exhibition is a part of a longer journey that is a search for the core of our human connection to nature. It is a journey "from the inside out," that considers how our emotional connections to nature can be born through aesthetic sensibilities. I use my artist’’s eye to note and document the fleeting miracles of the everyday. Aesthetic encounters that connect viewers with the sensual essence of nature can be a potent means of promoting a sense of care for the natural world. While the deepest connections are developed through direct contact with nature, art can evoke the desire for more or recall past experiences of awe.
My visual concerns run the gamut from careful study to poetic, symbolic and sometimes political representations of nature. As a gardener I can be caught contemplating a single flower until time is lost, knowing the opportunity for study is fleeting. Wallflowers and related works in this exhibition echo the abundance of this year’’s summer garden and document my times of careful looking and meditation on the transient vulnerability of beauty, life, and
nature. These ‘‘wallpapers’’ create opportunities to consider the metaphor of fragile strength.

Increasingly, for many in our culture, nature has become an abstract concept. We have become divorced from direct contact with the natural environment unless it intruded upon us in the form of weather or its consequences. In the still live paintings included in the exhibition I work with well established artistic conventions, and try to twist them to my own ends. Still life has a long history of symbolic representation of nature to comment on the human condition. My still lives juxtapose decorative and living nature in domestic settings as I try to find a way to represent bringing ‘‘real’’ nature inside. Living nature will not acquiesce to abstraction. What does it mean that we cover our walls, our clothes, and our personal environments with representations of nature? How is it we are drawn to representations of nature but seem to be moving farther and farther from understanding ourselves as a part of nature; of knowing where our food, air, and water comes from; and of being responsible stewards for the earth?
Perhaps art can lead us back to nature.


Helen Klebesadel
September 2007

 




Artist's Resume:

Helen Klebesadel

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Solo Exhibitions
2007 Nature Inside Out, Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
2006 Allliant Center, National Quilt Expo, Madison, WI
2005 National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
2005 Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
2005 Tate Gallery, University of Georgia-Athens, Athens, Georgia
2004 WSRC Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
2002 LRC Gallery, Rhinelander, Wisconsin
2002 Birch Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, Wisconsin
2001 HUB Robson Gallery, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
2001 Heritage Center, Finlandia University, Hancock, Minnesota
2000 Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
1999 Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
1999 Aaron Bohrod Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley, Menasha, WI
1998 DiRicci Gallery, Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin
1996 Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
1995 Alma College Galleries, Alma College, Alma, Michigan
1994 Evergreen Galleries, Evergreen State University, Olympia, Washington
1994 University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse Galleries, LaCrosse, Wisconsin
1994 Bergstrom-Mahler Art Museum, Neenah, Wisconsin
1993 Wisconsin Academy of Arts and Letters Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
1992 Cummings Gallery, Mercyhurst College, Erie, Pennsylvania
1991 Farnham Galleries, Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa
1991 Wriston Art Center, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin
1989 Watkins Gallery, Winona, Minnesota
1989 Main Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin

Two, Three and Four Person Exhibitions
2007 -Dindredic Vision: Peace by Piece, Commonwealth Gallery, Madison, WI
2005 -Forest, Rocks, Wind and Water, William Bonifas, Fine Art Center, Escanaba, MI
2005 -Contemporary Watercolors, Bresler Elite Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
2004 -Nature as Metaphor: Arntson, Koskenmaki, Klebesadel, Grace Chosy Gallery
2003 -Helen Klebesadel and Barbara Strong: Myths and Revelations, James Kaneko Gallery, American River College, Sacramento, California
2000 -The Dream Garden Transcended: Helen Klebesadel and Laura Vogel, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO
1997-1998 -Three Wise Women, Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, California
1996 -Mad Womyn and Their Familiars, Blue Star Arts Complex, San Antonio, TX
1995 -Women of Vision/ Objects of Power, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1994 -Klebesadel and Koskenmaki: Invoking the Mythic, Harry Nohr Gallery
1993 -Incongruous Juxtapositions, Two Artists, University of Illinois at Chicago
1993 -Resonance and Wonder: Gallager*Izs*Klebesadel, Wright Art Museum, Beloit
1990 -Klebesadel and Dribble, Dittmar Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston, Il

Group Exhibitions
2007-2008 -Paradise Lost? Artists on Climate Change in the Northwoods. A traveling exhibition of an
artist/scientist collaborative project on climate change in the Lake Superior Region
2007 -Crossroads, Rhonda Schaller Gallery, Chelsea, NYC, New York
2007 -Beaux and Ero, Peninsula Museum of Art, Belmont, CA
2006 -One and Only, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, and ARTspace, Kohler, WI
2006 -Salon D'été 2006, Micaela Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006 -From Uncle Tom to Peeping Tom: Race and Gender Matters, UW-Milwaukee and AAW Center
2005-ongoing -High Street Gallery Artists, Mineral Point, Wisconsin
2005 -Forest, Rocks, Wind and Water, William Bonifas, Fine Art Center, Escanaba, MiI
2002-2004 -Art In the Embassies Program, U.S.A. Embassy, South Africa
2002-2004 -Art In the Embassies Program, U.S.A. Embassy, Rwanda
2004 -Six of One,, Commonwealth Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
2001 -Making Art Matter: Artists Transforming Society, Commonwealth Gallery, Madison
1997-2000 -Art In the Embassies Program, U.S.A. Embassy, Columbia, Sri Lanka
1998 -Diverse Origins: an Exhibition of Cultural and Geographic Variety, Core New Space Gallery, Denver, CO
1997 -Red, Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
1997 -WCA Auction, Bernice Steinbaum Krauss Gallery, New York
1997 -Seven, Commonwealth Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
1997 -Deep Water, Sarasota Art Center, Sarasota, Florida
1997 -Inventing Personality and Place, Katherine E. Nash Gallery, University of MiN
1997 -Women Revisioning the Sacred, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1997 -Women's Caucus for Art National 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago,
Faith Ringgold, juror
1996-1997 -Beijing and Beyond: Women Artists Respond to the World Conference on Women, traveling exhibition in response to the Fourth United Nations Conference on Women. The United Nations Gallery, NYC; UT Dallas, TX; Mills College, Oakland, CA; ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL; Penn State U; Washington State U.
1996 -West to East: American Artists, University Gallery, Shimonoseki, Japan
1995 -The World Through the Eyes of Women, U. N. Women's Conference, Huairou, China
1995 -Five From the HeARTland, Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee, WI
1995 -The Spirituality Show, Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee, WI
1994 -Selections ‘94, Cork Gallery, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, NYC
1994 -Bali/Wisconsin Women’s Artist’s Books, Seniwati Sanggar Gallery, Bali, Indonesia
1992-1993 -Sticks, traveling group exhibition, Leigh Yawley Woodson Museum, UW Union Galleries, Madison Fine Arts Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
1992 -Ree-Vision, A.R.C. Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1991 -Expressions and Commentary, Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin and Cedarburg Cultural Center, Cedarburg, Wisconsin
1991 -Whose Choice, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
1991 -Choice, AIR Gallery, New York, New York
1991 -Bright Visions: The Making of Myth, Rahr-West Art Museum, Manitowoc Wisconsin and Charles Allis Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1990 -In Search of the American Experience, Museum of the National Arts Foundation, New York, New York

Electronic Exhibitions and Registries
2007-present -Rhonda Schaller Gallery Art Link Network
<http://www.rhondaschallerchelsea.com/helen-klebesdadel-portfolio.html#portfolio>
2007-present -Paradise Lost? Climate Change in the North Woods.
<http://www.wisc.edu/cbe/K12/paradiselost.html>
2002-present -Art In the Embassies Program, U. S. Department of State,
<http://aiep.state.gov/index.cfm>
2002-current -Portal Wisconsin Featured Artist,
<http://www.portalwisconsin.org/online_gallery_artists.cfm?sort=portal>
1996-current -Varo: An International Registry of Contemporary Women Artists, University of California-
Sonoma, <http://www.varoregistry.com/>
1995-current -The World's Women on Line! Internet Installation. World Wide Web,
<http://www.asu.edu./wwol> Index of 800 images by women artists

PUBLICATIONS and CITATIONS

Authored by Helen Klebesadel
2006 “Reframing Studio Art Production and Critique,” in New Museum Theory: An
Introduction. Ed. Jane Marstine, Blackwell Publishers
2004 "Art Videos for Feminist Practice", Feminist Collections: A Quarterly of Women's Studies
Resources, a review of books, University of Wisconsin-Madison, (winter)
1997 "Feminist Art as Critical Voice: New Books on Art and Aesthetics,” Feminist Collections:
A Quarterly of Women's Studies Resources, a review of books, University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Volume 18, Issue 3 (Spring 1997)

Catalogues
2007 Crossroads At Rhonda Schaller Gallery, NYC
2006 From Uncle Tom to Peeping Tom: Race and Gender Matters, UW-Milwaukee
2001-2004 Arts in the Embassies Program, Washington D.C.
1999-2001 Arts in the Embassies Program, Washington D.C.
1991 Expressions and Commentary, Neville Art Museum and WiI Women in the Arts
1990 Bright Visions: The Making of Myth, traveling exhibition of (WWIA)
1989 In Search of the American Experience, Museum of the National Arts Foundation
1989 32nd Beloit and Vicinity Exhibition Catalogue, Wright Museum of Art

Books and Journals
2007 Bates, John, “Paradise Lost”, in Wisconsin People and Ideas, Volume 53, Number 1, Winter, 2007 (Illustration)
2005 Bebhinn, Sarah. Reflections of Cosmology, MatriFocus Cross-Quarterly, Lammas 2005, Vol 4-4, (illustrations).
2004 CALYX: A Journal of Art and Literature by Women, Volume 22, Number 1, summer, (illustrations).
1998 "Helen Klebesadel: Artist", Frontiers: A Journal of Women's Studies, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
1997 "Wallflower Muses" Feminist Studies, Women's Studies Program, University of Maryland, Volume 23,
Number 1, spring
1994 Pratt, Annis. Dancing With Goddesses: Archetypes, Poetry, and Empowerment, Indiana University Press, (illustration)
1993 Alba, De-Anna. The Cauldron of Change: Myths, Mysteries and Magic of the Goddess, Delphi Press, Chicago, (cover illustration)
1993 “Karon Hagemeister Winzenz," review in New Art Examiner, February
1992 CALYX: A Journal of Art and Literature by Women, Volume 14, Number 1, summer, (cover and illustrations)
1990 Lauter, Estella. “Women as Mythmakers Revisited," citation, Quadrant XXIII: 1
1990 Orenstein, Gloria. The Reflowering of the Goddess, citation, Pergamon
1990 “Medusa Faced," Women Of Power, Boston, winter, (illustration)
1989 “Painting: An Outreach," Women Artists News, Volume 14, Numbers 1 and 2. New York, (Illustration)

Periodicals and Newspapers
2007 Stockinger, Jacob. Feminism & Art, Capital Times, April 13, Madison, WI
2006 MacLennan, Leanne. “Teaching Watercolor Workshops to Beginners: Pitfalls to Avoid,” American Artist
On-Line, October 17
2006 MacLennan, Leanne. “Teaching Watercolor Workshops to Beginners: Pitfalls to Avoid,” American Artist
On-Line, October 17
2006 ‘Helen Klebesadel, Alared,” Interweave Crochet, Spring,(illustration pp.10)
2003 ‘James Kaneko Gallery’, Sacramento News, April 4
2001 Dunn, Bill, “Women’s Studies Director puts “Activism into Action,” Capital Times, October 4.
1997 "Deep Water", Watercolor 1997 American Artist Magazine, spring (illustration)
1997 Kravetz, Deborah K., "Women Revision the Sacred at Muse", Art Matters, Philadelphia, Feb.
1995 Blocker, Susan. "From Image To Myth,” Wisconsin State Journal, Dec. 15
1994 "Helen Klebesadel: Artist," Hyphen, Chicago, summer issue, (illustrations)
1993 Goddard, Dan R. "Contemporary Arts Month,” San Antonio Express News, Section H. June 27
1993 “Critics Choice," Isthmus, Madison, August 12
1993 Lynch, Kevin. “Waking Dreams," The Capital Times, Madison, August 5
1992 Merkle, Karen Rene. “Bridging the Gap," Showcase, A Guide to the Arts, Erie, Pennsylvania, November 26
1992 Lynch, Kevin. “Wisconsin Artists," Art Muscle Magazine, May, Milwaukee
1992 Rogers, Katherine. "Windows," New Art Examiner, February-March, Chicago
1991 Lynch, Kevin. “State Artists Get Showcase," The Capital Times, Dec.
1990 Auer, James. “Vacationing Critic Can’t Resist," Milwaukee Journal, December 16
1990 Culhane, Ed. “L.U. Professor Offers Challenging Art," Post-Crescent, Oct. 14
1989 Moore, Bill. “Statistics Paint Picture of Chauvinism in The Arts,” Wisconsin State Journal, September 17

ADDITIONAL TEACHING

2001-2007 Private art instruction
1997-2007 Watercolor Instructor, Lawrence University, Bjorklunden Summer Seminar
2007 Seminar Instructor, Fairbanks Arts Festival, Alaska
2007 Finding Your Artist Voice in Watercolor, Shake Rag Alley Art Center, Mineral Point, WI
2005 Finding Your Creative Voice Workshop, Continuing Education, UW-Madison
2005 Finding Your Creative Voice Workshop, summer workshop, Fairbanks, Alska
2005 Watercolor: The Expressive Medium, Shake Rag Art Center, Mineral Point, WI
2005 Finding Your Creative Voice Workshop, Continuing Education, Shake Rag Art
2004 Advanced Critiques for Artists, Continuing Education, UW-Madison
2003 Advancing Your Watercolor Series, Continuing Education, UW-Madison
2003 Finding Your Creative Voice Workshop, Womanspace, Rockford, Illinois
2001 Continuing Education Art Classes, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1999 Faculty, Lawrence University Meilke Summer Teacher's Institute
1997 Guest Instructor, Atelier du Art Summer Program, La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland
1997 Faculty, Lawrence University Meilke Summer Teacher's Institute
1990-91 Visiting Faculty, Arrowmont School of Art and Crafts Summer Program

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS AND COMMISSIONS

Ellen & Peter Johnson HospiceCare Residence, Madison, WI
Madison Area Technical College, Madison, Wisconsin
Lawrence University, Appleton, WI
American Council on Education (ACE), Washington D.C.
Central Wisconsin Center, Madison, Wisconsin

GALLERY REPRESENTATION

Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
High Street Gallery, Mineral Point, WI
Rhonda Schaller Gallery, ArtLink Network, New York City, NY

PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

2000-present Director, Women’s Studies Consortium, University of Wisconsin System
2001-2004 Visiting Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Women’s Studies Program, University
of Wisconsin-Madison
1996-2000 Associate Professor, Art Department, Lawrence University
1990-1996 Assistant Professor, Art Department, Lawrence University
1993 Visiting Faculty, Associated Colleges of the Midwest, Chicago Semester in the Arts
1989-1990 Lecturer, Art Department Beloit College
1987-1989 Teaching Assistant, Women’s Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1987 Reader and Grader, Department of Art History, University of Wisconsin-Madison

PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

2006-2009 Member of the Wisconsin Arts Board, appointed by Governor Jim Doyle
2002-2005 CitiArts Commissioner, Madison Wisconsin
2002-2005 Board of Directors, National Women’s Studies Association
2003 Wisconsin Arts Board Percent For the Arts Panel
2000 Steering Committee Member, Wisconsin Visual Arts Council
1999-01 Women’s Caucus for Art Emerging Artist Mentor
1990-98 National Board of Directors, Women's Caucus for Art, Immediate Past President,
National President, 1994-96, First Vice President 1992-94.
1995 Delegation Leader, of a 100 person WCA delegation to the NGO Forum 95 of the Fourth United
1990-92 President, Central Wisconsin Women's Caucus for Art
1989 Community Mural Coordinator, W.O.R.T. Community Broadcast Mural, Madison
1978-1979 Artist in Residence, Central Wisconsin Center, funded by Wisconsin Art Board. CETA and
Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Service

EDUCATION

University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.F.A. 1989. Exhibition Title: "The Muse and Her Artist"
B.S. Studio Art with distinction, 1986
Certification in Women's Studies, 1984
Layton School of Art and Design, 1971-1972


Winter         Spring       Summer        Autumn          Page Top


Spring Exhibit
:  Artist : Title : Media:
April - June
Artist Statement Artist Resume
 
     

 



 


Artist Statement

 

 


 


Artist Resume

 

 

Winter         Spring       Summer        Autumn           Page Top


Summer Exhibit

:  Artist : Title : Media:

July - September
Aritst Statement Artist Resume
 
 
 


 


Artist Statement

 

 


 


Artist Resume

 

 



Winter         Spring       Summer        Autumn           Page Top
Autumn Exhibit
:  Artist : Title : Media:
October - December
Aritst Statement Artist Resume

 

 



 


Artist Statement

 

 



 


Artist Resume

 

 


Winter         Spring       Summer        Autumn           Page Top

 
Grace Chosy Gallery 1825 Monroe St  Madison, Wisconsin  53711
Phone:(608)255-1211 Fax:(608)663-2032 email: staff@gracechosygallery.com
• All Rights Reserved © 2005 Grace Chosy Gallery