Nothing is Something

Perhaps the most significant contribution to the evolution of western art in the 20 th century was the introduction of abstraction as an art form in and of itself. While at the time perceived by the rigid theories of critic Clement Greenburg as a purified culmination of “art for art’s sake”, like all preceding forms, abstraction has since evolved as both a category of its own as well as a strategy to be integrated with other material and representational approaches. Abstraction confounds a quick-read and easy interpretation, asking viewers to look longer at works that eschew the immediately recognizable. Art historian Kirk Varnedoe’s 2006, Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock champions the importance of abstraction and addresses the skeptical confusion it often creates. However, the title misses the mark since most artists working in abstraction would argue that what may be perceived as “nothing” is still something… in fact, something so important that it transcends most forms of communication.

“Abstract pictures are fictive models, because they make visible a reality that we can neither see nor describe, but whose existence we can postulate.” – Gerhard Richter

“Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot physically see with his eyes… Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond the tangible, to extract the infinite out of the finite. It is the emancipation of the mind. It is an explosion into unknown areas.” – Arshile Gorky

Artlink invited artists working with abstraction in any medium for Nothing Is Something: Abstract Today, from which juror Tim Parsley selected work by 25 artists to be included in the exhibition.

Exhibiting Artists

Claudia Berlinski, Sally Brogden, Gregory Bryant, Jim Burwinkel, Marilyn Dale, Kathy Danko-McGhee, Cathy Epstein, Patty Flauto, Gregory Gibson, Joy Groninger, Molly Klingler, Dennis Kwesell, Claire Lynch, Ian Mabry, Sarah Manco, Craig Marcus, Leah Morrison, Kristin Sarette, Norman Silva, Brandon Smith, Lindsey Tribelhorn, and Norman Ziolkowski.

About the Juror

Tim Parsley is Program Director for Studio Art and Associate Professor of Studio Art (Painting and Drawing) at the University of Saint Francis, Division of Creative Arts in Fort Wayne, IN. Tim earned his BFA from the University of Cincinnati and his MFA from Miami University (Oxford, OH). He also works as a public artist and public art educator, creating numerous, large-scale, publicly-supported mural projects throughout the Midwest, New York, and Nairobi, Kenya. Tim previously served as Assistant Director of Manifest Creative Research Gallery in Cincinnati, OH and currently serves as Interim Executive Director for Artlink Contemporary Gallery.