PRESS RELEASE
Robert Swedroe: Narrative Assemblage and Cyber Series Collage
Mar 12 – May 2, 2010
Cleveland, Ohio - Contessa Gallery is proud to showcase an exhibition of narrative assemblage and cyber collage series works by acclaimed American artist and world-renowned architect Robert Swedroe at its Legacy Village location.
Referred to as mixed media assemblage, his storytelling creations and the more recent "hi-tech" works, express the artist's profound passion for art through their clean lines, use of intricate geometry and structure, as well as vibrant blazing color. His collages have been called "poetry in motion and color".
Collage as an art form initially surfaced in the works of the Cubists Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, and since then, has played a vital role in almost every phase of Modernism. Collage allows the artist to simultaneously explore the mysterious space between high art and popular culture, text and image, figuration and abstraction, past and present, as well as two and three-dimensional space. By incorporating materials that are inextricably linked to the realities of daily life, the artist manages to identify the clear and instant connection between the viewer and the work of art.
It is this immediate quality that initially attracted Robert Swedroe to the art of collage. Born in 1934, he began creating art in 1962, while working as a young architect (he holds a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Carnegie Institute of Technology and a Masters in Architecture from Yale University). What started as a hobby, soon brought Swedroe recognition by the art world and consequently 12 one-man exhibitions in galleries nationwide. The success of the early sold-out shows and his passion for the medium ensured that Swedroe continued to create collages while launching his own architecture firm. After more than 30 years of innovation in the sphere of architecture, Robert Swedroe's contributions are recognized worldwide. In 2006, with his architectural legacy secured, he began to develop a new body of work that pushed the boundaries and possibilities of his earlier work. Supported by the wisdom and experience of his past and reinvigorated with a modern spirit and outlook for the future, this artist/architect has produced his best work and broken new ground.
The exhibition at Contessa Gallery will explore two distinct styles of Swedroe's art: a metamorphosis of the earlier narrative assemblages and the recently developed geometric "cyber creations" with references to subjects such as astronomy and technology. His architectural foundation and sense of design made it possible for him to put together such diverse materials as small moving mechanisms, shreds of fabric, semi-precious stones, metal samples, glass objects etc. Together they make intricate conglomerations organized into wide-ranging themes.
Recently Swedroe's works have culminated in an entirely new series of multimedia constructions; these latest works challenge the boundaries between two and three dimensions, and incorporate computer-generated elements, monochromatic fields, and a bolder, crisper array and arrangement of sumptuous, colorful imagery. As many as 200 elements are organized into a composition that often resembles a cityscape, then the cyber piece is finished with three coats of resin.
Robert Swedroe's passion for both art and architecture are profound and evident in his works. His designs evolve with the passage of time and reflect the growth and maturation of both society and himself.