The Rebecca Ibel Gallery is excited to present new paintings and sculpture by Michael Reafsnyder.  A Southern California native, Reafsnyder has developed a distinctive and critically acclaimed style in both painting and sculpture.

Reafsnyder’s abstract paintings are as lively as they are colorful.  Filled with energy, they are precisely crafted with joy, if not a little frenzy.  Christopher Knight of the LA Times has aptly described Reafsnyder’s paintings as ‘raucous and deftly handled’ with a ‘delirious engagement with painterly hedonism.’ 

If Reafsnyder’s paintings require a leap of faith, his ceramic sculptures require complete abandonment.  Their small size belies their emotional and intellectual expansiveness.  As when viewing his paintings, one immediately senses the physicality of the materials used and the action behind the transformative process.   Ultimately, however, the ‘how and why’ are subsumed by the exuberance of the works themselves.  Knight compares the sculptures, which he describes as ‘hand-built slabs of clay that unfurl and unfold like dense bouquets of jungle blossoms or exotic undersea creatures,’ to the sensuous and brilliant work of Kenneth Price.

Reafsnyder received a BA from Chapman University in Orange County in 1992 and a MFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.  His work has been widely exhibited, with recent shows in Houston (at the Blaffer Museum and CTRL Gallery); Los Angeles (at Western Project, Blum & Poe and Mark Moore Gallery); and Las Vegas (UNLV and the Las Vegas Art Museum).  His work is held by numerous public and private collections, including the LA County Museum of Art; the Portland Art Museum; and the Laguna Art Museum and Creative Artist Agency. Reafsnyder has been exhibiting with the Rebecca Ibel Gallery since 2007.

For further information you may visit us online at www.rebeccaibel.com or may contact  the gallery by telephone at 614-291-2555.  The Rebecca Ibel Gallery specializes in fine contemporary art, with two gallery locations in Columbus.  Hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11 am – 5 pm, and by appointment.

Roll with the Changes, 2010 Acrylic on linen 35 x 44 inches