Rob Wynne ‘TROMPE L’OEIL” 2009 Hand-poured mirrored glass 49 x 47 inches

The Rebecca Ibel Gallery is excited to present an exhibition that playfully challenges the concept of ‘TROMPE L’OEIL’, featuring paintings, photography and sculpture by a group of contemporary American artists.  The French term ‘trompe l’oeil is defined in Merriam Webster as a style of painting in which objects are depicted with photographically realistic detail; also something that misleads or deceives the eye; illusion. From the very beginning, the meaning of art has been connected to the way it describes a ‘reality’.  Contemporary artists use a variety of techniques to convey their ‘reality’, inviting the viewer to question the very notion of what we see and what it means.

Daina Higgins is a Brooklyn based artist whose paintings of storefronts in New York describe not only the objects inside (wedding cakes, lamps and furniture), but the street life reflected in the glass windowpanes. Multiple layers of ‘reality’ confuse our perception of what is in front of and behind the pane.

Barclay Hughes is a St. Louis based photographer whose photographs resemble photojournalism or documentary film stills. What we assume is ‘reality’ in these narratives are actually staged in the studio and assembled using layers of independent photographs.

Kelly Malec-Kosak is a Columbus based sculptor who is represented with her ‘Pacifier’ series. The artist uses a sculptural vocabulary that includes silver, marble and bronze and evocative shapes to challenge the functionality and reality of these common objects.

Dan McCleary is a Los Angeles painter whose observational skills are unparalleled. For practice, he paints still life images of store-bought flowers in everyday water glasses to keep his eye and hand in tune. The resulting paintings are remarkable instances of light and color, with the slightest play on proportion to nudge the viewer’s perception.

Laura Sanders is a Columbus painter whose figures in water work within an American tradition with a high degree of realism, while luxuriating in the ease of loose brushwork. The narratives can be, and indeed are, read in contradictory ways – at once implying the innocence of youth and memories of languid days of summer, while at the same time hinting of the danger implicit in nature's elements and the fragility of the human condition. 

Billy Sullivan is a New York artist known for his deftly handled drawing style and vibrant color palette.  His paintings and drawings of beautiful people and beautiful objects are  captivating and alluring, as is the manner in which he can describe complex things with a single brushstroke.

Arne Svenson is a New York artist with a collector’s spirit, known for his deep focus and obsessive commitment. In this series, Svenson presents photographs of paper towels as solemnly as though they were Japanese scrolls. These images of decorative patterns on disposable utilitarian items, offer a commentary on contemporary American culture, and in their unabashedly frank presentation, question what it is we are looking at and what it might represent.

Julie Taggart is a Columbus artist known for her trompe l’oeil style landscape paintings. Taggart’s eye is drawn to the unheralded back-road places that reveal the contradictions inherent in American life.

Rob Wynne is a New York artist who works as a collector of quotations and ideas and transforms them into poetic works of art. ‘TROMPE L’OEIL’ and ‘AUTHENTIC’ are hand-poured mirrored glass works that hang on the wall, challenging the viewer by their very existence to question what we see as ‘real’ and ‘art’.

For further information visit us at rebeccaibel.com or call 614-291-2555. The Rebecca Ibel Gallery features fine contemporary art and maintains two gallery locations in Columbus. Hours are Tuesday through Friday 11 am – 5 pm and by appointment.