August 9 – September 19, 2013
Arrowhead Room

Slick Figure Ground Suggestion by Todd Reed, 2012, Enamel on Aluminum, 12 x 12 in.

Todd Reed's Artist Statement:
As a culture, we are continuously interacting with architectural space, graphic design, text, imagery, and objects. When moving through designed spaces, contrasts between color, scale, and geometry allow for sensations to rise rapidly to the foreground of our perception. These sensations disappear into the background of our experience as quickly as they rise to the surface as new information is constantly streaming in. This is true of any perceptual experience. However, within designed space, there is so much to see that these perceptual figure-ground shifts seem to occur much more frequently.

It is the accumulation of sensate non-pictorial memories of visual phenomenon that I am most interested in as a painter. Particularly, I want to emphasize the limbic or in-between moments of reality. I make use of the interaction of color, shape, and three-dimensional edge to place viewers in peculiar perceptual states. My work creates perceptual tensions between object and image, as well as oscillations between representation and pure abstraction. As a result, the viewer becomes aware of that fact that they are seeing. At that moment they have achieved a higher awareness. The work invites viewers to momentarily slip into a higher consciousness and to look at themselves looking.

Bio:
Todd Reed holds an MFA from Illinois State University, an MA from Governors State University and a BA from Eastern Illinois University. Reed’s work functions dominantly in the realm of painting but flirts with sculptural elements. He paints flat colored shapes and lines on shaped aluminum surfaces, that at times, lift off the wall projecting out into the viewer’s space. Reed uses humor and visual associations as he plays with perception.

Various Illinois venues have presented solo exhibitions of Reed’s work including: The Layman Gallery at Lincoln College (Lincoln), The Tree House Gallery (Arlington Heights), McHenry County College (Crystal Lake), The Contemporary Art Center of Peoria (Peoria) and Morton College (Cicero). His work has been featured at the South Bend Museum of Art (South Bend, IN) and at the Wright Museum of Art (Beloit, WI). Reed’s work has also been included in numerous group exhibitions throughout Illinois.

Lecture: September 11, 2013
in Bodie Hall, room 150, Sugar Grove Campus
All our lectures are free and open to the general public.

Workshop: September 11, 2013
in Von Ohlen Hall, room 201, Sugar Grove Campus
Our workshops are open to all current Waubonsee students (registration required).

For more information about the art exhibitions at Waubonsee Community College, contact Cecilia Vargas, Art Coordinator, at (630) 466-2964.

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CONTACT

Art Department:
WCCArtDepartment@waubonsee.edu

Art Coordinator:
Cecilia Vargas, Von Ohlen Hall, Room 209
(630) 466-2964
cvargas@waubonsee.edu

Art Lab Assistant:
Esther Espino, Von Ohlen Hall, Room 240
(630) 466-5742
eespino@waubonsee.edu