Marta Hewett Gallery is pleased to present a summer group exhibition featuring bold and colorful works by: Dorothy Hafner, Tim Harding, Frank Herrmann, Kim Krause, Ed Bing Lee, Claudio Malacarne, Robert J Morris, Kevin Muente, Stephen Rolfe Powell, George Snyder and Kevin Veara. The exhibition will be on view from May 25th through July 14th, 2018. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

For 28 years, the Marta Hewett Gallery has served as a premiere venue offering finely crafted contemporary art by artists from around the world. The gallery, located in historic Over-the-Rhine in downtown Cincinnati, provides the highest quality works of art for the private collector as well as corporate, entertainment, healthcare, hospitality and liturgical environments. Our staff is also experienced in partnering with artist, architects, consultants and designers to create custom, site specific pieces in a variety of media. The gallery has developed a reputation for introducing exceptionally talented, emerging artists to the art collecting community.

Dorothy Hafner (b.1952) received her BA from Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, where she also completed her post-graduate studies. Trained as a painter and sculptor, Hafner first tried her hand at ceramics, both functional and sculptural in 1973. In the ensuing 15 years she created over 12 lines of tableware, both hand crafted and industrially produced. In 1997, Hafner shifted her focus solely to the flat glass, as painter to canvas. Building layer upon layer of transparent cutouts, she began fusing them together to produce single multi-layered transparent panels, each rich with overlays of her diaphanous imagery.

After working in painting and photography, Tim Harding (b. 1950) became intrigued with the intimacy of fiber and textiles - their textural, tactile richness, the inherent grid of the weave, the pliable plane. His pieces, comprised of cut, layered and stitched bits of silk, have a pixel-like quality reminiscent of pointillism. He uses "simultaneous contrast" - multiple solid colors in tight proximity - to create the kind of vibrant richness associated with the Impressionists. The layering process is a crucial aspect of Harding's work. He uses it to obscure and reveal images beneath the surface. Aiming to capture a visual feel of light, movement, depth - distortions of light in the form of reflections and refractions that allude to space above and below the surface.

Kim Krause (b. 1951) is an artist and educator whose paintings have been included in one hundred and thirty exhibitions including fourteen solo exhibitions. The artist’s work has been purchased for numerous public, private and corporate collections. Krause earned his MFA from Bard College, New York. He is professor of Art at the Art Academy of Cincinnati where he is Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Frank Herrmann (b. 1945) is Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts by the University of Cincinnati. Honors include 2006 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, 2002 & 2001 Authors, Editors, Composers Award from the Friends of the UC Libraries, 2001, Ohio Arts Council Project Grant and the Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1997. The 80" x 79" painting Cimelice Thinking: Fumeripits and the Brazza Baroque completed at Castle Cimelice is now in the collection of the foundation in Prague. In addition, in 2016 Herrmann was awarded a residency at The Studios at MASS MoCA, N Adams, MA.

Ed Bing Lee (b. 1933) has been perfecting his knotting artistry for over 40 years. In 2007, Lee was awarded a Pew Fellowship in Crafts. Working with colored waxed linen thread and thousands upon thousands of knots, Lee transforms a modest material into complex three-dimensional fiber objects. His initial attraction to knotting was its immediacy allowing for great latitude in design, concept and technique. Shaping is possible by using different tensions or knots or different materials. Lee continually returns to art history for visual and conceptual stimulation, which is evident in his brilliant compositions.

Claudio Malacarne (b. 1956) was born in Mantua, a city surrounded by lakes in northern Italy. Over the years he attended the studio of the master Enrico Longfils. Malacarne ranks among the most prolific colorists of our time. His major works and small compositions immediately attract attention for their radical use of color, fueled by a continuous rhythmic play of colors. His full-bodied strokes, stretched out on the canvas with broad gestural action, show a vigorous painting and highly communicative style, bringing the viewer a strong emotional impact. Very often they represent sunny and colorful landscapes, inspired by the Mediterranean.

Robert J. Morris (b. 1949) was born in South Australia and studied in Brisbane and Europe. A painter and sculptor, he held his first solo shown in Brisbane in 1970. It was while living in London in 1987 that the paintings took a new direction. That year Morris was inspired by the Mark Rothko retrospective (1903 - 1970) at the Tate Gallery. Morris soon moved to the United States where he continues to live and work today. Morris has exhibited throughout Australia including solo exhibitions in Sydney and Brisbane. International exhibitions include venues in London, Italy and Tokyo. Morris' work is represented in the Queensland Art Gallery and several institutional collections. Robert J. Morris has exhibited with Marta Hewett Gallery since the gallery opened in 1991.

Kevin Muente (b. 1971) is professor of art at Northern Kentucky University. He received his BFA in drawing and painting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1994 and his MFA in painting from the University of Cincinnati in 1999. While working for nationally-known mural artist Timothy Haglund, he assisted in the production of murals at the Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee, the Johnson Wax Worldwide Headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin, and at several private residences. Muente has previously taught at the Milwaukee Art Museum and Missouri Western State College. Muente has exhibited his work regionally, nationally and internationally including Sag Harbor, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Boston, MA, Ashville, NC, Knoxville, TN, Jacksonville, FL and Aalborg, Denmark.

Stephen Rolfe Powell (b. 1951) was born in Birmingham, Alabama and studied painting and ceramics at Centre College and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1974. Between 1980 and 1983 he attended Louisiana State University and earned a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics. It was during this time that Powell had his first experience with glass and it has since become a full-time obsession. In addition to producing his work at his studio in Danville KY, he teaches glass Centre College where he has been a professor since 1983. Powell was integral in founding the renowned glass program at Centre College in 1985.

George Snyder (b. 1951) has been exploring space and time on canvas for over four decades, he was educated at Marshall University and received his MFA at the University of North Carolina where he realized his connection with abstract, constructivist and minimalist artists. Born in Charleston, West Virginia Snyder became fascinated with geometry, pattern, color and exquisite craftsmanship through his early memories of his grandmother’s beautiful, colored quilt patterns. Snyder uses color and pattern with the taste and sophistication of both the great contemporary colorists and the best craftsmen, this combination gives the work dynamic visual presence as well as a connection with traditional art forms.

Kevin Veara (b. 1962) received his MFA from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale in 1991. Since 1992 he has been the owner of Black Moon Tattoos in Springfield IL. A native of Springfield IL, Veara's studio is surrounded by forest designated as a nature preserve that is home to a myriad species of birds who frequent the feeders outside his windows. Here on the steep forested banks and flood plains of the Sangamon River the artist finds his inspiration. His observations are in tune with the natural time – a calendar based of the arrival and departure of the birds.