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Since its inception, the Rourke has been dedicated to searching out young talent in our region and providing these emerging artists with a professional platform. Many of the most successful artists to come from Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota got their start at the Rourke. Raised on the Red is a two-part show that celebrates this rich history.
Raised on the Red: Masters
In the Gustavian and Katherine Kilbourne Bergum Galleries we will be showcasing work by artists who got their start at the Rourke and went on to great careers. This show will feature permanent collection works by artists such as Fritz Scholder, Gordon Mortensen, Phillip Thompson, and Brian Paulsen. The Rourke is proud to have provided these artists with an exhibition space to help further their remarkable artistic development.
Raised on the Red: The Next Generation
Following in the footsteps of our founder, James O'Rourke, the museum staff has spent the past several months seeking out some of the best young talent in our region. Visiting studios from Fargo to Fergus Falls, we have had the pleasure of meeting with the artists who will comprise the next generation of greats from the Red River Valley. The challenge we gave ourselves was to find artists who have not yet been widely shown in our area, artists who may be new to our visitors. We have been impressed with what we've seen, and we're excited to bring this slate of young artists into the Rourke Family.
Shaina Davis
Shaina Davis was born and raised in Crookston, MN. She attended Minnesota State University of Moorhead and in 2010 received her BFA with an emphasis in Printmaking and a minor in Art History. A year after graduation she attended graduate school at Ohio University and received her MFA in 2014. She is currently living at her grandparents’ farm house in Gardner, ND where she enjoys working in her basement studio.
Davis’ work is the basic deconstruction of the shapes found in nature. She is most inspired by the forms and configurations she finds when examining elements at a macro level.
Shaina Davis was born and raised in Crookston, MN. She attended Minnesota State University of Moorhead and in 2010 received her BFA with an emphasis in Printmaking and a minor in Art History. A year after graduation she attended graduate school at Ohio University and received her MFA in 2014. She is currently living at her grandparents’ farm house in Gardner, ND where she enjoys working in her basement studio.
Davis’ work is the basic deconstruction of the shapes found in nature. She is most inspired by the forms and configurations she finds when examining elements at a macro level.
Kaylyn Gerenz
Born in Ardoch, ND, Kaylyn Gerenz grew up in Bismarck. In 2011, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead with an emphasis in sculpture. She is a recipient of multiple student and professional awards, including the Career Development Grant from the Lake Region Arts Council. For the past seven years, Gerenz has worked in art museum in the Fargo-Moorhead area and is currently the Programs Director at the Rourke Art Museum. She will be attending graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Fall 2015.
Gerenz uses familiar animal forms to create objects which are both comforting and repulsive. Her animal installations and sculptures depict an uncanny resemblance to their real life counterparts, yet the deliberate departures from natural anatomy create a sense of narrative. Growing up on a farm, at a young age Gerenz became familiar with the cyclical nature of life and death. Her work communicates the fragility of the living spirit and also the harshness of the wild environment. Gerenz employs the use of hand-felted wool because its malleable and tangible qualities, while pairing it with other organic materials to create lush and textured surfaces.
Born in Ardoch, ND, Kaylyn Gerenz grew up in Bismarck. In 2011, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead with an emphasis in sculpture. She is a recipient of multiple student and professional awards, including the Career Development Grant from the Lake Region Arts Council. For the past seven years, Gerenz has worked in art museum in the Fargo-Moorhead area and is currently the Programs Director at the Rourke Art Museum. She will be attending graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Fall 2015.
Gerenz uses familiar animal forms to create objects which are both comforting and repulsive. Her animal installations and sculptures depict an uncanny resemblance to their real life counterparts, yet the deliberate departures from natural anatomy create a sense of narrative. Growing up on a farm, at a young age Gerenz became familiar with the cyclical nature of life and death. Her work communicates the fragility of the living spirit and also the harshness of the wild environment. Gerenz employs the use of hand-felted wool because its malleable and tangible qualities, while pairing it with other organic materials to create lush and textured surfaces.
Warren Kessler
Warren W. Kessler has received national recognition for his watercolor, acrylic, and oil paintings, earning multiple awards and accolades. Featured in several prominent art magazines, including Acrylic Artist Magazine in Fall 2014 and was named in “Ones to Watch” in Watercolor Artist Magazine in the December 2009 issue. His work is included in museum, corporate and private collections. Kessler earned his Bachelor of Fine Art Degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 1999. He currently lives and works in Fargo, North Dakota.
Kessler views painting as a visual compilation of thousands of thoughts by the artist; each brush mark is a record of a deliberate decision. The paintings in this exhibit were painted En Plein Air, French for In the Open Air, with the intent to express an impression of the landscape. He chose to use a palette knife to do most of the paint application to create a rich, textured surface and give a sense of movement to the work.
Warren W. Kessler has received national recognition for his watercolor, acrylic, and oil paintings, earning multiple awards and accolades. Featured in several prominent art magazines, including Acrylic Artist Magazine in Fall 2014 and was named in “Ones to Watch” in Watercolor Artist Magazine in the December 2009 issue. His work is included in museum, corporate and private collections. Kessler earned his Bachelor of Fine Art Degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 1999. He currently lives and works in Fargo, North Dakota.
Kessler views painting as a visual compilation of thousands of thoughts by the artist; each brush mark is a record of a deliberate decision. The paintings in this exhibit were painted En Plein Air, French for In the Open Air, with the intent to express an impression of the landscape. He chose to use a palette knife to do most of the paint application to create a rich, textured surface and give a sense of movement to the work.
Sam Norman
Sam Norman received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2013. His elegant, functional ceramic pieces have earned him multiple awards, including "Best Male Artist Award" in the 2012 MSUM Juried Student Show, juried by Michael Byzweski. Norman's work has been exhibited regionally as well as nationally. Currently, Norman is producing work in his own studio, Somerset Clay Studio located in Fergus Falls where he also works as the Studio Technician at M-State Community College.
Norman states that the act of creating utilitarian pottery relates to the fabrication process of flipping hot rods or building custom choppers. Developing beautiful and useful vessels from a lump of clay is related to finding an old classic car in a farmer’s field and bringing it back to life. During this building process, many decisions are made, and problems are solved to reach an aesthetically pleasing result. A combination of wheel throwing and hand building techniques are employed when Norman is developing ceramic vessels. His focus is directed towards smooth, clean, finishes. Glossy glazes are blended over each other through the process of spraying to coincide with the fluent forms, reinforcing an overall clean aesthetic. Norman’s desire and inspiration for clean surfaces comes from growing up and observing his dad, a handy man that seemed to be able to fix or build anything. As he would observe, his dad always emphasized the importance of good craftsmanship, making sure all aspects were completely finished.
Sam Norman received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2013. His elegant, functional ceramic pieces have earned him multiple awards, including "Best Male Artist Award" in the 2012 MSUM Juried Student Show, juried by Michael Byzweski. Norman's work has been exhibited regionally as well as nationally. Currently, Norman is producing work in his own studio, Somerset Clay Studio located in Fergus Falls where he also works as the Studio Technician at M-State Community College.
Norman states that the act of creating utilitarian pottery relates to the fabrication process of flipping hot rods or building custom choppers. Developing beautiful and useful vessels from a lump of clay is related to finding an old classic car in a farmer’s field and bringing it back to life. During this building process, many decisions are made, and problems are solved to reach an aesthetically pleasing result. A combination of wheel throwing and hand building techniques are employed when Norman is developing ceramic vessels. His focus is directed towards smooth, clean, finishes. Glossy glazes are blended over each other through the process of spraying to coincide with the fluent forms, reinforcing an overall clean aesthetic. Norman’s desire and inspiration for clean surfaces comes from growing up and observing his dad, a handy man that seemed to be able to fix or build anything. As he would observe, his dad always emphasized the importance of good craftsmanship, making sure all aspects were completely finished.
Eric Syvertson
A native of North Dakota, Eric Syvertson is an artist, educator, and arts advocate based in Fargo. He earned a BA in Art Education from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2008, after which he taught art at West Fargo High School. He recently completed his MFA at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2014. Eric has been an active member in multiple professional arts organizations and has exhibited throughout the region.
As a painter, Syvertson is invested in the ability of imagery to transform interpretations through allegory, personal connections, and nostalgia. Meanwhile, an awareness of the absurdity of creating images by moving colorful sludge around a surface keeps one foot firmly planted in the arena of object making. In creating this series of work, Syvertson is using dinosaurs as an allegory for the lineage of painting. What once were the most awe-inspiring and colossal beings to ever walk the earth now only exist within museum collections. In his paintings dinosaurs are reduced to rubber, childhood toys, a material that will likely far outlast even the most well preserved fossils. The backgrounds for all of the paintings play with space and illusion on a two-dimensional surface as they depict various impossible objects pulled from 1980’s coloring books. Syvertson has used these patterns to paint these three-dimensional objects that are only possible because of the two-dimensional surface they are created upon.
A native of North Dakota, Eric Syvertson is an artist, educator, and arts advocate based in Fargo. He earned a BA in Art Education from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2008, after which he taught art at West Fargo High School. He recently completed his MFA at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2014. Eric has been an active member in multiple professional arts organizations and has exhibited throughout the region.
As a painter, Syvertson is invested in the ability of imagery to transform interpretations through allegory, personal connections, and nostalgia. Meanwhile, an awareness of the absurdity of creating images by moving colorful sludge around a surface keeps one foot firmly planted in the arena of object making. In creating this series of work, Syvertson is using dinosaurs as an allegory for the lineage of painting. What once were the most awe-inspiring and colossal beings to ever walk the earth now only exist within museum collections. In his paintings dinosaurs are reduced to rubber, childhood toys, a material that will likely far outlast even the most well preserved fossils. The backgrounds for all of the paintings play with space and illusion on a two-dimensional surface as they depict various impossible objects pulled from 1980’s coloring books. Syvertson has used these patterns to paint these three-dimensional objects that are only possible because of the two-dimensional surface they are created upon.