Past Exhibit

Two artists present very different sets of paintings that illustrate Sarah Bree’s short story ‘The Base Pair,’ from her long-forgotten book Fables Without Morals

August 20 - September 13, 2007
reception: August 23, 2007

The George Caleb Bingham Gallery is pleased to announce a joint exhibition of works by MU Art Department Assistant Professors Nathan Boyer and Brett Grill.

Both artists address themes of popular culture, art history, and the nature of narrative but from different perspectives and with different methods. Grill draws from the vernacular of Americana, packing his paintings full of imagery from Norman Rockwell illustrations and antique shops. Boyer’s paintings reference computer games and other virtual spaces yet embrace the visual language of 19th-century Romanticism, in particular the landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich.

While immersed in history, these artists share skepticism about the veracity of historical narrative. The show’s title reflects this skepticism. The author, Sarah Bree, and her texts are themselves a fiction, created by Boyer and Grill as a vehicle for conversation between their works.

MU hired Boyer and Grill last year to teach drawing and painting. Boyer received his MFA from the Yale School of Art in 2002. Grill completed his graduate studies in 2003 at the New York Academy of Art. Both have exhibited their work widely and have received numerous international and national residencies and awards.

The exhibition will run from Monday August 20 through Thursday September 13, 2007. A reception will be held in the Bingham Gallery on Thursday, August 23 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm. Both the exhibition and reception are both free and open to the public.

Click each image on the right to see a larger one.

Nathan Boyer
Full Feeling of Sublime
(detail)
2007
8" x 10"

Brett Grill
Precipitation, Collection, Assembly
(detail)
2007
46" x 56"
oil on linen

Nathan Boyer
Weakest Feeling of Sublime
(detail)
2007
8" x 10"

Brett Grill
Untitled: A Study
(detail)
2007
5" x 5"
oil on paper

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