Skoto Gallery

Skoto Gallery is pleased to present a selection of abstract paintings and drawings from the African-American artist Lula Mae Blocton’s Twisted Forms, Transparent Band series, 1981-96. This will be her second solo show at the gallery and continues the historical survey started in the first exhibition dedicated to the 1970s.The exhibition is on view through January 27, 2024. From the very beginning of her career, Lula Mae Blocton has been described as a colorist. As a graduate student at Indiana University in the 1970s, she devoted much of her time to an in-depth study of color. She learned its theory, experimented with its possibilities, and contemplated its cultural symbolism. She did this with passion and determination, inscribing herself in a long line of painters. Her favorite artists – Josef Albers, Johannes Vermeer, Alma W. Thomas and, Samia Halaby – a merging of sophisticated use of color with an architectural organization of the pictorial space. She followed their examples, putting color, abstraction and light at the center of her preoccupation as a painter. Beyond her formal quest, Blocton has wanted her art to be reflective of her beliefs, her stands for racial equality and LGBTQ rights. Her paintings, formally and philosophically, have stood by these ideals. Lula Mae Blocton’s entire lifework makes the case that being a colorist and an abstractionist does not necessitate stepping back from political activism. Unlike her color grids of the 1970s that explored the full color spectrum, and are at times reminiscent of textile patterns, in the Twisted Forms, Transparent Band series, 1981-1996, Blocton’s work entered a phase of horizontal expansion. Space became the center of the exploration. She remembers “In this series, I aim to create images that would expand the viewer’s perception of space into multiple dimensions”. The works expressed a new level of energy and dynamism. To extend their reach, Blocton started producing multi-panel works – diptychs and triptychs on canvas, and occasionally multi-panel compositions by combining sheets of paper. The three dimensional illusionism in this series is remarkable, turning space in some of these paintings into galactic landscape. It combines sculptural modeling to effects of transparencies and light reflections. To compose these works, Blocton set up still lives in her studio with roles of translucent paper and color grid works set up behind them. The results are drawings and paintings of incredible precision level. These works are made from observation and scrutiny of the object in front of the artist, in the same way Renaissance masters worked and Picasso set up his cubist guitars. Blocton demonstrates impeccable technique and sense of rhythm in these playful and masterful rendering of reality, which appear completely abstract. Blocton is part of the post-war generation of American artists who entered art school when color in abstraction was predominantly associated with the aging abstract expressionist movement. In the sixties and seventies this generation went on to pioneer minimalism and conceptual art, as well as process art and performance art. Figuration was mostly taken up by artists looking to make socio-political statements: the practitioners of pop art, feminist art, and the Black aesthetics movement. The creative scene in this period was as dynamic as ever, but work that defied categorization often struggled to gain notice. Many artists fell through the cracks of art historical narratives, and we are only now coming to understand their contributions. Lula Mae Blocton is one of them. Lula Mae Blocton (b. 1947) is Michigan-born and traces her heritage to a rural community near Selma, Alabama. She earned an MFA from Indiana University and retired as Emeritus Professor at Eastern Connecticut State University in 2014. Barbara Stehle. PhD, Art Historian and Independent curator This exhibition celebrates the release of the 2nd edition of the publication “Lula Mae Blocton: African-American Experience through Color and Pattern”, a 225-page hardcover monograph with autobiographical text by the artist, accompanied with an insightful essay by art historian and independent curator Dr. Barbara Stehle. Published by Palestine Books, the monograph presents an overview with full color images of Lula Mae Blocton’s work from 1970s to the present.

Skoto Gallery is pleased to present Metamorphosis, an exhibition of new works by the American-born sculptor Katherine Taylor. This is the fourth solo exhibition by the artist at the gallery. The reception is on Thursday, September 7th, 6-8 pm. Katherine Taylor’s (KT) recent sculpture continues to explore strategies that fuse her themes and concern for elements drawn from the natural world with an awareness of a vast array of both formal and inherited sculptural traditions and techniques. Highly textured and rigorously constructed, her work starts in the outdoors and draws on the materiality of the landscape, a capacious imaginative energy and a ferocious will to create a body of work of harrowing beauty and insightfulness that constitute a remarkable statement about the interconnectedness of nature and the human spirit. Her practice of swapping tree bark textures for their animal counterparts creates subtle and uncanny mimicry that results in sculptures appearing to be in a state of constant flux: a strange back-and-forth that gives the viewer what the artist calls a sense of visual refreshment. In the artist’s own words: “Texture swapping involves the meticulous process of capturing the intricate details of various natural textures and then seamlessly blending them with unexpected counterparts. The juxtaposition of these textures results in a captivating fusion that surprises, intrigues, and provokes contemplation. By taking elements from the environment and swapping them out with one another, I aim to inspire a newfound appreciation for the beauty and complexity of the world around us” Included in the exhibition is “Porcustick, 2022”, a remarkable stainless steel piece that marries the texture of magnolia seed pods and budding tree branches. The sculpture invites tactile exploration, provoking sensations that mirror the porcupine’s defense mechanism. Bark Owl, 2023, masterfully plays on the ability of this nocturnal bird of prey to disguise among the trees. By employing the unique texture swapping technique, the very essence of the owl's perch is captured in the sculpture's texture. As you gaze upon the intricately molded form, you'll witness the symbiotic relationship between the bark texture and the bird, discovering the secrets woven into their visual harmony, much like a hidden 'Easter egg' waiting to be uncovered. KT’s artistry lies in her careful selection of textures, resulting in a sensory invasion that challenges preconceived notions of both art and nature. KT is a prolific artist who divides her time between Texas, the Adirondack Mountains, and northern Spain, where her foundry, Alfa Arte, is located. She is presently working on a 'prairie dog' sculpture commission for the Museum of the Southwest located in Midland, TX. In addition to enriching its permanent collection, the artist's task involves not only creating a visually engaging 'prairie dog' sculpture but also ensuring its educational significance, offering insights into the lives of these creatures. Next year, “Falcon”, a large metal sculpture with an astonishing 14-foot wingspan, completed in 2023 is scheduled for installation at the University of Texas Permian Basin. The resulting artwork aptly captures the vivacity and essence of the university's beloved Falcon mascot.

On the Edge: Works from the 1980s Ben Ajaero Saheed Pratt May 13 – June 17, 2023 Skoto Gallery is pleased to present On the Edge: Works from the 1980s, an exhibition of paintings and mixed media works by Nigeria-born artists Ben Ajaero and Saheed Pratt. Both artists have exhibited with the gallery several times over the years, and were included in the gallery’s inaugural exhibition that was curated by the late Ornette Coleman in 1992. The reception is on Saturday, May 13, 4-6pm. At a time when so much attention is being given to the works of African artists who live and work outside Africa by curators and exhibition organizers in the West in constructing narratives on contemporary African art practice, this exhibition highlights an intimate engagement with works by two Lagos-based artists whose works mine the microcosm of their culture for symbols that can be universally understood, it provides an alternative stance in the repositioning and rewriting of art historical discourse with insightful commentaries and observations on the social, economic and political realities of modern Africa. Ben Ajaero is a leading member of his generation whose work consistently explores the possibilities inherent in painting with remarkable elegance and lyrical beauty that speaks to the reality of Africa’s existence. A self-taught artist and an astute observer of the world around him, Ajaero strives to integrate his rich and varied cultural experience into a critical framework that engage with issues of history, identity and authenticity. He is aware of function and experiment as well as harmony and dissonance. Ajaero draws on a deep understanding of Africa’s philosophical and aesthetic concepts in his approach to making art, eschewing notions of traditional standard of beauty in favor of a more personal approach with a resourceful exploitation of unorthodox materials and textured surfaces. He dismisses the concept of perspectives in his work opting for a more direct two-dimensional presentation that creates the illusion of perspective by crudely overlapping objects within the picture space. The visual resonance in his work is undeniable, attesting to his ability to seamlessly fuse ancient and modern concepts and aesthetics in his search for creative excellence. He presently lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria. Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Saheed Pratt is a master story–teller who draws from his rich Yoruba cultural heritage as well as a cosmopolitan consciousness to create work that explores themes of memory, history, migration and the passage of time through the filter of personal experience. His work expertly exploits the ambiguities arising between darkness and radiance, abstraction and figuration as well as the intriguing play between formal intention and narrative potential. His rich complex composition draws on the visual traditions of concepts or figures in Yoruba cosmology and mythology as well as modern art in a manner that is neither superficial nor eclectic, but rooted firmly in his belonging to both cultures. He is a firm believer in the notion that modern artists in the African continent must dig deep into fertile soil with implement of creativity, he is aware of the creative process as a restless engagement with fleeting properties and strives to convey to the viewer the physical and mental engagement of the artist in his work. He is a widely exhibited artist whose work is in several collections at home and abroad.