artspace Media Release

March 17, 2005

Contact: Jennifer Bridges, Administrator

Phone: 804.232.6464/ Fax: 804.232.6465

Email: artspacegallery@att.net

Address: artspace @ Plant Zero

Zero East 4th Street

Richmond, VA 23224

Images available online by selecting the exhibition links below.

Upcoming Gallery Exhibitions @ artspace

Exhibition Dates: April 22 – May 22, 2005

Exhibitions: Chris Semtner

Somewhere Else: Paintings by Chris Semtner

Frable Gallery

Jane Vaught

U-Bahn Graffiti

Helena Davis Gallery

James Dustin

Town & Country

Main Gallery

Etta Edwards

Retrospective

Members’ Gallery

Opening Reception: Friday, April 22 from 7-10 PM

Closing Date: Sunday, May 22, 2005

*Exhibition details follow*

Richmond, VA— artspace, is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibitions running 4/22 - 5/22.

Exhibiting in the Frable gallery is Artspace member Chris Semtner. Somewhere Else, his latest group of acrylic paintings of interiors, is a continuation of a series which began when he realized that what can be painted or seen could never compete with what is left to the imagination. Semtner’s paintings turned away from the depiction of scenes or events to the suggestions of the moment before or after an event. Drama was no longer represented but implied. Whatever action is taking place is happening somewhere else, just out of view. The ideal subject for such paintings became the darkened interiors of old homes because Semtner could depict the windows, doors, and staircases which all lead to somewhere else while leaving that unseen other place up to the viewer’s imagination.

Artspace member Jane Vaught is featured in the Helena Davis gallery. U-Bahn Graffiti is a presentation of Vaught’s latest series of photography. This latest series subjects the city of Berlin, Germany from the U-Bahn rail system. Vaught, inspired by the fluid nature of the city notes that Berlin has constantly reinvented itself throughout its history; it has been a bastion of religious tolerance and free-thinking under Frederick the Great, a hoyden during the 20s, a malevolent regime under the Nazis, and lastly, a politically and physically divided city for over 40 years. Vaught’s photographs of Berlin taken through the graffiti-etched windows of the U-Bahn reflect this perspective. The abstract images scratched into the windows of the train became a continuously changing foreground for the city as the blaze of changing sunlight transforms the marks into fluid graphic metaphors.

Presented in the Main gallery is James Dustin’s Town & Country. Dustin’s work consists of drawings and paintings based on small architectural Pavilion Models that are designed to frame the landscape. The models are taken out into the local landscape and photographed, documenting the changing light and views. The paintings and drawings are then constructed based on the photos and exhibited with the models.

The “Town” body of work was created when Dustin’s studio was located in Brooklyn, NY and features paintings and drawings of small architectural pavilion models framing views of Manhattan and Brooklyn. The “Country” work has been created during the last year, after the artist moved his studio to Greene County in upstate NY. This work shows the fields and mountain views of the Catskills framed by the architectural models.

James Dustin has had solo exhibitions at numerous institutions including the Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN., The Herter Art Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the University Art Gallery, Indiana State University, Terre Haute. His works are included in many corporate and private collections around the country.

Featured in the Members’ gallery is a Retrospective of works by past Artspace member Etta Edwards. Organized by Edward’s family and the gallery, this is an exhibition honoring Etta who recently passed away this winter. Edwards was a photographer, dancer and painter. Her work spanned more than six decades and explored a variety of mediums. She was an active participant in the Richmond arts community.

Artspace is a non-profit art gallery dedicated to the understanding and awareness of contemporary visual and performing arts. Founded in 1988, Artspace is a member-run organization. Artspace is open Wednesday through Sunday, from 12 to 4 pm and by appointment. artspace is located at Zero East 4th Street within Plant Zero, in the recently designated Arts District in Manchester, Richmond VA. You can learn more about Artspace and its upcoming events at www.artspacegallery.org.

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