An Idea of Order

Juried Exhibition - An Idea of Order

The title of this exhibit is inspired by the poem "An Idea of Order at Key West" by Wallace Stevens. Artists have employed mathematics to bring visual harmony to our surroundings with tools such as the golden ratio, perspective and grid systems. From the intricate symmetry of Islamic tile design, to the measured drawings of Agnes Martin, mathematics can create visual harmony and give a sense of order to what appears to be chaotic.

An Idea of Order seeks work in all media that employs systematic, structure, number, pattern, and shape as an inherent component of expression. Artworks that are concerned with the logic of shape, quantity and arrangement as organizing principles are appropriate, as well as works that are related to sequence, timing and movement.

About the Juror: Joe Chesla

The artwork of this internationally exhibited artist reveals the hidden beauty of natural order and organic process by omitting parts that are superfluous. What remains is a collaboration between Artist and Nature. His aesthetic blends craftsmanship and technical expertise with the eastern sensibilities of balance, harmony, simplicity, and economy of material.

Combining wood and skillfully crafted metal parts, Chesla creates unique, yet oddly familiar sculptures, which seem to tell part of a larger story. At a glance his sculptures may appear to be random or found “parts” but are, in
fact, deliberate and precise creations. Chesla challenges conventional aesthetics, daring us to see art in his sculptural hybrids of nature and industrialization. Chesla also creates mineral infused “rust” and “salt” prints. Exposing specially treated fibrous paper to the natural processes of oxidization creates the one of a kind “prints”.

Joe Chesla received his MFA from Utah State University and has exhibited internationally. He worked as a proprietor at The Walker Art Center in Kansas City, and as head proprietor at Kemper Museum of Art in Kansas City. Chesla is also the recipient of numerous awards including Utah State University Arts Grant and Utah Arts Council Grant, John Morgan Fellowship, and the George B and Marie Eccles Caine Art Scholarship. He is a Professor at St. Louis Community College— Meramec, and heads the sculpture department where he coordinates the sculpture program.