Events

Nov

2011

Steve Olson Solo

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011- January 15th.

Opening Reception 12/3/11 6-10 pm

I first met Steve Olson at an event at CSG. He was an imposing guy with a great smile, and immediately we had a rapport. He began to relate his extensive experience in the Minneapolis art scene, and being a newbie myself, I was rapt with attention. (He is best known for his ‘Brickman‘ sculpture atop the Olson Advertising firm next to Lurcat.) He spoke of the days in the early 80s, when secret underground shows would be held in abandoned warehouses and high rises being built. The energy and enthusiasm translated to sales, when Minneapolis galleries were in league with New York. Apparently, those were the days.

The next week, Steve invited me to Lundstrom Center of the Performing Arts , where several of his pieces inhabit their gallery walls. I was struck by the intensity of emotion and extraordinary attention to form, negative space, and craftsmanship. Each piece was surrounded by beautiful hand carved frames, and other elements like candles were situated so the pieces are more sculptural than painterly.

I began to understand the charge of emotion each piece portrays, and I began to think about how easy and comfortable my life has suddenly become, related to others who are not as fortunate. Steve’s work encompasses meaning and compassion, absurdity and consort, conveying understanding between people whether they are the 99% or the 1%. He has moved far beyond discussing color theories, negative space and composition. He has conquered logistics and materials. He has arrived at this place, where his work is meaningful beyond the object, and enters a state of emotional maturity and integrity.

“White Light, White Heat”, carved wood and mixed media, 48″x36″.

“The Puppet”, carved wood and stain, 36″x24″.

“Comfort the Afflicted”, carved wood and mixed media, 36″x36″.

“Soup Supper”, Carved wood and stain, 36″x24″.

“Prayer for Africa”, carved wood and mixed media, 36″x24″.

“New Best Friend”, wood and mixed media, 36″x36″.

Biography:

Steve Olson of Minneapolis began his career with Forecast Public Artspace. After seeing “The Times Square Show” in a condemned building in NYC, he produced “the black show” in 1981 on 4th Ave. and Lake St. in Minneapolis in a warehouse building. Over 100 visual artists along with dancers, poets and musicians filled the building. In 1982 he joined the downtown gallery world with numerous solo and group shows. In 1996, he switched from canvas to wood and began portraying social justice issues in the spectrum of the human condition. In 2000, he created “Brickzilla”, the brickman sculpture on the roof of OLSON advertising on 16th and Hennepin. The same year, he began his association with the affordable housing group, The Family Housing Fund. “The Fund” brought his work not only to galleries and museums but to the mayors’ offices in the Twin Cities, the State Capitol, public schools and institutions like the United Way and the Minneapolis Foundation to name a few.
This exhibit at Cult Status marks his foray full circle back to the cutting edge where he feels most at home. “I long to see new forms in a constantly evolving language which is what I’ve witnessed in the diversity of exhibits and multiple fresh approaches at Cult Status Gallery.”

Exhibitions
Family Housing Fund, Minneapolis, Minnesota, multiple exhibitions 2000-2011. Collaborated
on a number of projects related to housing and homelessness, including three traveling
exhibitions, fine-art prints, posters, calendars, and annual reports.
Permanent Gallery Installation, Lundstrum Center for the Performing Arts, Minneapolis,
Minneapolis, 2008-present
The Brick Man, 2001, rooftop sculpture in public space, 1625 Hennepin Ave. Minneapolis,
Minnesota
Solo exhibition, Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis.2006
Solo exhibition, Frank Stone Gallery, Minneapolis, 2005
Group Exhibition, Tyler Street Gallery, Minneapolis, 2003
Solo Exhibition, , Minneapolis, 2002
Daisy Cutter, Group Exhibition, Gallery Schmallery, Minneapolis, 2002
Domestic Abuse Project, Group Exhibition, Minneapolis, Minneapolis, 1999
Solo Exhibition, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minneapolis, 1998
Frank Gaard, Aldo Moroni, Melisa Stang, Steve Olson, The Lounge, Minneapolis, MN, 1997
Solo Exhibition, Southwest State University, Marshall, Minnesota, 1996
Solo Exhibition, M.C. Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1994
Solo Exhibition, M.C. Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1992
Group Exhibition, Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1991
Solo Exhibition, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, 1990
Solo Exhibition, Broadway Gallery, Detroit, Michigan, 1988
Solo Exhibition, M.C. Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1985
Steve Olson and Peter Williams, Barry Richard Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1984
Preview 84, Group Show of Emerging Artists, Jewish Community Center of Minneapolis,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1984
Group Show, The St. Paul Companies Corporate Offices, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1984
Group Shows, Barry Richard Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1982-84
Group Show, First Bank Minneapolis Headquarters, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1982
________________________________________________________________________
Community
Family Housing Fund, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2000-2011
Book Cover, “Deprived of Dignity,” 1998. Provided artwork for publication by Angel Press, a
series of essays about children of the streets and life after welfare in Minneapolis.
The Black Show, 1981. Producer of 100-person music, dance, poetry, visual arts event in
warehouse, Forecast Pubic Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
_______________________________________________________________________
Collections
Family Housing Fund
U.S. Bank, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Law Firm, Minneapolis, Minnesota
RBC Dain Rauscher, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Rockler Companies, Medina, Minnesota
Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Private Collections

Since the inception of Cult Status, we have been dedicated to showing young emerging artists. With our new solo series, we are stepping into the realm of showcasing established and, in Steve’s case, mid-career artists, which is extremely exciting. Cult Status is proud to be a part of the burgeoning Twin Cities art scene.

Hours by Appointment

612-965-9162

Steve’s Website

Posted in Events, News by Erin |

Oct

2011

Gina Louise Solo Show: S.E.A. 10

Did you see that? Cult Status is proud to announce the first in our series of solo shows — Gina Louise: S.E.A. 10!

November 11th, 2011 ~11.11.11~ 7pm-1am

If you don’t know who the infamous Gina Louise is, then surely you haven’t been to any art openings in the last 5 years. Gina is an MCADian, has shown all over the 612/651, is an original ‘Cult Sister,’ has worked as a museum sculptor (even creating the Grizzly exhibit at the MNZoo), and uses painting and sculpture interchangeably and equally proficiently.

Using all sorts of industrial materials was part of her position as museum sculptor, and those influences have established themselves in her gallery work as well. Always the experimenter, and whose favorite color is ‘construction worker orange’, Gina never ceases to create environments of comfort and softness in a rigid steel world.

Last winter, Gina visited South East Asia on an extended trip, and there was inspired by the urban environments, colors and local women. She drew hundreds of drawings based on those experiences, and has spent the last 4 months on sabbatical in Seattle creating 150 paintings based on those drawings.

In her own words:

While the individual pieces for S.E.A. 10 are themselves not rigidly rendered, my self-imposed parameters of process were methodical in nature. My intent is that each piece is a visual conversation reduced further and further down. In this way the true disposition of each moment being referenced is able to unfold.
part 1: pictures
I am by no means a photographer, however it was ultimately necessary to document the compositional junctures that grabbed me, so I could work with them upon returning to the studio.
part 2: drawings
Next, using the photos as reference, I drew from them. Only 5″ x 8″ in size, they are small drawings meant to be held close.
part 3: paintings
Lastly, no longer referencing the original photograph, only a completed drawing, I distill and paint said compositional moment.
At 24″ x 36″, each painting is larger than the corresponding drawing. However, the paintings are small enough to still feel intimate.

Gina Louise is a sculptor and painter born 1972 in St.Paul, Minnesota, USA. In 1994 she received her B.F.A in Sculpture from Minneapolis College of Art & Design.

Within Louise’s artwork, the most predominate propositions materialize as an acknowledgment to what she sees as both the important visual conversations as well as the tactile leftover layers of our unified human imprint upon the landscape in flux. The structural footing which visually underlies all of Louise’s art is her reverence for the “Industrial Installations” of her childhood, IE. oil refineries, grain elevators and concrete batch plants.
Fundamentally, her work investigates the compositions we may pass daily which might otherwise be overlooked; the underdog compositions, the scraps of our existence.
Through her sculpture, this compositional conversation generally presents itself simply with the materials themselves. For example, the juxtaposition of steel, concrete, plastic and soft fabric elements. However, within her painting and drawing this consistently spills out as flattened form and line referencing the chosen context.