Leslie Powell Foundation Gallery unveils new art exhibitions

Childhood wanderings and the unpredictability of art-making are the themes of two new art exhibitions being shown at the Leslie Powell Foundation Gallery.

The Gallery is opening Wild Life: A Girl Remembers, by Janice Mathews-Gordon and In Transit-Destination Unknown, by Agnes Stadler from 6-8 p.m. Sept. 14 at 620 SW D Ave.

Mathews-Gordon strives to give form to personal ideas, feelings and experiences through her paintings, according to a press release. In Wild Life, she explores the immersive wanderings of childhood, which are frequently lost to adults.

“I paint to express this immersion once again — to recreate that spine-tingling feeling of daring, exhilaration and amazed discovery a child may experience when left to their own imaginings,” Mathews-Gordon said.

Her approach to making art echoes these sensations.

“Sometimes I sketch a thumbnail design first; other times I just begin, and the painting takes shape intuitively and freely,” Mathews-Gordon said. “It’s an exploratory time as fragments of childhood occur to me. This active process helps me create a youthful energy on canvas.”

The series is also a nod to her childhood in the 1960s and 1970s, the release said. Mathews-Gordon recalls the period as a time “when the hardened status quo was countered by a newfound idealism, when meaningful equality and justice seemed within the larger grasp.” She invites the viewer to remember what it was like when they were kids while interacting with her work.

“My parents were activists in the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement,” Mathews-Gordon said. “My sisters were kind of in the middle of all that, but we lived in a real treed neighborhood. I’m reflecting on some of the good things about childhood, which is kind of a feeling of running loose and among houses. As a kid, you think of this forest, but really just overgrown foliage areas that you find to explore.”

As time moves on, Mathews-Gordon continues to see the whimsy of life.

“I guess I’m in the time of life where my mother is still alive and aging, my children are now grown and now I have grandchildren,” Mathews-Gordon said. “I’m just thinking about the arc of life and how quickly it goes, remembering the way it was for me when I grew up.”

Mathews-Gordon lives and works in Oklahoma City, the release said. She received her graduate degree in painting from Oklahoma City University and her bachelor’s degree in fine art from Westminster College in Fulton, Miss.

“I had a graphic design business for 20+ years,” Mathews-Gordon said. “I owned my own business and since then, I’ve been painting professionally. It’s mixed media so it’s acrylic paint and then I usually introduce some kind of element in there.”

Mathews-Gordon has interesting plans for the exhibition.

“What I have for Lawton is acrylic paint and then I’ve got some charcoal marks in it too. They’re kind of upbeat and abstract, they have a lot of symbolism and stylized shapes.”

Her paintings are in many private and corporate collections including ADG Blatt, Oklahoma City University School of Law and Northcare Behavioral Health Center, the release said. She is the current President of the Paseo Art Association Board of Directors in Oklahoma City. Her work is shown by JRB Art at the Elms in Oklahoma City’s historic Paseo Art District, Joseph Fine Art in Tulsa and TerraRosa Galley in Guthrie.

“I just love art,” Mathews-Gordon said. “I think art is for everybody, not just artist per se. That includes writing, theater, film and all that. I’m just a firm believer that creativity, in all its forms, whether you do it yourself or experience it, is just a very rich part of life.”

Stadler, a self-taught fiber artist, views the art-making process as a road trip, the release said. Though a person can pre-plan a trip with GPS and scheduled excursions, those plans can be rewritten.

The decisions that alter the original plans are the best part of the creative process for Stadler.

“I move from one concept to the next, from one variation to another, following an exciting creative journey,” Stadler said.

Stadler’s exhibit represents a selection of her work inspired by folk art and more traditional views of quilt making, the release said. The quilts are juxtaposed with her recent exploration of abstract art and complex techniques with a minimalist view of the quilting process. The result is a woven map of Stadler’s artistic progression. Though it’s impossible to predict where the next stop is for her, she plans to enjoy the ride.

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Stadler wsa raised partly in Havana, Cuba, the release said. She moved to the U.S. over 25 years ago and lives in Edmond. Her quilts are inspired by mid-century modern aesthetics, a variety of folklore themes and outsider art. Stadler’s work has been shown in QuiltCon, Fabric Artists of Oklahoma and Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum as well as in Budapest. She is a member of many different organizations including the Modern Quilt Guild, Fiber Artists of Oklahoma and Artspace@Untitled.

Both exhibitions are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Matthew Hughes at (580) 951-0590 or at [email protected].