The Global Warming Series: A Collaboration
May 12-June 13, 2022
Opening Reception: 6-9 pm, Thursday, May 12.
StudioKroner brings together two highly regarded artists —David J Emerson Young and Dena Hawes— who offer very different approaches to addressing global warming, yet both honor the beauty of the earth as a source of inspiration.
"The Global Warming Series" anchors Studio Kroner's month-long “ALL ELSE PALES” exhibit and programs exploring the environment.
David J Emerson Young
In the paintings of David J Emerson Young, one must grapple with the contrast of beauty inherent in the artwork itself and the horror of the environmental degradation they portray. The scale of the work further demands a reconciliation of this conflict.
Dena Hawes
Dena Hawes’s current work combines elements from nature, such as driftwood and creek stones, with metal work. Bound in juxtaposition, the collision of man and nature draw attention to and appreciation of both—as if seeking a peaceful union of materials.
Young’s Artist’s Statement:
“All of the paintings in The Global Warming Series are based on scientific accuracy and were vetted by scientists. The series addresses three topics: the causes, the effects on nature, and the after-effects on humans. Each work explores what I call ‘the complexity of emotional opposition’—simultaneously bringing forth the beauty of nature and the devastation that is occurring.”
About David Young:
David Young is a painter and sculptor from Bloomington, IN. A graduate of Indiana University, Young had a long and storied career in advertising and design, including the founding of Young & Laramore Advertising where his creative work earned national and international acclaim.
A lifelong fine artist—one who scribbled sketches in the margins grade-school math books—dozens of his public sculptures adorn the Indiana State Museum as well as other locations in his home city of Indianapolis.
The Global Warming Series was first exhibited at the American University of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq where high-quality giclee prints are now on permanent exhibit.
David's book "Figures and Landscapes" and Giclee prints of his paintings and drawings will be for sale at StudioKroner during their show,
Hawes’s Artist’s Statement:
“I argue that natural objects found in nature inherently contain different kinds of meaning that are more complex than that of traditional artmaking materials, such as metal and pigment. I find that certain pieces of driftwood and certain found creek stones can act as symbols or pointers to potent memories. They offer a sense of timelessness, as the long-lived processes that wear them down to form evocative shapes, that are themselves, and in my mind, complete with a kind of eternal value. When such shapes become mentally internalized, they form a psychological relationship between life and art.”
About Dena Hawes:
Dena Hawes is a multi-media artist who resides in Bloomington, IN. Her art has been exhibited nationally and internationally since 1994. She earned a BA from Indiana University; MFA from University of California, Santa Barbara; and PhD in Peace Studies and Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.
In addition to teaching art and contemporary art issues at universities, she was also an IIE Professional Development Fellow researching conflict resolution and regional security matters in the Republic of Georgia, and Hawes authored the book: Why Art Matters: Artists and Peacebuilding as well as many articles and poetry. Her most recent work unites her background with art seeking resolution between nature and modern life.
