the SHAPE of LINE

GearBox Gallery is pleased to present the Shape of Line, a group exhibition of five artists working in painting, drawing and sculpture. In her second show at GearBox Gallery, member artist Joni Marie Theodorsen brings together four west coast artists who explore line as an element of their work. Together with Theodorsen, Brian Caraway, Alexander Cheves, Stephanie Dennis, and Laura Rose Komada create the Shape of Line.

In this collective exhibition, there is a thematic insistence through the title, yet each artist works within their own concerns and intentions. Line is a common denominator as a vehicle, but the destinations are individualistic, with concerns such as weight, word, memory, color and accumulation to name a few.

When organizing this show, Joni said, “I have a respect for each of these four painters’ work and wanted to create a show that would demonstrate this connection. Line has always been an important and consistent element in my own painting but as a curatorial theme, I feel it’s an elusive subject. It’s not always prevalent in our work, but it is always primary. I wanted an exhibition that brings the idea of line to the viewer as an important subject or building block to regard.”

About the Artists:

Brian Caraway is an Oakland based painter, printmaker and sculpture investigating a calculated, geometric division of space through line and color. He received his MFA from Mills College.

Alexander Cheves is a Bay Area Artist working in oil, wood, plaster, concrete and steel, looking at relationships between man-made, industrial structures and the California landscape that absorbs it. He received his MFA from Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.

Stephanie Dennis received her MFA from the University of Washington, Seattle in Painting. Her abstract drawings and paintings investigate ideas about place, loss and belonging, and often depict tenuously-structured forms that speak to our sense of vulnerability.

Laura Rose Komada is a Seattle based visual artist whose paintings begin with single words that dissolve into webs of line and color. She received her MFA at the University of Washington in printmaking and painting.

Joni Marie Theodorsen is a Bay Area artist assembling line in various media into atmospheric spaces with an eye towards the horizon. She received her MFA at the University of Washington, Seattle.