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Chicago based artist Nancy Bechtol uses landscapes to encourage her viewers to go beyond the surface of the painting to the hidden truth. In her photography, Bechtol is concerned with using the medium as a “journey”. Her landscapes serve as metaphors for the transformative experiences in our lives. In each of her works, Bechtol has cultivated an emotional connection that communicates outside the visual and real space that it represents.
-Robert Berry, Curator
"Eyes of the World" 2010
"From the Dust"
Icosahedron Gallery
NYC
ART DIGITAL MAGAZINE by Max Eternity. Interviewed 9.26.09
"Nancy Bechtol-Chaotic Zen"
Nancy Bechtol is an internationally exhibited, multi-media artist who creates stream-of-consciousness themed electronic paintings, video, installations and photography. A self-avowed urbanite, Bechtol employs her art as a tool for transcending the discord of disillusionment often found in the metropolitan landscape; providing inspirational revelations through creative imagery–offering opportunities for evolutionary change. for full interview and pics:
http://admag.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/nancy-betchol-chaotic-zen/
HAPPY FACES CHICAGO
http://happyfaceschicago.blogspot.com/2008/09/blog-installation-no-6-ossia-fine-arts.html
HAPPY FACES CHICAGO IS ABOUT ART, ARTISTS, AND CULTURE IN CHICAGO
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2008
Blog Installation No. 6: Ossia Fine Arts Gallery
This blog installation is part of Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, showing through November 1, 2008, at Ossia Fine Arts Space in the Fine Arts Building. For the duration of the show, anyone coming into the gallery on Fridays from noon to 4 p.m. will be part of the blog.
Nancy Bechtol, artist and videographer/photographer, stopped by the gallery. She commented, "The pieces show natural formations but you also get the sense of the urban. They are contained within boundaries, like a grid, but there is an expansiveness to them. You are brought into the pieces and they contain their own universe. You see an intensity of craftsmanship and beauty of an intricate nature."
A Chicago artist whose work spans several media and styles over a 25-year period, Nancy is currently getting ready for her upcoming ARC gallery member show (Does It Matter?), which will feature her Light Ride Series of digital photography. For this series, while her husband drove on the expressways and through small towns in Illinois, she sat next to him and "drew with her camera" to capture spontaneous impressions of direct and reflected light from objects around her in the early morning hours. She has also been working continuously since 1999 on another series entitled Freaks: Viruses, Trojans and Other Variants, which includes photographs of people with disjointed features to show them as symbolic viruses (like computer viruses with personalities).
Earlier in her career, she studied painting with Don Baum, artist and curator, and was influenced by the Hairy Who, the early Chicago Imagists. Earning an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she was inspired by pioneering video artist Phil Morton, founder of the Video Area.
Nancy Bechtol. Graphic Woman Walks. 2007. From the UnReal Landscape Series. Digital photo manipulations. Printed on archival paper.
"My art is really a mixed bag. I adapt for my audience, and whatever works for the concept is what I have used or invented. Currently I work in digital photography and video, both experimental and documentary style. As an artist I often reinvent myself."
Her recent exhibitions include: 50 Years of PowWow, American Indian Center, production and postproduction of DVD/video Four Circles of PowWow included in the traveling show presented by the Field Museum of Chicago; Goosetopia, Bartlett Nature Center, James (Pate) Philip State Park, remounted DVD site-specific 3-channel video in collaboration with David Bechtol; Art Vibes, Chicago Access Network TV, 8-part series about peace marches with original content; The Promised Land, Athenaeum Theatre, Chicago, video of fashion show/live event with Fluxcore.
Nancy Bechtol. Moon Rabbit. 2008. From the UnReal Landscape Series. Digital photo manipulations. Printed on archival paper.
For more information on Nancy and her art, go to http://www.absolutearts.com/nancybechtol.
POSTED BY AMY A. RUDBERG
Art Digital Magazine by Max Eternity. Interviewed 9.26.09
"Nancy Bechtol-Chaotic Zen"
HAPPY FACES CHICAGO IS ABOUT ART, ARTISTS, AND CULTURE IN CHICAGO
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 Interviewed by Amy Rudberg
Blog Installation No. 6: Ossia Fine Arts Gallery
Chicago Reader. April 24, 2008 featured my digital photo/collage “reasonably disturbed” image in print and online
Chicago Reader > Galleries and Museums
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/art/080424/
Chicago Reader. Critics Corner. Art Vibes. 11/18/05
WZRD Radio. 88.3 FM. Interview for Art Vibes on CAN TV 11/05
WZRD Radio. 88.3 FM. Artist interview with Wizard 1/05.
Illinois Art Gallery. Thompson Center. Chgo.
Dialogue Magazine. Featured Artist. 2001.
New City. Chicago. 01/01 Reviewed by critic Michael Weinstein.
The Chicago Reader. 3 photos printed, and listed in several papers.
MAC 21. Mirabella Spain. Exhibition Catalogue
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