Roland Kulla ~ "Industrial Strength" at ZIA Gallery

This past Friday, I drove up to ZIA Gallery in Winnetka to see the current exhibition of paintings by Roland Kulla. Unable to attend last week’s opening reception, I was excited to see Kulla’s latest work on the gallery walls.

  

Roland Kulla, Calumet Double Lift II, 40x53"

Roland Kulla has created a new series of large-scale acrylic paintings under the title of “Industrial Strength”. With a long history of utilizing the bridge as subject, Kulla begins to move past the cropped detail of abstraction to full-framed recognizable industrial landscape. But Kulla hasn’t totally discarded the abstract-complexity of industrial pattern; he has included it as a way to frame the scene. He presents a secondary subject—a speeding train or the yellow line of an unoccupied road—and surrounds it with patterns of steel. In a refreshing twist, the identifiable works are often flanked by canvases depicting just abstract pattern. Both versions offer the viewer an abundance of detail to explore.

ZIA|Gallery is located at 548 Chestnut Street in Winnetka, Illinois. The gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10am-5pm and by appointment. The exhibition continues through November 11^th.
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Roland Kulla ~ Structural Complexities

Roland Kulla, Airline II, 48" x 60"

An Opening Reception for Roland Kulla's most recent body of photo-realistic bridge paintings will take place at ZIA Gallery on Saturday, September 12TH from 5-8PM.

Kulla—a long time friend—has been exploring the visual patterns and repetition of bridges for more than fifteen years. The painted web-like steel structures seem to be metaphor for the obstacles in life... not barriers but the day-to-day challenges that make us alter course—if only temporarily. The beauty of the paintings continues with a peaceful and brilliant backdrop of atmospheric freedom. This—must see—series is filled with amazingly beautiful and complex compositions.

ZIA Gallery is located at 548 Chestnut in Winnetka, Illinois. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10–5. Street parking is plentiful.
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Roland Kulla at George Billis Gallery

Last weekend, I headed to the Beverly Art Center to pack up the Breaking Criminal Traditions exhibition. The Center is about forty minutes south of the Loop. The traveling exhibition is a composed of work from fifteen artists from around the country… all with content dealing with human rights issues. A new version of the exhibition will be presented this fall at The Art Center in Highland Park. I’ll be posting more on this show later this summer.

Roland Kulla, Queensboro, acrylic on canvas, 60x45"

On the way to Beverly, I stopped by the Back Of The Yards neighborhood to visit Roland Kulla's studio. Roland has been a friend for the last twenty-plus years and he just completed a new series of paintings for a show at the George Billis Gallery in New York. The show opened tonight but I was lucky enough to get a private preview.  

One of the walls in Roland Kulla's studio, displaying, among others, [right] "Brooklyn III", acrylic on canvas, 60x48"

With two pieces sold prior to the show opening, the quality of the work continues to be amazing. Kulla's new body of work plays with compositions ranging from hyper realism to abstraction... well, a version of hyper real/abstraction. The "abstraction" is truly created by the cropping of the image and the final composition. My personal preference leans toward the abstract work, which seems to symbolize the barriers we need to navigate to get through to a "blue sky".

The paintings of Roland Kulla will be on display at the George Billis Gallery through June 21st. The Billis Gallery is located at 525 West 26th Street, Ground Floor [Between 10th and 11th Avenues] New York, NY 10001.
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Roland Kulla opens this Saturday at ZIA Gallery

Roland Kulla will be presenting a new series of paintings and drawings featuring railroad bridges at ZIA Gallery in Winnetka. The exhibition opens this Saturday evening with a reception from 5-7PM.

I stopped by the gallery yesterday and the works had just been delivered. I had the opportunity to preview the show and the pieces are obsessively amazing! If you're free on Saturday evening, take a ride up to Winnetka to see the show. It will be worth the trip. After the show, check out Jerry's for dinner. It's a block south of ZIA Gallery and the food is wonderful!

ZIA Gallery is located at 548 Chestnut St., Winnetka, IL 6009. Parking is free and abundant.

847.446.3970 • ZIAgallery.net
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Roland Kulla ~ ZIA Gallery

St. Charles Air Line, 2013, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 40”

Save the Date: Saturday June 8, 5-7pm

For the past twelve years, Chicago painter Roland Kulla, has focused his attention on the complex structures of bridges. With an obsession for detail, his work has evolved from hyper real imagery depicting idealized nuts and bolts to the current exhibition of hyper real and gritty functional railroad bridges.

Roland Kulla began his career as a fine artist in the late 90’s after more than thirty years as a caseworker, administrator, researcher, teacher and consultant. His early paintings focused on the heightened reality of the mundane—causing the viewer to take a second look at an object that would typically go unnoticed.

 Fast Slow, 2003, oil on canvas, 36" x 40"

In 2003, the paintings progressed to consider the element of “rust”… the slow rot of the massive bridges. Time became a visual element within the work. Kulla utilized environment, blurred backgrounds, and the decay of previously hard edge metal forms. He defined the rust images as metaphor for his personal aging process as well as  making reference to the politics of the period.

By 2005, Kulla was working on a series of paintings that focused on tightly cropped bridge details with no true up or down. Most of the “Deco” images were produced so that they could be hung to the owner’s liking.

After 2005, Kulla began to explore bridge cities beyond Chicago. In 2006 he produced a series based on the bridges of Boston, 2007; New York, and 2008; Pittsburgh. By 2010 he created “Urban Patterns” an exhibition of paintings focusing on the bridges of New York and New Jersey. And by 2011; Berlin was the subject.

Tegeler II, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 45"

Roland Kulla's new body of work begins an exploration of railroad bridges. Kulla explains:

“…In contrast to transportation bridges—where civic pride usually requires elements of conventional architectural beauty—the railroad bridge is all about function. It has to be strong enough to carry the heavy weight of loaded trains. Movable railroad bridges add another layer of complexity. This focus on solving a problem with maximum efficiency results in some amazing forms. They do not need to look pretty; they just need to get the job done.”

RR: New works featuring railroad bridges by Roland Kulla will be presented at ZIA Gallery from June 8 through July 20, with and opening reception on Saturday, June 8th from 5-7pm. ZIA Gallery is located at 548 Chestnut St., Winnetka, IL 6009. Parking is free and abundant.

847.446.3970 • ZIAgallery.net

Selections from the Collection ~ Gallery 180

Julia DelNagro Oehmke, "Back View" oil, 24"x18"

This past weekend, I installed my final exhibition at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago. The exhibition consists of work that has been shown and collected by the school, over the past decade. Fifteen pieces, make up the exhibition that tends to focus more on thought-provoking perception than literal subject. This is evident even within the figurative imagery included in the exhibition.

There are six pieces in the exhibition that use the figure as subject—some more obviously than others—but each conveys a message beyond the obvious.

Shown above, “Back View” by Julia DelNagro Oehmke, presents a beautifully painted semi-nude figure, abstracted through style and composition. The form is revealed through harsh lighting with deep shadows exaggerating a restricted pose that conceals the extremities. The tightly confined torso mimics the tension found in the subtle ripple of flesh in the lower back, the draped fabric grasping at the hips, and the tightly pulled hair. The image defines restriction and confinement… It’s not simply a painting of a beautiful woman.

Two photographs by Maggie Meiners are included in the exhibition. The figurative piece of the two—“Joe”—was acquired during the national juried exhibition titled “Photo 11”. The image presents the portrait of a shy—and heavily jeweled, bearded man—exposing only a collection of rings and a quiet smile. The repetition of the subject’s fingers, comprise a complex pattern of horizontal lines, interrupted by an occasional trinket of metal, a highlight on skin or an unusually bright fingernail. The photograph—a portrait—is something more than just a portrait. It’s a composition defined by line, form, contrast, and repetition.

Maggie Meiners, "Joe", Silver Gelatine Print

“Family Circles”, an oil painting by Janet Doroba, features flat roughly modulated shapes of color to define the human form. The blurred, faceless figures—mostly turned away from the viewer—create an image reminiscent of a distant memory or dream. The vague depictions offer an opportunity for the viewer to explore personal relationships as well as the relationships of color combinations. The complementary color palette utilizes orange and blue to intensify the perceived color of each… perhaps referencing the intensity of family relationships.

Janet Doroba, "Family Circles" oil, 28"x22"

“From the Top Looking Down” by painter/sculptor/conceptual artist, Paula Kloczkowski Luberda is one of the larger pieces in the exhibition. The 48”-square, mixed media on wood image defines success …or perhaps failure. As in corporate America today, humanity is minimized. Each figure stands—or peeks over—the edge to evaluate their own success, unaware of the figures above and behind. The viewer seems to have the ultimate view.

Paula Kloczkowski Luberda, "From the Top Looking Down" mixed media on wood, 48"x48"

Michael Jankowski has two pieces in this exhibition that abstractly utilize the human form. With an aggressive drawing style displayed in “Letting Go”, Jankowski forcefully applies charcoal to paper and then gently erases into the surface to revile the likeness to the human form. The aggressive marks—seemingly referring to the chaos of life—are contrasted by a ghostly representation of skeletal remains. The image seems to represent the release of anxiety after leaving the physical form.

Jankowski’s second piece from the collection is titled “Untitled: He’s Number 8”. With a lighter, more delicate touch, this image subtly emerges from the page to invite the viewer into an environment of treasures. Diagonal lines mimic the aggressive marks of “Letting Go” but this quieter technique is less startling. With the implication of a figure buried within layers of random objects, Jankowski seems to be referencing the multitude of “things” that we collect and use to identify our selves. The quiet elegance seems to have a darker message… perhaps it’s an observation of the objects cluttering our personal environments. 

Michael Jankowski, "Letting Go", charcoal on paper, 1997, 25.25"x19.25"

Michael Jankowski, "Untitled: He's Number 8", charcoal on paper, 2000, 24"x18" 

All of the pieces in this exhibition have many layers of content. The images may be enjoyed for their obvious beauty but if you look a little further, deeper meanings will emerge.

The exhibition includes the work of: Janet Doroba, Gary Gordon, Jennifer Jackson, Michael Jankowski, Joe Killiea, Paula Kloczkowski Luberda, Roland Kulla, Diane Kunzler, Ginny Mangrum, Maggie Meiners, Julia DelNagro Oehmke, and RK Williams. I will be writing about other presented work in the coming weeks.

The “Selections from the Collection” exhibition will continue through July 8th. Gallery 180 is located at 180 N. Wabash—at the corner of Lake and Wabash—in Chicago’s Loop. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 8am-8pm, Friday 8am-5:30pm and Saturday 9am-5pm.
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Carl Holzman ~ Hyperreal at Gallery 180

"Antique Iron", oil on canvas, 25" x 25" framed (stained walnut) 2012

Carl Holzman is one of four artists participating is "Hyperreal", an exhibition of photo-realistic paintings, currently on exhibit at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago. His imagery is composed of weathered objects from the past, lit and tightly rendered with the focused-intent of a contemporary realist painter. The work conveys nostalgia–a longing for a simpler time. Holzman explains...

The paintings in this series reflect my continuing preoccupations with compositional austerity, textural variety (here conveyed through vintage objects rusted, chipped, patinated or otherwise distressed over time), and dramatic contrasts of light and shadow. The mid-century imagery, with its utilitarian shapes and weathered, plain-spoken character, undergoes an arresting transformation–a kind of abstraction or sublimation–under the influence of arrangement and lighting. Allusions to the recent past (objects) and the deep past (lighting, technique) are filtered through the sensibility of a contemporary painter, suggesting whispered dialog amid the suspended calm.

"Masking Tape", oil on canvas, 25" x 25" framed (stained walnut) 2012

Carl Holzman's paintings are presented with the work of K. Henderson, Allan Gorman, and Roland Kulla. Hyperreal will be on exhibition at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago through February 28, 2013. All works are available for purchase. Gallery 180 is located at 180 N. Wabash—at the corner of Lake and Wabash—in Chicago’s Loop. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 8am-8pm, Friday 8am-5:30pm and Saturday 9am-5pm. Additional information can be found at gallery180.com.

"Calumet", oil on canvas, 25" x 25" framed (stained walnut) 2012

Born and raised in Topeka, Kansas, I received a BA in English and French Literatures from Swarthmore College and an MA in English Literature from The University of Chicago, before earning an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1982. For over two decades I worked in corporate finance in the publishing and healthcare industries.

Although I have drawn and painted avidly since early childhood, I did not pursue art seriously until 10 years ago, when I began studying drawing and painting at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and later with portrait painter Richard Halstead. As my interest in painting grew, I found ways to scale back my day job until several years ago, when I took early retirement and dedicated myself full time to painting.

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Roland Kulla ~ Hyperreal at Gallery 180

Roland Kulla, C&O Canal II, Oil on Canvas, 36" x 48", 2012

Roland Kulla is one of four painters included in "Hyperreal" at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago. The exhibition presents imagery of objects, selectively-composed and realistically-rendered to intensify their visual impact.

Kulla, a Chicago resident, has been painting bridges—or segments of bridges—for more than two decades. His paintings have been presented on the main stage art scene with recent solo exhibitions in Berlin and New York. Created in the last few months, three new Roland Kulla paintings are included in Hyperreal at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago. In discussing his work, Kulla elaborates… 

“I’ve used bridges as my primary inspiration for the last twenty years. Based in Chicago, I began my exploration with the world’s largest collection of bascule bridges. In 2006, I began to branch out to other “bridge cities” including Boston, New York City, and Pittsburgh. In 2011, I explored the bridges in Berlin, Germany.

I select certain design elements and eliminate background context in order to emphasize form. The details of massive structures reveal the many individual components. What may appear to be a random arrangement of bolts and rivets has, on close inspection, a rigidly patterned logic. Abstracted from their surroundings, the bridges take on new aspects. Some look dangerous, others elegant. The forms are presented in “natural” bridge colors in bold contrast to the voids that they span. They float in light that plays across the surface details. The variations can be simple or elaborate, ranging from limited themes of a few notes to grand, fugal extravaganzas.

The subjects are painted to look “real”, but this is a deliberate illusion. I paint an idealized version of reality on a scale that allows the viewer to enter into the structure and appreciate the monumentality of the form.”

Hyperreal will be presented at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago through February 28, 2013 with previews beginning on Monday, January 14th. An Opening Reception will take place on Friday, January 18 from 5:30-7:30 pm. All works are available for purchase. Gallery 180 is located at 180 N. Wabash—at the corner of Lake and Wabash—in Chicago’s Loop. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 8am-8pm, Friday 8am-5:30pm and Saturday 9am-5pm. Additional information can be found at gallery180.com

Roland Kulla lives and paints in Chicago. Recent exhibitions include “Berlinier Liste” ARTexhibitionLink, Berlin, Germany, “Urban Patterns” at George Billis Gallery, New York, and inclusion in the Rockford Art Museum Biennial. Kulla is represented by George Billis Gallery in New York, ZIA Gallery in Winnetka, IL, and James Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA.

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HYPERREAL: Reception this Friday

On Friday, January 18^th, Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago will host a catered reception for Hyperreal, an exhibition of paintings created by four nationally recognized artists, selectively-composing and realistically-rendering objects to intensify their impact. The exhibiting artists are K. Henderson, Carl Holzman, Allan Gorman, and Roland Kulla.

Hyperreal will be presented at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago through February 28, 2013 with previews beginning on Monday, January 14th. An Opening Reception will take place on Friday, January 18 from 5:30-7:30 pm. All works are available for purchase. Gallery 180 is located at 180 N. Wabash—at the corner of Lake and Wabash—in Chicago’s Loop. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 8am-8pm, Friday 8am-5:30pm and Saturday 9am-5pm. Additional information can be found at gallery180.com
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The Art of Human Rights ~ March 10

Francine Turk, “Francesca”, mixed media including antique French ledger, oil stick, lacquer ink and charcoal, 65” x 52”


On Saturday, March 10th from 7-10pm, Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights will present “The Art of Human Rights,” an invitational exhibition featuring silent and live auctions with wine, gourmet fare, and live music. The event, taking place in the 2,500 square foot Coalition Gallery at 217 N. Carpenter Street [west loop], presents; paintings, drawings, photography and sculpture created by twenty-four hand-selected, established fine artists. The commissions from the work sold—priced from $400 to $18,000—will directly benefit the charity. Funds raised through The Art of Human Rights will support the work that Heartland Alliance does to ensure that everyone has a roof over their head, access to health care, the opportunity to earn income to support themselves and their families, and to be treated fairly and with justice.

The exhibition—which I curated—has something for everyone. With a variety of imagery and objects available—whether it is an elegant object to finish a room, or a room-defining statement—this exhibition presents amazing pieces of thought-provoking Fine Art.

Included in this exhibition, is the work of fine art sensation, Francine Turk. Her piece [above], “Francesca”—a large scale, figurative, mixed-media work—is classic Turk. This elegant reclining female nude is created with the used of graceful contour line. Francesca redefines space and transforms the well-known subject into an exploration of emotion and passion. The work is created with a mixture of media, including antique French ledger, oil stick, lacquer ink and charcoal. Pieces from this body of work are testaments of timeless elegance.

John Vlahakis, “Monet”, photograph, edition of 5, 30” x 30”

Photographer, John Vlahakis, captures the drama and beauty of the natural world. The brilliantly colorful floral images—which are almost abstract—explore light and define a quiet moment in time. Vlahakis points out that… “Visually I am drawn by the color and light that each living organism reflects...”

Roland Kulla, “Legget II”, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 40”

Roland Kulla presents a series of hyper-realistic paintings defining segments of various bridges. Kulla explains:

“I’ve used bridges as my primary inspiration for the last twenty years. Based in Chicago, I began my exploration with the world’s largest collection of bascule bridges. In 2006, I began to branch out to other “bridge cities” including Boston, New York City, and Pittsburgh. In 2011, I explored the bridges in Berlin, Germany.

I select certain design elements and eliminate background context in order to emphasize form. What may appear to be a random arrangement of bolts and rivets has, on close inspection, a rigidly patterned logic. Abstracted from their surroundings, the bridges take on new aspects. Some look dangerous, others elegant. The forms are presented in “natural” bridge colors in bold contrast to the voids that they span. They float in light that plays across the surface details. I paint an idealized version of reality on a scale that allows the viewer to enter into the structure and appreciate the monumentality of the form.”

Audry Cramblit, “Paris”, clay / work in progress, 24” tall

Audry Cramblit is one of seven incredibly talented sculptors included in the exhibition. Cramblit presents a variety of work, two in bronze and another in clay. “Paris”, a twenty-four inch high figurative clay sculpture, is an obvious focal point in the exhibition. The tactile figure is adorned with the layering of contemporary designs, symbols and words, forming a complex surface of information. Through the experimentation of materials, Cramblit has developed techniques as unique and varied as her one-of-a-kind sculptures.

There are twenty-four exhibiting artists in “The Art of Human Rights” exhibition. They are: Christopher Andres, John Benedetto, Jenny Chi, Audry Cramblit, Jane Fulton Alt, Sheila Ganch, Charles Gniech, Andrea Harris, Vesna Jovanovic, Paula Kloczkowski Luberda, Deanna Krueger, Roland Kulla, Richard Laurent, Maggie Meiners, Rebecca Moy, Didier Nolet, Nancy Pirri, Ted Preuss, Nancy Rosen, Valerie Schiff, Tom Torluemke, Francine Turk, Michael Van Zeyl, and John Vlahakis.

On Saturday, March 10th from 7-10pm, The Art of Human Rights will be presented at the Coalition Gallery, located at 217 N. Carpenter Street in Chicago. Work sold at this Fine Art exhibition will benefit Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights. Tickets are $125 in advance and $150 at the door. Tickets may be purchased on line at artofhumanrights.com or by calling Michelle Marvin at 312.660.1339.
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Roland Kulla - ZIA Gallery

I became aware of ZIA Gallery a few of months ago. Located in the village of Winnetka—17 miles north of Chicago—The gallery specializes in contemporary American photography, painting and works on paper. It represents established and emerging artists in a range of styles and media.

A day late... the Roland Kulla exhibition closed—yesterday—at the ZIA Gallery. Pieces, may sill be available... Contact Zia Gallery at ZIAgallery.net for additional information.

The Kulla exhibition—which opened at the end of October with a wonderful reception—presented a series of large scale paintings, pencil drawings, and prints which define the complex beauty of steel bridge structures. Following Kulla's career for a number of years—and seeing the work's evolution—I've come to my own conclusions about the metaphorical content of the imagery. The bridge symbolism seems obvious... the element needed to move from one point to another. But there is something more. I see the screen-like, steel-woven structures as symbolic of the barriers we need to navigate to acquire our "clear blue sky" goals. The works seem to be symbolic of achievement on so many levels. From Kulla's artist statement:

I am fascinated by the built environment. I reflect on what the structures tell about their builders as well as their interaction with nature and the results of time. Since 1998 I've focused on the engineering ingenuity that created Chicago's many bridges. Structural elements are abstracted from their context and painted with a hard-edged realism on a scale that highlights the monumentality of the forms and the creativity necessary for their existence.

Although people are not the direct subjects of my work, they are integral to it. The structures stand as proxy for human experience. I create places and moods that invite the viewer to enter into the work and form their own relationship to it.

Zia Gallery is located at 548 Chestnut, Winnetka, IL 60093. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday 10-5. Call for additional information: 847.446.3970.

Learn more about ZIA Gallery through this link.

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Roland Kulla ~ "Urban Patterns" acrylic on canvas

This past weekend, I went to New York to attend the opening reception of a painting exhibition by Chicago Artist, Roland Kulla. A long time friend, I've watched Kulla’s imagery evolve from simple graphic elements to obsessively complex patterned structures. For more then a decade, his passion has been the steel structure of bridges. He has found inspiration in the bridges of Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and New York—creating bodies of work on each subject. This current body of work, titled “Urban Patterns,” is Kulla’s continued exploration of the built environment. The works idealize and celebrate society’s structural accomplishments. Kulla is obsessively passionate of “the monumentality of the forms and the creativity necessary for their existence”.

Roland Kulla’s exhibition will run through April 17th and may be seen at the George Billis Gallery, 555 West 25th Street, New York. If you are unable to see the exhibition in person, you can review the work at: georgebillis.com. Older works can be seen at: rolandkulla.com… Enjoy!


Above: Kulla discusses his work with a patron.

Roland Kulla's, "Meridian"

Roland Kulla is one of fourteen artists to be included in "red" the upcoming National Juried Exhibition at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago. This weekend, I had the opportunity to visit Kulla in his painting studio. His newly constructed light-filled space is stacked with new works-in-progress for an upcoming solo exhibition. But he took some time to have a cup of coffee and talk with me about his work.

A prolific and somewhat obsessive artist, Kulla has been painting bridge imagery since 2000. He began by taking a closer look at the bridges of Chicago and then moved on to imagery based on the structures in Boston, New York and Pittsburgh. The Chicago bridge series, titled "Constructs", focused on tightly cropped design elements, which forced the viewer to explore the individual components of the massive structures. As Kulla explains... "What may appear to be random patterns of bolts and rivets, have a rigidly patterned logic. Stripped of their context, the bridges take on new aspects."


"Meridian"—presenting a similar perspective to the Chicago series—was created while exploring the Boston structures. This was Kulla's first venture into painting bridges outside of the Chicago area. This body of work titled "Elemental Boston", continued to focus on a tightly cropped segment of the structure but now Kulla began to explore basic geometric shapes and a primary palette. Kulla explains...

"I focus on primary elements. At the most obvious level, the images capture a part of a much larger whole. Basic geometric shapes – circles, triangles, squares – are combined in a myriad of configurations. Red, yellow and blue—the primary colors—are featured. Each subject required no more than five or six colors to create very complex images. The play of light and dark, the contrast of surface and void are also key aspects of the work."

Kulla's "Meridian" can be seen—along with the works of thirteen other artists from around the country—at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago from September 14 through November 11. The Reception for "red" will take place on Friday, October 9th from 5:30-7:30. Gallery 180 is located at the corner of Lake and Wabash in Chicago's Loop. The exhibition is free to the public and all works will be available for purchase. Additional work by Roland Kulla can be found at RolandKulla.com. Kulla's work is currently represented in New York at the George Billis Gallery, and in Pittsburgh at the James Gallery.

Image: Roland Kulla, "Meridian" acrylic on canvas, 36x60", $8,500

Roland Kulla ...Wonderfully Obsessive

Generally speaking, I don't have a lot of free time on my hands. But I recently began a 15-week sabbatical from my teaching duties at The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago, and what I've found is that I'm beginning to "catch up" with all of the things that I would try to accomplish while handling a rather intense schedule. So... I was sitting in front of my laptop trying to identify the next task to be addressed, and I realized that there was nothing immediately pending. Already at my laptop, I decided to spend some time exploring the numerous web sites which I've bookmarked in the past year or so... most of them containing works by artists that I wanted to review. And then I came across the site of an old friend.

I've known Roland Kulla for roughly fifteen years... basically from the beginning of his career as a fine artist. His work is amazing. His passion for the steel structure of a bridge is obvious. On his web site he declares "...I am fascinated by the functional dynamism of the bridge form. On the most fundamental level, the materials are arranged by engineers to get a job done. There is a rigid logic in the arrangement of bolts and girders... But while we use them, we don't usually stop to "see" them. I find beauty in this mundane reality and express it in my work."

Over the years, Kulla's work has become more and more obsessively detailed. His compositions have evolved to include hidden—or at least subtle implications of—secondary content. Kulla's love and passion for painting light, and the way that it changes in the evening sky, is an extra benefit for the viewer. Take a moment to review his web site. And if you have an opportunity to view the work in person, you won't be disappointed. You may be able to see some of these paintings this May at Art Chicago... most likely presented by the George Billis Gallery out of New York. Roland Kulla... Wonderfully Obsessive... And yes, the above image is a painting!

Image: "Riverside Parkway" 60 x 40" Acrylic on Canvas, 2007