Made In Iowa: A Look At Troy Swangstu's Work

Last October the International Sculpture Center had its annual conference in Kansas City (you can check out the ISC's website by clicking here https://www.sculpture.org/).  Terry Rathje and I decided to do a brief, yet furious, roadtrip down to KC in order to catch some of the side/peripheral/pop-up exhibitions that typically spring up in a town in conjunction with a major conference like the ISC (or NCECA).  An example of a pop-up show would be our North On 71 exhibition we put together to coincide with NCECA back in 2016.  You can take a look back at some of the preparations for North On 71 on a previous post from 2016 by clicking HERE.

As an added bonus, a buddy of mine, Troy Swangstu, was having a show of his work at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center at the same time.  Since we were in town, Terry and I met up with Troy and took in some sights.  We went to check out Troy's show and were thoroughly glad we did.

These are some of the pieces from Troy's show at The Leedy-Voulkos Art Center (https://www.leedy-voulkos.com/)

Troy has spent the winter in the Quad Cities hunkered down in the studio.  It makes perfect sense to come to Iowa in the middle of winter to.....wait a minute, no it doesn't.

Anyway, just a few months later he has created a whole new batch of paintings for the show 'Made In Iowa' at The Beréskin Art Gallery.  Here is a sneak peek at his show.

I have several favorites in Troy's show, this is one of them.

A few detail shots to provide you with a better understanding of how nice these paintings are and show off Troy's captivating use/juxtapositioning  of colors.

White on white.

These next two detail shots could be complete paintings in their own right.

Another favorite.  My sub-par camera on my phone doesn't capture the subtleties of Troy's black on black passages.

This one just blew me away.  The flat orange mass has such an amazing interaction with the subtler colored shapes.  Nice contrast in brush work and texture.

Another piece that blows my mind.

Just this detail shot alone makes me want to get into the studio and make some work.

....which is what I think I'm going to go do...

Check out Troy Swangstu's work at The Beréskin Art Gallery (LINK)