Bozeman Magazine

Birds of a feather flock together for this diverse group exhibition. Visions West Contemporary welcomes the summer season with the show Levitation. This show curates works centered around the form and habits of birds in relation to the world. Artists Michael Dickter, Shelley Reed, Troy Abbott, and Kevin Chupik have created works inspired by the freedom, beauty and elusive nature of the avian form. The result is an intriguing and striking flight. Each artist brings their perspective on what it means to levitate like a bird, whether it is through personal or shared history. Michael Dickter brings mixed media paintings that fuse the shared nostalgia from a deck of cards and birds together. He reimagines each card with the appropriate birds for the eight of clubs, or a regal portrait for the king of hearts, creating a full flock in the deck. Shelley Reed masterfully combines history and animalia through her cinematic, black and white paintings. Reed precisely pairs the symbolic cultural language from European Baroque paintings of the 17th and 18th century to create compelling contemporary pieces. Her work can be seen in several museums across the country. Her most recent acquisition by the 21C Art Hotels, a 57 foot long painting, can be found in the lobby of their Nashville hotel. Miami- based technology artist, Troy Abbott, adds a unique digital element to the show with his prompt to create unique, mixed media sculptures. His piece, Social Media, combines old, forgotten objects – such as a wooden chicken coop – and modern video installation. Abbott personifies these chatting hens to be like ourselves on social media, cleverly melding old with the new. Visions West Contemporary also introduces a new artist to their roster, Kevin Chupik. Chupik pulls from a life of experience and creates his own narrative with a vibrant color palette and playful compositions, echoing the joy of childhood. This June show marks the beginning of summer in Bozeman and the beginning of the seasonal Art Walks. The exhibition’s opening will be in conjunction with the Art Walk on Friday June 8th, from 6 – 8 PM. The show will be up through July 11th.