John Beckelman of Cedar Rapids and Daniel Weiss of Des Moines will be showing at ICON Gallery May 7th through July 3rd. The opening will be on the 1st Friday Art Walk, May 7th, 6:30 to 10:00 p.m.

John Beckelman
John Beckelman will show the ceramic vessels that have made him famous in the region. He will also show his newer 2D wall pieces constructed of wood, clay, enamel, gesso, oil, acrylic, powdered pigments, prismacolor, gold leaf and other materials.

Beckelman’s vessels are intended to evoke a sense of timelessness, stability and ease. Their forms and surfaces are inspired simultaneously by early Neolithic storage vessels and the natural world. “There is for me a curious intersection between the enduring, seemingly timeless character of those early vessels and the fleeting, yet wonderful, impermanence of phenomena in the natural world,” says Beckelman. “The relationships between scale and form in the work are an effort to accentuate the sense of quiet presence.” His paintings attempt to evoke qualities similar to the vessels, while at the same time trying to gently entice the viewer into the inner landscapes and interior spaces of our imagination and memory.

Daniel Weiss
Des Moines artist Daniel Weiss is presenting found objects that he has assembled into abstract wall pieces of exquisite beauty. Daniel will be a featured artist at the Des Moines Art Center this summer.

Weiss states, “My making is about creating objects of awareness. I want to show others the bounty in ordinary things. I want the strange, seductively beautiful, …the poetic, handmade form from found, familiar part objects to catalyze a radical return of sorts. A return to an originary post through the reconfiguring and re-presenting of ordinary utilities that have traveled much of their journeys unnoticed,…inside and alongside us.”

“This is work that is dear to my heart,” says ICON Director Bill Teeple. “The material richness of John’s work combined with Zen silence is very beautiful. And, although Daniel’s assemblages are totally made up of found objects, he has, with his exquisite eye, organized them with subtle precision into incredible abstract paintings.”

Both artists are known as much as educators as studio artists. Beckelman has taught for 30 years at Coe College in Cedar Rapids. Weiss is has been a highly regarded educator in the Des Moines area since 1987.

ICON Gallery is located at 58 North Main Street in Fairfield, Iowa. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday noon to 4:00pm or by appointment. For information call (641) 469-6252 or email bill@icon-art.org.