Rydell Visual Arts Fellows

Exhibited from December 20 2013 – February 23 2014

This winter, our main Solari Gallery features the work of the four recipients of the Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship in 2012 and 2013: Ian Everard, Isabelle Jenniches, Rocky Lewycky, and Encyclopedia Pictura (Sean Hellfritsch, Daren Rabinovitch, and Isaiah Saxon).

These four artists are all trailblazers, exploring new formats and content in their artwork. This exhibition features:

• Ian Everard’s three-dimensional reconstruction of fragments of memories collected from his childhood home in Cornwall, UK
• Isabelle Jenniches’ dramatic large-scale photo collages, which are made from composite images from publicly-accessible webcams around the world
• Rocky Lewycky’s new installation, Is It Necessary?, which presents clay sculptures of animals that are systematically smashed throughout the exhibition run, with a liberation of the survivors to close the show
• Encyclopedia Pictura’s new animated film, The Tale of Hillbelly, and some of the puppets and models used to produce it

Encyclopedia Pictura is a collective of three artists: Sean Hellfritsch, Daren Rabinovitch, and Isaiah Saxon, who describe themselves as “a directing team working to build new communities and mythologies.” Together, these artists have produced award-winning music videos and online experiences, as well as a communal farm in Trout Gulch in the Aptos hills. As filmmakers, they exemplify the maker-spirit. By hand, they build full-scale puppets, models, miniatures and extensive make-up effects. Using clever camera tricks and sophisticated stagecraft, they then direct and capture dynamic performers as they inhabit never-before-seen worlds.

This exhibition is presented in partnership with Community Foundation Santa Cruz County to honor the Rydell Visual Arts Fellows, who are selected by a national jury and awarded $20,000 grants to pursue their art. The Fellowship is for mid-to-late career visual artists living and working in Santa Cruz County.