{"id":33970,"date":"2016-06-08T01:49:43","date_gmt":"2016-06-08T07:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=33970"},"modified":"2023-11-22T17:31:57","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T23:31:57","slug":"reality-reorganized-walter-askin-and-wayne-kimball-at-byu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/reality-reorganized-walter-askin-and-wayne-kimball-at-byu\/","title":{"rendered":"Reality Reorganized: Walter Askin and Wayne Kimball at BYU"},"content":{"rendered":"
\""Christopher<\/a>

“Christopher Columbus Returns from the New World with the Four Basic Food Groups to Queen Isabella Levitating and Oskar Kokoschka in a Funk” by Walter Askin<\/p><\/div>\n

When Walter Askin was a child, he gravitated to the small roses on the wallpaper in his childhood home\u2014but only because the pattern inspired him to draw small boats, figures, and other objects inside the roses. After his mother expressed her ire over Walter\u2019s decorating efforts, he realized the power of art, later saying, \u201cThere was this turbulence about it, and it did<\/em> gain reactions.\u201d1<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

By contrast, Wayne Kimball discovered art later in life, taking an art class during junior high and a course in ceramics as a freshman in college. After considering other \u201cmore practical\u201d majors, he completed his undergraduate degree in art and turned to his true love, lithography, during grad school.2<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

As often occurs in the art world, the paths of Askin and Kimball eventually converged, leading to a lasting friendship and several collaborations. Visitors to the exhibit Reality Reorganized<\/em>, now at the BYU Museum of Art, will quickly discover that the artists are kindred spirits who celebrate humor and whimsy in their artworks. \u201cRandom, playful, and lighthearted\u201d are additional descriptors one could easily append to a review. This is certainly no stuffed-shirt display of \u201dContemporary Art.\u201c Personal interpretation of each artwork is not only welcome, it\u2019s expected. It is true that all works feature titles and traditional curated descriptions. But the thoughts posted near the entrance say it best: \u201cSearching too deeply for one certain meaning in [these] pictures \u2026 may lead you astray.\u201d In other words\u2014don\u2019t jump to conclusions. Just enjoy.<\/p>\n

\u201cReality Reorganized\u201d aptly describes Askin and Kimball\u2019s use of motifs and common objects. For instance, Askin places the figure of Rembrandt in one painting, only to repurpose that figure as a banjo-playing mechanic (\u201cRembrandt\u2019s All-Night Garage,\u201d 2015). This type of humor and absurdity abounds in both men\u2019s artworks, including in the works\u2019 titles. Some are laugh-out-loud funny\u2014Kimball\u2019s \u201cBearded Man with a Headache This Big\u201d or Askin\u2019s \u201cChristopher Columbus Returns from the New World with the Four Basic Food Groups to Queen Isabella Levitating and Oskar Kokoschka in a Funk\u201d, for example. The wit conveyed through such literal descriptions is at least half the fun, well-matched to the vibrant hues and quirky motifs in the works themselves.<\/p>\n

Of course, each artist shows decided preferences in medium. Askin most often uses acrylic on canvas or paper, whereas Kimball prefers the lithograph nearly exclusively. The only exceptions are the few collaborative works by both artists and some three-dimensional pieces by each. Similarly, each artist leans toward a recognizable color palette. Most of Askin\u2019s paintings feature bright colors such as turquoise blue, burnt orange, burgundy red, black, and lime green. Possibly due to challenges inherent in the lithograph process, Kimball\u2019s palette tends more toward mustard yellow, rustic terra cotta, cerulean blue, mossy greens, and neutrals like gray, brown, and tan.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Several of Kimball\u2019s works merit more detailed discussion here, mostly because they are emblematic of his style. For instance, in \u201cThe Artist Mounted on Horseback\u201d (1984, lithograph), Kimball\u2019s literal portrayal of a classical head mounted against the back of the horse\u2019s neck speaks volumes about the artist\u2019s sense of humor. As the horse gazes left and the head gazes right, the pole on which both are situated draws the eye down to the pedestal base\u2014which sits on top of a pair of rocking chair runners. Two of the artist\u2019s other paintings also feature horses and classical stone heads, namely \u201cPortraits of a Man and His Horse, the Horse Having Bitten the Man\u201d (1996) and \u201cAn Emperor and Someone Else\u2019s Horse\u201d (2007). In the latter work, Kimball humorously features the head of Emperor Constantine, once mistaken for Marcus Aurelius in a famous equestrian portrait. Throughout Kimball\u2019s featured works, he references motifs such as birds, horses, zebra or tiger-skin rugs, Roman busts, and palm fronds. These motifs are commonly shown in the lithographs and three-dimensional works (e.g., intricate wooden boxes and shadow-box displays).<\/p>\n

Like Kimball, Walter Askin also enjoys the juxtaposition of history and fiction, imagination and reality. His works regularly feature symbolic objects or totems. These emblems are sometimes natural objects, sometimes animals and\u2014occasionally\u2014creatures that seem part human, part machine. In \u201cOscar Wilde at the Swap Meet\u201d(1996), Askin juxtaposes the extravagance of Oscar Wilde (partly hidden behind a sumptuous curtain on the right) with the decidedly unglamorous atmosphere of a street fair on the left, complete with ribald dancers and street vendors hawking their wares. By contrast, \u201cTotems for Seurat\u201d (1988) imitates Seurat\u2019s famous pointillism style with vibrant bursts of red, green, and orange in the background, against which dark silhouetted totems stand in dramatic relief . Nearby, \u201cGood and Evil\u201d (2004) portrays an eerie, floating figure of a man wearing a suit and bowler hat, hovering through an open window. To the right a closed window pane reveals an ominous black, faceless figure presumably seeking entrance. In between these mysterious figures sits a man, painted in gray, sitting with a resigned expression on his face, as if awaiting the inevitable. Least typical of Askin\u2019s featured works is a three-dimensional \u201cTheater\u201d (no date) which features moveable stick players within a wooden cupboard. The moveable characters hint at infinite possibility while the whole work compares artifice against reality.<\/p>\n

For this reviewer, the highlight of the show is \u201cGrape Crusher Modified\u201d (2015), a collaboration by Askin and Kimball. One can see the hand of Askin in the humorous figures of grape dancers\/crushers, as well as the stylized, twisting pencil on the right side. The orange polka-dot walls, caricatured faces, and vibrant coloring may also reflect Askin\u2019s style. But\u2014as the work is part lithograph, part collage\u2014Kimball\u2019s hand is fully evident as well. The top \u201dlayer\u201d is a brightly colored portrayal of a calm (perhaps tired) figure stomping grapes in a bath. The second layer is a pen and ink drawing of a frenetic, even panicky, grape crusher mostly hidden from view except for his head and arms, which flail about while droplets of juice splash in every direction. Intriguingly, the bottom layer is left unpainted.<\/p>\n

Neglecting this exhibit would indeed be a shame, since every art lover\u2014even those who typically avoid contemporary art\u2014will delight in the absurdity, comedy, and unbounded fun of this show.<\/p>\n

\""Totems<\/a>

“Totems for Seurat” by Walter Askin<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cReality Reorganized: Walter Askin and Wayne Kimball\u2019s Mysterious Discursions,\u201d BYU Museum of Art, Provo, through Aug. 27, moa.byu.edu<\/a>. <\/em><\/span>
\n
\n<\/strong>This review appeared in the June 2016 edition of 15 Bytes.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Walter Askin was a child, he gravitated to the small roses on the wallpaper in his childhood home\u2014but only because the pattern inspired him to draw small boats, figures, and other objects inside the roses. After his mother expressed her ire over Walter\u2019s decorating efforts, he realized […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1525,"featured_media":33984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,19,14],"tags":[26,2130,2936,534],"class_list":["post-33970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-15-bytes","category-exhibition_reviews","category-visual_arts","tag-15-bytes","tag-brigham-young-university-museum-of-art","tag-walter-askin","tag-wayne-kimball"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/askinkimball.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-04 05:37:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1525"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33970"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72192,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33970\/revisions\/72192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}