CATHY BRESLAW AND SOHAIL SHEHADA  AT JRB ART AT THE ELMS

 This March, JRB Art at the Elms features two exhibits centered on weightlessness and fluidity of motion. Award-winning California artist, Cathy Breslaw, has created an exhibit of wall and installation pieces made from industrial mesh. Sohail Shehada, Professor of Sculpture and Drawing at the University of Oklahoma, is presenting a series of sculptures of ballerinas that are made from several industrial materials, including bronze, lead and clay. Though the materials used by these artists are not in and of themselves pretty, elegant or dainty, the artworks they have created are beautiful and suggest weightlessness in motion. The two exhibits will run through March 31st, 2012.

Cathy Breslaw’s years of living in sunny southern California and her involvement in her family’s fabric business prompted her to repurpose industrial materials into large-scale wall, floor and installation artworks. Breslaw’s work is indeed “green” art, which she creates by utilizing recycled materials. The Industrial mesh acts as surface, texture and for pigment in her work. The mesh—a material often used for sifting, screening, lining, or fencing—always maintains a trace of its functionality. Cathy discovered the industrial mesh, which has dominated her work for several years, during her travels to Southeast Asia. Packed in rolls in room-sized containers, the mesh is shipped in commercial vessels worldwide. “Rather than sitting in plastic oceans, or waste stockpiles,” says Cathy, “I have transformed these materials into art pieces that will long endure in homes, and on display in other public places.”

Cathy Breslaw received her M.F.A. in Visual Arts from Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. Her work has been exhibited extensively across the U.S. and is included in several corporate and private collections.

Also featured this month will be new sculptural works by Sohail Shehada in a show entitled “Ballerinas.” Originally from Kuwait, Shehada is a Professor of Figurative Sculpture at the University of Oklahoma. He received an M.F.A. in 1998, after
completing his Bachelor of Architecture degree, both from the University of Oklahoma. Sohail also has a B.F.A. from Oklahoma State University. Sohail, who is primarily a sculptor, recently won two international awards for his pastel paintings. His work is influenced by African culture, the supernatural, opera and ballet. “It’s an interesting combination of influences,” says Gallery director, Joy Reed Belt, “and speaks to the fact that art continues to be the great universal language.” Shehada has received an impressive list of public and private commissions in bronze and marble. He created the bronze bust of former Oklahoma City Mayor Patience Latting, which is located in the Oklahoma City Municipal Building. He has also created several sculptures that are permanently displayed on the campus of The University of Oklahoma.

JRB Art at The Elms presents a diverse roster of emerging, established, and internationally exhibited artists who create in a wide range of media, including paintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, glass, fine crafts, functional objects, fiber art and photographs. This 8,000 square foot, award-winning gallery in Oklahoma City’s Paseo Arts District changes its exhibits monthly in a gracious environment that fosters a dialogue between the arts and the larger community while providing quality art for first time buyers as well as individual, corporate and museum collections.
JRB Art at The Elms, the former home of Nan Sheets which was built in 1920, is located at 2810 North Walker and is open Monday through Saturday, 10-6, and Sunday 1-5. Phone: (405) 528-6336 Website: www.jrbartgallery.com Email: info@jrbartgallery.com