OZ Arts Nashville to Present PROSCENIUM Featuring Works by Emily Weiner & Thomas Wharton

pro·sce·ni·um: the part of a theatre stage in front of the curtain

Peering through red velvet curtains, Emily Weiner's paintings are stages for the imagination, transformation, narrative and drama. Thomas Wharton's images of luminaires convey a time of day, mood, and transition. These artists use the architecture of the theatre to transport an audience from the flatness of the picture plane into the depths of light and space. This exhibition explores how paintings can walk the line between physical structures and optical illusions. Both artists use the proscenium as a literal framework, a symbolic structure, and a device to extend the two-dimensional picture plane into a three-dimensional space.

Emily Weiner frames each of her paintings in wood, clay, and plaster. She uses sharp and soft edges to convey space within the picture plane. A moon, the singular light source central to many of the images, beams a ray of light that is both calm and suspenseful. This work directly represents theatre, performance, and stories of times past and present.

Thomas Wharton's formal arrangements explore composition through repeated and rearranged light switches and light bulbs. He manipulates the image by flipping, turning, reflecting, and representing images of the same objects. Drop shadows creates an optical illusion that extends the painting into a perceived physical space. Using photography and realist painting skills, Thomas suspends the viewer in contemplation on what is actual and what is manipulated.