February 7, 2019, Thursday - In Between exhibit opening at Gamut Gallery

Time: 7-10pm, $5

Location: Gamut Gallery, 717 S 10th Street

In Between : An exhibition featuring James Zucco & Kim Heidkamp

Gamut Gallery presents In Between, a joint exhibit featuring the art of James Zucco and Kim Heidkamp running February 7th through March 9th. Zucco’s work draws on existential questions about life, death, and transcendence. Heidkamp creates fluid paper sculptures that capture movement in a paused moment.

Eyes play a central role in Zucco’s art. Zucco uses his own eyes as models, allowing him more freedom and range than working from stock photos. It also pitches him outside the confines of his physical body and opens portals into a more esoteric realm. “Getting outside of myself into a spiritual space is where I like to work.” His pieces often have more negative space than marks, reflecting his practice of meditating on empty space. Zucco believes the simplest compositions help him look within himself. “Simplicity is a huge part of my work. An idea is the best idea when it’s in its simplest form.”

Heidkamp’s work shares the simplicity and restraint of Zucco’s. Using fine saturated archival(?) papers, she creates abstract sculptural works that hang from the wall. “My work is about a paused growth. If one of my pieces was alive, it would continue to grow. My finished pieces are dormant creatures.” Though she considers her art paused growth, her paper sculptures, which explode into the atmosphere in fluid movement, still seem very much alive. During the creation process Heidkamp’s pieces can take on a life of their own. “Some of them I envision from the start, but with some of them I’m surprised by the end product. Some of them are accidents. A piece of paper curls up in an unintended way and I realize that’s how it’s supposed to be, how it would occur naturally once it experienced the force of the blade.”

With the delicate repetitive nature of Heidkamp’s style, the creation process is meditative and often leads her to the same deep thoughtfulness that inspires Zucco’s work. “In Between” embodies that space between life and death, conscious and subconscious, pen and paper, form and transcendence.

ARTISTS TALK: Saturday, February 23rd 11am-1pm, $10

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

James Zucco spent many years creating award-winning work as an art director in advertising. Three of his commercials are featured in the permanent collection at MoMA, and his work has earned an Emmy nomination and other industry honors. In 2015 James shifted his focus to his passion for fine art. He now spends his days in the studio, drawing and painting across a variety of mediums. His art now resides in private collections across North America, Europe, and the Middle East and has been featured in The New York Times and The California Sunday Magazine.

Kim Heidkamp graduated from the Bethel University. She has a 1 year post-baccalaureate certificate program at Bethel for fine art.  After working as a graphic designer for seven years, the urge to create led Heidkamp to abandon her day job and focus on her art. Working out of her studio in the Casket Arts Carriage House, she has dedicated the last two years to developing and honing her paper sculptural works. She has completed several commissions and participates in the annual NEMAA Art-A-Whirl. This is her first major gallery show.