Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The School of Art at Stephen F. Austin State University and The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House will present “Lost Dog,” a solo exhibition by John Rasimus showing Feb. 7 through March 24 at Cole Art Center. The exhibition opens with a reception for the artist from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7.
Swedish artist Rasimus uses drawing, woodcut prints and animation to create ambitious large-scale installations. His arrangements often start with a simple, small drawing and feature heroic pop culture types, like boxers or cowboys, and sometimes idealized forms like classic female busts. Scaled up and made in 3D form, the resulting installations are generous and open-ended, as loose narratives suggesting multiple possibilities. “It is like looking at tattoo flash, where forms exist separately but your gaze makes connections through style, comparing color and line, until ultimately you imagine a complete story across the page,” according to Rasimus.
For “Lost Dog,” his exhibition at the Cole Art Center, Rasimus presents a life-size wooden “doghouse” created from folded paper prints made to suggest the look of real wooden planks. Cartoonish and absurd, the lone structure presents itself as a delicate shelter for a runaway dog. The theatricality of the doghouse is accompanied by a series of posters proclaiming “lost dog” in reverse text. Employing a style characterized by bold outlines, bright colors and signifiers of Western culture, Rasimus describes his work as “a dynamic, comedic mash up of Swedish wit and Texan honky-tonk aesthetic.”
‘Lost Dog’ is part of “Persona,” a touring exhibition organized by the Art Galleries at Texas Christian University.
Rasimus studied printmaking at the Art School of Falun and the Arts Students League in New York before completing his MFA at the Academy of Fine Arts in Umea, Sweden. His work has been exhibited widely in Sweden including recent solo exhibitions ”allt är inte kattguld som glimmar...,” Galleri Alva, Umea (2021); and ”Dear Friends To Whom It May Concern/The Big Bang,” Gruvans Konsthall Falun (2021). Rasimus has also participated in numerous international group exhibitions at venues including Centre3, Hamilton Canada; Galleria Rankka, Helsinki, Finland; and, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, U.K. In the U.S., Rasimus has exhibited and presented lectures and workshops at the University of Tucson Arizona, Vassar College and the Art Students League New York. Rasimus’ participation in “Persona” is made possible in part by the Swedish Arts Grants Committee. Visit instagram.com/johnrasimus.artist/ for more information about the artist.
Admission to the exhibition and reception, which is sponsored in part by William Arscott and the Friends of the Visual Arts, is free. The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, SFA’s downtown art gallery, is located at 329 E. Main St. Gallery hours are from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For more information, call (936) 468-5500.