Atelophobia 3

FEATURED ARTISTS: Tara Costello, Nashana Reding-Tuomi, Jesse Matthew Petersen, BDD Downs, Lisa Pemrick and Christopher E. Harrison.

Atelophobia is the original 2015 group show title of four abstract artists from the Twin Cities area. Artist BDD Downs curated the artists for this initial exhibition as a way to showcase his own body of abstract artwork. Downs discovered that when he broadens his focus beyond his personal artistic output to include the work of others, the process of creating art is strengthened by the dialogue within the collective. Through this practice, the group is able to create a more purely abstract art entity, rather than simply responding to a selected premise of an “abstract” art show.

The name Atelophobia was selected by one of the founding collective members Jesse Matthew Petersen. Atelophobia is a psychological condition marked by a phobia of imperfection, or the fear of not being good enough. This anxiety for abstract artists stems from trying to achieve artistic perfection in a stylistic form which should by definition have no boundaries or rules.

The first exhibition in 2015 at St. Cloud’s Gallery Vault included Tara Costello, Nashana Reding-Tuomi, Jesse Matthew Petersen and BDD Downs. The second installment took place the next year in Oneonta, NY and included the addition of Lisa Pemrick. The show included a mixture of collaborative and solo work. This next iteration at Gamut Gallery will include new work from all artists of the group along with newcomer Christopher E. Harrison. The artists of Atelophobia are not afraid to be absorbed by the abstract. Each artist’s works, while abstracted in form, maintain a different and distinct style unique to the spirit and intention of the individual.