Events and Activities : EatChewAlive: John Schlue art exhibit coming to Belle Plaine

Belle Plaine artist John Schlue will have his work on display in his home town soon.

The Belle Plaine Area Museum presents John Schlue: EatChewAlive, the first

museum exhibition of Belle Plaine native and Los Angeles-based visual artist John Schlue. Comprised

of nine paintings - five of which measure 7’ X 7’ - the body of work draws upon geometric patterns,

op-art, craft materials, Americana, and mythological themes. EatChewAlive will be on view July 2

through August 31, 2016.

”John's work has the unique quality that it is undeniably his own. It possesses the ability to be raw,

overtly contemporary, and yet retains a unmistakable ode to his Midwestern roots,” says Cliff Benjamin,

renowned Los Angeles gallerist, curator, and artist.

In EatChewAlive, Schlue welcomes the viewer into his world of oil paint and acrylic felt. His collision of

materials creates images rich with familiarity but visually complex. His application of paint is reminis-

cent of the way old masters used layering to create surfaces with incredible depth and saturation. Each

piece of felt — often numbering in the thousands — is applied by hand, and the result is something

uniquely his own. Sch|ue’s use of materials speaks to a long tradition of American crafts, quilt makers,

as well as contemporary artists such as Billy Al Bengston, Olafur Eliasson, and the recent works of

Robert Irwin. Schlue’s imagery of radiating light is a metaphor for both cultural technology and spiritual

vision. Standing in full view of these pieces their scale engulfs you, transporting the viewer into another

world.

About John Schlue

John Schlue grew up in Belle Plaine, Iowa. He attended the University of Iowa, where he studied Studio

Art. Upon graduating in 2003, he moved to New York City for a time, then relocated to Los Angeles,

where he now lives and works. His work was first exhibited in Los Angeles in 2006. In 2012 he had his

first solo exhibition with the esteemed Los Angeles gallery Western Project. He owns a creative services

company and is an active member of an Experimental Psychedelic Jazz band called The Night Sea.