Kodner Gallery is proud to present Addison’s Eyes: An Exhibition of Rediscovered Work by Missouri Artist Kent Addison (1937 - 2020), with an opening reception on Thursday, October 13, 2022, from 5 pm - 8 pm at Kodner Gallery, 9650 Clayton Road, St. Louis, Missouri, 63124.

Addison’s Eyes is a retrospective exhibition of important paintings, drawings, and sculptures by renowned contemporary artist Kent Addison. Though he began as a sculptor, Addison shifted mediums mid-career, choosing to focus on painting. He produced meticulously detailed trompe-l'oeil watercolors, depicting primarily found objects. Through various aesthetic periods, Addison developed a signature photorealistic style, with forays in minimalist compositions of papers and sticks to explorations of ornate, hybrid still-lifes featuring portraits culled from art history. 

Cultivating an intricate visual language of symbols and figures, Addison references both contemporary culture and art history. His paintings feature anything and everything: Midwestern license plates, Dutch vanitas flowers, White Castle Wrappers, playing cards, Nefertiti – even a self-portrait of the artist in the style of Vincent van Gogh. In its whole, Addison’s practice reconsiders the disparate, the discarded, and the forgotten, as elements coexist harmoniously and perfectly within a singular plane. This synthesis allows detritus to transcend into the divine, illustrating the central tenet of Addison’s artistic and philosophic practice: the affirmation that any person, regardless of their status, is worthy of love.

Addison’s Eyes will place the work within the context of its creation, through the inclusion of original source material such as license plates, vintage wrappers, and personal ephemera, directly from the artist’s studio.

Addison, a prolific maker, was equally dedicated to his career as an educator, establishing and founding the Art and Design Department at Maryville University, where he served as the Pillsbury Chair of Fine Art and Fine Art Program Director. Upon his retirement in 1995, the university awarded him Emeritus Professor of Art. 

The artist’s significant collection of work and the reference objects have been carefully preserved by his wife Sharon Addison, who granted Kodner Gallery exclusive access for this special presentation. The exhibition will be on view through Thursday, November 10th, 2022, and all works will be available for purchase exclusively through Kodner Gallery.

Addison’s Eyes at Kodner Gallery is generously co-sponsred by Ethan M. Rush, JD, Sigma Advisors - Investment & Estate Management.

Please contact Kodner Gallery for more information or with purchase inquiries at (314) 993-4477 or marina@kodnergallery.com

BIO

Kent Addison 
American, Missouri, St. Louis
1937 - 2020
 

A prolific painter, sculptor, and educator, Byron Kent Addison was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1937. After receiving his BFA in 1959 from Washington University in St. Louis, the artist, going by the name Kent Addison, traveled to Indiana where he would complete his MFA in 1960 at Notre Dame University.

Upon returning home, Addison instructed sculptural courses for University College at Washington University in St. Louis. Shortly after, he accepted a professorship at Maryville University, where founded and established the Art and Design Department. In 1973, Addison assumed the role of Pillsbury Chair of Fine Art for the university. He continued to serve at Maryville as the Department Chair and Fine Art Program Director, and upon his retirement in 1995, the university awarded him Emeritus Professor of Art. 

Though Addison began as a sculptor, he shifted mid-career, producing richly detailed trompe-l'oeil watercolor paintings featuring found objects. These progressed into various series, ranging from compositions that leaned towards minimalism to hybrid still-lifes featuring portraits culled from art history. Addison cultivated an intricate visual language of symbols and figures. When viewed as a whole, the disparate subjects co-exist in harmony, illustrating the guiding tenet of Addison’s artistic practice: to affirm that any person, regardless of their status, deserves love.

Addison has been the recipient of many honors over the course of his career including Outstanding Educators of America in 1970, numerous distinctions in publications such as Who’s Who in Art, and the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, granted by the Watercolor USA Honor Society in 2015.

His work can be found in both public and private collections including: Mid-Kansas Federal Savings and Loan, Wichita, Kansas, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri, Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin, The Evansville Museum of Arts and Science, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Addison was commissioned to make several landmarks that can still be found around St. Louis including The Pine: St. Louis Award located in Forest Park and various sculptures on the Maryville University Campus.

He has exhibited widely across the country including solo-exhibitions in St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Wichita, and New Orleans. His work has featured in group-exhibitions, juried exhibitions, and invitational exhibitions, and he maintained membership within many organizations including the St. Louis Artists’ Guild and National Watercolor Society. Countless publications have illustrated his work and in 1984, American Artist Magazine highlighted Addison in the December issue as their featured artist, one of only 100 artists accepted into American Artist Magazine’s National Art Competition.

Addison was as devoted to his family and faith as he was to his career. He is survived by his wife, Sharon Lee Addison, children and grandchildren after his passing at the age of 82 in April of 2020.