Three generations of a family displayed their work at the latest show Bartsch/Marohn/Bartsch at Choate House Gallery on Thur., Oct. 11.
Professor Kathryn Marohn (52), her son Max Bartsch (21), and her mother in-law Martha Bartsch (74) all shared the space at the gallery, each of them exploring different mediums.
“I like to work with stylized graffiti and graphic design work and I tend to switch between other mediums,” said Max Bartsch, senior fine arts major at the University of Cincinnati.
His mother, Prof. Marohn, is the printmaking and paint instructor at Paton House and has been teaching at Pace for the past 25 years. But their relationship with Pace doesn’t end there; professor Marohn’s mother in-law, Bartsch, also taught as an anatomy and drawing professor at Pace years ago.
“I was sort of a girl who came for dinner, I came to teach one class and I ended up staying,” Bartsch said.
The pieces Bartsch displayed focused primarily on animals because of her history of being a diver for 20 years, photographing sea life. At first glance the photos appear to be an abstract aquatic light show. But upon further inspection, it’s a various photos on cuttlefish and other sea life.
Prof. Marohn’s primary focus is painting, but there are some pieces that approach art in a different way. In her pieces “Graceland Chicago” and “In the Downstairs Bedroom”, she uses a wide range of mediums between cloths, wood and other mixed mediums. Some of her paintings reflect similar expressionistic styles that her son Max has as well.
The pieces by Max tended to be more on the abstract side and more modern than the rest. His vibrant use of colors and witty titles like “Waltz of the Marching Organs” set him apart. He was the only one being featured that worked with digital design programs. One of the most peculiar things about his work is the fact that in all 14 of his pieces there’s an unintentional use of the color pink.
“Yeah I don’t know how that happened, it must have been a subconscious thing,” Max said.
Even though they are from three generations, they all seemed to have a recurring theme of layering throughout all the pieces. Whether it was Bartsch’s sculptures, the layered use of various mediums by Prof. Marohn or acrylic on top of more acrylic from Max, the theme was prevalent throughout the gallery. They also have an eye for choosing vibrant colors. Interestingly enough, Prof. Marohn and Bartsch may not be related through blood, yet they both have similar taste in formation and color.
“Everyone in my family is an artist in one way or another, whether they’ve decided to make a career of it or not…it’s what we do,” Prof. Marohn said.
Bartsch/Marohn/Bartsch will be featured in the Choate House Gallery until Nov. 4 and is open Mon. to Sat. from 12 p.m. until 4 p.m.