IOWA CONTEMPORARY ART   |   58 North Main Street, Fairfield, IA 52556  641-919-6252   |   bill@icon-art.org   |   iconbillteeple@gmail.com GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday through Saturday, 12:00 to 5:00pm and by appointment. ICON is an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit educational charity. All donations are tax-deductible.
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IOWA CONTEMPORARY ART
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58 North Main Street Fairfield, IA 52556 641.919.6252 bill@icon-art.org iconbillteeple@gmail.com
Judy Bales Exhibition is Open through July 12th A new show, Sliding Parameters: Fiber Art and Fashion by Judy Bales, opens at ICON Gallery on Friday, May 2nd, 6:30 to 10:00 pm, The show combines a gallery exhibit with live events. The exhibition continues through July 12th. Judy Bales is one of the most unique and creative artists living in Fairfield. Having established a successful art career making sculpture and public art, she has, in the last 15 years, ventured into the world of wearable art, combining sculpture and the human body. The result is a dynamic and beautiful art form.   This exhibition will showcase her fashion art, which is part of a larger body of fiber art works, many of which are abstract sculptures. The fashion and sculptural works are interrelated, and the structural techniques and surface treatments are often the same.  The exhibition will feature her fashion art along with purely sculptural works. The groupings in the exhibit show both the evolution of Judy’s work and the range of materials, mood, forms and silhouettes she has explored in fashion design. Judy will give two slide presentations describing the history of fashion as an art form and the jaw dropping work that is done throughout the world in the field of fashion. A live fashion event will be part of the exhibition - an actual runway show with models emerging from the mezzanine area and descending the stairs. There will, also, be gallery walk-through with Judy Bales and Bill Teeple. More details on all Judy’s events are listed below.
A new show opens in the Hudson Gallery at ICON on First Friday, April 4th, 6:30 to 10:00 pm. A selection of 13 paintings from the ICON Collection of Shiva Linga paintings will be on display. All of these works were made by tantrika families in the city of Udaiper in Rajasthan, India. The exhibition will be on view through March, 2026. The French poet Franck André Jamme first encountered South Asian Tantra paintings in 1970 in an art gallery in Paris. Jamme was fascinated by these paintings that were so close to Western modern art, from Kazimir Malevich and Paul Klee to Agnes Martin and Daniel Buren, and many others. During the subsequent years, Jamme discovered books on Tantra art and he decided to try to find the artists who were creating these works. Following several unsuccessful trips to India, including a horrific bus accident and three years of recovery, he returned in 1989, beginning his search in the city of Udaïpur.  There he consulted a friend’s astrologer and soothsayer, who shed light on his mission and put him in touch with two families of tantrika artists that were creating Tantra paintings. Over the next few years, Jamme was introduced to a number of different tantrika families throughout the state of Rajasthan and was given permission to bring some of their works to Europe and America. Eventually he collaborated with Hudson, founder of the New York gallery, Feature Inc., to assemble the collection of Shiva Linga paintings that now form The Hudson Collection at ICON. ICON Gallery is located at 58 N. Main Street, Fairfield. Gallery hours are noon to 5:00, Tuesday through Saturday. For more information iconbillteeple@gmail.com, 641-919-6252.
Tantra Art from Udaipur in ICON Hudson Gallery
NEXT 2025-26 ICON EXHIBITS: Robert Hoerlein: Works on Paper 2019 to 2025 August 1st, through October 18th, 2019 to 2025. Oil, acrylic and graphite on paper, 24" x 19 Biennial Mini-Art Auction November through December, 2025 Mini Art Auction Flea Market and Print Sale 1st Weekend of December, 2025 COMING IN 2026… Gillian Brown Mark Petrick Madeline de Joly Retrospective
Remaining Event Schedule: Saturday, June 7th, 8:00: Moving in all Directions: A live fashion show of work by Judy Bales & Gyan & Kathy ShrosbreeIn conjunction with her solo exhibition of sculpture and fashion work. Works displayed in the show will come off the mannequins and onto live models from our community for this event, and many of Judy’s fashion works not shown in the exhibition will be modeled as well. This will be a lively event with lots of opportunities to view the art on the walls as well as on the models. Thursday, June 12th, 7:30: Reception and Walk-Through With Judy Bales & Bill TeepleSliding Parameters: Fiber Art and Fashion by Judy BalesShe will discuss her work, influences and process, describing the evolution of her workand the relationship between her sculptural work and her fashion.  Judy creates a warm and relaxed atmosphere, engaging with audiences by welcoming questions and comments.
Judy Bales
Gyan and Kathy Shrosbree