“Perkins, Vincent-Arnold, & Weller,” through August 26

Through Monday, August 26

Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery, 2200 69th Avenue, Moline IL

Arresting shapes, bold designs, and beautiful photographs in both color and black-or-white will be showcased at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery through August 26, this latest exhibition featuring works of photography by Brad Perkins and Mark Weller alongside ceramic sculpture by Laura Vincent-Arnold.

In his artist statement, Perkins says, “In the Dominican Republic, tourist dollars are both the most important thing and the most transient. Because tourism accounts for between one-quarter and one-third of the Dominican Republic’s GDP, it is vital to the island. But it also tears up land and leaves decay in its wake. Lost Paradise examines what happens when the hotels are no longer useful, the locations are no longer popular and the tourists have gone elsewhere. It turns the focus away from the beautiful views shown in tourism brochures and social media and toward the areas where tourism left or never arrived. This work examines areas, mostly along the north coast of the Dominican Republic, where areas that were promised tourist dollars either lost those dollars or never realized them in the first place, and what happens to the places and the people who were promised income and prosperity."

Ceramic sculpture artist Vincent-Arnold states, "My art is a visual representation of my relationship to the natural world around me. This show reflects solitary journey of art making through organic form. I feel most comfortable sitting along fringes of everyday existence and have come to value this part of my process. There were countless times though out my life where I questioned this part of me. A deeper understanding of the nature world has been and continues to be an important part of my art and my creative process."

Perkins' fellow photographer Weller, meanwhile, says of his artistic process, "I weave a delicate tapestry of two overarching motifs – the preciousness of water and the exquisiteness of time. Time, the elusive fourth dimension, intertwines seamlessly with the essence of my lens-based art, transcending the confines of three-dimensional captures found in traditional photographs. I pursue higher truths of the fourth dimension, unraveling the intricate effects of time upon my chosen subjects."

The Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery is located opposite the airport's gift shop and restaurant, there is a $1 fee for parking, and more information on the Perkins, Vincet-Arnold, & Weller exhibit on display through August 26 is available by calling (309)793-1213 and visiting QuadCityArts.com.