Kim Krause's latest series, The Nature of Things, is inspired by the artist's travels, love of classical literature and contemporary events.  More than 2,000 years ago Lucretius, the Roman poet and philosopher, wrote an epic didactic poem, De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things), intending to explain the world and the primary principles of Epicurean philosophy. Using this extraordinary poem as a foundation, Krause began wondering about the "nature of things" in his own life and how personal experiences might be expressed universally in new forms through painting, specifically, still life painting. Was there any room for this tired genre in the 21st century? 

Contemporary artists continue to reinvent the still life, a genre more readily associated with the sixteenth and seventeenth-century Old Masters than with art created today. What does it mean for a work to be a still life, a study of nature morte or "dead nature"?  Krause pursues this question by exploring several subjects of the still-life tradition including Flora, Food, Home, and Death. The inclusion of the traditional memento mori, a reminder of death, change, and the passing of time, can be found in Krause's arrangements of objects that are charged with meaning. Known for his delicately veiled patterns, overlays of bold color and sweeping movement, Krause's recent paintings look to the past, mirror the present and elude to the mystery of what is to come.

Kim Krause is a Cincinnati native whose paintings have been included in over 130 national and international exhibitions. The artist's work has been selected for numerous public collections including Atlantic Richfield, Chase Manhattan Bank, The Cincinnati Art Museum, The Evansville Museum of Art, Fidelity Investments, PNC Bank, The Procter and Gamble Company, Safeco Insurance, and Scripps Howard Corporation among others.

The exhibition will be on view from October 6th through December 2nd, 2017. The gallery will host an opening reception on Friday, October 6th from 6-8 pm. This event is free and open to the public.