This past First Friday on October 2nd marked the return of Randy Slack’s Chaos Theory, a large annual group exhibition held at Legend City Studios that celebrates our diverse and talented art community.

This exhibition brought out large crowds and the art world elite who don’t usually participate in the First Friday festivities! This year Slack has meticulously filled the space with an array of artwork, interestingly pairing artists creating a dialogue that might not happen in any other group exhibition.

Playing dual roles as artist and curator seems to be a good challenge for Slack, something he looks forward to ever year as his list of artists continues to grow.  An impressive 70 artists on display sounds like an overwhelming amount of artwork, however this year offering an excellent selection of styles and mediums that were engaging and cohesively moved the view through the exhibition.

It was wonderful to see an interesting mix of veteran, mid-career and emerging artists included on the rooster this year and what a bonus having many on hand to speak about their work and interact with the public during the event. Some of the exhibition highlights included Randy Slack’s “That was then, This is now…Burtney” a large reclining nude portrait of Burt Reynolds sporting a glamorous head of wavy hair and the text “That COSMOPOLITAN Person”.  

While Pete Deise created an impressive and eye catching white and orange banded steel sculpture titled “Surface of the Sun” that was prominently displayed in the center of the gallery. Also loving the new direction of Kristin Bauer’s work, debuting a striking cube sculpture with bold text and colorful design titled “If This” with words uniquely grouped that create numerous meanings depending on the angle the sculpture is read from.

New addition to the group was The Fortoul Brothers with their painting of a nude female titled “Fruition” that was truly beautiful in its simplicity. Veteran artists Emmett Potter, Bill Dambrova, Brian Boner, Mayme Kratz, JB Snyder, Lori Fenn and Tara Logsdon did not disappoint showcasing incredible works as always.

Chaos Theory 16 offered an eclectic mix of art that receiving rave reviews from patrons and artists alike in this highly trafficked and media covered exhibition. Overall an intriguing exhibition and fantastic to see that after 16 years, local artist Randy Slack stills puts together a great exhibition highlighting some of our valleys strongest local artists. Well until next year Chaos Theory, we look forward to seeing what 17 holds!