In the Press: The Tennessean

Nashville's The Tennessean ran an article about our show, Assembling Utopia, on December 16th:



"FANCIFUL DRAWINGS, PRINTS EXCITE THE IMAGINATION"
Valerie Lueth's ink drawings, currently on view at Estel Gallery, measure only 4 inches square, but within each of these tightly constructed frames lies a wonderfully detailed marvel.
To stare at these illustrations, which explode in bursts of color and geometrical patterning, is to be drawn into a self-contained universe where dots and lines form their own logic.
Lueth shares this gallery show with her husband, Paul Roden, with whom she collaborated on a series of black-and-white prints called Woodland Creatures, each featuring a different animal or insect. Just as masterfully exectured, these images have a storybook quality, characterized by the stark lines and textures that come from printing with carved blocks of wood. Each creature possesses a distinct personality: the industrious ant, the tired-looking field mouse, the stately deer.
The title of Roden and Lueth's show is Assembling Utopia, a conceit that neatly brings together these two disparate bodies of work. While the couple's densely constructed prints have engaged social and political themes in the past, here they've conjured worlds devoid of human conflict and destruction.
Assembling Utopia is presented by Jerry Dale McFadden of TAG Art Gallery, who is looking for a new downtown gallery space.
The exhibit is on view at Estel Gallery, 115 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday or by appointment. For more information, see www.tagartgallery.com or call 429-7708.

-JONATHAN MARX, Staff Writer for The Tennessean

"Assembling Utopia" up in Nashville!

Wall arrangement of our collaborative woodcut series "Woodland Creatures" on display in Estel Gallery in Nashville, TN. All 27 of the "Woodland Creatures" to date are available both framed and unframed through TAG Art Gallery this December!

Many thanks to all who came out to see us on Saturday, December 1st, for the show's grand opening! Thanks also to Estel Gallery for kindly letting us hang our show in their side gallery as TAG continues to search for a new home downtown.



20 of Valerie's archival pen drawings (above).

New Stuff for "Assembling Utopia"

Our show opens this Saturday in Nashville and we are pumped! This week has been a mad dash to frame over 60 NEW pieces! If you are in the Nashville area this weekend, we hope to see you there! (Show details follow below)



"Overflow"
4" x 4" Archival Pen Drawing
Valerie Lueth, 2007.



"Weasel"
8" x 10" Woodcut, Edition of 50
Paul Roden and Valerie Lueth, 2007.



"Mole"
5.5" x 8" Woodcut, Edition of 50
Paul Roden and Valerie Lueth, 2007.



"Wild Turkey"
9" x 9" Woodcut, Edition of 50
Paul Roden and Valerie Lueth, 2007.



"Cricket"
5" x 7" Woodcut, Edition of 50
Paul Roden and Valerie Lueth, 2007.

Assembling Utopia @ TAG Art Gallery

Our first solo show in over a year, Assembling Utopia, will be opening through TAG Art Gallery at Estel Gallery on December 1st, 6-9pm. The exhibition features our entire grouping of collaborative Woodland Creature woodcuts to date--27 total, the first 20 of Valerie's 100 drawing series, and a number of Paul's new color prints. Assembling Utopia: New Works on Paper by Paul Roden and Valerie Lueth runs through December 21st at Estel Gallery, 115 Rosa L. Parks Blvd (formerly 8th ave. North), Nashville, TN 37203.

ESTEL GALLERY HOURS:
Tuesday-Friday: 11am-4pm
Saturday: Noon-3pm or by appointment (615-251-8997).