GARDENfresh kicks off the new season with a dynamic show from two of its core members, Michael John Hofer and Andrew Rigsby, each offering a unique take on the immense and the intimate.

Hofer’s dedication to monumental, somatic, architectural-based experiences continues to be refined with his most recent body of work, entitled Tension. The once large-scale sculptures have become smaller and in turn more focused. Yet even with this more intimate view they retain the deep, transfiguring, and enigmatic feel of his all encompassing, space defining pieces. They are also now coupled with drawings, reminiscent of blue-prints and technical compositions which both inform on and compliment the sculpture.

With this show Rigby’s work can be defined as taking a turn to “post-”. Post-parenthood, post-marriage, post-responsibility, even post-possibility, these inter-personal landscapes, of videos and conceptual paintings, have a cunningly large presence. They are anticipatory in nature while staying true to Rigsby’s signature strength of quiet reflection on the past. The work is enhanced and balanced by a feeling of something large recently over, and something larger still to come.

Michael John Hofer is a sculptor and installation artist living and working in Chicago. His installations have been shown in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Arbroath, Scotland, as well as closer to home in Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois. Hofer balances his time between managing a Chicago gallery and making his own work.

Andrew Rigsby is a video artist and conceptual painter and the founder of GARDENfresh. He has shown both nationally and internationally.