Opening of Three New Shows

Join Abel Contemporary Gallery in celebrating the opening of three new shows. April 18 – June 1, 2025 We present Skyler Simpson- Limescale, Beasts and Monsters: Group Show, and in no. 5: ??t??? (Katyusha) by Stephen Hilyard

Shows Open Online Saturday, April 19 at 10 am CST.
Events: Opening Reception Friday, April 18, 5 - 8pm Artist Talk with Skyler Simpson, Sunday, May 18, 11am Artist Talk with Stephen Hilyard tbd Skyler Simpson - Limescale Limescale examines personal mythology and the home as a fraught refuge. The narra-tive pulls from Simpson’s Midwestern upbringing and confronts socialized domestic ide-als. Like playing dress-up as a child, the figures adhere to a strange, heightened version of decorum. The vignettes are stylish but acidic; they explore the ways the artist has been conditioned to perform gender even in her private home. Simultaneously, the paintings reveal a mystical subplot. The scenes flit between familiari-ty and fantasy, connecting mundane rituals to a cosmic psychodrama. In this work, Simpson wrestles with hope and spirituality amidst patriarchal power structures.

Group Show : Beasts and Monsters This group exhibition presents depictions of animals both real and fictitious. Portrayals of creatures reside in literature, folklore, and myths, where they are stand-ins for the em-bodiment of our deepest fears and wildest imaginations. This exhibition aims to amplify these narratives by showcasing interpretations of the many Beasts and Monsters we find in our world. Artists featured in this exhibition include Tom Bartel, Kelly Connole, Gerit Grimm, Stacey Hardy, Kelli Hoppmann, Debbie Kupinsky, S.V. Medaris, Candice Methe, John S. Miller, Marlene Miller, Ryan Myers, Dennis Nechvatal, Wendy Olson, Tim O’Neill, Jean Roberts-Guequierre, Gail Simpson, Pranav Sood, and Jonathan Wilde. In no. 5: ??t??? (Katyusha) by Stephen Hilyard ?????? (Katyusha) is a three channel video piece based on material collected at Pyramida, a show-case community established in 1928 by the Soviet Union in the Sval-bard international territory in the high Arctic. At its peak Pyramida was home to more than 1000 Ukrainian coal miners and their families. It was evacuated in two days in 1998 leaving a ghost town. ?????? (Katyusha) presents three fictional characters who personify different aspects of Pyramida. The Guide takes the form of a gray sea bird, the Northern Fulmar. As the piece progresses, we discover clues to the identity of two Lovers, a ballet dancer and a basketball player. The elaborately painted floor of the basketball court in Pyramida is a central motif, as is the abandoned ballet studio in the northern most corner of the town – once the most northerly ballet studio on earth. Time becomes unreliable as the viewer jumps back and forth uncontrollably between two time periods. In the 1980s the lovers meet as adolescent young pioneers in the idyllic summer forests of Ukraine. After the evacuation a mysterious love token is left behind on the tundra amongst the empty shells of Pyramida. The third unspoken time period is only hinted at – always skipped over, never shown – the time that the lovers spent living happily in the northernmost town on earth. The lonely voice of a Soviet “numbers station” recites the names of the missing.