The Conservation Foundation Fox River Initiative, is pleased to exhibit the paintings of plein air and studio artist Joel Sheesley. The exhibit features 73 landscapes painted over a two year period in all seasons. The work depicts the Fox River from West Dundee to Ottawa, where the Fox River joins the Illinois River.
Sheesley explores issues of mortality and permanence, and the possibility of narrative in landscape painting. He positions landscape art as a means to deepen our experience and appreciation of nature. The earth is the repository of all human and non-human history. In taking the earth as motif the artist addresses, through landscape, one of the most consequential subjects of our time.
Joel Sheesley, Emeritus Professor of Art at Wheaton College, is a painter whose current work focuses on the landscape. Sheesley has been a recipient of an Illinois Artist’s Fellowship, has exhibited his work in Chicago galleries, and had a solo exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center. His work has also been exhibited widely in university galleries. He lives with his wife Joan in Wheaton, IL.
