Virtuoso Chris Rush joined the ranks of the immortals this year when one of his works was torn right from the walls of Etherton Gallery, putting him in the company of Edvard Munch, painter of the recently recovered "The Scream." Apparently the piratical miscreant didn't want to fork over the substantial sums this fine artist now commands for his paintings and drawings. In recent years, Rush has been drawing on old historical documents, imagining faces for the prostitutes and businessmen whose transactions are detailed therein.
Andrew Polk, a former head of the UA art department, has gone futuristic, traveling in the opposite direction from Rush's forays into the past. Polk makes up-to-the minute drawings on the computer, creating worlds on paper that are easily as complex as the medieval fantasies of a Brueghel.
Runner up:
3. Diana Madaras, Madaras Gallery, 1535 E. Broadway Blvd., 623-4000; 3001 E. Skyline Drive, 615-3001, www.madaras.com
Vote of note: "God, for creating Gates Pass"
