Posts from ‘Art History’
A new collection of silk thread embroidery works from Japan’s Meiji Period (1868-1912) are on view at Heather James Fine Art. Jackson, a stand-alone-county-in-a-stand-alone-state, is being infiltrated by global movements and thought; many of those are expressed in art.
JapanGuide.com provides a summary of the Meiji Restoration: “Like other subjugated Asian nations, the Japanese were forced to sign unequal treaties with Western powers. These treaties granted the Westerners one-sided economical and legal advantages in Japan. In order to regain independence from the Europeans and Americans and establish herself as a respected nation in the world, Meiji Japan was determined to close the gap to the Western powers economically and militarily. Drastic reforms were carried out in practically all areas.”
Gold and silk threads illuminate these portraits of birds of prey. An interesting exercise would be to compare these Japanese works with avian arts from the same era at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
“Japanese embroidery technique goes back more than one thousand years. It originated in China and was eventually introduced to Japan by Korean artisans, around the same time Buddism entered Japan,” says Heather James’ Lyndsay McCandless.
A six-panel Soga School painting of birds is part of this exhibit; the work dates from c. 1700. McCandless notes that falconry was introduced into Japan around 244AD.
“In the late sixteenth and seventeenth century, the samurai warriors had mastered falconry as part of their military training,” notes McCandless. “Both of these pieces really need to be seen and appreciated in person, so please stop by the gallery anytime and I would be happy to share them with you! Enjoy!” www.heatherjames.com
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“What’s really happening is happening down in the studio with a pencil and a drawing pad, experimenting and exploring ideas and materials or executing the pieces themselves. But then how do you talk about that? If there were words, it would destroy the essence of my personal experience of fooling around with materials and ideas. I’ll leave the words to the critics.” ~Kate Hunt
Over-explaining and criticizing can suck art’s intrigue dry. We like to describe, let you know where the art is, comment and ask a few questions.
Montana born, contemporary Western sculptor Kate Hunt still resides in Kalispell, Montana. A former Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary artist, Hunt’s artwork is now available at Amangani Resort, where she has a large installation. Her work is included in the Yellowstone Art Center in Billings.
Hunt was kind enough to send me a note about an upcoming show of hers, Kate Hunt. The exhibition is up at Seattle’s Davidson Galleries, opened February 3 and is on display through February 26, 2011.
Her work is distinctive, dense, and very satisfying to take in. She’s at one with her materials. She
works in large and small scales, using materials we know: newspaper, steel, twine, nails, palm fronds. But she packs, wraps, stacks and binds these materials together to form objects that feel that they are only now arranged as they were originally meant to be. She gets to the core of these materials–and mixes a Western sensibility with Asian minimalism. Quiet, meditative, Hunt’s works can be large but they tread gently, like spirits.
If you were on an archeological dig and came upon any one of Hunt’s works, you would immediately be curious about the culture that created the blocks of nail-pierced blackened steel, curving columns and baled stacks of cut newspaper.
The show’s cover image features a row of broom-like, bristled sconces–dark paper swags hang off them like a goat’s beard. A few goats are wandering around inside, in front of the sculptures. “The goats are my pets and they just hang out,” says the artist. “They sleep in the studio I work in, in front of the fire. This day they were just there. They are named Pinky and Frida. Frida is the little female in front of the work.”
Hunt says that though a bit of time has elapsed since her last show in Jackson, she’s continuing on course. “Nothing has really changed about the materials, I just keep tunneling in deeper. One piece leads to another.” www.katehunt.com
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The new exhibition opening at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, A Change of Seasons: Wildlife in Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, is on display at the museum February 11 – April 29, 2011.
Exploring ways wildlife adapts to changing seasons, the show reflects the pride artists take in recording animal behavior in the wild, says Curator of Art Adam Duncan Harris. The 
show’s title was inspired by T.D. Kelsey’s bronze sculpture, A Change of Seasons, (on the museum’s Rungius Road approach), depicting two bison shedding their coats as winter gives way to spring.
“This exhibition allows us to use the breadth and flexibility of the museum’s collection to illustrate through beautiful artwork how animals adapt to the various seasons of the year, from bears fattening up for their long winter hibernation to elk in velvet,” says Harris.
The show includes these notable works: Knight Errant by Carl Rungius, a winter scene; Mother Quail by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait for spring; Curious Visitors by Michael Coleman, summer; and Virginia White-Tail by William Jacobs Hays, fall. Question and answer formats engage visitors, presenting queries about animal behavior.
“Why do moose stand around in the water?” and “Why do bison face into the wind on cold days?”
I don’t know the answers. Do you? A visit to NMWA is afoot! www.wildlifeart.org
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‘Kay, this isn’t a haystack. This is a painting of a place where the ocean crashes against sea cliffs. I love this particular Monet because….well, because it’s a great example of why the Impressionists were a mega-movement and this study in blues, this immersion in color and abstraction, is currently on view at Heather James Fine Art, in Jackson. Ideally a larger view of the work would be displayed here, but when I tried blowing this seascape up to full size it looked like a fun house mirror image. That would be bad.
Knowing this Monet is in town provides a great excuse for passing on an ARTnews review of a recent Gagosian Gallery (NYC) show of Claude Monet’s works. In that Summer 2010 review, Alfred Mac Adam describes Impressionism as “a total immersion in color and mood, an LSD trip without the side effects.” Here is an excerpt from Adam’s review:
“The startling works here, in which the artist breaks free of the lilies, made us wonder if Monet could be thought of as the most daring painter in France after World War I. (Paintings) in the show, all titled Le Pont Japonaise, and painted between 1918 and 1924 (the year the “First Surrealist Manifesto appeared), move the stylization of objects…toward Abstract Expressionism. The object is of no importance in itself; it is simply a pretext for a riot of color.”
Several other works, says Adam, provide us with a “20th-century Monet we do not know.”
Also at Heather James: A continuation of an exhibition of photographs by Jackson’s own rogue attorney Gerry Spence. A catalog accompanies the show, and these newest Spence photographs will be on view through December 31, 2010. Click here to see the catalog and see a complete selection of works. For more information contact James Carona by emailing jim@heatherjames.com, or call the gallery at 307-200-6090.
It’s exhilarating to be home.
Recently the JH Art Blog was down. Hardly an ideal re-entry scenario, but we’re up and running again, and working to catch up with Jackson’s arts scene. It only takes a brief reacquainting visit to galleries to realize that Jackson’s regional arts scene, for a town of its size, is truly exceptional. It’s alive with eclectic work and great talent represented in every
venue. We’re not New York or Paris or Chicago….or Miami. But the quality of art here, the quantity of talent? We should be proud. Our subject matter reflects the region, yes. National and international influences are finding their way in, and when good management and vision are in play everybody wins.
Regarding the situation involving the Art Association and Aaron Wallis: I’ve had my conversation with Wallis, so we’re done as far as that is concerned. However, the current situation between him and the arts community is very unfortunate. No winners there. Hope it can be resolved.
The good news:
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful and Artists in the Park (officially Artists in the Environment) features Wilson, Wyoming artist Jocelyn Slack this Saturday, August 14th, at Oxbow Bend Turnout in Grand Teton National Park. Slack, an illustrator, works primarily in watercolors, pen and ink. She’s a regular contributor to Crane Creek Graphics and her work was included in the recent Center for the Arts exhibition of images of dancers.
Artists in the Park is sponsored by the Grand Teton Association and is free to the public. Look for Slack’s easel and the event’s Artist Demonstration banner. Artists in this series begin painting at 9:00 a.m. and end at noon. Bring a chair, snacks, and paints if the spirit moves.
Phone: 307-739-3606.
Item #2:
“I am fascinated with painting white objects because, in watercolor, white subjects are what appears in the place where there is no paint. By painting the shadows on the form and the negative space around the form, the form itself appears.” – September Vhay
Essence.
What Jackson painter September Vhay does best, some might argue, is capture the essence—the nut—of the animals she paints. Her new show goes up Saturday, August 18, at Trio Fine Art and features Vhay’s trademark graceful renditions of horses, wildlife, ranch animals, magpies and orchids.
The orchids are white, and Vhay says painting that particular flower connects her to her watercolor background. Structurally, the flower may appeal to the painter’s other identity; she’s a trained and practiced architect. In fact, orchid petals remind Vhay of draft horse haunches.
And the flowers hold still.
Trio’s artists are all trying new subjects. Vhay also will exhibit paintings of longhorns. For her, the bulls intrigue “…on many levels, from the shape of their horns to their symbolism of the West. Longhorns were the first cattle introduced to the U.S. in the late 1400′s due to their ability to handle harsh conditions and to breed easily. Their disposition is innately gentle, yet they appear intimidating due to the size of their horns, which can span up to 80 inches.”
“In one painting, this gentleness is expressed in the bulls eye,” Vhay said, “Yet his horns let you know that in an instant he would have no problem protecting himself.”
For info, log onto www.vhay.com, visit www.triofineart.com, or phone 307.734.4444.
Item #3:
Art Association Happenings!
The Jackson Hole Art Association’s Local Landscapes with Local Artists series features artist Tammy Callens on Saturday, August 14, 8:30 am – 12:30 pm. The half day of creative fun and
learning takes place at the Snake River Ranch.
This workshop costs $75; Art Association members may attend for $50. Billed as “Interpreting the Traditional Landscape,” (I take that to mean attendees will explore ways to interpret landscape in various ways) the morning includes:
· A one hour painting demonstration and talk by Tammy
· Two hours to create using the medium of your choice
· A critique and one-on-one direction from Tammy
· A simple picnic lunch will be included
Space is limited. To sign up, or for more info, call 307.733.6379.
Talk Like an Egyptian?
August 12 – 15, 2010 | 5 Lectures | Attend one or attend them all!
Beginning August 12th, the Art Association will present a series of lectures by Hisham El Meniawy. A native of Cairo, Mr. Meniawy is a history and archeology specialist of ancient Egypt. He studied at the university in Cairo and has lectured for 20 years in Europe and at conferences and archeology sites throughout Egypt.
Egypt’s ancient arts are a keystone of the world’s art history. Please contact the Art Association for more information on this series.
Coming up: The second Summer 2010 Jackson Hole Art Fair takes place August 20-22 at Miller Park, in Jackson. www.artassociation.org
This summer visitors to the National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) can reacquaint themselves with a group of works from the museum’s collection that have been on the road. Wild at Heart: Highlights from the National Museum of Wildlife Art, returned May 22 and is on display through August 15, 2010.
More than 70 works make up the collection, an homage to America’s wild places. Paintings and sculptures are grouped by region (North, South, East and West of America) rather than chronologically. Significant European and American artists are represented, including Albert Bierstadt, William H. Dunton, Bob Kuhn, John Woodhouse Audubon, George Catlin, Charles Russell, Ken Bunn and Carl Rungius.
Artists heralded the power and magnificence of America’s wildlife and wilderness.
“Beginning with explorer-artists and continuing with the best contemporary painters and sculptors working today, wildlife has been a consistent subject in American art,” says National Museum of Wildlife Art Curator of Art Adam Duncan Harris. “We hope that this exhibit helps viewers see the connections between wildlife and art in new ways and prompts further appreciation for the wilderness that remains at the heart of what makes North America exceptional.”
Harris is the author of the recently published book, Wildlife in American Art, which includes many images from the Wild at Heart exhibition.
NMWA’s strong ties with the city of Pittsburgh may have played a role in the exhibition’s premiere at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the summer of 2006. The exhibit subsequently “toured” the Rockwell Museum in Corning, N.Y., the Vero Beach Museum of Art in Vero Beach, Fla., and the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi.
For information on NMWA’s exhibitions and schedules log onto the Museum’s website, www.wildlifeart.org.
Item #2:
“Artists in the Park” was, I’m told, originally known as “Artists in the Environment.” I’ve known it under the former identity; they are one and the same, however and here is this summer’s (2010) schedule of participating artists:
This coming Saturday, June 12, painter Eliot Goss will be painting from 9am – noon on the shore of String Lake near the main String Lake parking lot, in Grand Teton National Park, weather permitting. The public is invited to view Goss as he works; bring your chairs, water, snacks, sketch books, paints, questions, cameras, whatever strikes your fancy for this summer’s first plein air painting demonstration.
The rest of this summer’s schedule is as follows:
July 10 – Shannon Troxler – Cottonwood Turnout, 9am – noon (first turnout on the right after Taggart/Bradley Lake)
August 14 – Joslyn Slack – Oxbow Bend Turnout, 9am – noon
September 11 – Kathy Wipfler – Chapel of the Transfiguration, 9am – noon
“Artists in the Park” is a great tradition of sharing the plein air process, as well as the special places in GTNP, with the public. Make sure you catch at least one of these exceptional painters this summer. For information, contact Liza Millet at 917-864-9395.
We now return to American Idle……
Now, I must say something—go a little outside my comfort zone—about Jackson’s green marketing blitz.
We’re over- market-greening, risking the individualism we Jackson Holers hold so dear. An overall energy policy for Teton County would set a great standard for counties residing in such special territory. Set standards, legislate for the environment. Just don’t bury me in “green” emails and overtures and solicitations. I know you are green. We’re the green choir, we are. My email box is crammed with solicitations for donations because the asker is “green.” I’m asked to contribute to one green event after another. Everyone seems to be finding ways to weave a green thread through their marketing.
I am pretty green myself. I’m not perfect, but I try. Our marketing is homogenizing, and I cannot tell the difference between recycling centers and hotels and retail stores and restaurants and ANYTHING!!!……I’m often chastised because I still read news printed on paper, and I enjoy reading real books–not flat, tiny iridescent slabs costing hundreds of dollars apiece, soon to be outdated. We’re an army of iPadding, iPodding, crackberry droids. We look silly!
There is, actually, evidence that books are much greener than electronic readers. Every big event promoting initiative costs money and creates a large carbon footprint.
When will one of our leaders take a leap and begin campaigning for JOBS in Jackson? That’s the elephant in our room. We know how to ask one another for money. Can we please confer on how to create jobs that will provide long-term salaried positions in Teton County? Our real estate prices remain among the highest in the country; as sales statistics show only the most expensive properties are seeing some movement. As for the rest of the inventory, it’s reasonable to expect a rebound lagging behind most of the rest of the country, because we are not showing any inclination to nudge asking prices down to an acceptable level in this recession. That means all the real estate based jobs we’ve lost in Teton County will be slow to recoup. And that sector is where a high proportion of salaried jobs have been.
The technology sector is widely viewed as the sector most likely to create jobs for the future. How can we attract that sector to Jackson? There are ways, but I fear that the same single vision for Teton County–a rich county basing income on expensive real estate and tourism–is remaining intact with our political and civic “deciders.”
We’re ever more elitist and controlling; this is the same sort of restraint one finds in country clubs where rules are rigid and there is real trouble if you’re
caught wearing anything but white on the tennis court. PLEASE, Jackson Hole — consider our visitors. Only the wealthiest of the wealthy will be able to afford (and for that matter be attracted to) a destination that has plastered over every sign with green paint.
I don’t want to go for “green drinks.”
We are GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK. We are YELLOWSTONE. We are JACKSON HOLE. We’re losing the ability and will to stand out amongst ourselves, and if it gets blurry for us, it gets blurry for the public at large. I don’t idle my engine, but I hate the idea of a see-all community eye gauging my every errand and measuring my idle index. If I park my car outside in sub-zero Jackson winter weather, it’s going to idle for a while after I get it started before I drive it. Particularly if I don’t have a block heater.
We need JOBS.
I’ll say this too: The Virginian got a raw deal. Talk about stealing a last toehold from the original population of Teton County. The Virginian is one establishment, one eatery and bar, for God’s sake!! We’re arrogant in our persecution of its smoking policy. If you hate smoke, don’t frequent the Virginian. People I know and admire very much support cutting the Virginian off, but their judgement is in error here; a line was crossed. Eventually, possibly as soon as the next generation, the Virginian’s status will evolve because the good people frequenting it will no longer be with us. But leave the Virginian, a vintage (one of the last un-monkeyed with vestiges of Jackson) and salty Western holdout of Jackson Hole, to its own devices. We’re squeezing out the “undesirables.” When will we see the first harassing graffitis sprayed on the doors of those we deem “non-green-compliant?”
We’re an army of drones. Be conscious, but know, too, when your marketing and driving “greenego” © requires an intervention.
Yikes! This mass marketing is so pervasive it’s redundant and …vain. Lead by example, not persecution and retort. Our agendas are proved not by what we proclaim or explain, but by what we do. The action is the measure.
I’m talking here about marketing outside the realm of scientific conservation; NOT about the mission of orgs like the J.H. Conservation Alliance and their sister science and research-based groups. We need to support such organizations in every way we can, keep the pressure on full blast lest we lose the wilderness we’ve managed to save thus far.
I’m a registered Democrat and an independent thinker.
Item #3:
The Art Association holds its Free Art Class Sampler on Thursday, June 10. From 5-6:30 pm the public is invited to the Center for the Arts to get a taste of the many classes offered by the Art Association this summer. Head on up to the third floor studios for an opportunity to get to know a bit more about the large variety of classes offered. Meet the teachers, tours the studios; it’s all FREE. Sign up for a class that night and get a discount–10% off your class cost. For more information, call (307) 733-6379, or log onto www.artassociation.org.
Press materials describing the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s exhibit of field sketches from the American frontier read like the pages of a scholarly tome. So I’m thinking a scholar–namely Adam Duncan Harris, NMWA’s Curator of Art–wrote it.
So it’s quite difficult to improve upon what Harris has already told me.
May 8 – August 29, 2010, visitors to the Museum will have a chance to see “…a veritable snapshot of wildlife roaming the American frontier in the early 1830′s, Swiss artist Karl Bodmer’s detailed field studies made while on expedition up the Missouri River…”
Karl Bodmer’s Western Wildlife: Original Sketches from the Joslyn Art Museum showcases some of the earliest works depicting the American West. The sketches combine the best of two observing schools, Science and Art. In fact, the exhibition has an accompanying, complementary exhibit, Travels in the Interior of North America: Etchings by Karl Bodmer, on display through October 17, 2010.
Studies are often closeted in favor of finished works, and that’s a shame because studies can offer up lively compositions and “first takes,” unfettered by possible over-working. The show presents a fine opportunity for scholars and lay people alike; those who know these sketches exist 
but do not get a chance to see them will relish the opportunity; those seeing wildlife art for the first time will appreciate its roots.
These sketches represent Bodmer’s observations from 1832 – 1834, while the artist was on the Missouri River Expedition. Bodmer completed studies of animals, birds and reptiles, created either out in the wild or in studio, using deceased animal specimens. Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum holds a great cache of Bodmer’s original work.
If you read the excellent monthly art magazine Western Art Collector, please take time to read Harris’ excellent essay (April 2010 edition) A Diverse View of the West: Works on Paper. I think Harris is one of the most passionate of curators. He loves the wildlife art genre. Time and time again he has expressed to the public–using either the written word or by giving a talk–his great ability to “see” what we may not immediately be able to describe to ourselves when looking at wildlife art. Harris acknowledges the difficulty artists face trying to keep renderings of wildlife fresh; even when “fresh” is not an element in wildlife art, Harris knows what makes great wildlife art great. And in the case of artist Geordie Millar’s large drawing “Moose #4,” it is simplicity of line and the fact that the artist pushes traditional boundaries by coming close to filling a 60 x 63 inch field with a female (not an antlered male) moose trying to stand.
First sketches often contain an Asian minimalist quality. And that is lovely indeed.
More info: www.wildlifeart.org
While we’re still in NMWA land, I will mention that former NMWA gift shop manager and plein air artist Jen Hoffman is prominently mentioned in the May/June edition of Fine Art Connoisseur, as an Artist to Watch. That is huge. And, this art blogger is proud to be mentioned at the end of that article, in relation to Hoffman’s work and Blurb catalog. Congratulations, Jen!
Item #2:
Whodunit?
Artspace Main & Loft Galleries
ONE NIGHT ONLY! | May 7, 2010
An annual favorite, Whodunit is a one-night event exhibiting and selling many dozens (that’s my best estimate) of small works (6 x 6 inches) that sell for $99 each at the close of the evening. The twist is two-fold: 1) Artist identities are unknown 2) Works are sold by lottery to one of the list of bidders listing their name as wanting to purchase the art.
Familiar with many local artists’ styles? Well, you may guess correctly on who created what some of the time…but usually, there are many surprises. Artist names known, artists names not-so-known; it doesn’t matter, the talent and diversity of work is the stuff of legend.
A great fundraiser for the Art Association! Check it out. www.artassociation.org
PS: Summer Classes sign up – Do it! Lots of great classes to be taken, art to be made, creative roads to be traveled. Classes start in June, and that is SOON.
