Posts from ‘wildlife’
Art – Out in the Open; Great Apes!
“One spare chromosome | And my offspring next to me | A linear strand.”
I wrote that haiku as a response to Jenny’s piece, “Tooth Diary pg.6″ when we collaborated on a book, “Collection.” This particular work suggests new life beginning to supplant older matter.
What’s so much fun about Culture Front is that you NEVER know what’s going to happen. You know who’s on the agenda, and what any given month’s theme will be, but that doesn’t mean we’ll stick to that theme. You go, you get a drink at the Rose Bar (if you are 21 or older—and the earlier you get there, the better because those bartenders make such complicated drinks that it’s like their composing a full symphony!) and you point your face towards the front of the room where Meg Daly and her guests commence their 90-minute presentation.
Wednesday, May 29th, beginning at 5:30 pm, Culture Front welcomes Jackson artists Jenny Dowd (newly ensconced at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, thank you very much!), Andrew Munz (ensconced at the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts,in a bunch of plays and a writer), and Aaron Wallis! I’m passing out. Wallis, former arts writer at the Jackson Hole Daily and un-censored critic of Jackson’s art scene and the world at large, as well as an artist, is going to be a part of that evening’s talk, “First Impressions: Looking Beyond Initial Impact.”
This is just too good! Wallace, as we all know, has seen (and instigated) his own brand of controversy and art dust-ups here in Jackson.
Only last week several of the Town Council and Teton County Commissioners got in such a big fight—a shout-down in public chambers that was so bad the session was tabled. The News & Guide named the major players, so ask them about that. The write-up made the rumble sound much less crazy than it really was, says one observer. Funding issues are tense! Thank goodness that meeting wasn’t taking place at, say, the Virginian bar!
“La Jolla Tree” – A. Wallis
I doubt any knock-downs will happen on May 29th. It’s great Wallis is on the panel. He’s a super smart dude, with prodigious art history knowledge.
“What information do we get from a first impression?” Meg Daly asks. “Often what attracts a viewer or reader to a work is the first impression – some kind of impact, positive or negative. However, closer reading or looking can reveal layers and meaning not immediately apparent. The payoff of a work of art may be far greater than its initial appearance (suggests).”
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Down the Spring/Summer arts road we go~~~
Saturday, June 22, 2013 from 10am – 4pm, the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s (NMWA) “Plein Air Fest” happens at NMWA’s stunning location just north of town. The event is sponsored by Plein Air Magazine, and over 30 artists will be participating, taking four hours to complete their works. Art will be sold via “Silent Bid.” Lots of good cooking with local chefs, family activities and music to be had! It’s all free, save the jambalaya tastings, which go for $10 for 10 tastes, $25 for as much as you can taste! www.wildlifeart.org
A note: “Plein Air Fest” is not to be confused with “Plein Air for the Park,” a two-week long plein air event taking place in and around Grand Teton National Park July 8-21st. Much more on that event soon!
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WAY out in the future–this is really a Fall event–the Great Apes Summit takes place here in Jackson Hole. Dates are September 21-24th, 2013. It’s possible to register now; the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival is a major partner. “New tools. New ideas. New voices. NO BOUNDARIES.” That’s the hook! Click here to find out about registration, programs and cost. Heads up: Conservation and the Arts are going to merge more and more here in Jackson Hole as time goes by. We’re taking our original arts history to new levels!
“Words create the bridges between us. Without them we would be lost islands. Affection, recognition and understanding travel across these fragile bridges and enable us to discover each other and awaken friendship and intimacy. Words are never just words. The range and depth of a person’s soul is inevitably revealed in the quality of the words used… they also suggest what can never be said.” ~ John O’Donohue, Irish Poet
And so it goes with art. The artists at Trio Fine Art are traveling across bridges, telling us with their paintings what lies in their soul. Springtime, when everything changes, can’t help but put thoughts of summer in our heads.
Plein air painter Bill Sawczuck is watching the landscape. And he acknowledges that painting around here just now can be “challenging.”
“I can take the cold and gloomy skies, but wind is another thing altogether,” writes Bill. “A painter has to fasten his easel to his vehicle, a tree or a nearby fence to prevent the whole outfit from blowing a dozen or so yards away while working on a “promising ” painting. Spring painting also has many rewards. The unfolding change of seasons offers wonderful opportunities to observe wildlife reacting to melting snow, flowing waters and greening landscapes. New life is appearing everywhere, and it is difficult to concentrate on painting when the spring show is center stage.”
Bill’s painting at left, “Winter Leftovers,” painted on Spring Gulch Road (Bill, do I detect some abstract diagonals and energy in that sky????) testifies to the rancher’s foresight last haying season, says Bill. Soon, new grass will take over as the cattles’ primary feed.
And for painter Jennifer Hoffman, spring has been bountiful. Jen received an “Honorable Mention” in the Wyoming Arts Council’s 2013 Visual Artist Fellowships. (By the way, how awesome is Wyoming Arts’ website? It’s fantastic.) She now has the chance to have work exhibited in the Fall Biennial at The Nicolaysen Museum in Casper this fall. AND, she was awarded “Fourth Place in Landscape” in the 14th Annual Pastel 100, sponsored by the Pastel Journal.
Jen and Trio Fine Art’s third artist, Kathryn Mapes Turner, will both be showing at the Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition at the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne in June. Check out the story on Kathryn’s “OneNest” project here.
Trio’s summer schedule shapes up like this. Jen Hoffman’s Show: July 10 – 27th; Bill Sawczuck: July 31 – August 17th; Kathryn Turner: August 21st-September 7th. Opening receptions dates will be posted as we get closer! Please remind me, guys! www.triofineart.com
“Fireflies,” – Jennifer Hoffman.
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“Rocky has completed 14 never before seen paintings now on exhibition at Altamira Fine Art,” reports the gallery. “This new work is painted on canvas using oils and some mixed media. He has revisited a couple of his previous series’ such as the “Archer” and “Horse and Rider” series and has explored a few pieces involving groups of figures in a very minimal setting, not necessarily representing any recognizable background— but presenting bold strokes of shape and color. The painting “Color Bound” explores the early modernist’s cubism style.”
Rocky Hawkins’ new works are on exhibition through June 30, 2013. Many more exhibits happening soon at the gallery! www.altamira.art.com
“Color Bound” – Rocky Hawkins
George Catlin, Buffalo Bull, Grazing on the Prairie, 1832-1833, oil on canvas. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
HAPPY EARTH DAY!
The National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Curator of Art, Adam Harris, is the guest curator for an exhibition opening May 18th, 2013 at the museum. This remarkable exhibition, assembled in cooperation with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, continues a new theme direction for the museum: exploration and examination of the American West. As a region, we’re shifting towards emphasizing the American West timeline, and along that timeline the overlapping, interconnected movements of art, conservation and exploration are continuous.
George Catlin’s American Buffalo is “entirely drawn from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection,” and will remain on display through August 18th, 2013. The show looks at Catlin’s work and feelings about the West via his representation of buffalo and their “integration into the lives of Native Americans.” Forty works are featured.
“Catlin’s paintings illuminate in great detail the close ties between Native American tribes and bison in the 1830s, and his writings about the land and its native inhabitants have informed generations of conservationists as they wrestle with sustainable ways to manage America’s Great Plains,” says Harris, who also contributed an essay for the show’s illustrated catalogue, to be published by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “Having the chance to work with the Smithsonian American Art Museum to interpret Catlin’s words and images was a great honor,” Harris says. “The resulting exhibit and catalog will help contemporary audiences see Catlin in a new light.”
George Catlin, Buffalo Chase with Bows and Lances, 1832-1833, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Payne, Edgar, (1882-1947), Sardine Boats, Chioggia, Italy, oil on linen, 25 x 30"
The Seventh Annual Jackson Hole Art Auction is taking shape and scheduled to commence on Saturday, September 14th, 2013 at Jackson’s Center for the Arts! The auction is produced in partnership by Trailside Galleries of Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Scottsdale, AZ and the Gerald Peters Gallery of Santa Fe, NM. This year also marks Trailside Galleries’ 50th Anniversary!
You know how quickly this event has become a premier “destination” Western Art auction. Though independently produced, the highly anticipated auction takes place during the final weekend of Jackson’s annual Fall Arts Festival. Fall Arts, long Jackson’s most successful, continuing event, is now regarded as a model by other entities wishing to extend Jackson’s tourism season. Western art, sometimes overlooked as a significant factor of Jackson’s economic pulse, still rules. Western art tells America’s stories and history, and in the Greater Yellowstone Region that is particularly significant. It’s our artistic bedrock.
Dixon, Maynard, (1875-1946), Remuda, 1921-1945, oil on canvas
“Life is a journey, not a destination.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Beginning with the end in mind is about examining why life is worth living and being true to your own values and dreams,” says Acton’s MBA Entrepreneurship. ”If you have trouble uncovering these fundamental goals and values, it is time to go back to your basic foundations. Query people you trust and admire. Read great literary works and books on philosophy. Spend time alone in a quiet place. If you are religious, reexamine the fundamentals of your religion. Question, examine assumptions, reflect, and question again.”
In recent weeks I’ve listened as artists and non-artists spoke on the subject of embracing failure as it relates to success; the conversation began at last month’s Culture Front forum. It’s so in the air! How do we stay afloat? It’s so easy, even comfortable, to allow our values and true wishes to take a back seat to daily demands. We want the public to invest in us, yet we often avoid digging in to the very problems we must solve in order for that to happen. It’s a conscious effort every day, and it’s a tough go. I’m reading a wonderful book that says the typical mindset of “success” is about “getting.” And “getting” is a fight.
A friend recently said that Jackson is full of wonderful people, and she’s right. We’re a persistent, well-meaning, cause-driven population. In all things creative, we’re on the hunt for that “groove,” and the unknowns are…unknown.
A positive development: Vertical Harvest was unanimously supported by Jackson’s Town Council! The next step is sending that proposal to Teton County’s Wyoming Business Council Representative Roger Bower, Wyoming’s West Central Region Representative. Bower’s office is in Riverton, Wyoming. Word is, he does not like the project. However, he’s the man who will approve appropriations. I’ve emailed Mr. Bower a question or two; if he responds, you’ll see it here. If not, assume “no comment” by post time.
