Posts Tagged ‘Galleries West’
Diehl Gallery celebrates its 10th anniversary on Thursday, June 30, 5-9 pm. A large exhibition will be on display, filled with new works by every artist represented at the gallery. The show will benefit the Art Association of Jackson Hole: Diehl Gallery invites collectors to donate 10% of painting acquisitions costs and 5% of bronze sculpture acquisitions to the area arts non-profit. This big party, Diehl’s Fête 10th Anniversary, is open to all. Luscious refreshments will be provided by Ignight.
Diehl’s roster of artists includes Sheila Norgate, Ashley Collins, Adam Siegel, Jim Budish, Tyler Aiello, Carol O’Malia and Hung Liu.
For more information, contact Diehl Gallery at 307.733.090 www.diehlgallery.com
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Guess who’s coming to Artspace?
August 10 – September 30, 2011, Jacksonites will have the pleasure of viewing Andrew Wyeth: A Survey. Co-produced by the Art Association (A.A.) of Jackson Hole and the Gerald Peters Gallery (an ever-growing presence in our town, Gerald Peters builds art profiles for artists and organizations alike) the show is co-curated by Peter Marcelle and Camille Obering. The show, says the A.A.,” will present watercolor and egg tempera paintings by Andrew Wyeth, one of America’s most influential and well-known painters.”
Not an Art Association member? If you join up prior to this show, you are welcome to attend a sneak preview of the show on Tuesday, August 19th, 2011. Consider this your “heads up!” www.artassociation.org www.gpgallery.com
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Galleries West Fine Art holds an artists’ reception for the gallery’s new exhibit, Faces of Life, July 1, 5-8:00 pm. Portraits of man and beast make up this show. I noticed painter Dan Schultz’s beguiling works on the gallery’s website. Here’s a little bit about the artist, whose work appears at left:
“Dan Schultz began receiving awards for his artwork in national competitions as early as age 17. He graduated with honors from the commercial art program at Pensacola Christian College in Florida where the main focus of his studies was graphic design and illustration, but he soon realized that his true passion was fine art. Drawing inspiration from master artists such as John Singer Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla, Anders Zorn and others, Schultz continued to sharpen his drawing and painting skills at Cottonwood Artists’ School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His skill was soon recognized by the school and he was asked to become an instructor at Cottonwood, making him the youngest to join the group of nationally recognized professional artists teaching there.”
For information, contact Debbie: 307.733.4412
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Just received this info: Heather James Fine Art presents COLOR SPEAKS, a show of works by five artists from the Art Students League of New York. Show opens Thursday, June 30, with a reception from 6-8:00 pm. Heather James notes that over the years the Art Students League “…has acquired works by faculty and outstanding students for its permanent collection, which now reflects 135 years of American art history. Selected for their use of vibrant color, four collection works have been loaned for this exhibition – all by prominent artists.” http://www.heatherjames.com
A poignant holiday note for Jackson Hole’s contemporary arts scene is that two of its best galleries, the Oswald and Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary, are closing their doors. With them go venues for myriad contemporary artists – photographers, painters, sculptors, multi-media artists, crafts people, filmmakers – and the loss pries open, to a greater degree, a cultural chasm our community must strive to close.
Ever entrepreneurial, McCandless and the Oswalds are combining their artist rosters for one great contemporary art sale opportunity. The two galleries offer up the works of more than 40 artists in a special series of Seasonal events, taking place at the Oswald Gallery, 165 North Center Street:
December 17 & 18, 6-8 pm: “Art Cocktails”
December 26, 6-9 pm: “Holiday Party”
December 28, 29 & 30, 6-8 pm: “Art Talks”
Through the months of December and January, 2010, all proceeds will 
provide a percentage of art sales as donations to local arts non-profits. Beneficiaries include the Center of Wonder, the Art Association, Teton ArtLab, Womentum and the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
Press materials feature images of works by Bronwyn Minton, Rick Bartow and Nine Francois. Check both gallery websites for their complete artist lists, and phone 307.413.4331 for more information.
En-Joy!
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Galleries West sends word that a new hardcover coffee table book, “Sculpture of the Rockies,” has just been released by the editors of Southwest Art Magazine. The book “surveys the broad spectrum and spectacular variety of current sculpture being created in the Rocky Mountain region.”
“The Rocky Mountain region of the American West is renowned for its natural beauty – rugged, snow-capped peaks, sweeping valley vistas, towering pine trees, delicate wildflowers – as well as its artistic splendor, with many noted sculptors living and working in this area,” herald the book’s publishers.
As many as 97 sculptors have chosen favorite works to share; they also talk about their process and inspiration. The book includes both contemporary and traditional sculpture, even providing a sampling of purely abstract works. Galleries West will have the books on sale, and suggest you call to reserve a copy. The gallery is offering some special deals on holiday 
shopping, so jingle their telephone bells (307.733.4525) to find out more.
Galleries West is currently showcasing its annual holiday exhibit, the 7th Annual Little Jewels Holiday Miniature Show, running through January 15, 2010. An opening reception takes place December 30, 3-8 pm. In this miniatures show, paintings measure 11×14 inches and smaller; sculptures are 12x12x12 inches and smaller. Chimney-sized gifts for all!
If it seems to you as if a certain subject matter is visibly missing from Jackson Hole’s art scene, you’re correct. Life drawing, the practice of drawing the nude figure, is art’s longest tradition. Many consider it to be art’s purest subject, and the most difficult practice.
Even so, with all the superior artistic talent in and around Jackson Hole, nude 
portraiture is rarely publicly displayed. That’s changing.
Body & Soul II, a group exhibit displaying life drawings by 13 local artists, opens at Galleries West on August 20, running through September 3. A reception will be held Aug. 20, 5-8:00 pm.
Thirteen participating artists are: Eliza Chrystie, Eliot Goss, Thais Graham, Lane Griffin, Alissa Hartmann, Jennifer L. Hoffman, Greg McHuron, Susan Nowlin, Lee Carlman Riddell, Shannon Troxler, Kathryn Mapes Turner, September Vhay, and A. A. “Sandy” Zvegintzov.
Gallery owner Debbie Bunch provides context for the history of nude drawing.
“The story of this drawing group has its beginnings in the long tradition of life drawing through the ages,” she says. “The skill of drawing, and specifically drawing the human form, was considered a prerequisite for all art students in the
19th and early 20th Century academies. By the mid-20th Century, less emphasis was being placed on the craft and mechanics of art study in favor of expressionism and conceptual issues. As the priorities of the academies changed, life drawing was no longer required study for students. And less and less artists pursued the practice.”
Participating artist September Vhay notes that, “The intent of this show is to share our artwork with the public and to create an understanding and discussion about the roll that drawing skills play in fine art.”
Valley artist Greg McHuron quietly began holding group drawing sessions at his studio about eight years ago, taking a break while he dealt with a serious cancer threat. (McHuron, if possible, is even more productive post-treatment.) As Bunch says, most of these artists are not professionally known for figurative work but they share “…a desire to hone their observational skills while studying the light, form, perspective, and proportion that the human body offers, and a belief that the basic skill of drawing is a vital foundation that is too often skipped over by artists today.”
Artists will be in attendance for August 20th’s reception. For more information, contact Galleries West Fine Art at 307-733-4412 or visit www.gallerieswestjacksonhole.com.
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R. Haworth at Full Circle Frameworks!
Ryan Haworth–whose last name is pronounced “Hayworth,” but who never starred in “Gilda,” or married Orson Welles–(Sorry Ryan, I’m in a strange mood this morning! Must be because it’s my day off.) opens a new group show at Full Circle Frameworks this Friday, Aug. 21.
“Us,” as described by Rocky Vertone, is “… a window into his thoughts during the most active time in his life..at least for now. It touches on fears, belief, humor, beauty, and the urge to do what we love.” The show remains up through September 9.
For info, give a call to 307.733.0770, or email Vertone at: rockyfour4@gmail.com.
The Legacy Gallery hosts a two-man show for Western artists James Ayers and Jason Rich this month. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, August 6, at the gallery, 75 N. Cache, on the Jackson Town Square southwest corner. Both artists will be present.
Ayers, a Rhode Island School of Design grad, is noted for his portraits of Indians. (John Byrne Cooke almost decapitated me for using the term “Native American,” a term, according to Cooke, coined by wrong-headed white men.) His travels and observations of Iroquois, Sioux and Hopi inform his works, oil paintings on canvas. I’ve read that he’s influenced by a diverse group of great masters: John Singer Sargent, Gauguin, Klimt, and Henry Tanner. That list encompasses myriad uses of light and paint; the latter artist’s painting style alone varied extensively over the course of his career.
Jason Rich also chronicles the Western life, but with a focus on cowboys and their 
horses. Imbued with an illustrative golden light, Rich’s landscape-cowboy-horse portraits capture ranch life and individual moments of reflection, traversing the plains, resting the herd creekside, riding the range under endless skies fluffed by cumulous clouds. His love of ranch life springs from his own childhood on a Utah farm.
For additional information contact Legacy Gallery at 307-733-2353 or maya@legacygallery.com.
Item #2 : O’Connor at Galleries West
E.C. O’Connor’s solo exhibition, “Willing: Saying Yes to the Road Less Traveled,” is featured at Galleries West, August 6-19. The show highlights O’Connor’s productive Joshua Tree National Park residency, as well as landscapes painted in the Greater Yellowstone region.
Talented Jackson Hole artists of all ilk often go about their day-to-day lives unnoticed. O’Connor is one: she waits tables at Nora’s, landscapes, and does her fair share of outreach work in and around the valley. But, as has previous posts have reported, O’Connor is an accomplished landscape painter recently awarded the coveted Joshua Tree residency. At Joshua Tree, the artist created many new works–one painting will become a permanent part of that park’s collection.
“Many people perceive undeveloped areas as valueless and inhospitable,” says O’Connor. “In no place is this more true than in our nation’s deserts. My goal is to show the inherent beauty within a very harsh environment.”
She is a passionate on-location painter; no painting from photographs for her. As McHuron likes to do, O’Connor paints the “wow.” Her light recalls that of such master painters as Maynard Dixon, E. Martin Hennings and Edgar Payne.
An artist’s reception happens August 6, 5-8 PM. O’Connor will be in attendance–yay, I finally get to meet her!–and hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer, and the gallery’s hallmark chocolate fountain will be available. Call the gallery at 307-733-4412 or visit www.gallerieswestjacksonhole.com.
Galleries West twitters. You can also follow the gallery on Twitter (www.twitter.com/gallerieswest) and their page on Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/gallerieswest).
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Mary Roberson opens her new show, Nature is the Life of the Dream, at Altamira Fine Art on Thursday, August 6. A reception will be held 5:00-7:00 pm. More on this exhibit in my next post, but don’t miss what promises to be a good kickoff for a special show. connect@altamiraart.com.
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Jackson Hole Center for the Arts’ founder John Tozzi and Center resident Dancers Workshop Artistic Director Babs Case are 2009′s Winners of the Award for Creativity.
Case’s 11-year devotion to Dancers’ Workshop has transformed a small, back-office company into a state-of-the-art outfit. DW provides dance classes and performances for all ages, all tastes; its electric current and constant vivacity are one of Jackson’s main creative arteries. It’s all due to Case, who, in addition to her dancing and directing, is an accomplished visual artist. It could be said that Case ignited finding new venues for artists not able to appear in galleries, with her popular summer “Harpo’s Art Fair,” a day-long fun arts n’ picnic in Bab’s back yard. Fun like Alice’s Wonderland fun. Jodeen Tebay beautifully writes, “while dance is what brought Babs to the community, space is her true passion. On the stage, on paper, in textiles, in architecture, and in life she sees and creates beautiful compositions of space.”
Nobody deserves this award more than Babs Case. Congratulations, Babs!
Congratulations to, to co-winner John Tozzi, without whom Jackson would not have the magnificent Jackson arts hub, the Center for the Arts. Said Bruce Hawtin, “It is at times difficult to be creative and make a living. Because of John, the arts, all of the arts in Jackson Hole, have a home; therefore they have a place to be creative. That doesn’t spell success but it removes one of the obstacles.”
The Cultural Council of Jackson Hole invites everyone to attend the 15th Annual Award for Creativity Celebration on Thursday, September 10 from 5 – 6:30 p.m. at Dancers’ Workshop’s Studio 1 in the Center for the Arts. 2009 recipients will be presented with awards made by a local artist. This year’s artist is Laurie Thal.
Galleries West’s group show, “New Beginnings,” opens in their newly regrouped space on June 18th, remains on exhibit through July 2, and will toast new works with a reception on Thursday, June 18, 5-8 p.m. All gallery artists will participate in this summer’s show, a collection designed to remind us of art’s healing powers.
Participating artists include Michael Calles, Kim Casebeer, Mary Ann Cherry, Kate Ferguson, Gaylene Fortner, Jim Gilmore, Judy Hartke, Jennifer L. Hoffman, Dinah Jasensky, Pat Jeffers, Bonnie Latham, Karen Latham, Rebecca Latham, D. Lee, Karol Mack, Lori McNee, Erin C. O’Connor, Marilyn Paine, John Potter, Marilyn Salomon, Debbie Edgers Sturges, Hubert Wackermann, & Bart Walker.
I have a place in my heart for Jen Hoffman’s work. Hoffman’s Pennsylvania 
childhood, enveloped in pastel lights and gentle countryside, informs her compositions. She’s worked and studied with landscape painter Scott Christensen, and though her bio tells us she’s spent years around the arts, she’s been painting full time only a few years. I believe Hoffman is one of our most accomplished plein air artists, and I know people who, after first being exposed to her lyrical canvases, think about Hoffman’s paintings for years.
And who doesn’t admire John Potter’s intimate connection with the Earth? 
He’s telling the holy with every stroke. (Here, Sleeping Indian is born.) He says, “When I step outside to paint, my intent is to orchestrate a moment of light, color, and my own emotional responses to those subjects on canvas. My hope is that the viewer will see the natural world through my eyes and gain an appreciation for the quiet dignity that I find in the wild – perhaps even feel that sence of awe and gratitude as well – and hopefully, then, share a desire to help preserve this Earth that belongs to us all.”~
Justin Fantl, a past colleague of mine, seems to be making it big in California’s photography scene. Fantl shot for Planet Jackson Hole, and took off a few years back to enter a San Francisco graduate program in photography. It’s paying off. Feature Shoot reports that “Justin strives to create images that are metaphoric and lasting whether the images are of a sterile hallway or a dinosaur egg….His work has been featured in Communication Arts and Photo District News and [he] is a regular contributor to Gallery Stock. His clients include Fortune, Lucky, CBS Magazine, The Globe and Mail, and Technology Review.
