No matter what style and medium appeal to you, you'll probably find them at one of Denis and Bonnie Phillips' four galleries - the Phillips, Pierpont and Courtyard galleries in Salt Lake City and the new Dooly Gallery in Park City.
The Phillips recognize good art, whether it be representational or abstract, two-dimensional or three-dimensional, traditional or avant-garde. They have the knack of identifying emerging artists who are destined for success. There's no room in their stable for artists who do not excel in individualism, innovation and craftsmanship.Four artists who passed the test are Mark Biddle, Pat Eddington, Larnie Fox and David Sucec; they are currently displaying their work at the Phillips Gallery.
For this new show at the Phillips Gallery, Mark Biddle has produced a number of large, mixed-media works on canvas.
"I begin drawing with a thrashing of marks that track across the canvas and set up emotional tension," Biddle says. "My primary goal is to eliminate calculation and planning which may lead to an imposed or forced design."
If his imagery is vague, that's exactly how the artist wants it to look. "If recognizable objects begin to appear in the imagery, they are not predetermined or referential," he said. "What is sought for is the spontaneous and automatic."
Pat Eddington, an art teacher at Highland High School, enjoys bringing animal and bird imagery to his oil paintings and pen and ink works. A number of the works in this exhibit focus on cunning cats and their devious ways of luring birds. One cat places a bird mask over his head and creeps up on a gullible bird. Another hides behind a partition and manipulates a bird marionette in hopes of attracting a live one.
Larnie Fox often combines realistic and abstract imagery in his oil paintings. One of his works, "Dust Buffalos," comprises a dozen paintings that fill one of the walls in the Phillips Gallery.
" `Dust Buffalos' is the result of a long process involving different attitudes toward painting," he said. "The realistic images were rendered from small photographs. The non-realistic imagery were based on visual symbols or pure invention."
The artist currently teaches at Weber State and Youth Arts Academy.
You will immediately identify some of the works on display as being created by David Sucec. His pyramids, made up of triangles of color swatches, seem to be his trademark.
But you'll be surprised to discover "First Light" and "Twilight," two of his figurative pieces, and other representational figure studies.
His work shows a wide range of styles and techniques, which indicates that creative artists never stagnate; they are continually exploring and expanding their styles and mediums.
When you visit the Phillips Gallery, be sure to walk downstairs and view some of the treasures "hiding" there. Some of the eye-catching works include ceramics by Larry Elsner, Connie Erickson and Cyn Jeppson; paintings by John Erickson, Don Olsen, Denis and Bonnie Phillips; fluid watercolors by Patricia Forsberg; drawings by Bonnie Borup and John Wood; collages by Allen Bishop and weaving by Sharon Alderman.
- Lucy Fairchild's sculpture, painting and utilitarian art transform the Pierpont Gallery into a spectrum of color - a welcome relief from a drab winter. Her body of work makes a dramatic statement about the artist's style, reinforcing my feelings that only through a one-person exhibit can artists effectively convey who they are and where they are coming from.
A portion of this exhibit focuses on Fairchild's eye-riveting paintings. Her fragmented painting "Ganesh" explodes on one of the walls.
But there is much more - furniture painted with flat colors and decorated with dots, black lines and bright colors; and shrines and altars draped with reflective materials such as foil, tinsel and glitter.
When interviewed recently for a story in Neo Magazine, Fairchild said, "I am particularly drawn to objects that have been thrown away - things people no longer think are of use. The rest comes from thrift stores." She added that she doesn't have any interest in what is new. "New things have no feeling."
Fairchild loves animals, and especially stray dogs. She gave one a home, used him as a model for pastel drawings, and called the series "Lucky Dog." That series is part of the show.
- Hidden treasures can also be found two levels below the Pierpont Gallery, not only in the storage area but also in the Courtyard Gallery, where three artists are exhibiting their wares - jewelrymaker Kristie Krumbach and photographers Paul Dougan and Barbara Richards.
Paul Dougan's color photographs are superb examples of not only simplifying subject matter but limiting hues to only one or two colors - often primary or secondary. This is seen in "Blue Door" and "English Wall." In "Apples," Dougan has combined red with its complementary color, green, to come up with a striking photograph. In "Ghost Chairs," hardly any color is visible, but the lack of it adds considerably to the mood.
Barbara Richards' fascination with cast shadow can turn an ordinary photograph into a marvelous one. Note those shadows in "Crucifix I and II," "Adobe III" and "Plant Forms I." Her uncluttered compositions are a fascinating interplay between positive and negative space.
She has been an adjunct assistant professor in photography in the University of Utah's Graduate School of Architecture since 1984.
Kristie Krumbach has been winning awards for her jewelry and small metal and sculpture for more than 10 years. She received a purchase award in the Utah '87 exhibit at the Utah Museum of Fine Art.
In this exhibit, she spotlights bangles, earrings, bracelets and necklaces filled with hearts, petroglyphs and other designs.
All of the above exhibits will continue through Feb. 24. Hours at all three galleries are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Check the gallery listings for addresses and telephone numbers.