When I was 10, my surly and despotic fifth-grade teacher ridiculed me in front of the class for painting the sky in our landscape assignment green. When I asked her why the sky couldn't be green, she said, "Because skies are always blue." Later in life, I discovered she was grossly mistaken. The sky can be any color you want it to be. If you don't believe me, check out "Artscapes," currently showing at the Dolores Chase Gallery.
Over a dozen artists have created "landscapes" ranging from dreamy, serene hillsides to the barren underbellies of freeways to Gorkyesque gardens.Ray Jones' sculpture, "Still Life" (bronze), is visually austere, like a rigid, rectilinear skyscraper forcing its way up and through the organic remains of the Earth. The work's design, solidity and patina help create a sense of power and antiquity. It's a stunning piece.
Ron Richmond says his work "employs motifs borrowed from reality. Land, air and water are tools I use to symbolically state my ideas and evoke thought and contemplation by virtue of the sublime." His painting "Oasis" (oil), with its smoothed-edge dreaminess and mysterious locale, creates a feeling of deja vu - we've been here before and very soon someone we know will approach and tell us what we need to do. Richmond's palette is muted, but the colors are nevertheless rich.
"Cool Critters" (acrylic) is a major departure from Edie Rober-son's traditional trompe l'oeil oeuvre. These are garishly colorful critters whose elongated torsos and legs create a bold, canopy-like design. It's a fun piece.
Doug Himes' playful, Klee-esque pastiche, "Garden Diptych" (oil), is as visually invigorating as his past works. "We live in a world that is fragmented," Himes says. "We have lost the power of dream and myth. And people are destitute without it." Himes' birds, snakes, goblets, checkerboards, grids and calligraphy reintroduce the viewer to the Garden of Eden for another shot.
The gallery has included four works by Alvin Gittins. A nice touch. My favorite is "Landscape With Rocks" (oil). Gittins achieved a photo-realism with this beach scene: bird tracks, rocks and their shadows with sea foam and sand erosion. The viewer is left waiting for the next wave.
Brian Kershisnik's "Lovers With Three Fires" (oil) would be Chagall meets Munch if it weren't for the extraordinarily thick textures he creates on his canvas. The kissing couple is oblivious to the surrounding fires (maybe it's the home fires burning). Kershisnik's omnipresent black dog makes another appearance and seems to be the only one aware of the flames. As in all of Kershisnik's work, the design is simple, allowing for easy visual access to the message.
"Sunset at Noon" (oil), by Michael Woodbury, and Royden Card's "Fall Park" (acrylic) are two pieces worth study, as is Terry St. John's "Diablo, Red Tones" (oil).
Gibbs Smith's "View of the City of San Francisco" (oil) destroys perspective a la Matisse and is wonderful because of it.
"Artscapes" will intrigue and inspire.
- "SAND CYCLES" is a poetic, environmental dance-video installation, a land-site process for creating art for the Earth and ecology. It is the fruit of two women questing through the desert, seeking connections to the land and kindred spirits, ancient and present. Verabell Call Cluff on camera and Maida Rust Withers, artist/-performer, discover mysteries of change and survival, turmoil and stability. Alex Caldiero performs the background music and sounds and Tea Schiano did the set design for the installation currently at the Olpin Union Gallery on the University of Utah campus.
The video's structure is influenced by the writings of Joseph Campbell and the hero's journey. Images of the Innocent, the Orphan, the Martyr, the Caretaker, the Warrior, the Destroyer, the Magician and the Ruler are woven into the structure.
Three monitors, mounted on low, austere tables, continuously play the video. Cushions, situated directly in front of the monitors, await the meditative visitor, while in the rear a pedestal, situated with a bowl, catches sand dripping from the ceiling; the sand is allowed to spill onto the floor, where visitors are invited to scribble prayers.
"It's all supposed to be very Zen," says DeVon Stanfield, director of the gallery. In fact, opening night the installation had three monks from the Kanzeon Zen Center of Utah participating. "They were helpful, showing people how to meditate," Stanfield says.
While visiting the installation, a young man entered the gallery, walked over to a cushion, removed his shoes, seated himself cross-legged and began watching "Sand Cycles." He sat quietly, watching and listening to the droning music. "People come right in and sit down," say Stanfield. "I didn't think they would, but they do."
While Cluff's camerawork on "Sand Cycles" is pedestrian, the dancing by Withers - she kicks, gyrates and undulates - takes it to a higher plane. But Cluff's poem, scrolled through at the introduction to the video, is beautiful and a necessary part of the journey.
Once there was
and once there was not
an ancient, wise woman.
She who eats the sands.
She who knows the innocence
and the falling into solitude.
Both Orphan and Caretaker,
She slips away, burdened,
into journeys,
seeking and fighting.
Being Destroyed,
She returns to wholeness
between worlds of earth and wind.
Going into the circle
to find ones' self,
to listen to the ground,
but to stay inside is to perish.
Come then and live in the cycle.
This is to find your tracings,
your footprints in winds of sand.
"Sand Cycles" will be a stretch for some gallerygoers, but I think it's worthwhile, and certainly very Zen.
*****
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Olpin Union Gallery
"Sand Cycles," a poetic, environmental dance-video installation, is showing at the Olpin Union Gallery, University of Utah, 245 University Union through March 10. Call 581-7469 for gallery hours.
Dolores Chase Gallery
"Artscapes" runs through March 31 at the Dolores Chase Gallery, 260 S. 200 West, Salt Lake City. Gallery hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and 2-5 p.m. Saturday.