Sept-October 2010 - Preview

V I G N E T T E S • September/October 2010OregonBY ALLYN CANTORERIC STOTIK: RECENT PAINTINGS Laura Russo Gallery, Portland,September 2-October 2 Erik Stotik's small intimate representationsfocus on the human form and pathos, revealing a darker side of thehuman condition and raising questions of identity and loss. Enigmaticpeople in dreamlike settings are beautifully painted in a crisp surrealstyle creating visual intensity. His skillful draftsmanship heightens thedegree of mystery or sense of uncertainty in his subtle narratives.Stotik's work has been widely exhibited in the Northwest and is in thecollections of the Portland Art Museum, the N.Y. Public Library andYale University.ARCY DOUGLASS: CLOUD Chambers@916, Portland, September 2-October 23 In his new solo exhibition Portland-based Arcy Douglassuses minimal geometric forms to parallel the complexity of naturalsystems. A digital projection with two wall drawings, Cloud has a calculatednumber of possible visual combinations – an amount greaterthan the number of cells in the human body yet smaller than the numberof atoms on the planet. The work simplifies repetitious cyclesinto Op Art compositions and the shifting graphic forms evolve overtime reflecting a sequence of expansion and contraction.ALBUM – ARTIST PORTRAITS OF ARTISTS, THE ART GYM 30THANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION The Art Gym at Marylhurst University,Marylhurst, September 14-October 27 For the gallery's thirtiethAnniversary Exhibition, 28 artists are showing photographs, paintings,drawings and prints of some 180 Oregon artists. With careers spanningmore than six decades, artists like Jack McLarty and George Johansonhave depicted significant artists from their lifetime while a youngerartist such as Marne Lucas has dressed and staged her subjects, mixingelements of theatre and portraiture. Together these works “coalesceinto a composite portrait” as noted by curator Terri M. Hopkins.EVA SPEER: LANDSCAPING Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland,September 1-October 2 "...landscapes bear witness to the scale of ourpursuits.” states Portland artist Eva Speer who contemplates the passageof time and our struggle to create a meaningful existence within it. Hernew paintings are lush and fluid, acknowledging the geological immensityof time through vast liquid-like "scapes" that are as much aboutaction as they are result. The works point to our relative minutenesswithin the space-time continuum. Speer defines “landscaping” as theinstinctive actions we perform as a result of life's “pitiless repetition”.ROBERT SCHLEGEL: NEW PAINTINGS White Bird Gallery, CannonBeach, September 1-30 Robert Schlegel's expressive interpretationsof natural and man-made forms possess a tension residing betweenthe representational and the abstract. He is drawn to the interactionof shape and contrasting line found in rural areas where structuresjuxtapose the landscape. The voluminous painterly forms and studiesof light capture an immediacy that provides a sense of place.Blending realism with the more formal attributes of painting,Schlegel's activated surfaces are deep and opulent.Eric StotikArcy DouglassHenk PanderEva SpeerRobert Schlegelwww.preview-art.com PREVIEW 69