Judge’s Statement

When viewing a diverse range of contemporary art, and with abundant appeal, I frequently think beyond what is seen. So, my commentary focuses on just the art awards recipients. Entering the 53rd Annual Fall Exhibition I was immediately struck by big, broad, and innovative strokes—Grazing Deer, an airy, weight defying gestural sculpture by Linda Wise; Melanie Kacek’s Rock’n Redwood Table, a rich, slab of redwood burl, with an hexagonal pedestal base of maple. Surprising is the rock embedded in the table surface (much like one finds along the beach). Colorful blocks and shapes fill Marvin Trump’s A House, then Water. Then, a more subtle palette suggests figurative or atmospheric elements along the borders of the composition. And greeting you as you enter, or leave the foyer space is Last Stroke by Judy S Willis—a witty, painterly portrait of two young artists leaving their impressions on the canvas.

The larger hall, like the entire exhibition, is rich and diverse in medium and expressive styles. Linda Bareilles allows her medium, watercolor, to drift in Summer Meadow. A portrait of a Bandoneón Player is accented by South American patterns and color by Leslie Odelberg. A still life composition Thread, holds incredible range—mannered spools, elegant and abstract floral patterns, reductive incisions suggesting unraveled threads, deftly applied by Kristi Nicola Clark.

On the second floor, skirting the galleries below are works not to be missed. Elk River Flood is an impressionistic landscape rendered in muted grey and brown tonalities by Frank Speck. One can almost feel the thick, evaporating airs. In a similar evocation, Arlene Broyles’s monotype Breaking Through, is thick and fluid in its geometry. And outwitting me, and maybe even the art around it is Mask by Marlene Hall. Dancing, effusive children, or aliens with rhythm, whatever Hall’s intent, it caused me to wonder. Celebration is a captivating painting by Rachel Schlueter. With simple gestures, and restrained brushwork, Schlueter’s figures are distinguished, even in the guise of a Mexican festival.

Laid back, throw back, and fifty year legacy of art from a far corner of a better known artistic culture of nation-state California! What was I thinking (somewhat presumptuously)? Eureka, and its North Coast art scene are vibrant, with an engrossing public spirit, and not at all shackled by tradition.

Lawrence Fong
Curator of American Art at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA), University of Oregon, Eugene.

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