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May 2018
Tucson Contreras Gallery by C.J. Shane |
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Whether we grew up in Tucson, stayed or left and returned, or more likely, chose to make the Old Pueblo our home, we have a special place in our heart for this city in the desert. The current exhibit titled “Tucson” at Contreras Gallery celebrates our home with the artwork of twelve local artists.
An important aspect of this exhibit is that select themes are addressed in the exhibit that celebrates our home.
An important aspect of this exhibit is that select themes are addressed in the exhibit that celebrates our home.
Nina Duckett
A primary theme is that Tucson is a desert town with unique flora and fauna. Sharon Conine shows us some lovely views of ocotillo and saguaro in her small-scale, lovely watercolors with saguaro and ocotillo, and her “Rabbit with Prickly Pear.” Robert Conine, working in pen and wash has desert landscapes with native flora. He also shows us a fascinating larger-scale work title “Dateland Revisited” that compels us to look more closely. Also compelling is Charles Hedgcock’s two archival pigment prints from lumen prints titled “Ocotillo” and “Dancing Cereus Flowers.” His is another subtle approach that to draws us in.
Nina Duckett’s “Calliope Hummingbird” reminds us that we live in a place with very unique and beautiful birdlife. She has chosen a subtle palette to draw attention to this lovely bird we’ve come to call the hummer.
There are a few Sonoran Desert landscapes in the exhibit, among them Rand Carlson’s small scale and beautiful acrylic on panel “Mt. Lemmon Rocks” and Mano Sotello’s “Presence (Tucson Rillito River.” Neda Contreras also draws us in with her mysterious, almost surrealistic views of the Sonoran Desert and its animal, plant and human inhabitants.
Nina Duckett’s “Calliope Hummingbird” reminds us that we live in a place with very unique and beautiful birdlife. She has chosen a subtle palette to draw attention to this lovely bird we’ve come to call the hummer.
There are a few Sonoran Desert landscapes in the exhibit, among them Rand Carlson’s small scale and beautiful acrylic on panel “Mt. Lemmon Rocks” and Mano Sotello’s “Presence (Tucson Rillito River.” Neda Contreras also draws us in with her mysterious, almost surrealistic views of the Sonoran Desert and its animal, plant and human inhabitants.
Lisa Kanouse
Perhaps the piece that is most bridges the gap between nature and the urban environment is Lisa Kanouse’s “Cholla On University Avenue.” Kanouse’s palette is typically made up of vibrant reds, oranges and blues in energetic paintings of an expressionist, almost abstract style. But this painting of a cholla cactus shows us how the desert maintains its presence even in the most urban scenes. The nonsymmetrical plant grows upward and dominates the angular walls and electric meter as if to remind us that Mother Nature is always present.
The urban landscape and urban architecture are also apparent in this exhibit. Carolyn Sotello exhibits larger pieces that are colorful manifestations of some of our most noteworthy, and often older, urban architecture, including “Pueblo Hotel” and “Immaculate Hart Novitiate.”
Rand Carlson, best known for his tin creations (but don’t forget those acrylic landscapes!) shows us a large display of small tin works in his “Mini Tin Collages,” each expressing an aspect of the Tucson urban architecture.
Ruben Moreno takes a look at a very prosaic urban landscape that one would not typically think of as beautiful. The scene is full of concrete, power lines, and automobiles backed up by a magnificent Sonoran Desert sunset. The overall effect of “B-Side - 36th & South Campbell” is stunning.
Rand Carlson, best known for his tin creations (but don’t forget those acrylic landscapes!) shows us a large display of small tin works in his “Mini Tin Collages,” each expressing an aspect of the Tucson urban architecture.
Ruben Moreno takes a look at a very prosaic urban landscape that one would not typically think of as beautiful. The scene is full of concrete, power lines, and automobiles backed up by a magnificent Sonoran Desert sunset. The overall effect of “B-Side - 36th & South Campbell” is stunning.
Jacqueline Chanda
[click on images to enlarge]
People in the landscape is another theme. Ka Fisher’s “Slow Dancing Home” is a large-scale rhythmic work that brings almost-audible music with it, as does Lisa Kanouse’s “Folklorico Dancers.”
E. Michael Contreras’s gorgeous hand-wrought jewelry in silver and semi-precious gemstones fit in the people category, too. We humans like to decorate ourselves and Contreras’s work is among the best for that purpose.
Very interesting in the people category is the work of Jacqueline Chanda who presents to us what could be considered a quadriptych, four paintings of the same size and on the same theme. In this case the theme is walking – walking “On the UofA Mall,” “Crossing Pennington Street,” “Going to Class,” and “After the Hike.”
People in the landscape is another theme. Ka Fisher’s “Slow Dancing Home” is a large-scale rhythmic work that brings almost-audible music with it, as does Lisa Kanouse’s “Folklorico Dancers.”
E. Michael Contreras’s gorgeous hand-wrought jewelry in silver and semi-precious gemstones fit in the people category, too. We humans like to decorate ourselves and Contreras’s work is among the best for that purpose.
Very interesting in the people category is the work of Jacqueline Chanda who presents to us what could be considered a quadriptych, four paintings of the same size and on the same theme. In this case the theme is walking – walking “On the UofA Mall,” “Crossing Pennington Street,” “Going to Class,” and “After the Hike.”
Mano Sotello
Saving the best for last is Mano Sotello’s diptych “Tucson on Earth as It Is in Heaven.” Sotello does intriguing paintings that he calls allegories. The word “allegory” is defined as “a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.” So here we see dramatic view of a stormy sky, perhaps a violent monsoon storm, above a desert landscape filled with military planes. Many us like to forget, despite the noise, that we share space with a very large air force base in Tucson The threat of war persists. Read into your view of Sotello’s painting your own view of what he suggests in this painting.
The “Tucson” exhibit will be up through May 26.
For more information, go to:
http://www.contrerashousefineart.com/Current%20Exhibit.html
The “Tucson” exhibit will be up through May 26.
For more information, go to:
http://www.contrerashousefineart.com/Current%20Exhibit.html