The Maude Kerns Art Center is proud to present two exhibits opening Friday, July 31 and on view through August 28. In the Salon Gallery is “Surreal Views,” showcasing Eugene artist Richard Quigley and Salem artist Ron Conrad. In the Main Gallery is “Beyond the Everyday: Still Lifes & Symbols,” featuring the work of Portland, Oregon artists Georgiana Nehl, Robin Kerr, and Rachel Kalman.
The public is invited to a free Opening Reception for both exhibits on Friday, July 31, from 5 – 7 pm. The artists will comment about their work at 5:30 pm. The Exhibit Sponsor is Stone Works International Inc.
In “Surreal Views,” Quigley and Conrad exhibit work rich in surrealistic images that transcends the ordinary in search of human connection. The audience is welcomed into the world of the artists’ imaginings where they may encounter something profound.
Richard Quigley has cultivated his style of visionary painting for the last forty plus years. He has had individual and group exhibitions throughout the United States and Mexico, and his artworks are held in collections worldwide. Characterized by vibrant color, his paintings can be described as surreal narratives that point beyond everyday existence, reflecting a constantly altered universe. He says of his work: “My art continues to evoke the relationship between elements surrounding mankind's spiritual and physical being in a symbiotic coexistence between the past, present and future.”
Ron Conrad shows both acrylic paintings and sculptures in “Surreal Views.” He incorporates wood, brass, glass, and branches in his sculptures, experimenting with concepts of transformation and different points of view. His work is marked by humor and a sense of irony. Conrad says that a recurring theme in his work is “finding a
connection with nature and the universe and a longing to touch the essence of existence.”
The three Portland artists featured in “Beyond the Everyday” transform familiar objects and forms into contemporary still lives with rich color and unusual juxtapositions, exploring the play of symbol and metaphor.
Georgiana Nehl is fascinated by how we make sense of our world, how we read images and symbols, and construct metaphors or narratives. In her mixed media paintings and interactive sculptural pieces, Nehl combines disparate elements beside one another to evoke memories, feelings, and new understandings. She compares her paintings to “a stage where the viewer wanders across the image field, discovering related information, adding up relationships, then returning to a still center to rest.”
New Zealand-born artist Robin Kerr shows her abstracted, imaginary still-lifes in “Beyond the Everyday: Still Lifes & Symbols.” Kerr calls herself an “accidental immigrant,” a term that describes a state of permanent observational limbo in which she is slightly unsure of things. Using acrylic, wax pastel, and ink on birch panels, Kerr creates playful images with slightly wonky vases and imaginary flowers, objects that give her a sense of comfort and familiarity in an unfamiliar place.
Rachel Kalman works from observation, creating intimate portraits of inanimate objects in oil paint. She is interested in juxtaposing decorative aesthetics with difficult realities that evoke different notions of representation, including kitsch, horror, humor, and metaphor. TaVee McAllister Lee of Transmission Gallery comments on Kalman’s work: “Just as humans tend to focus on frivolous detail in the face of complex and catastrophic times, [Kalman’s] kitsch objects unblinkingly stand by as the world becomes unhinged.”
