This week, we're diving into an exhibition that will change the way you think about art, inspiration, and collaboration. It's called Chain Reaction, and it’s on display now at the Hybrid Gallery in Eugene’s Whittaker area.
Imagine three long walls lined with nearly 100 pieces of art—each one a perfect ten-by-ten-inch square. You start reading the wall from left to right, and here’s the mesmerizing catch: each piece is a direct response to the one that came just before it.
One artist created an image, passed it with some notes to the next, who created their piece. Then, that second piece, with its own new notes, inspired a third artist. The original art vanishes—only the previous work informs the next. It creates a dizzying, delightful, and profound mental shift for the viewer. You’re not just looking at a collection; you're witnessing time and inspiration looping back and forth.
You’ll find yourself asking, “I wonder what this is all about?” And that’s when you go to the gallery’s further wall. Taped up there are the narratives—the written stories that accompany each numbered piece. The opening night saw people stacked three and four deep, engrossed in both the visual and written threads.
Spearheaded locally by organizers Susan Detroy and Greta Olivas, the project is the result of 14 international artists virtually tossing art around the globe from studio to studio for over two years, from 2020 through 2023. It’s a remarkable time capsule, showing threads of global events like Covid and the Ukraine invasion, weaving through the work of artists who never met in person.
If you haven’t been to the Hybrid Gallery, it’s a wonderful spot—a coffee shop in the front and an art space open all day. Grab a coffee, sit, talk, and get lost in the Chain Reaction of art.
