This winter, enjoy all of the world-famous art available right here in Sun Valley. With over 10 local galleries to choose from and selections as contemporary and cultured as you can find in any metropolitan area, Sun Valley is sure to satisfy your appetite for fine art. Exhibitions this year range from local and regional to cross-continental, extending from the Northwest to the Far East. Here are some highlights for this winter’s art scene.
GAIL SEVERN GALLERY
Judith Kindler is a multidisciplinary artist working in sculpture, installation, photography and photo-based work embedded in a variety of materials. Her December/January installations at the Gail Severn Galley are rich with images from the artist’s life, spent in the rural areas of the Northwest. Kindler, who trained in both hunter-jumper and dressage, has a lifelong love of horses—a subject that has played front and center in her work since 1988. Applying the broken surfaces that the multi-paneled, salon-styled installations present, in a single work, brings a whole new feeling to the much loved subject. Showing December 20-January 31.
Ed Musante has a passion for nature. His small-scale paintings of birds and animals, painted on his signature cigar boxes, are intimate portraits of wildlife. Musante captures the presence of each bird or animal through careful observation and attention to detail while incorporating text and pattern from the boxes themselves. Showing December 20-January 31.
GALLERY DENOVO
Gallery DeNovo is delighted to debut two fresh new artists’ work this winter, opening December 28th. The exhibition titled ENSO, which is Japanese for “circle,” features beautifully patterned works created by Anne Crumpacker out of bamboo and Arpie Gennetian Najarian out of paper and thread. Using the inspiration of nature, pattern and circular reference, both artists create works that evoke a calm Zen-like feeling, yet are intricately crafted. Also on display in this exhibition is a piece from Korean artist Jaehyo Lee. The natural patterning of the circular logs along with the contrast of the dark burnt wood mimic the feeling and intention of both Najarian and Crumpacker's work, adding another dimension to the show ENSO. Showing December 28-February 10.
GILMAN CONTEMPORARY
John Westmark, a painter who is interested in the metaphysical potential of unorthodox painting materials, uses paper-sewing-patterns and paint to create figures of women who exemplify strength and courage. The sewing patterns used are reinterpreted from their usual function to present the female figure either as “an agent of revolt in the form of resolute warriors or within the controlled setting of the formal society portrait.” The identity of the figure is often denied by wraps, bonnets or enshrouded faces. The denial of a specific identity suggests an ambiguity of viewpoint, an anonymous “everywoman.” Showing December 20-January 20.
In her own words, “Color has the capacity to convey emotion and is deeply connected to human feeling, sentiment, and sense of place. By creating abstract color fields with a strong emphasis on the emotional qualities of color, I attempt to allude to undefined, yet commonly felt, human feelings. The color fields encourage viewers to temporarily leave their present state of mind and enter a world of abstraction, where color serves as the emotional catalyst and method of communication.” Showing January 20-February 27.
OCHI GALLERY
A TV and film director, Steve Miner applies his exceptional ability to construct narrative to his paintings. Presenting a series of isolated landscapes, groups of people and single portraits, Miner demonstrates a keen attention to both the technical aspects of painting and the psychological intricacies that build story and drama. His paintings are anecdotal if not theatrical—sometimes they appear to be the background from a movie, other times, a film still, or perhaps even a scene from a dream. They are figurative and painterly, both suggesting and denying the notion that they document an actual time and place.
William Lewis reveals a similar interest in painterly details, the human psyche and telling a story. Paintings of cabins belonging to famous and infamous historical figures such as Ted Kaczynski, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Edgar Allen Poe convey the element of isolation and loneliness sought out by such eccentric individuals. And his taxidermy animal heads are as uncannily humorous as they are haunting. Showing December 28-February 5.
KNEELAND GALLERY
“Town and Country” will feature artists Neal Philpott, Shanna Kunz and Andrzej Skorut. Kunz and Skorut, both from Utah, offer different interpretations of the landscape of their area—Kunz through the use of a tonal palette and the play of light and shadow and Skorut through subtle contrasts and a rich surface of paint. Realist painter Neal Philpott seeks to capture the ephemeral nature of the Northwest in his oil paintings, which might feature a meandering road or distant farmhouse nestled in trees. Light play animates his work, creating the lines, forms and structure that give his interesting compositions their charge. Showing in February.