2011 Humboldt Arts Council Annual Juried Member Exhibition

Through January 8

The annual Humboldt Arts Council Member Show is a juried exhibition designed to highlight the fabulous art being produced by our artist members. As always, this exhibit is eclectic, surprising and enjoyable.

A Tom Knight Legacy

Tom Knight Gallery, December 21 through February 5, 2012

On view in the gallery named after him, the Humboldt Arts Council is pleased to present an exhibition of 18 photographers inspired by Professor Tom Knight's teaching who went on to distinguish themselves in the field of photography. 

Even as a child Tom Knight was a photographer. At 11 years old he was printing photographs at his family’s Berkeley home in a backyard shed that his parents converted into a darkroom. At age 14, he entered a photography contest co-sponsored by the Oakland Tribune. The assignment was to photograph the Bay Bridge. Knight won. He entered the following year and won again. The Tribune was intrigued and soon his images were being published in the newspaper.

Those early projects kicked off his career as a photographer. Always a people person, Knight was best known for his portraits, as well as some landscapes and still life scenes. His photographs of everyday people in Mexico and portraits of fellow professors display an intimacy and level of comfort that allows the images to feel very natural. A book of Knight’s work was published by his wife, Katy Knight in 2009 and is available for purchase at the Humboldt Artist Gallery at the MGMA.

After a period of time in the U.S. Air Corps in World War II, he enrolled at Humboldt State, and earned a master’s degree in education. After three years teaching at Arcata High School, he was hired by the Humboldt State Art Department to teach jewelry, design, painting and photography. Knight taught at Humboldt State University until his passing in 1990. During his over 30 years of teaching he touched literally hundreds of student’s lives. He was also credited with inviting some of the best photographers in the world to speak at HSU, including photographers Imogen Cunningham and Ansel Adams.

To honor his memory, the Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka, Calif., dedicated the Tom Knight Gallery on Jan. 1, 2000 and this exhibition is a wonderful tribute to his impact on photography here on the North Coast as well as across the country as illustrated by the many well-known photographers represented in this exhibition.

The Exhibition is Sponsored by Tom & Gale Becker

Curtis Otto Retrospective

Through February 12

Curtis Otto says he started to paint because, “The oil is what turned him on, it was the juice. The brush just moved by itself, it turned me on to the painting and art.” Otto has had several one person shows and his work is represented in various private collections. Otto spends most of his time in Eureka, California and Grants Pass, Oregon.

Exhibition Sponsored by Eric Furman & Aline Faben

Demitri Mitsanas: Mythographic Dialogues

January 19 through March 4

Over the years Mitsanas has moved through several styles, fashions and media in painting. However, his subjects have always been anthropomorphic or have related to some aspect of the human character or the natural environment. Color and light have always been important elements in his art. Mitsanas says, “In my opinion, color is the heartbeat of painting.” Mitsanas has recently been immersed in a cycle of painting subjects from Greek myths such as “The Myth of Ariadne, Persephone, Ikaros, and Danae of Argos.” Mitsanas finds it intriguing and entertaining the tragicomic characters of the Greek myths and how they appear to us in contemporary society: illogical, irrational and paradoxical. Mitsanas, was born in Tripoli, Greece, he is an emeritus professor of art at Humboldt State University and has exhibited extensively locally, nationally and internationally.

Exhibition Sponsored by Philip & Sally Arnot

Shawn Gould: Humboldt Wild

February 16 through April 8

The paintings in Humboldt Wild celebrate the scenic beauty and biodiversity of our area. From the varied coastline with its majestic redwood forests to the rugged mountains and rivers, Humboldt County provides an endless array of possibilities for Gould’s work. These paintings represent ten years of exploration of this place that Gould has come to call home. Gould says,” Whether hiking the Lost Coast or getting lost among the giants of Redwood National Park, I am becoming more familiar with the terrain, plants and animals, and the varying moods of this place on each outing. Of course, there was far more to share than 20 paintings would allow, but this is a glimpse into my explorations so far. My creative process starts outside with a camera and an open mind. I love being out in nature, slowing down to look at the landscape through the eyes of an artist, and my work is an expression of that joy. I am always looking for little sparks of inspiration; light, color, pattern, something that will then grow and evolve into a full-blown idea for a painting. Light transforms everything. It can turn an unattractive bramble of decaying blackberry leaves into a kaleidoscope of color or an unremarkable meadow into a mist -shrouded field of dreams. I take photos to capture my inspiration and bring them back to the studio where I then pull the essential elements from different snapshots to create a composition, rearranging reality to create something new. In an attempt to transcend the original experience and speak to something more universal, every painting becomes a blend of the real and the imaginary. I try to remain faithful to reality but you are getting my version of the truth. Next the scene is sketched on the board, continually editing and adjusting as I go. The foundation or skeleton of every painting is abstract design upon which specific details are added. I use detail, contrast, and line to move the eye through the composition, highlighting important elements and minimizing extraneous information. The painting begins with areas of color blocked in loosely over the sketch. As it progresses, my brushwork becomes more controlled until the final details bring the scene to life. I hope to end up with a convincing illusion of reality, a window into my world.” Shawn began his career in art as an illustrator, creating award winning science and natural history illustrations for clients like National Geographic, the Smithsonian Institute, and Audubon. He also illustrated two children's books. After about ten years, he was able to turn his attention full time to creating his own paintings. Shawn's work has received national recognition in Western Art Collector, American Artist, and Wildlife Art Magazines.

Exhibition Sponsored by Lewis & Lucy Quinby

11th Annual Northwest Eye Regional Photography Competition & Exhibition

March 13 through April 22

The Northwest Eye is a five-state regional fine art photography competition and exhibition highlighting the current trends in the art of photography. This exhibition showcases the creativity and beauty caught by some of the finest photographers in the Northwest.

Exhibition Sponsored by the Pierson Building Center

Redwood Art Association Spring Exhibition

April 19 through June 3

Annual juried spring exhibition from Humboldt County’s oldest artist’s association is a community of artists who value art as an essential component of every aspect of our culture.

The HumboldtSchool of Landscape Painting

May 3 through June 24

Over the past several decades, Humboldt County has nutured a wealth of contemporary landscape painters. A combination of the varied and dramatic local landscape, a vibrant art scene centered around Humboldt State University, and the effects of a backs-to-the-land ethic have coalesced into a regional school of painting. Much of the progress in representational landscape painting here is due to the very organic process of learning from one another—and openly sharing or handing down techniques and insight. That is the human “aspect” of the school. The inspirational aspect is the place itself. All the artists involved share, in one way or another, the same goal- to express their reverence for the natural beauty of the place they have chosen to call home. These are artists who have been painting for years, or decades. The greater part of each individual’s work is the Humboldt County landscape, done in a representational manner. The Humboldt School of Landscape Painting consists of nineteen artists: Julia Bednar, John Crater, Judy Evenson, Eric Fidjeland, Ralphie Hendrix, Ken Jarvela, Jim McVicker, Terry Oates, Kathy O’Leary, John Palmer, Steve Porter, Leslie Reid, Alan Sanborn, Sock Schlueter, Randy Spicer, Dolores Terry, Alicia Treadway, George Van Hook, and Lisa Marie Waters.

Mary Ann Nardo: Orchid Dreams, Wild Places

June 14 through July 22

Nature has always been a hot-bed of inspiration for Mary Ann Nardo, especially the plant world. Humankind has had a long relationship with plants, both practical and ceremonial: as food, medicine, adornment, and vehicles to altered states of consciousness. It has been a complicated and charged relationship. Historically, people have risked their lives and lost their fortunes over the beauty of a flower—the taste of a spice. Nardo says,“To me, the large orchid family contains the most beautifully voluptuous, alarming, and foreign forms in the plant world. Making paintings involves taking a journey where the un-familiar becomes familiar; this series of paintings is no exception.” Nardo spends much of her time doing research at orchid greenhouses, studying each flower’s anatomy. Nardo says, “Through the internet I travel the world in my imagination and glimpse the diverse places that these flowers grow. My perspective has been enlarged by concerns of their endangered habitats- habitats which belong to us all. These wild places on earth are like the wild places in the unconscious. The direction of these paintings spring from that rich place.” Nardo graduated from the Maryland College of Art with a BFA in Painting and Photography.

26th Annual Images of Water-California Statewide Photography Competition and Exhibition

June-14 through July 22

Celebrating 25 years of creative visions of water, this annual competition highlights the inspiring beauty of water. From images of lakes and streams to ice-cube trays and snow,Images of Water is a fun, theme-based show to take part in or to just take a look at. Open to all Californians, this is an exciting opportunity for the residents of California to become involved in the arts on the North Coast.

Christine Hodgins: Subliminal Realms

July 5 through August 11

The sculptures and drawings in this body of work reference both the figure and landscape in an intentionally ambiguous manner that is meant to bring out individual subconscious associations. Three sculptural installations will move the viewer through a staged drama. These installations address the breaking point where energy can’t be contained and needs to expand outward. This happens freely and organically in these sculptural installations. Forms and textures emerge that imply a sense of growth and transformation that are not completely controlled by the artist’s hand. The drawings that accompany the installations parallel the sculptures in scale and intention, they similarly address issues of containment and release and the potential for growth. Christine Hodgins, is a graduate of Sacramento State University, she has exhibited extensively throughout the state of California.

Exhibition Sponsored by Betty Osborne

The Gender Series, 1990-present, Photographs by Alan Dismuke

August 2 through September 9

The works in this exhibition are drawn from a 20-year archive of self-portraits exploring the duality of the human psyche and the notion of gender identity as a façade. The series was begun around 1990 at Dismuke’s studio in Arcata while working at the Humboldt Arts Council. Over time it has evolved into a subtle challenge to the gender trouble that continues to antagonize our culture. Consider it a series of tableaux vivants to corrupt the binary code of gender in the spirit of Rrose Selavy. The photographs reference issues of identity, body image, vanity, illusion, and the considerable influence of advertising and fashion on pop culture. Cultural caricatures are portrayed as individuals, as couples, and as groups, all with a wink toward satire. In many of the portraits the traditional “male gaze” is upended as the subjects in the photographs confront the viewer with their own direct gaze. Who’s looking at whom? Who holds the power?  In this age of digital imaging and social networking the veracity of what is encountered online, or even what is being broadcast as news, should be viewed with skepticism. With self-image so easily manipulated, the viewer can be easily duped by any number of deceptions. A Facebook portrait or photographs on a dating site can be far from truthful representations of the person behind the screen. Perhaps, as in advertising, it is deception that lies at the heart of “image making” in contemporary culture.

Peter Holbrook: Colorado Plateau

August 3 through September 9

Colorado Plateau is an exhibition of paintings done in oil and vary in size from 10x14” to 40x60”. From a distance Holbrook’s paintings appear photographic but from a close view disintegrate into patterns of abstract brush strokes. Holbrook graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH and also attended the Brooklyn Museum School of Art, Brooklyn, NY.

Palettes & Paws

August 24 through September 22

In partnership with the Sequoia Humane Society, this exhibition and auction will feature works of art with animalsand pets as a theme. Beginning on September Arts Alive visitors will beable to place bids or join us for the Palettes & Paws Affair on Saturday, September 22nd featuring hors d'oeuvres from local celebrity chefs paired with wines from local wineries. All proceeds will go to support the effortsof the Sequoia Humane Society and the Humboldt Arts Council.

2012 Annual Humboldt Arts Council Member Show

September 20 through October 25

The annual Humboldt Arts Council Member Show is a juried exhibition designed to highlight the fabulous art being produced by our artist members. As always, this exhibit is eclectic, surprising and enjoyable.

18th Annual Junque Arte Competition & Exhibition

September 29th through October 25th

Designed to celebrate artistic creativity on the North Coast, and heighten the awareness of renewable resources in the art making process, each artwork in this juried exhibition is made from 100% recycled materials…reclaimed, reused, recovered, secondhand, salvaged, anything un-new!

The Morris Graves Museum of Art is undergoing restoration!

The main galleries of the Morris Graves Museum of Art will be closed from October 26th through November 30th for restoration of the Historic Rotunda Floors...please bear with us during construction. The Humboldt Artist Gallery and the Youth Gallery and Classroom will be open during this time, Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.