Donald Cole Mountain Visions
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t was my great pleasure to be one of Donald Cole’s traveling companions in Vietnam where the inspiration for this body of work began. A lot of the magic of the landscape was literally unfolding as fog lifted and shifted around the mountain peaks. I watched Don respond to these scenes, sketchbook in hand. One could see his keen level of attention both at these times and later in the studio. He has what I would call a confidence of engagement. This shows up as an approach that is light and open and at the same time very focused. The resulting work is a rich feast of painting and collage. Given that one of his parameters was to let each piece be its own mountain vision, we are presented with a delightful range of approach, both in scale and style. Mountain Vision 1 is a large triptych at 77� x 99.� This bold freely worked painting is almost shocking in the red of the rising mountains and the green of the river that moves downward. There are loosely painted forms in blue and yellow in the lower area giving this piece a strange moving vitality. In a further bid for tension, Don has scrawled mudlike calligraphy strokes across the canvas. This is quite a complex and compelling piece in its unexpected beauty.
In strong contrast to the flamboyance of 1, Mountain Vision 6 has a limited palette of blues and whites. Here is a feeling of innocence. The simplicity is disarming and utterly true. Cole’s statement of “being vulnerable to my heart in the choice of what I paint” is evident here with his ability to strip away the unnecessary. The intriguing collages are largely made of paper that was used in some application of lacquer in Japan. The crumpled paper retains an uneven residue of rich color which the artist has ingeniously torn into rough mountain shapes. The results are playful and serene with Cole’s often surprising juxtapositions. It will take time to absorb the variety in this exhibition. Each piece has something to say and subsequent viewings reveal new impressions. Donald Cole’s considerable skills are enhanced by his willingness to take risks and to utilize new approaches. What is clear throughout is his great love of painting and his desire to communicate to the viewer new visual experiences. - Elaine Hanowell Elaine Hanowell is a Pacific Northwest artist who works primarily in paper and carved wood. She is best known in Seattle for her public installations of lighted fish forms at Dahlia Lounge and Asian Counseling and Referral Service. Hanowell and Cole have exhibited together at Foster/White, Vashon Allied Arts’ Blue Heron Gallery and ArtXchange Gallery.
opposite page: Mountain Vision 1 (Triptych) left panel: 77” x 30,” center panel: 77” x 39,” right panel: 77” x 30” acrylic on canvas artxchange gallery | www.artxchange.org
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Mountain Vision 2 (sketch) opposite page: Mountain Vision 2 30” x 24” acrylic on canvas
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Mountain Vision 5 (sketch) opposite page (from left to right): Mountain Vision 3 (detail) 30” x 24” acrylic on canvas Mountain Vision 4 (detail) 24” x 30” acrylic on canvas Mountain Vision 5 (detail) 30” x 24” acrylic on canvas
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Mountain Vision 6 (sketch) opposite page: Mountain Vision 6 30” x 24” acrylic on canvas artxchange gallery | www.artxchange.org
clockwise (from top left): Mountain Vision 8 40” x 30” acrylic on canvas Mountain Vision 7 (sketch) Mountain Vision 7 30” x 24” acrylic on canvas artxchange gallery | www.artxchange.org
Mountain Vision 9 47” x 33” acrylic on canvas
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right: Mountain Vision 11 18” x 12” acrylic on canvas bottom: Mountain Vision 11 (sketch) opposite page: Mountain Vision Lacquer 10 6.75” x 6.75” lacquer on paper
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Mountain Vision 13 (detail) 7” x 7” acrylic on canvas opposite page: top: Mountain Vision 12 (sketch) bottom: Mountain Vision 12 12” x 24” acrylic on canvas
clockwise (from top left): Mountain Vision 14 7” x 7” acrylic on canvas Mountain Vision 15 7” x 7” acrylic on canvas Mountain Vision 16 6” x 6.5” acrylic on canvas
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Mountain Vision 17 40” x 30” acrylic on canvas opposite page: Mountain Vision 17 (sketch) artxchange gallery | www.artxchange.org
Mountain Vision 18 7” x 7” acrylic on canvas
Mountain Vision 19 7” x 7” acrylic on canvas
opposite page: Mountain Vision Lacquer 8 7” x 7.75” lacquer on paper artxchange gallery | www.artxchange.org
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Matchboxes 1.4375” x 2.125” each sumi on paper artxchange gallery | www.artxchange.org
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n the winter of 2009 I traveled in the mountains of Vietnam, north of Hanoi, just below China. In the small town of Sapa and on the trail to villages I made drawings in my sketchbook, inspired both by what was before me and by my longstanding love for mountain landscapes depicted in traditional Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese art. Those sketches became the basis for working drawings which in turn became paintings. Many of the works in this exhibition developed in this way while for others the vision emerged directly while painting. The styles of the paintings are quite varied but they all have a strong identity underneath. This process is consistent with my approach over many years as an abstract artist who has expanded that rubric to include a variety of techniques, imagery, signs and symbols when the need is felt.
top: Happy Demon (detail) 7” x 7” acrylic on canvas opposite page: Mountain Vision Lacquer 11 7.5” x 8” lacquer on paper
The appearance and the content of my work comes from several sources; the joy of painting and creating, and my social, psychological and ethical responses to the world as I live and view it. In these works the long time suffering of the Vietnamese people and my personal experience of their great humanity has colored my view of their mountains. - Donald Cole, 2010
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Donald Cole SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2010 Mountain Visions, ArtXchange Gallery, Seattle, WA 2007 Unpredictable Arrivals, ArtXchange Gallery, Seattle, WA 2006 Gallery 070, Vashon, WA 2004 Gallery 070, Vashon, WA 2001 Conversations with Hanuman, Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA 1993 Gallery 17, Kanazawa, Japan 1992 Kidi Gallery, Kanazawa, Japan 1982 Frank Marino Gallery, New York City, NY 1981 Frank Marino Gallery, New York City, NY 1978 Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York City, NY 1975 Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York City, NY 1973 Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York City, NY 1971 55 Mercer (Gallery), New York City, NY 1970 55 Mercer (Gallery), New York City, NY 1969 55 Mercer (Gallery), New York City, NY
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SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2008 What Does Compassion Look Like?, ArtXchange Gallery, Seattle, WA 2004 Biennial, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA 2001 Biennial, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA 1999 Installation with Elaine Hanowell, The Blue Heron Gallery, Vashon, WA 1998 NW International, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA 1996 Seattle Art Museum Gallery, Seattle, WA 1994 E.S. Vandam (Gallery), New York City, NY 1991 Centre d’Arts Contemporains, Besancon, France 1990 Gallerie Bernard Jordan, Paris, France 1988 L’Atelier Ocre d’Art, Chateauroux, France Le Carnet d’Artiste, Carcasonne, France 1987 Akiyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan Nishinomiya Gallery, Nishinomiya City, Japan 1985 The Animal Within, Jay Gallery, New York City, NY 1981 Animals in American Art, Nassau Museum of Fine Arts, NY Paper Caper, Frank Marino Gallery, New York City, NY 1980 Dubins Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Thomas Segal Gallery, Boston, MA 1979 Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA 1975 A Collection in Progress, The Clock Tower, New York City, NY New Acquisitions, Worcester Museum of Art, MA 1974 Works on Paper, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA 1973 American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York City, NY Five Painters, New York University, New York City, NY King-Pitcher Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA 1972 French & Co., New York City, NY 1971 Lending Service Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, NYC, NY 1970 New Work: New York, American Federation of the Arts, NYC, NY Younger Painters, School of Visual Arts, NYC, NY
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SELECTED ARTICLES AND REVIEWS 2010 Mountain Visions, exhibition catalog, essay by Elaine Hanowell 2007 Unexpected Arrivals, Art Access, December 2007, Alec Clayton Donald Cole’s Unpredictable Arrivals, The Seattle PI, Nov 9, Regina Hackett Donald Cole’s Unpredictable Arrivals, exhibition catalog, essay by John Levy 2006 Island View, July/August, Jenn Reidel 2005 Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, Sept 14, Janice Randall 2004 The Seattle Times, May 12, Matthew Kangas 2001 The Seattle Times, March 16, Sheila Farr Art Access, March, Molly Rhodes 1992 Ten, Hokuriku Art Magazine #3, Japan 1982 Donald Cole, ARTS Magazine, April, Robert Berner (Photo) 1981 Donald Cole, ARTS Magazine, May, Caril Dreyfuss McHugh (Photo) 1980 Interview Mit Donald Cole, Roadlitter, No. #, January, Hamburg Germany, Gunther Roeder (Photos) 1978 Donald Cole, ARTS Magazine, March, Ellen Lubell (Photo) Donald Cole, Newsworld, January 13 (Photo) 1975 Donald Cole, ARTS Magazine, September, Ellen Lubell 1973 New York Letter, Art International, May, Carter Ratcliff Don Cole, Artforum, May, April Kingsley (Photo) Donald Cole, Art News, April, Peter Frank Donald Cole, ARTS Magazine, April, Ellen Lubell Boston Sunday Globe, December 16, Robert Taylor 1972 Donald Cole, Artforum, January, Robert Pincus-Witten (Photo) 1971 Donald Cole, ARTS Magazine, November, Willis Domingo Art News, January/ November 1970 New York Times, November 28, Grace Glueck
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PUBLIC COLLECTIONS ARCO Center for the Visual Arts, Los Angeles, CA Best Products, Richmond, VA Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, NY Harris Bank, Chicago, IL Lannan Foundation, Los Angeles, CA Owens-Corning Fiberglass, Toledo, OH Pet Milk, St. Louis, MO Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR Prudential Insurance, Newark, NJ Westinghouse, Pittsburg, PA Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA
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Credits Cover image: “Mountain Vision 10” (44” x 69”), acrylic on canvas Photography: Charles Backus Design: Islanda Khau, Gallery Designer © 2010 ArtXchange Gallery No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent from ArtXchange Gallery.