LANNY DEVUONO:
PARALLELVIEWS
JUNDT ART MUSEUM DECEMBER 2,2005 - MARCH 11,2006 . GONZAGA UNIVERSITY路 SPOKANE路 WASHINGTON
LANNY DEVUONO: During a recent drive to Newport
PARALLEL VIEWS
Beach, California, and back again to Portland, I was more attentive
than usual to the ever changing appearance of the towns and open land along Interstate of an earlier studio visit and conversation of heavily populated
5. As the result
with Lanny DeVuono, I watched with particular interest the flow
beach towns along the southern California coast and the many suburbs reaching out
from Los Angeles, then through the dry but irrigated agricultural
expanses of the San Joaquin Valley, to the
huge reservoir called Shasta Lake, up and down the Siskiyou mountains of northern Oregon, and finally up the length of the fertile Willamette
California and southern
Valley leading to Portland.
For travelers focusing
on traffic and speed, 1-5.represents nothing more than mileage to be covered as quickly as possible. features in the landscape and towns quite different.
observed
with
Lanny DeVuono's
sensibility
They embody the history of a land that once was a wilderness
Native Americans and considered humans who were dependent
something
area inhabited solely by
by them as the gift of the Great Spirit, to be used and respected by the
upon it. With the coming of new settlers, very different
play. Those beliefs, based on proprietary of increasing population
represent
But
beliefs came into
rights and which continue to evolve according to the demands
and changes in political power, are addressed in the work of this thoughtful
and
observant artist. Her paintings of rural and wilderness ambiguity
introduced
by the single word
areas, although beautiful, are not merely scenic. that floats freely over the pictorial
the issues that determine our uses, our politics, and our proprietary
Through
the
space, the paintings signify
attitudes concerning the land we live in.
They are poetic references to human relationships, personal, social, and political not only to the land, but also, to ourselves. This exhibition,
In DeVuono's own words, they are "visual metaphors for social interactions."
Parallel Views, consists of two recent and on-going series of work:
American Short
Stories, based on landscapes within the United States and the Kerala Series, based on landscapes observed while on a residency in the southern
India state of the same name.
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3
In American
Short Stories, DeVuono focuses on inhabited areas. Very small pictures, all untitled and
painted on box structures,
extend their imagery to the sides of the boxes in representations
of habitation and its effects.
Structures and cultivated
of evidence
land comprise most of the images. An exception
is a picture that makes its point with a rural scene that features a layer of orange smog just above a row of trees and the word "RIGHTS"
spelled out across the surface.
rights or to the rights of the polluters?
The question comes up again in a painting of an airliner as it soars
across the sky. Which is more important, of all people to a clean environment? viewed
in its entirety,
Does the word refer to environmental
the rights of airline companies to use fossil fuels or the rights
Each painting in the series provokes
the series becomes a grand narrative
similar questions.
conveying the complex
When
issues inherent
in
the uses of land and natural resources, but at the same time, capturing the colorful diversity of cities and the quiet atmosphere the American
ot" small towns.
experience,
Typical of ordinary sites-and
sights-they
or, again as DeVuono puts it, "homage to American
reflect the richness of life in all its splendor and
pleasure, its foolishness and pathos." In 2004 a Fulbright scholarship took her to India for a four month residency at the College of Fine Arts in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala, a long narrow state stretched along the country's edge.
The culture,
politics, so different watercolor
the tropical
southwestern
climate, the people and their way of life, their values and also, their
from those of her own country, were
both observed
and reflected
in the many
sketches she made during her stay. They have provided a rich resource for the paintings she
began to produce after her return to her home in Spokane. As in
American Short Stories, the Kerala
subjects continue to reflect the social actions that result in both the physical and social environment
that
characterize a place, as well as the visual ordinariness of an Indian town. Because she considered refrained
from
commonplace
herself a traveler
an ethnographic
approach;
rather than a resident, even a temporary instead she drew
structures in and near Trivandrum.
of structures-their
one, DeVuono
solely on her observations,
mainly of
Using unusual perspectives, she pictures small sections
corners, poles and wires, antennae-and
always, somewhere
among them, a snippet
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5
of a red flag. The subjects stand out against large areas of blue sky. When a colleague at the college in Kerala asked her why the sky occupied so much of the composition,
she replied with a reference to the
interest that dominates her art, "It's something we all share." The red flag, however, democracy,
is much more specific to the place.
in which Kerala has the distinction
government.
is a multi-party
of being the first state to elect (in 1952) a communist
Since that time the CPI (M) (Communist
often alternating with Congress party governance. of literacy and a low rate of mortality.
India, as a country,
Party India [Marxist])
has gone in and out of power,
Although very poor, Kerala has a relatively high rate
When the state in August 2004 cited Coca-Cola for its local plant's
pollution of the water table (leeching cadmium and other polluting effluents from the plant) because it was effectively shutting off m~ch needed development,
DeVuono was impressed by their courage in deciding
to maintain a shared public sphere for the common improvement. attempted
good in the face of an acute need for economic
Her references to the CPI (M) flag are her homage to a state that against great odds, has
to maintain a society that privileges public space over a corporation's
succeed in the long run is problematic. a public sphere that may be irremediably This exhibition
profits.
Whether
In this sense the CPI (M) becomes almost nostalgic, a symbol for eroded.
allows us to note the differences
in the appearance between
the Indian town
American towns as if we were travelers ourselves. It also allows us to witness similarities-the the power poles, the use of the flag-that
are ubiquitous in almost all countries.
in the Kerala Series the reference is subtle, as in Kerala top of an antennae tower.
it can
advertising,
In most of the paintings
Series #7, where the flag is barely visible at the
Occasionally, however, it becomes prominent;
hanging limply from its mount on a tall pole.
and
Throughout
the values and politics affecting private lives than American
in Kerala Series
# I , it
the series the flag more pointedly
is featured represents
Short Stories where the same issues are also
addressed, although ambiguously. One more aspect of DeVuono's
paintings must be considered.
Clearly, they are based on a strong
idea, but at their core is the artist's ability to use her medium to create a compelling picture.
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We are attracted
by her clearly delineated images and superb coloration.
in drawing, brushwork,
The expertise so evident
and handling of color began with her training in the long established traditions
European and American painting. but it reflects other traditions
Her representational
as well.
in
style has its roots in Italian Renaissance painting,
The carefully observed details, the small format, the wide range
of nuanced colors, the unusual perspectives, and the smoothness of the brushwork
recall the Mughal
miniature paintings of India. Ultimately, contemporary
however,
DeVuono's
work
art, which is prominently
is of her own time,
exemplified
completely
by the extension
within
the paradigm of
of the imagery on the surface
of the boxes to their four sides. The strategy not only undermines the usual expectations but also distorts space by angling it.
Placing words within the composition,
through space, is an innovation of modernity to the influence of photography. in a time when anti-art
in composition.
Most importantly,
The singularity of perspectives is related
process and its aesthetics-and
distinguish her unique niche in contemporary
a return to beauty
seemed poised to make it obsolete.
the current dominance of eclecticism makes possible freedom of choice for Her love of painting itself-the
especially when they curve
these small paintings demonstrate
projects and conceptualism
of a painting
Fortunately,
DeVuono as for all artists.
her commitment
to her thematic ideas
painting.
Lois Allan Art Writer, Portland, Oregon
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LANNY FRANCES DEVUONO EDUCATION 1993 Columbia University: Teachers College, Master of Arts in Teaching 1987 Mills College: Painting, M.F.A. 1985 San Francisco Art Institute: Graduate Painting 1980 Antioch University: Art, B.A. SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2005 Lanny DeVuono: Parallel Views, Jundt Art Museum, Spokane, WA American Short Stories, CIRCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MN American Short Stories, Charles Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR 2004 In Focus, NW Museum of Art & Culture; Spokane, WA 2004 Lanny DeVuono, Esther Claypool Gallery, Seattle, WA 2002 Nature & Other Objects, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT 2000 Nature/Nurture, Esther Claypool Gallery, Seattle, WA 1999 Domestication, Lorinda Knight Gallery, Spokane, WA SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2005 Landscape: Theme & Variation, Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, OR 2004 Shakespeare as Muse, Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, OR 2003 A Sense of Place in the Northwest, Pritchard Art Gallery, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 2002 Fair Skies, Fair Play (w/ Beth Lo), Lorinda Knight Gallery, Spokane, WA 200 I TEXTures, Seattle Art Museum Sales& Rental Gallery, Seattle, WA Northwest Visions, Seattle Arts Commission, Seattle, WA Just Painting, Spokane FallsCommunity College, Spokane, WA 1999 The End, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA From Here to the Horizon, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA SELECTED AWARDS 2004-05 Fulbright Fellowship, Kerala, India 2003 EWU Faculty ResearchGrant, Cheney, WA 2000 EWU Faculty ResearchGrant, Cheney, WA 1998 Artist Trust Grant, Seattle, WA 1998 Centrum. Artist residency; (Stipend Poncho), Port Townsend, WA 1996 Artist Trust GAP Award, Seattle, WA SELECTED TEACHING EXPERIENCE 2004-05 College of Fine Arts, Thirvanathapuram, Kerala, India, Fulbright Scholar 2003 Vermont College MFA Program, Mentor Teacher, Montpelier, VT 1998 RangsitUniversity, Visiting Lecturer, Bangkok, Thailand 1991Eastern Washington University, Professor of Art, Cheney, WA SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 2005 "Artists Take Different Routes...," Medford Mail, Oct.23, 2005 2004 "Big Sky," M. Demarest, The Inlander, May 27, 2004 2002 "Lanny DeVuono's Not-So-Innocent Landscapes;" E. Hall, The Stranger, Oct. 24, 2002 Nature & Other Objects: New Paintings by Lanny DeVuono; NW Projects, Yellowstone Art Museum, essayby Ben Mitchell, 2002 (catalogue) "Pretty isn't the point ..." J. Crane, The Spokesman Review, Jan. 15,2002 200 I "Portable works art: What standards..." S. Farr, The Seattle Times, Apr.19, 200 I; pE2 "Auction 200 I to Benefit YAM," C. Meyers, Billings Gazette, Feb.2, 200 I SELECTED PULIC COLLECTIONS Justice Center, Kent, WA Seattle Arts Commission, Seattle, WA Seattle University, School of Law, Seattle, WA Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, WA University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA Washington State Arts Commission, PascoHigh School, Pasco,WA IMAGES Cover: (top) (bottom) I. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
American Short Stories #36, 2004, 6"x 6"x 3 1/2", oil on wood. Kerala Series # 1,2005, 9"x 15"x 2", oil on wood. American Short Stories #7, 2002, 6"x 6"x 3", oil on wood. Kerala Series #3, 2005, Is"x 9"x 2", oil on wood. American Short Stories #39, 2004, 6"x 6"x 5", oil on wood. Kerala Series #9, 2005, l S?x 9"x 2", oil on wood. American Short Stories #8, 2002, 6"x 6"x 4", oil on wood. Kerala Series #4, 2005, 15"x 9"x 2", oil on wood. American Short Stories #57, 2004, 6"x 6"x 3", oil on wood. Kerala Series #7, 2005, Is"x 9"x 2", oil on wood.
This publication was funded by the Jundt Art Museum's Annual Campaign 2005-2006. Š Jundt Art Museum, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258-000 I