Gallery Walk by The Weekly Sun

Sun Valley Gallery Association

Gallery Walk Edition G a l l e r y W a l k I s F r i d ay, J u ly 8 , 2 0 1 6

J u l y I s s u e , 2 0 1 6 • V o l . 3 • N o . 3 • w w w .T h e W e e k l y S u n . c o m

Gustavo Acosta, “A Flash” (detail), oil on canvas, 27.25” x 27.25”, 2016, on exhibit at Frederic Boloix Fine Arts. For more information, see page 6

table of contents Broschofsky Galleries...............Page 5 Gilman Contemporary.............Pages 4, 7 G a l l e ry Wa l k

Map Page 8

Frederic Boloix Fine Arts..........Page 6

Kneeland Gallery.....................Page 6

Friesen Gallery.........................Page 3

Wood River Fine Arts...............Pages 7

Gail Severn Gallery..................Pages 2, 4

TWS Features...........................Page 4

Gallery Walk EDITION

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J A N E RO S E N

HUNG LIU

Hung Liu, “The Unknown VI,” mixed media, 41” x 80”.

July Exhibitions: Liu, Rosen, Putnam & Kokin

Gail Severn Gallery

allery Walk is Friday, July 8, from 5-8 p.m. Artist talks with Hung Liu and Robb Putnam will take place on Saturday, July 9, from 10 a.m. to noon. These four solo exhibitions kick off our 40th anniversary celebration.

RO B B P U T N A M

L I S A KO K I N

G A L L E RY WA L K

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A RT I S T C H AT S J U LY 9 T H 1 0 : 0 0 A M

C E L E B R AT I N G 4 0 Y E A R S AIL SEVERN GALLERY 400 First Avenue North • PO Box 1679 • Ketchum, ID 83340 • 208.726.5079 info@gailseverngallery.com • www.gailseverngallery.com

O P E N S E V E N D AY S A W E E K

Hung Liu “Drifters” Hung Liu, born in China and now a U.S. citizen, paints and creates prints culling Chinese historical photographs of women, children and refugees as subject matter. One of the first Chinese artists to study in the U.S., Liu’s works represent the ongoing tension between emigration and immigration. The recent paintings of dandelions are rendered from her close-up photographs in rural areas, including Idaho. The dandelions, fragile in nature and blown and tattered by the lightest breeze, mimic how images, and personal histories, too, can be scattered by time and the winds of consciousness. Liu has received numerous international awards and is represented in permanent collections of major museums throughout the United States and Asia.

Lisa Kokin, “Rebus #1,” metal, thread, industrial felt, 27” x 24” (framed).

Jane Rosen “H is for …” Internationally acclaimed artist Jane Rosen’s talent is finding the essence of things – the soft sepia tones of birds and mammals, the penetrating turn of a beak or gaze. Rosen’s stone and glass sculptures are evocative, precise renditions and she pays as much attention to the material as to the shapes she forms. Noted for her skills as a stone sculptor and her ability to render glass into amazing, elegant raptors, her work is featured in museums, public institutions, embassies and major collections throughout the U.S. and abroad.

preservation. There is as much meaning in what has been taken away as in what remains. “The ‘Loss for Words’ series is the logical outgrowth of my previous series, ‘Facsimile,’ in which zipper fragments served as stand-ins for text. I have expanded my ‘writing’ to now include a variety of objects and materials on substrates as varied as linen, canvas and, most recently, industrial felt. In this series, I invent ‘words’ and ‘languages’ with materials that I naturally gravitate to: small, domestic metal items, sewing notions, rusty metal fragments found on the street, safety pins, broken needles from the Facsimile project, and thread, which I use in unruly bunches to accentuate its gestural quality.”

Robb Putnam Gail Severn Gallery is excited to announce Robb Putnam’s first solo exhibition in Idaho. Putnam builds animal forms with cast-off blankets, shirts, fake fur, rags, thread, plastic garbage bags, leather scraps and glue. These sculptures evoke playful, whimsical characters, but his characters are something different: they are physically and psychologically vulnerable and seem like overgrown stuffed toys or imaginary friends while recycling the forgotten and lost. Putnam’s drawings, too, create images that carry associations with simplicity, innocence and play, but as if experienced in a fevered dream. In both, Putnam hopes to expose a complex and contradictory human presence that mirrors our own vulnerability. Lisa Kokin “Loss for Words” Lisa Kokin, renowned for her mixed-media fiber work, continues to alter materials, text and memory by a complex system of destruction and

Jane Rosen, “Picasso Bird 2,” hand-blown pigmented glass and limestone, 59” x 8” x 10”.

Gallery Walk EDITION

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Preston Singletary blown and sand-carved glass For nearly three decades, Preston Singletary has straddled two unique cultures-melding his Tlingit ancestry with the dynamism of the Studio Glass movement. In the process he created an extraordinarily distinctive and powerful body of work that interprets cultural and historical images in richly detailed, beautifully hued glass. - Melissa G. Post | Former curator at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA

OPENING RECEPTION Friday, 8 JULY 2016 5:00 - 8:00pm

Preston Singletary | “Raven Steals the Moon” 19.25” x 7” x 6” | 2016 | Blown and Sand-Carved Glass

Gallery Walk EDITION

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published by The

The making of an arts commun

Gail Severn Gallery celebrates 40 years in busine

BY DANA DUGAN

ow does art start: from the germ of an idea? the hint of a notion? a scent in the air? What we do know is it starts with a persistent nugget of creativity that grows into a full-blown obsession that becomes, for some, a life. For Gail Severn, her fullest expression as an artist turned out to be the gallery she created. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Gail Severn Gallery. A Nampa, Idaho, native, Severn moved to the Wood River Valley in 1974 after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, from which she earned her graduate degree in Fine Art. “I came to work at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts [then the Sun Valley Center for the Arts & Humanities] where I did multiple jobs – studio assistant in painting, fiber arts, ceramics, the print department,” she laughed. “Today, people think of the Center as a gallery and event planner, but there was so much more. They brought top artists to teach, amazing people. It was the percolator for so much that goes on now.” At the same time, the Center was evolving into an arts powerhouse. Bob Rosso opened a sporting goods store called The Elephant’s Perch. Terry Ring turned his love of fishing into Silver Creek Outfitters. “There was a family sense of community,” Severn said. “We grew up together.” Bill Janss, then owner of Sun Valley Resort with his wife Glenn Janss, were instrumental in starting the Sun Valley Center. They often held parties at the studio with artists who were visiting,

such as Don Nice, who was one of Bill Janss’s favorites, Severn said. “Bill would talk about how the arts didn’t need to be just in Los Angeles or New York,” Severn said. “He talked me into having an art gallery. He’d say, ‘The thing that will set Sun Valley apart is the art.’” Nicki Foster, singer Peggy Lee’s daughter, had a 300-square-foot frame shop called Nicki’s Hang-Up. Severn worked there part-time to have access to framing for her own work. Besides cocktailing at the Pioneer and the Ore House, a gig at Elkhorn, baking at The Kneadery, and her work at the Center, she was painting, weaving, doing “a little bit of everything,” Severn said. With the Janss’s encouragement, Severn bought Nicki’s Hang-Up, kept half for framing and used the other half to exhibit art. The Gail Severn Gallery was born. “I had no money,” Severn said, laughing. “I was just out of college. I was worried about making rent and paying the phone bill. The really amazing thing is that Bill Janss and the Center could exhibit the artists when they were in town but they couldn’t rep them. I was meeting all these wonderful artists. They were well known outside of the Valley. But back then I also showed local photographers, painters, and welders – to get started. We had a broad range of prices and materials. I started very organically and always maintained connection to the Center.” Severn tells me this story while sitting in her art-stuffed office at her 8,000-square-foot gallery on Fourth Street and First Avenue in Ketchum. Three major exhibits hang in the spa-

cious gallery. Her trajectory seems like the blink of an eye. She shakes her head when asked if she ever imagined owning such a gallery and being at the forefront of such a thriving art scene. Ketchum was a small town when she opened that first gallery. “Thank God for those early banks” Severn said. “I’d say, ‘I haven’t had any sales in three weeks,’ and they would do these short-term loans to help. Everybody helped everybody.” Severn stayed on at that location for 10 years, expanding once to add another 150 square feet. Barbi Reed came from New York and opened her first gallery, Hissing Goose, next door, showing Americana art – handmade quilts, baskets, Amish crafts. “The next jump-off was when the Walnut Avenue Mall was developed by Tom Dempsey. He was a good friend, and I wanted to expand. Tom asked Barbie (Anne Reed Gallery) and I to move into that new building to anchor it with our galleries. He made it possible. We tripled our space.” Two years later, the Sun Valley Center also moved into the Walnut Avenue Mall from their original offices in Sun Valley and studio space where Community School is now located. The Gail Severn and Anne Reed galleries stayed in those spaces, growing in influence and sophistication for another 10 years. “The community embraced us,” Severn said. “We didn’t have the numbers of people with disposable income that we have now, but those that were here embraced us wholeheartedly. They knew we were making a difference in the core of our community. It was a

unique time.” Eventually, Severn outgrew the space, too. Her father, an accountant, died and her mother gave her some inheritance money. With that she was able to buy the property where her gallery now sits, in 1994. “Father always said if you want to succeed in business you have to own your own property because then you’re in control.” The area was off the beaten path. The Ketchum Post Office sat on one corner, and down the block George Kneeland had a building for his title company and Kneeland Gallery. Then it began to change. Now that area, two blocks west of Main Street, is known informally as Gallery Row. It’s a busy section of town on Gallery Walk nights. “It took seven years to figure out how to make this happen and work with the banks,” Severn said. “I didn’t have that skill set so I had to learn it. Adam Elias, Janet Jarvis and I worked as a team to make this happen. All our employees over the years… everybody makes a difference and everybody has played a role.” Severn, who will celebrate the gallery’s 40th anniversary with several big shows this summer, plans to keep highlighting the new while still “supporting the artists who have helped grow the business,” she said. “There’s so much going on in the art world. Artists are always at the forefront of social change. I want to continue to see the arts grow to be inclusive and not exclusive. We have a really diverse, incredibly broad cross section of arts – not just visual but performing - here. It’s all so rich. We’re all just so blessed to live here.”

Gail Severn p

The opening of an art galler It takes more than just pretty pictures BY MARIA PREKEGES

eople are sometimes attracted to the art world based on fantasies like fancy parties, hobnobbing with the rich and famous, show openings and the like, when, in fact, selling art is a business. Like any other business, owning an art gallery will likely have its ups and downs. Being in the art business takes passion, dedication and a good business sense – all things that L’Anne Gilman has in spades. Gilman opened Gilman Contemporary in the spring of 2007 in The Christiania building on Sun Valley Road where it has remained ever since. “It’s an ideal location and we love the space we created,” Gilman said. And created the space they did, in only six weeks. “I worked with Mike Doty, my husband Nick, and Tom Liston to create a space that worked perfectly, in a very short amount of time. I’ll always be thankful for their help.” But it’s more than just the amazing space that Gilman helped create; it’s her love for art that makes this gallery work. “I graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with an art history degree and was always interested in art,” Gilman said. She has her parents to thank for a lot of that interest in art. “Thanks to my dad’s passion for photography that really contributed to my interest, plus my parents collected art themselves and supported a few young artists over the years, so I was surrounded by inspiration,” she said. Gilman also had the experience needed in the art world. When she moved to Sun Valley in 1991, she

The clean l temporary

Gallery office – L’Anne Gilman’s office is a piece of artwork in itself, located directly inside the gallery. Courtesy photo by Josh Wells

worked for two galleries in town. She also worked with a private art dealer during her and her husband’s time in Chicago. “Those experiences taught me a great deal about the art world and, after 17 years, I was ready to do something on my own,” she said. Gilman chose to open a contemporary gallery.

“I saw a niche for a contemporary gallery that might appeal to younger and newer collectors and decided to open the gallery in hopes of exposing a new audience to contemporary work,” she said. It’s a successful gallery, but not without its ups and downs, as Gilman reflects on the timing of her opening of the gallery.

“If you remember anything at all about 2008, then you can understand how poorly timed my opening was,” she said. “However, it forced us to get creative and make adjustments based on what was happening in the economy. We focused on the short term, on building relationships between new artists and collectors in a way that would allow for long-term growth for

everyone That re down eco and a suc “I often done this ity, I am it anyplac ley has a the qualit a broad r ible local communi port them Whethe enthusias day at Ga her galler casing, a and dedi might jus

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C H A T H A M

Opening July 8th

Autumn at Suce Creek, 1994, Oil on linen 36” x 48”

poses with “Bindlestiff” by Robb Putnam. Photo courtesy of Gail Severn Gallery

Renowned Landscape Painter Russell Chatham

lines and contemporary exhibits are what one can expect to see at Gilman Cony. Courtesy photo by Josh Wells

.” ecipe for success, even in a onomy, kept the doors open ccessful business grew. n say I’m not sure I could have s someplace else but, in realnot sure I would want to do ce else,” she said. “Sun Valan incredible art scene, from ty galleries here that present ange of artists, to the incredl artists that live here and the ity that is so willing to supm.” er collectors or novices, art sts can meet L’Anne this Friallery Walk, learn more about ry and the artists she’s showand see firsthand her passion cation. And, who knows? It st rub off on you. tws

#1 – Gallery owner L’Anne Gilman poses inside Gilman Contemporary, which she opened in the spring of 2007. Courtesy photo by Kirsten Shultz

Broschofsky Galleries

ussell Chatham’s perfectionist nature is evidenced in his landscape paintings. Sometimes taking as long as a year to complete, Chatham does not consider a painting “finished” until he determines it is so. Working from memory, his landscape paintings contain an inimitable poetic quality. Chatham often begins a painting with words – descriptions of the light, the weather, the atmosphere – recording more of a sense of place. He carries this as a memory and experience back to his studio, which he proceeds to suggest and convey this through paint. He is also regarded as one of the foremost lithographers in the world, with his lithographs taking up to 50 separate plates. Chatham’s early upbringing in what were then the wild hills and country around the family ranch in Carmel, and later in Marin County, Calif., had a direct influence on Chatham’s future. The grandson of renowned painter Gottardo Piazzoni, Chatham was seldom without paints, easel and fishing rod. With the love of outdoors, Chatham was drawn to the mountains surrounding Livingston, Mont., where he spent several decades. In addition to his painting, Russell owned and operated his own printing company, Clark

City Press, wanting to have the control of designing, manufacturing and doing a first-rate job not only for his own books, but also new and promising authors. A self-taught writer, as well, Chatham’s articles stories and essays have appeared in Esquire, The Atlantic, Sports illustrated, Outside and dozens of other publications. His books include The Angler’s Coast, Silent Seasons, Dark Waters, Striped Bass on the Fly, The Missouri Headwaters and One Hundred Paintings. During that time, Chatham showed his culinary expertise by opening a restaurant because he wanted to have fine dining available in desolate Livingston, Mont. To say that Chatham is an avid sportsman is an understatement. He has been around the world 20 times, held an impressive fly-fishing record for 20 years, hunted deer in the New Zealand Alps, eaten puffin in Iceland and reindeer in the Russian Arctic and camped among the last of indigenous tribes in Tierra del Fuego, at the southernmost tip of South America. Chatham has been profiled in Esquire, Southwest Art, People, U.S. Art, Antiques and Fine Art, Architectural Digest, The Denver Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The San Francisco Examiner, The Los An-

Russell Chatham, “Approaching Storm in an Autumn Landscape,” 66 “x 60”, 1997.

geles Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Seattle Times, The Associated Press, National Public Radio›s Morning Edition and Fresh Air, PBS, and CBS Sunday Morning. While Chatham’s major accomplishments, adventures and stories are almost endless, his landscape paintings are what he is known for, and it’s no surprise. Since he began formally showing his work in 1958, Chatham has had a multitude of one-man shows at museums, art centers and galleries. It is understandable that the extensive list of personal collectors are notable names revered in American culture for their own creative contributions, including authors, media correspondents and entertainment personalities.

Gallery Walk EDITION

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“IN LIVING COLOR”

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‘In Living Color’: Berra, St. Clair & Skorut Kneeland Gallery

William Berra, “Heads and Tails,” oil on linen, 40” x 42”

featuring

WILLIAM BERRA, LINDA ST. CLAIR, ANDRZEJ SKORUT

Artists’ Reception: Friday July 8th, 5-8pm 271 First Ave N, Ketchum, ID 83340 • PO Box 2070, Sun Valley, ID 83353 • 208.726.5512 email: art@kneelandgallery.com • website: www.kneelandgallery.com

inda St. Clair’s vibrant canvases are fueled by her perception of animal attitudes and personalities. Her paintings of animals, from domestic to barnyard to wild, are completed in a single energetic session out of her studio in Santa Fe, N.M. St. Clair travels frequently to find and photograph animals for her paintings, visiting the North Pole to study polar bears, Africa to observe lions, and Yellowstone National Park to photograph grizzly bears. Her rich oil paintings explore the quiet subtleties and complex internal drama of the animal spirit. Themes of love, strength, serenity and family can all be seen in her work. Andrzej Skorut was born and spent his early years in Krakow, Poland, before immigrating to the U.S. in 1987. At first glance, his paintings appear to be simple landscapes, but further study reveals that they are as abstract as they are representational. Skorut reveals concealed depths within his surfaces through layers of paint and glaze, which he then partially removes with rags, sticks and other objects. The third artist in this show, William Berra, is a figurative and landscape painter, also from Santa Fe, whose work can be found in prominent public

Linda St. Clair, “Ewe and the Magpies,” oil on canvas, 20” x 20”.

Andrzej Skorut, “Gentle Down,” oil on canvas, 36” x 47”.

and private collections nationwide. Berra paints according to mood and rejects any scene that doesn’t instinctively grab him. The spontaneous feel that distinguishes his paintings instills in them a vaguely unfinished quality, allowing the viewer to use their own imagination to complete the scene. Kneeland Gallery will host a reception during Gallery Walk from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, July 8.

Gallery Walk on July 8, 5-8 p.m

Frederic BoLoix FiNe ArTS

Gustavo Acosta, “Inland View,” oil on canvas, 36” x 36”, 2016.

Cityscapes By Gustavo Acosta Frederic Boloix Fine Arts “Still Life,” oil on canvas, 51” x 64”

GuSTAvo AcoSTA - ciTyScApeS open for Gallery Walk Friday July 8th, 5-8 pM We are located in the atrium of the Galleria Building on Leadville and Fourth in Ketchum.

351 Leadville Ave. in Ketchum Tel. 208.726.8810 Frederic@Boloix.com

rederic Boloix Fine Arts will be featuring new cityscapes by renowned Cuban/American artist Gustavo Acosta. Among these are aerial views of Los Angeles and imagery from Miami and Havana. Acosta has been widely shown, is represented in a number of top museums worldwide and has enjoyed one-man shows in galleries in the U.S. and Europe, and Central and South America. The show opens during Gallery Walk on July 8 and runs through August 4.

Gustavo Acosta, “Intellegentia (Portrait #1),” oil on canvas, 36” x 36”, 2016.

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Ralph Oberg – A Sawtooth Return

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Wood River Fine Arts

he mountains and high places have always been where artist Ralph Oberg feels at home. Whether trekking through the Himalayas, the Alps or the Sawtooth Wilderness of Idaho, there is an energy and grounding that comes with the experience. “A Sawtooth Return – New Works and Field Studies from the Idaho Wilderness” will open on July 8, 2016, with an artist reception at Wood River Fine Arts in Ketchum. The show draws inspiration from a trip in 2015 that brought Ralph Oberg to Idaho after a hiatus of almost 40 years. The six-day trip traversed the heart of the Sawtooth Wilderness, allowing the artist to paint field studies and collect references for the July show. This year promises a new Idaho painting trip exploring the White Cloud Wilderness with artists Amy Sidrane, Ron Rencher, Greg Packard and Kathryn Riedinger. The group will paint for six days, exploring the newly designated Wilderness area. Ralph Oberg spoke of the trip, saying, “In 1970-’71, in my early 20s, I spent a few years in the Ketchum area and enjoyed several backpacking and climbing trips in the Sawtooth, Pioneer and White Cloud mountains. With the wonderful opportunity to show my work with Wood River Fine Arts lately, it

Ralph Oberg, “Across Upper Cramer Lake,” 14” high by 11” wide.

was a great pleasure to go back to the Sawtooths with [gallery owners] Tom Bassett and Sandy Gregorak for a week of hiking and painting. This beautiful, wild area offered numerous motifs that I painted around the Cramer Lakes basin, some of which I have developed in the studio for this show. The mountain wilderness and its wildlife, from Colorado to California, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Canada, have been my inspiration for all of my 40 year artistic career.” Wood River Fine Arts is located at 360 East Avenue in Ketchum (The Courtyard Building). For more information contact owners Tom Bassett and Sandy Gregorak at (208) 928-7728 or visit our website at www.woodriverfinearts.com.

‘Omniscience’ By James Verbicky Gilman Contemporary

hile James Verbicky exhibits in galleries from Berlin to Mexico and across the United States, this will be his first exhibition in Sun Valley. With this in mind, he has created eight new paintings from his most highly-sought-after series to present to collectors. Join us for an artist reception with James Verbicky during Gallery Walk on Friday, July 8, from 5–8 p.m. James Verbicky is renowned for what he calls “media paintings” – large sculptural wood panels layered with vintage advertisements of popular brands and imagery, found on the streets of Paris, then covered in resin. These three-dimensional surfaces transcend traditional painting. Layering vintage media graphics, advertisements and familiar branding materials, each painting brings forth a personal connection as a result of decades of the media’s suggestive imagery. Paying attention to what is behind each piece of paper “makes the collage more interesting and creates a certain mood,” Verbicky says. Verbicky’s collages are abstract pieces that evoke hauntingly beautiful images and familiar scenes and subjects. Although printed and Internet material are ubiquitous in

James Verbicky, “Unique Replica,” 60” x 48”.

today’s world, Verbicky’s media paintings are a nod to a time when the printed word was integral to the dissemination of information. With the use of these vintage materials and graphics, advertisements and obsolete branding materials, his paintings expose the symbolism of brand culture. Verbicky speaks to us with physical media, and through this physical media he is connecting us to an important conversation that opens our awareness to the influences that play throughout our lives. The exhibit will be on display through August 1.

Ralph Oberg

“Morning Light in the Sawtooths”

40” high X 48” wide

Ralph Oberg “A Sawtooth Return”

New Works and Field Studies From the Idaho Wilderness

Artist’s Reception July 8, 2016 5PM - 8PM

360 East Avenue | In The Courtyard | Ketchum 208.928.7728 | www.woodriverfinearts.com

GALLERY WALK EDITION

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sun valley gallery association

GALLERY WALK Downtown Ketchum

1, 9 To Sun Valley

To Bald Mountain