Renee Hartig
Matt Johnson
June 5-27, 2015
Reception: June 5, 5-8pm
Gallery One’s exhibits open on the First Friday of most months in conjunction with the Ellensburg Art Walk.
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Exhibit Sponsors
Sageland Properties – Mary Morgan
Main Gallery
Nathan DiPietro – The Long Gray Goodbye
In this new series of egg tempera paintings the landscape is deconstructed, parsing out the elements which are in conflict. Blackberry thickets, swaths of concrete, landscaped hill sides, the low hanging darkness before a rain storm, all these are pieces of a symbolic retinue brought together as stage set.
The landscape is in constant flux; in a major battle with many divided antagonists, between the natural vs. man-made environment, where it is being pushed and pulled between developer and preservationist and indigenous versus invasive species. The verdant growth encroaches on manicured lawns and landscaped shrubberies, only held at bay by heavily armed work crews and the occasional goat herd.
Complementing these dramas are compositional dualities; sweeping vistas contrasted with blatant symmetry and an endless horizon of monotony composed of seductively elegant details. These complexities are enhanced by the exacting details given both to a vacant lot and an ancient stand of old growth forest, neither is given a stylistic advantage in terms of beauty or status. An attempt is made at neutrality towards all elements. Through this plethora of thematic and compositional dualities a subtle aggression plays out beneath the surface.
Recently these landscapes have revealed their artificial nature with the introduction of stage sets and props. The sky becomes a painted canvas backdrop. The trees and bushes flatten into plywood veneers. Spotlights appear in the foreground ready to illuminate a sparse cast of eagles, bunnies, and surveyor tripods. This in turn has led to the construction of paper craft dioramas depicting past paintings, distant memories, and sacred spaces. In turn, these constructions are edited and recycled, combined with tilted views from Google Earth or a Minecraft cloud scape to form a truly manufactured landscape.
Mezzanine
Renee Hartig – Northwest Land
We often think of the land as a steady element in nature when in fact the land and sky are evolving and changing ceaselessly. Nature as a whole is never a static element and should be a constant reminder of change and growth, unpredictable and powerful. We as humans also shape and alter the natural landscape in order to fit our needs and that too contributes to the landscape of today.
Renee Hartig feels that the power and movement in the land is often lost in artwork and photography, which by nature is fairly static and representative of a snapshot in time. The challenge of capturing this movement is what attracts her to impressionist painting. Although many impressionist painters set out to capture a single moment, they were also able to infuse their work with a movement that makes the painting feel alive; you can feel their hand working on the painting and see each distinct decision they made through every brush stroke or mark.
Hartig’s goal is to capture that kind of a timeless element and movement, not only in the subject matter but to the application of the paint as well. By nature, the act of landscape painting itself forces movement. Whether it is hiking to a location, driving across continents, visiting places in the world, or experiencing the new ways the land is formed and pieced together, it all demands physical movement by the artist.
Hartig’s inspirations stretch from impressionist artists like Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, Manet, Monet and Pissarro to painters like N.C. Wyeth and Edward Hopper. She is also very interested in printmaking techniques like woodcut prints and screen printing. The use of minimal colors, layering colors and keeping colors separated are all elements she utilizes in her work.
Eveleth Green Gallery
Matt Johnson – Environments