Backbeat 6/25/09

Thursday, June 25, 2009

By Walker Hobson

Gaia & Global Warming + Ben Roth
Jackson Hole, Wyo.-This week at Center for the Arts, artistic responses to global warming hint at needed changes for a healthier planet. In the ArtSpace Main Gallery, five pieces by six women are on display. The exhibit is curated by Lowery Stokes-Sims, the Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design, and it brings together the different responses of women concerning the future of nature. Karen Stewart, executive director of the Art Association, said seeing the pieces come in and assembled is “inspirational and dynamic.” The responses of these women include practical furniture, crochet that mimics cacti, and rubber ducks.

The furniture, made by Peggy Diggs, was tested in cramped environments by prisoners at Graterford Prison in Pennsylvania. Judy Cotton’s exhibit features various possible futures of Jackson Hole behind a lifeless rubber duck.

The backgrounds range from flowers and winter, to an oil covered river and flaming mountains. On the same night at Teton Artlab, on the top floor of the Center for the Arts, local sculptor Ben Roth’s one-night exhibit shows his artistic response to climate change with sculptures of megafauna – animals large enough to be seen with the naked eye, which were made from recycled materials. His sculptures aim to reveal animals in a unique way, and shed light on how the human element affects the existence of these creatures. JHW

Gaia and Global Warming: Women Artists Champion Nature, 5:30 p.m., June 26, in the ArtSpace Main Gallery; free, 733-6379. Megafauna, 5 to 8 p.m., June 26, is one night only in the Teton Artlab; free, 699-836.

Literary magazine premieres
Amy Early didn’t see a literary magazine around Jackson last year, so this past fall she decided to make The Jackson Hole Review. To celebrate its publication, the lit mag will host readings and an open mike night at Shades Cafe this weekend.
Early said that with so many blogs and Web content, she felt that Jackson was missing a local collection of literary works that needed to be seen in print.

Literature isn’t properly recognized without being in print, she said. Throughout winter and spring, Early put out requests for submissions from local writers, poets and artists to fill her magazine. 

After a blind selection process, and space considerations, she ended up with 29 items, including poems, a short story and photos to fill the first issue of the mag, which was financed entirely by Early.

Now that the Review is printed, Early is looking for places to help get JHR in the hands of people who may know someone in the magazine or those interested in hearing a local voice. JHW
Publishing Party, 6 p.m., June 29, Shades Cafe; free, magazines are $7, jhreview@yahoo.com.

Muse Gallery
Painting imaginary balls is more complex than it may seem. Get the spiel from John Gibson, an artist who has been painting balls for the past 25 years, at Muse this Thursday. Though a ball seems to be a simple image, Gibson must choose his designs from a limited catalogue of stripes, swirls, and spots, because painting patterns on balls is visually and mathematically complex. “They are both complex and simple,” Gibson said.

He said it’s been difficult learning the math and geometry behind their shape and design, but realistic looking balls wouldn’t be possible without patterns. The backgrounds are generally a solid color in order not to reveal the balls proportions or purpose. Golf balls or soccer balls have a defined purpose, Gibson said, but they also lack the complexity of ambiguous balls.

For first time Gibson will show sculptures of the balls side by side with paintings, something Gibson said he is very excited to see in a gallery. Sculptures and painting share subject and design, but sculptures give the subject “dimensions and material,” Gibson explained, where the paintings leave those answers within the viewer. JHW
 Reception from 5 to 8 p.m., June 25, Muse Gallery; free, 733-0555.

Yellowstone: America’s Eden
National Museum of Wildlife Art continues to pursue predators this week with a screening of Living Edens: Yellowstone, America’s Secret Eden. 

This week’s film, screening on Tuesday, is on loan from the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, where it won Best Cinematography in 2001. The film is guided by Paul Schullery, an author who has been around Yellowstone since 1972. He accompanies the viewer who will witness wolves, bears, elk, and mountain lions navigate  daily life in Yellowstone. JHW

The film screens 2 p.m., June 23, 26, and 28 at NMWA; free for members, museum admission for nonmembers, 733-5771.

Jackson Hole Wine Auction
Jackson Hole Wine Auction will take the Tram to the top of Rendezvous Mountain for it first champagne tasting this Saturday, and then on Sunday the fundraising party for Grand Teton Music Festival will hold the wine auction at Four Seasons Resort.

If you have $850, you can do both. However, tickets for the tasting, alone, are sold out, according to special events associate Kristin King.

The main event is the Wine Auction and Gala on Sunday. The wines this year all come from Shafer Vineyards. JHW

The Champagne Tasting is 6 p.m., June 27 at the top of the gondola, and the Wine Tasting is 5:30 p.m., June 28. Tickets are $850 for both, and are available through www.gtmf.org.

COURTESY PHOTO
Muse Gallery

PERMALINK:
Backbeat 6/25/09 | Planet JH News Article: General News

Leave a Comment