Event Series Nick Brandt: SINK/RISE

Nick Brandt: SINK/RISE

Gilman Contemporary

Sink/Rise continues photographer Nick Brandt’s series “The Day May Break” which eloquently captures communities who are affected by environmental destruction. The local people in these photos, photographed underwater off the coast of the Fijian islands, are representatives of the many people whose homes, land and livelihoods will be lost in the coming decades as the water rises. “Although they are several meters below the surface, the subjects of Brandt’s mesmerizing photographs do not float or swim. Incredibly, they sit on sofas, stand on chairs, use seesaws, and pose in ways they might on land. The effect is otherworldly, as though the familiar laws of physics have stalled in this strange, liminal zone between land and sea.” (Zoe Lescaze) The artist himself will further illuminate his creative process and the ethos behind "Sink / Rise" during a speaking engagement at The Community Library in Ketchum, ID, on July 11.

Free
Event Series Exhibition Seonna Hong: Freytag’s Pyramid

Exhibition Seonna Hong: Freytag’s Pyramid

Gilman Contemporary

"My work has always been about relational dynamics: friend to friend, love to love, mother to child...but in recent years it's grown from the microcosm of my little world to include the relational dynamics of individual to community, community to the world at large, and the world at large to the environment." In the exhibition Freytag’s Pyramid artist Seonna Hong uses the framework of novelist Gustav Freytag’s dramatic structure to visually chronicle the ebb and flow of life, memory, and human experience. The structural elements of storytelling as laid out by Freytag are broken up into a five-part pyramid; exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and finally denouement. Hong’s paintings visually evoke the tension and drama of storytelling. Her figures, typically women drive the narrative across landscapes varying from rocky and rugged, to hazily rendered liquidlike dreamscapes. Each canvas reveals moments of chaos and calm, reality and fiction, illustration and abstraction. Hong’s work successfully balances controlled graphics and intuitive, loose application of materials revealing what every story does, the grandness of the shared human experience. Exhibition runs June 28 - July 17, 2024

Free

JASON WHEATLEY: LANGUAGE OF THE BIRDS

Gilman Contemporary

In Jason Wheatley’s first solo exhibition at Gilman Contemporary, "Language of the Birds" features surreal and dreamlike still life paintings that explore our relationship with fantastical ideas and recognizable imagery. Embracing the illustrative style of John James Audubon and his famed “Birds of America” series, Wheatley deploys realist and absurdist sensibilities to each still life. Filled with metaphor and riddles, each canvas demonstrates a contemporary sense of humor and folly. Through repetition and practice, Wheatley paints from both memory and life. The oddities that are found in his paintings are a counterbalance the classical renderings in oil.

James Austin Murray: On the Return

Gilman Contemporary

"On the Return" features new works from painter James Austin Murray who continues to demand that we put aside preconceived perceptions of light and dark and explore their evolving role in our lives. Murray rakes, scrapes, and physically moves his thickly applied jet-black paint, making the flat surface expand, contract, ripple, and pulse. Each painting is informed by years of innovative, intentional practice that is tempered by the fickle nature of wet oil paint. Murray’s ability to create an infinite possibility with paint and canvas is one that belies the limitation of material. The simplicity creates a visual complexity that can only be experienced when standing in front of one of his paintings. With each painting, we are given a glimpse into Murray’s artistic and material perspective.

Free

Gallery Walk: Language of the Birds, Whimsical Still Life Paintings by Jason Wheatley

Gilman Contemporary

Jason Wheatley’s first solo exhibition, "Language of the Birds", features surreal and dreamlike still life paintings that explore our relationship to fantastical ideas and recognizable imagery. Embracing the illustrative style of John James Audubon’s famed avion paintings, Wheatley deploys realist and absurdist sensibilities to each still life. Filled with metaphor and riddles, each canvas demonstrates a contemporary sense of whimsey, wit and folly. "I dabble in the absurd and make it accessible and beautiful at the same time. I want people to feel like they have stumbled onto a riddle. The don’t have to figure it out, just know that something is taking place." -Jason Wheatley Artist in Attendance.

Free

Flavia Junquiera: The Absurd and the Grace

Gilman Contemporary

Brazilian artist Flávia Junquiera crafts poetic photographs that beautifully blend monumental architecture with the fleeting nature of childhood. Her meticulously staged, site-specific compositions are both whimsical and evocative. Picture grand theaters adorned with balloons, a solitary carousel horse amidst an ornate library, and bubbles drifting over Rio de Janeiro's Parque Lage. Infused with innocence and joy, Junquiera creates a fantastical universe that resonates with childhood memories. Each photograph not only captures an installation but also celebrates the lightness and brightness of the unexpected.

Free

Gallery Walk: Flavia’s Junquiera – The Absurd and the Grace

Gilman Contemporary

Brazilian artist Flávia Junquiera’s poetic photographs pay homage to monumental architecture and the ephemeral essence of childhood. Dreamlike and playful, Junquiera creates carefully staged site-specific installations and then captures them on film. Imagine grand theaters filled with balloons, a lone and riderless carousel horse intruding upon an ornate library, balloons and bubbles littering the grounds and floating above Rio de Janeiro’s Parque Lage. Infused with a sense of wonder, Junquiera captures a nostalgic vision that dwells in the magical realm of childhood. Each photograph not only commemorates an installation but also celebrates the lightness and brightness of the unexpected.

Free

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