Using delicate paper sewing patterns applied directly to canvas Westmark creates strong female protagonists, often stoic martyrs, fantastical beings or the hapless everywoman. Westmark embellishes the garment patterns with custom text inspired by feminist writing, creating a conceptual narrative alongside the existing assembly instructions to complete the familiar dialogue presented to women throughout history. The viewer is asked to read both the text embedded surface and the pictorial narrative as a whole to disrupt the stereotypical notion of women’s work in order to create a feminist dialogue in the visual conversation.
These Days: Joanne Freeman
Abstract painter Joanne Freeman does not rely on direct observation but rather process and precedence. The title These Days, borrowed from the song written by Jackson Browne in the late 1960’s, conjured up comparisons to her own state of mind during her daily studio practice where the realities and upheavals of the external world collide with the inner workings and solitude of her studio. The reductive abstract paintings are about the beauty of singular color, the impact of pure abstract forms and the quiet order that cuts through the noise.
Deck the Walls: Group Exhibition
Each December/January Gilman Contemporary celebrates the diversity of the artists they bring to Sun Valley with their group exhibition, Deck the Walls. This dynamic group show teases upcoming feature exhibitions with works by Joanne Freeman, John Westmark, Matt Duffin and Paul Béliveau, as well as introducing new artists to the gallery Tony Hernandez and Jason Wheatley. We will also feature one of Jill Lear’s newest large scale works alongside Michael Massaia, Kelly Ording, Ellie Davies, Rodney Smith, Thai Mainhard and Frances McCormack.
Frances McCormack: Above and Below
“I am almost never satisfied with a painting until it has surprised me in some way, and probably after working on it for long while, weeks or months sometimes…This happens when the image I am chasing on the canvas suddenly suggests another direction—color, orientation even—and it is so compelling I am willing to undo weeks of work to try to integrate this upstart outlier, this strange event.” – Frances McCormack Frances McCormack is a Professor Emerita of Painting at the San Francisco Art Institute who’s work as an abstract painter draws on the history of gardens and landscape design. Her paintings are invented spaces or interior theaters that are essentially images of the process of growth and transformation within a contained space. She has sought out these spaces or walled gardens in Rome at the Villa d’Este and Villa Lante, at the Alhambra in Spain, the Topkai Palace in Istanbul, in Mexico at the houses of the architect Luis Barragan, or Santa Barbara at Ganna Walska’s LotusLand. These places provide a container where the urgency and noise of everyday obligations fall away and the visitor has access to other dimensions of thought and feeling. Combining architectural elements and loosely interpreted …
SALLY KING BENEDICT
Opening Night Reception at Hemmings Gallery with artist Sally King Benedict to celebrate her Ketchum debut show. Come raise a glass on Friday, July 7th from 5:00-7:30 PM! JULY-AUGUST EXHIBITION “RE/CREATION” with Sally King Benedict For the past fifteen years, Benedict has built an impressive following with major solo shows and features in Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Domino and Southern Living. Now a Ketchum resident, she’s thrilled to present her first body of work inspired by life in the Wood River Valley. For Benedict, “I have come to realize that the ways I now recreate have also, in fact, re-created me.”
SALLY KING BENEDICT
JULY-AUGUST EXHIBITION: “RE/CREATION” with SALLY KING BENEDICT For the past fifteen years, Benedict has built an impressive following with major solo shows and features in Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Domino and Southern Living. Now a Ketchum resident, she’s thrilled to present her first body of work inspired by life in the Wood River Valley. For Benedict, “I have come to realize that the ways I now recreate have also, in fact, re-created me.” Opening Night reception with artist on July 7th from 5:00-7:30PM
Join us for Gallery Walk at Gilman Contemporary, Artist Kelly Ording in Attendance
Come view the delicate and complex paintings by Kelly Ording! Ording’s works explore the fine line between minimalism and representation. Interested in the tonal and textural possibilities of a surface, Ording often begins her compositions by hand dyeing paper or canvas, creating an element of surprise and playfulness that offsets the mathematical rigor and precision of her use of bold color and line. Central to her work is the interplay of radiating color, unfolding shapes, and patterns. “My goal is to create paintings that appear minimal at first glance, but are in fact, complex visual records of time, life and experiences.” – Kelly Ording
Fiore Del Giardino
Replete with flowers from her own garden, Tavormina’s enchanting photographs include surprise elements and hidden symbolism inspired by her admiration of the Dutch still-life painters of the 17th century. Open Monday – Saturday, 10-5
Join us for Gallery Walk at Gilman Contemporary
Kick off the summer with new works by Mayne Kratz! Kratz finds inspiration in Arizona’s harsh desert climate, collecting found organic materials such as bone fragments, poppy pods, grasses, and flowers which she collects on long hikes in the surrounding area of her home and even on the train tracks behind her studio. She arranges this matter in circles, constellations, nests and other forms before suspending it in resin against a painted panel. Materiality is both heightened and diminished as the earthen matter transforms into a micro or macro ecosystem of its own. The process is time-consuming, toxic and difficult, but for her, this act of preservation is an ode to the cyclical pattern of nature. “With my art, I celebrate the endless cycles of change and rebirth,” she explains. “I have great reverence for the natural world.” Also on view is Leap of Faith: Rodney Smith Retrospective, with Paul Martineau, Curator of Photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum, and Leslie Smolan, Executive Director of the Rodney Smith Estate, in attendance.
Carmen McNall
California based artist Carmen McNall’s paintings are punctuated by deep woodcuts creating a balance between textured patterns and stretches of pure pigment. By combining painting with added wood carving techniques, the paintings are not just rich in color, but embody the idea of “handcrafted, ” a theme that is central in her work through both process and subject matter as hands play a recurring role. The faceless figures in McNall’s work resemble Goddess-like muses as they rest in dynamic yet effortless poses. Each one embodying strength, confidence, and wisdom. The figures are adorned with a novel blend of symbolic patterns and mark making. They rest within their own elements, surrounded by a complex yet tranquil interior landscape that inhabit both ancient and futuristic realms. Through this work, McNall explores the body as a vessel, a container that carries us through life, using both literal vessels such as vases and containers, as well as human forms. She investigates all that is held within us: memories, tension, energy, healing properties, intuition and how these manifest into movement. “My work is very planned out because of the nature of wood carving, every mark is permanent and therefore must be intentional. A lot of …