Just in time for August’s First Friday Art Walk, the Durango Creative District has formally opened its new community gallery with “Portrait Lotto.” Conjured by Executive Director Kathryn Waggener and executed by Marketing and Projects Manager Jared Reed, the exhibit formally welcomes the new gallery to the city’s impressive roster of art spaces.
If you go
WHAT: Portrait Lotto Exhibition.
WHERE: Durango Creative District Community Gallery, 1135 Main Ave.
WHEN: Noon- 8 p.m. First Friday, show through Aug. 8; noon-6 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday.
ADMISSION: Free.
MORE INFORMATION: Email dir@durangocreativedistrict.org, hello@durangocreativedistrict.org or call 403-9186.
“We’re very different from other galleries,” Waggener said. “We serve the public as a physical hub for local and regional arts resources. Our programs vary from professional development classes, grant-applications, information sessions and now a showcase gallery.”
For “Portrait Lotto,” Waggener and Reed randomly paired 38 local artists to mutually produce portraits. The genre has a history, and one might expect a gallery full of faces, but media, style and interpretations vary. From face to full body, realism to abstraction, oil to mosaic, the portraits are both conventional and creative. Not everything succeeds, but the experiment is welcome.
As a genre, portraiture dates from the idealized marbles of ancient Greece. Roman sculpture focused on realism. And from the beginning, conventions evolved concentrating on the human face. By the Renaissance, a variety of poses and gestures captured the attention of Western culture as it elevated the role of the individual in society. By the 17th century, portraiture had become a major genre. Kings, popes, generals, merchants and ordinary citizens all wanted their portraits painted.
The invention of photography in the early 19th century sparked a new golden age for portraiture – which continues today. The humble selfie dominates our world, so we are all complicit in the modern preoccupation with appearance.
That’s the backdrop for “Portrait Lotto,” and this interesting exhibit is worth a visit.
When you walk in, traditional portraiture is only part of the story. Beyond some oil, acrylic or watercolor portraits, you’ll find mixed-media interpretations that range from collage to fabric art. You’ll also find symbolic portraits, no faces at all, but assemblages of artifacts or other images that stand in, or represent a person.
Maureen May’s “Chandler” combines both approaches. With six small images, May portrays Chandler Strange’s face plus other objects to suggest the artist. Jacob Cowham’s bold work, “Old News Blues,” deconstructs a guitar literally, reassembles it with collaged newspaper clippings and photographs to evoke Elsa Jagniecki.
A handful of conventional portraits stand out: Mariah Kaminsky’s pristine oil on copper-leaf panel of Chris Warren; Kelly MacNiven’s classic full-length photograph of Sally Anders; Avery Wickels’ intense mixed-media portrait of Sunny Patel; Anders’ charming double portrait of Roger Seliner and his dog, Mitch; and Dan Groth’s ink stipple drawing of Tad Smith.
Julia Anderson’s painting of Caro Gomez contrasts two expressive modes: conventional realism and gestural painting to effectively present a work with a provocative title: “She Rises Above.”
Waggener’s Sumi ink drawing of Jordanne Pelkey introduces a different medium and technique. Her subject, Pelkey, submitted the most unusual surface with an acrylic portrait of Janet Klema – on a leather jacket.
Several images swerve into surrealism. One ghoulish portrait brings up the issue of whether the genre reveals more about the subject or the artist.
The issue of medium is worth consideration: Viewers will decide for themselves whether portraiture can successfully be explored in media other than ink, oil, acrylics or collage. Consider the challenge of fabric art, mosaic or fused glass.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
