Kindred Spirits, Sacred Moments & The Written Word

My previous announcement of R. Keaney Rathbun's upcoming solo exhibition with Print Arts Northwest, Sacred Moments: A Print Portfolio, pleased him so much that he hired me write for his next show.

Also a solo exhibit, Sacred Moments: The Installation opens at the end of June at Waterstone Gallery in Portland's Pearl District. The exhibit will feature an array of Rathbun's works highlighting the variety of media that Rathbun has been producing in this entire series. The centerpiece of the exhibit will be a floor-to-ceiling altar in homage of the small sacred moments that fill a day and a life.

Quite the versatile guy is this R. Keaney Rathbun, whose impressive body of work is comprehensive and carries an integration of focus unique to someone who works in such a wide variety of media.

Where I come in: Rathbun is producing a marketing piece for the Waterstone show and has asked me to write a more comprehensive analysis to accompany photos of his work. He also has a book project of his art in the works featuring his prints, sculptures, and additional media that he's known for, including stained glass and needlepoint. I've been asked to contribute to this as well. I will definitely keep you posted.

I am pleased to be supporting the multi-talented R. Keaney Rathbun. When I view his work, I feel that I've found a kindred spirit.

Sacred Moments: A Print Portfolio
PAN Gallery 5|20 - 6|14, Opening Reception 5|20, 5:30 - 8:00pm

Sacred Moments: The Installation
Waterstone Gallery 6|30 - 7|28

http://rkeaneyrathbun.com

Sacred Moments | R. Keaney Rathbun

Sacred Moments

Long-time member of Print Arts Northwest and a member-owner of Waterstone Gallery in Portland's Pearl District, R. Keaney Rathbun's work spans an array of media and motifs, from glass and mixed-media sculpture to silkscreen printing.

The focus of Sacred Moments, opening 5/20 at PAN Gallery, will be his vibrant silkscreen prints, some with up to 60 layers, giving them depth, richness, and complexity.

Several of his works are presented in storyboard fashion and carry multiple images, such as Dog Days, Travelogue, and St Johns Life, with 5 individual prints per work. These tell their stories in symbols, clear and recognizable, but also often ambiguous, metaphorical, and with a dreamlike imagery reminiscent of cave-paintings and pictographs from America's Southwest, with medieval religious iconography adding another layer of meaning.

Rathbun's individual works also carry similar enigmatic themes, hypnotic and transforming, they bypass the intellect and go straight to the heart of the matter at hand. I actually felt my brainwaves shift in rhythm as I studied his work.

Come to the opening and pay attention. Perhaps you will also notice a subtle change in your own brain activity.

Sacred Moments, R. Keaney Rathbun
Solo exhibit at Print Arts Northwest|PAN Gallery
Washington County Museum, PCC Rock Creek Campus
17677 NW Springville Road, Portland, Oregon 97229
www.printartsnw.org | pan@printartsnw.org
503.525.9259 PAN |503.645.5353 WCM

For a Sacred Moments preview visit:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Print-Arts-Northwest-PAN/287265604401

For an in-depth look at Rathbun's body of work:

http://www.rkeaneyrathbun.com/RKeaneyRathbun/Welcome.html

Pricing:

Individual prints
11" x 14", matted and framed
$250

Grouped prints of 5
15" x 30", matted and framed
$650

Special Edition: Hand-bound portfolio of 20
$3500

Image shown above: Learning To Fly

Installation by Audrey Sochor

Master printmaker Audrey Sochor (87) brings printmaking into the underwater dimension in this light-filled, walk-through, immersion installation.

Bioluminescent Seas, opens at PAN Gallery in the Washington County Museum, 4|15|10.

Formated with 8' x 3', and larger, double curtains of sheer silk, cotton, and linen, her works are a shimmering moiré of underwater atmosphere.

Sochor creates a hybrid of mixed printmaking techniques: collagraph, stencil, monoprint, and staining on canvas, allowing the raw fabric to become a significant element of the print.

For more detailed information on Audrey Sochor's history and perspective, see www.audreysochor.com.

Opening reception will be April 15, from 5:30-8pm.

Catered by And She Cooks!

PAN Gallery is located in the Washington County Museum on the PCC Rock Creek Campus, 17677 NW Springville Road, Portland, OR 97229. www.printartsnw.org

Katy McFadden | Oregon Art Beat & Rites Of Spring

Katy McFadden, a featured member of Elysium Artists, is exhibiting several examples of her printmaking with PAN artists at Portland Millwork Gallery in Rites Of Spring, (see below) through 5|2.

Katy, known primarily for her life-sized ceramic figures, will be featured on Oregon Art Beat this week, 4|15 at 8:00 pm, right after Audrey Sochor's opening Bioluminescent Seas at PAN Gallery at 5:30, so you can enjoy both!

Oregon Art Beat repeats on Sundays.

www.ElysiumArtists.com
www.PrintArtsNW.org

http://www.katymcfadden.com/

INK & DRINK ... Atelier Meridian

FREE monthly social gathering at Atelier Meridian, 6 to 9 pm tonight, 4|9.

Barbara Mason, THE powerhouses behind PAN, demonstrates solarplate-based etchings that will rock your creative world with this incredibly fast and versatile approach to creating non-toxic prints.

Ink & Drink is kid-friendly! Kids are invited to come and make art with reckless abandon in our spacious and well-equipped art-loving studio.

Atelier Meridian is located just two blocks from the N Albina Max Stop.
665 N Tillamook St. Portland, OR 97227 | 503-729-9013
www.ateliermeridian.com

Installation: Bioluminescent Seas

Printmaker Audrey Sochor brings the print into a new dimension in her light-filled installation, Bioluminescent Seas, opening at PAN Gallery in the Washington County Museum, 4|15|10.

Formated with 8' x 3' double curtains of sheer silk, cotton, and polyester, her works evolve into a moiré of shimmering atmosphere, with the effect of a dive into tropical seas.

Sochor's choice of the ocean as subject is based on time and the minute and constant changes of the waters covering Earth. Her works place the viewer in a physical experience akin to the pleasure of a dive, but without need of air support.

Patterning the curtains with microscopic images of plankton, the artist creates a hybrid of mixed printmaking techniques: collagraph, stencil, monoprint, and staining on canvas, letting the raw linen itself become an element of the painting.

For more detailed information on Audrey Sochor's history and perspective, see www.audreysochor.com

Opening reception will be April 15, from 5:30-8pm. Catered by And She Cooks!

PAN Gallery is located in the Washington County Museum on the PCC Rock Creek Campus, 17677 NW Springville Road, Portland, OR 97229. www.printartsnw.or

More From Audrey Sochor

Audrey Sochor's installation

Bioluminescent Seas

opens April 15 at PAN Gallery,

Washington County Museum.

Jellies

Kelp Forest

Scuba Night

untitled

Audrey Sochor

April PAN Gallery Exhibit|Installation
Sneak Preview

Tendrils (installation)

Snorkel 4

Morning Glory 2

Kelp Forest 5

PAN's 30-Year Anniversary

It may be too soon to mention, since PAN won't be celebrating their 30 years as a professional artists organization until next year, but it is what's on my mind, so here goes ... .

The Concept: To mount an All-Member Exhibit of over 100 original prints that will travel from venue to venue throughout the region in 2011.

I've lined up two exhibitions so far. The first: PNCA (Pacific Northwest College of Art) in Portland for January-February, 2011. To be followed by a May-June show in that hoppin' hub of the arts in Washington County, The Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Center, in Hillsboro.

I will be researching other venues over the next few weeks and am hoping to land an exhibit in Bend and the southern reaches of the state.

And while I'm here ...

A brief reminder to catch James Minden's spectacular monotype collagraphs on exhibit in PAN Gallery at the Washington County Museum, PCC Rock Creek Campus.

James Minden

Exploring Variations

Recent Collograph Monoprints by James Minden

PAN's reception on 3.18.10 was so worth the time it took to get there.

The new lighting that PAN and the Washington County Museum have installed is spectacular and shows Minden's work with the clarity and brilliance it deserves.

I shared with Jim that I found striking similarities between his work and jazz: multilayered riffs, rhythms, and harmonies of color and form. Truly, fabulous!

Minden's work also felt ancient and utterly new, simultaneously. Reminiscent of cave paintings and rock art left by our forebears and mystic ancestors who were as compelled as we are today to tell the stories of their existence and to leave traces of their presence.

Make time to see this exhibit. It's worth the trip out west if you live in Portland, and should absolutely not be missed.

To see more of James Minden's artwork,
both printmaking and painting, visit his web site ...

http://jamesminden.com/

image: Coherence 1, James Minden