Monday, April 28, 2008

First Exhibition of 2008: Link Gallery, Fish Creek, Wisconsin

Our first exhibition for 2008 runs April 21-May 21 at the Link Gallery. Artist host and participant Aaron Holland, who helped organize the exhibition, reports.

The reception for the Contemporary Landscape Artists was held Saturday April 26th, 2008 (1-3 pm) at the Link Gallery in Fish Creek. The weather was a blustery 42 degrees, with wind and clouds and chance of flurries. Welcome to Wisconsin!

However formidable the weather, the visitors were consistently arriving for the entire reception. The visitors were very much interested in seeing the artwork, and not just to mingle and hover near the refreshment bar! They were interested in seeing what landscape artists were doing from different parts of the country and (indeed) from different parts of the world. I was a little surprised to see that many people commented on the unique aspect of the show - being that there were so many artists from different parts of the globe - and I discovered that actually the most interesting subjects to them were the ones that were the most different from what they were familiar with. Door County is known as a tourist destination, and the majority of work sold here is typically reminders and scenes of the region. However, for this particular show - the more eclectic the better!

As a world tour, its cohesiveness was actually due in large part not from being similar but from being different. People were genuinely interested in seeing that every artist involved was from a different part of the world. In many cases the styles were very similar, but mountains next to meadows made for an interesting contrast, and El-trains next to fishing boats made one really focus on the fact that these pictures were not painted in the same location. Many people asked, Where are they from? And I would say that almost each artist was from a different state ... this person is from New York, and this one is from South Carolina, and this one is from Florida, and she is from Colorado - oh, and this artist is from Brazil (pause for effect) and he is from Czechoslovakia, etc.... You get the idea.

Thank you everyone who sent work! - Aaron Holland (www.hollandartstudio.com)

Although this is the first exhibit of 2008, it is the final exhibition for the original slate of Signature and Charter Members from LAI and IPAP. The 2008/2010 tour, with additional artists, will begin in Colorado, June 1 - July 6, at The Cultural Arts Council of Estes Park Art Fine Art Gallery.

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