Thursday, August 13, 2015

CAPITOL HILL: Light Bulbs & Shadow Boxes

It's the Capitol Hill Art Walk tonight! The weather is perfect, and the art abounds! Because there are so many participating art spaces, It's always a challenge to take in the entire Hill in an evening. It's an excellent problem for an art walk to have!


Joseph Brooks @ Retrofit Home

Knowing in advance that I probably wouldn't be able to see much of the south end, I sneaked a peek at Joseph Brooks' new exhibit at RetrofitHome when I picked up the remaining pieces from my show a couple days ago. He has some gorgeous new large scale works including intricate colourful owls and light bulbs with a resin coating that makes them look totally lickable. (Don't lick light bulbs at home, kids.)


Dendroica Gallery

My first stop on art walk night is the grand opening of Dendroica Gallery. Director Martha Dunham picked up in the space Blindfold Gallery left off with a fun & eclectic mix of local and national artists! I had a wonderful time chatting with Jeff about his layered paint in egg shell creations and Russell about his monochrome mixed media collages. Reilly's holographic installation is definitely best viewed in person. Featuring: Jeff Mihalyo, Jon Lewis, Joseph Gray-Smith, Lisaann Cohn, Michael Magrath, Reilly Donovan, Russell C. Smith, Shari Mendelson, Shelley Higman, Tracy Lang, Ulrich Pakker & William Vaegemast.


"Shadow Box" @ Ghost Gallery

Ghost Gallery is next with the "Shadow Box" show. Featuring nearly three dozen artists from all over the country, "Shadow Box" continues Ghost's 8-month series of exhibits celebrating female & female identifying artists in the main gallery. The rotating gallery of miniatures art is always a pleasure to see as well.
Morbid Anatomy @ Broadcast Coffee

After Ghost, I head to Broadcast Coffee, featuring Anita Arora of Morbid Anatomy's newest series of delicate assemblage shadow boxes. This is my first time visiting Broadcast, and Anita's pieces have turned the space into a fascinating expedition through the eerie and nostalgic.

"Las Favinistas" @ True Love Gallery

My last stop of the evening is "Las Fauvinistas" at True Love Gallery, featuring Cindy Small, Jessica Dodge & Nancy Kiefer. Channelling the bold colours and textural brush strokes of Matisse & Derain (the original Fauves), the pieces in this exhibit are a vibrant mix of eccentric portraiture, surreal landscapes, and tiny strange worlds captured in wood & clockwork. I had a fun time discussing with Jessica her reverse-painting process on glass!

It's been a wonderful night, and I'm thrilled I was able to take at least a partial evening off before the final weekend of the Renaissance Faire to view some inspiring art!

For all of the spaces I wasn't able to see, and for all of you who weren't able to make it out, the exhibits are up through the end of the month! Support your local art scene, and go see some art!


~ BCDuncan