AIRSTREAMI
“Escape” Paintings by Taralee Guild March 3 – April 2, 2023
Just in case you did not notice, there is a new art gallery in town, the JGO Gallery. Officially entering its third month, the gallery is where the Roby King Gallery was, and The JGO Gallery absorbed some of Roby King’s artists, and brings it own artists from the original JGO Gallery in Park City, Utah. To be clear, there are now two JGO Galleries. Bainbridge will see some of their old familiar artists, plenty of new ones from the Park City location, as well as new artists that could be brought in. It is a win all around for Bainbridge Island. The new Gallerist is Jude Grenney, and the Gallery Director is Janet Elia.
Grenney is an experienced gallerist, having opened her first gallery, The Phoenix Gallery, in 2002 and a 2nd generation version, the JGO Gallery, in 2010. That gallery was voted Best of Park City for Art Galleries for several years and she may well attain the same sentiment in our area. Grenney had worked in the art gallery scene in Park City since the 1990s, and her passion ran deep. She had been Chair of the Summit County Public Art Advisory Board and was a member of the Park City Gallery Association for over two decades. She will be in two places at once as well as she can, acknowledging that Park City has a ski season not to be missed. The consistent face of the JGO Gallery is Janet Elia, herself an artist who has shown work at The Island Gallery.
The March exhibition, “Escape,” is a solo show of the work of Canadian artist Taralee Guild. The Vancouver, BC painter is exhibiting work from her two main series, the Cathedral Forest series and the Airstream series. Guild exhibited with Roby King Gallery last June and I wrote about the Cathedral Forest series then as well as about Guild’s journey into painting.
This series is indeed uplifting to come our way in March, after the cold, rain and snow of February. I love the colorful, stained-glass quality of these paintings.
The Airstream series, yes, modeled on the iconic campers of the mid-20 century, are dazzling. Their seduction is multi-purpose. Again, as we try to edge out of both a cold winter (for us) and the restrictions of the ever-present pandemic, seeing these images speak to our dreams of taking our staycations on the road. They are nostalgic. They take us wherever we want to go, to park a while, breath in the North American dreamscape of our youth or experienced with our own families or friends, or perhaps of what we might rather be doing now or in the coming summer. Escape.
Technically, as the viewer enjoys the near scintillating images that mirror reflections of the surroundings provide, these take quite a bit of perseverance, of technical skill. They are translations, and translations always take some liberties or preferences. What we do get is plenty of exaggerated and abstracted realism in the distorted reflections. To better understand the process, which takes photos and translates them as drawings, and then a painting, Guild posted a time-lapse video of her painting an Airstream in 2021. To make the long journey seem brief, and entertaining, check it out.
Enjoy the show and be sure to welcome the renewed gallery to the island.
ABOUT BILL BARAN-MICKLE: 2020 Island Treasure Awardee. Recently, Bill has enjoyed exhibiting in several international art biennial exhibitions. Of the three in which he has participated, he won Third Place for Sculpture from the European Confederation of Art Critics in the Chianciamo Biennale, at the Chianciano Art Museum in Italy in 2011, and First Place in Applied Arts in the London Biennale of 2013. In 2013 alone, he will have participated in eight exhibitions: from London to a two-person exhibition near home. In addition, Bill was asked to be a representative for CCAC’s exhibition celebrating 100 years of the Metals Department, and a mix of group shows in New York City, Miami, Seattle and Las Vegas. Bill is the designer of the 10 foot Equitorial Bowstring Sundial located at the Richie Observatory in Battle Point Park on Bainbridge Island, WA and completed in 2015.
