The gallery jury team has selected charming pieces for our Summer In Seattle Art Exhibition. The exhibition shares the beauty and fun of experiencing Seattle Summers here in the urban Pacific Northwest. We want to present the fun and lively times where the city comes to life and people enjoy the warm season.
To see the event photos from the Summer in Seattle Artist Reception, click here. This blog will highlight one art piece per selected artist of this exhibition that celebrates the city-based lifestyle of living in Seattle.
Andy's piece below titled, Escapism (2023), is a 40 x 30 inch painting. The composition houses the scene of the painting as a torn up image stuck to a grungy concrete wall covered in graffiti art. The image's subject matter consists of a man holding romantic gifts while longingly starring off to the distance towards the right of the frame.
Below him are objects piled on top of a picnic blanket laid over lush green grass set in a park. The viewer feels the mysterious layers about the story of this young man. He has been waiting for his love and wore his heart on his sleeve.
Olga Bolgar's art work below titled, Seattle Central College (2022). This piece is oil on canvas and 28 x 20 inches in size. You can often see hundreds of local business fliers harking the presence of the shops nearby. We see the support of biking travelers supported by the city.
Olga states:
"I believe art involves the arduous, complex and exhilarating task of communicating that which is beyond the portrait of an individual. With limited tools, instruments and a subject that cannot communicate but through light and shadow, I must bring life into a two-dimensional world, a flat surface."
Chloe Harris' piece below titled, After The Rain (2023), is a 28 x 22 inch acrylic and oil painting on canvas. The style is abstract and there are no concrete subjects. However, the choice of colors, shapes, and compositions can all work together to be interpreted as a cityscape.
The sky blue is peaking out in the central are of the frame, bring a hope for a summer day out of the midst of the typical PNW weather. The blue paint stroke on the right of the frame is reminiscent of the Seattle Space Needle, which is what drew me the most to this piece.
Elliot Grace Harvey's piece titled, 6th and Lenora (2022) is a 24 x 18 inch acrylic painting on canvas. the subject matter is a ground level perspective of the streets of Seattle looking toward the well known Space Needle during a sunset.
The colors used in this piece are rich and truly describe a sunset: orange reds and purple. The setting may seem like an ordinary day in Seattle. This is what locals experience and are most familiar with.
Jennifer Holstrom's piece titled, 21 Grams Carbohydrate (2023), is an original acrylic and paper painting on canvas. the subject matter is a formally dressed young woman eating chips out of a small bag. The background is a teal, flat filigree patterned wallpaper. The subject's dark hair stands out against the lighter backdrop and is immediately brought forward. The colors are quite natural and realistic to life, of course with the orange chips popping out and being the main draw of the scene. the quality of the orange value is strikingly bright, much like a highlighter. The artist creates many contrasts in this piece. The dressing of a formal attire while eating a casual salty cheesy snack is not commonly seen. All of the subjects fingers are covered in the powder, and in the lower left of the frame, the viewer sees a stack of towel napkins, waiting to be used.
David Lane's piece titled, The 7 On Soi See (2023), is a digital photography manipulation. The subject matter is a night scene of the front of a crowded convenient store. The colors are quite bold, saturated, and primary in hue. A strong contrast to a night scene. The bright colors bring life to the night, showing the hustle and bustle going on in the city. The artist has heavily abstracted the piece giving it a unique texture and minimizing detail almost giving a mosaic appearance to a street scene.
T. Lilja's piece titled, Seattle Heat (2023), is a digital collage on metal. The subject matter is generally about games, baseball, and large form entertainment. Some of the images in the collage are of a famous baseball player, the end of Ancient-Greek gladiator tournament, sun iconography, a fist grabbing money, a salmon, and Ancient Greek-era horse transportation. Each of these are a different form of representation coming together to speak about Seattle.
Janice Lyons piece titled, Let the Rain Wash Away Your Blues (2023), is an abstract painting depicting downtown Seattle noting mostly toward the Seattle Space Needle. The frame is split into two sections: the upper sky being a cool mixture of whites and the lower city covered in black with trickles of gold and other textures.
Downtown is toward the left of the composition, the space needle is clear as day, while the rest of the town is abstracted and texturized. There is a lot of color specs emerging out of the city, showing a sense of life and celebration. The large flower in the middle right of the frame reminds the viewer of the good summer days here in Seattle.
Marcus Shriver's piece titled, Scenes From The Moon (2022), is a traditional film photograph inspired by a park fair in the outskirts of Seattle. The subject matter consists of a crowded park fair with a large circular ride to the right of the frame, and a tram ride trailing through the center. The sky takes a majority of the scene where as the large crown sits at the bottom, emphasizing the grandeur of park fairs during the summer months.
Jamie Steven's Piece titled, Rainy Lady (2023), is a stylized portrait of a street stylish woman snarling straight at the viewer. The main colors used are bright yellow, a bold red-orange, pink and blue. The subject's hair is short, wavy, and pink, her skin is glowing in a bright orange, and wearing red heart-shaped sunglasses and lighting bolt earrings. She definitely seems intimidating and perhaps territorial.
Cameron Wilson's piece titled, G Shock Gangster (2021), is a canvas painting using oil and fabric paint. The subject matter is of a man shaking up a drink over a blue margarita in a night scene. He is wearing a large silver watch, a golden button down shirt, and aviator glasses. The main colors used are rich deep blues, bright golds, and warm browns. The composition is thoughtfully and actively designed. The artist ingeniously creates leading lines and angles that guide the eyes up and down the scene between the bright blue drink and the man's smile.
The Summer In Seattle Exhibition is open July 27th through September 2nd, 2023. Come by and see these great works and more. While you're here, you can read the Artist Binder and learn about each artists' biographies and art statements to get a deep dive into their work.
These lovely pieces and more are for sale and viewable in person at Gallery B612 in SODO, Seattle, Washington. Location and business hours are below.
Thank you for supporting local art.
To see photos of the Summer In Seattle Artist Reception, click here.
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