Current Exhibits   Previous Exhibits   Exhibit Schedule   Back to previous exhibits Celebrating our 20th Anniversary 1986-2006 August 3 - September 2, 2006 THE LAURA RUSSO GALLERY IS PLEASED TO PRESENT: Henk Pander - Recent Watercolors Michael Spafford - Paintings and Works on Paper OPENING RECEPTION: First Thursday August 3, 2006: First Thursday Hours, 5-8pm We are pleased to present recent watercolors by the preeminent Portland painter, Henk Pander. Classically trained in his native Netherlands, he is a consummate draftsman using plein air and studio still life as the basis for his physical and commanding work. Learning watercolors as a child from his Dad, a prominent illustrator, Henk also learned from the finest Dutch teachers who saw watercolor as a serious tradition. This tradition has been a common thread throughout Henk's career. The medium lends well to traveling and allows for spontaneity. Henk doesn't make under drawings but layers gorgeous color directly, searching out the imagination, challenging himself. The process keeps him sharp; his direct and immediate painting style showing off his deftness. Yet, his large-scale treatment of the medium is uniquely his. In comparison to his more socially charged oil paintings, the watercolors are practically meditative as they relax into the environments of Eastern Oregon or the coast or his studio. This exhibition will include a series of recent watercolors featuring still lifes and landscapes. Growing up in Amsterdam, Henk Pander received his technical training at the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten where he was influenced by the historical aspects of European painting and the Dutch Masters. In the early 1960s, he moved to Portland. He has worked extensively in theatre set design beginning with the Storefront Theatre in the 1970s-80s and numerous projects for the Portland Center for Performing Arts, OR. His work is well collected privately in the Northwest and is included in the public collections; City of Amsterdam, Netherlands; Oregon Historical Society, Portland; Portland Art Museum, OR; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; and University of Oregon Museum of Art, Eugene. Henk was honored with a retrospective, Spectacular Requiem at The Frye Museum in Seattle, 2004-05. Recently, he completed an artist-in-residency with Portland Fire and Rescue. Henk Pander Still Life with Pheasant 2006 watercolor on paper 40" x 60" More examples by Henk Pander Seattle artist, Michael Spafford, makes a special guest appearance with the gallery this month. His paintings and prints depict the stories of war through the battles of mythic figures. Much of his subject matter is thematic exploring the Greek and Trojan wars. For this exhibition, the images are based on the Iliad and the Battle of the Gods and Giants. The iconic and archetypal power of his work comes from its charged imagery and simplification of form. Thrusting bodies are pared down, cropped and flattened. The painting is physical, the surfaces scraped and scumbled. Positive and negative space is held taut and their graphic powers heightened by Spafford's reductive palette of reds, blacks and whites. While he presents the figure anonymously, he finds their mortality, contriving an emotional and tangible content. Spafford challenges and provokes us, to revere life while confronting death. Michael Spafford, studied at Pomona College in California before receiving an MA from Harvard in 1960. His life long interest in Greco-Roman mythology developed while spending several years in Mexico. He began his teaching career at the University of Washington in the mid-1960s and over the years established himself as a major player in the Northwest art community. His work is included in numerous Northwest collections, and commission projects include the Kingdome, Seattle, and the Seattle Opera House. Most recently, he was awarded the prestigious Flintridge Foundation Award for 2005/06. Michael Spafford One Greek, One Trojan II (Iliad Series) 2006 oil on canvas 60" x 78" More examples by Michael Spafford Next month: Michihiro Kosuge - New Sculpture Margaret Shirley - New Work