Current Exhibits   Previous Exhibits   Exhibit Schedule   Back to previous exhibits October 4 - 27, 2007 THE LAURA RUSSO GALLERY IS PLEASED TO PRESENT: Tom Cramer - New Work Kenneth Callahan - Paintings and Works on Paper from the Estate OPENING RECEPTION: First Thursday October 4, 2007 First Thursday Hours, 5-8pm The gallery is pleased to present our first exhibition of work by Portland artist, Tom Cramer. His painted wood carvings are incredible explorations of semi-abstract line and color. Influenced by frequent traveling, the artist incorporates the shimmer of French Impressionist color, the boldness of German Expressionist form and the pattern and design of India's indigenous culture. His distinctive style is also influenced by technology and the inner and outer spaces found in nature. For this exhibition, the artist expands his wood carving and gilding into wood burning. This technique allows a more focused attention to line and the development of pattern. His carved works, which can take many months to create, slows down the creative process into a meditative state. This thoughtful process moves the work from a literal meaning into the sublime. Its hypnotic intensity reveals an emotional honesty and an abstract spontaneity much like singing or playing music. Tom Cramer's art is about reflections of the world at large expressed through a remarkable and distinct vision. Well-known Portland artist Tom Cramer graduated from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 1982 and then studied at the Pratt Institute in New York. He has shown his work since the mid-1970s and has been included repeatedly in the Portland Art Museum's Oregon Biennial. His work is included in the collections of Boise Art Museum, Portland Art Museum, University of Portland and Whatcom County Museum of Art in Washington. His commissions include costume and set design for the Oregon Ballet Theater and Ballet Pacifica. His distinctive painted designs can be seen on murals and vehicles around Portland. Tom Cramer Aviary 2007 oil and wood burning on birch plywood 60" x 40" More examples by Tom Cramer This exhibition presents a selection of paintings from Kenneth Callahan's estate. His work explores the spirituality of humankind and the idea of the individual. His paintings synthesize organic form; human and animal forms mesh with the landscape. What became his poetic vision incorporates ideas of enlightenment and the interconnection of humanity with nature. The effect is ethereal and transitory in color, shape and composition, creating subtle yet dramatic images. Associated with the artists of the Northwest School such as Guy Anderson, Morris Graves and Mark Tobey, Callahan's artistic legacy makes him a regional treasure. Born in Spokane, Kenneth Callahan studied art in London, Paris, and Florence, and was included in the first Whitney Biennial in New York in 1933. His early, romantic works were influenced by El Greco, the Mexican Muralists, Kandinsky, and William Blake. Callahan established his career in Seattle in the 1930s and was instrumental in founding the Seattle Art Museum, where he worked as a curator from 1933-1953. His work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally and collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum in New York; the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.; and the San Francisco, Portland and Seattle Museums of Art. Additionally, his commissions include a mural for the U.S. Marine Hospital in Seattle, Washington, several U.S. Post Offices in Washington and North Dakota, and the Civic Theatre and Center Playhouse in Seattle. Kenneth Callahan Living Rock Series #17 c.1952 tempera on paper 25" x 29" More examples by Kenneth Callahan Next exhibition: November 1 - 24, 2007 Sherrie Wolf - New Paintings Marie Sivak - Mnemosyne's Mnemonic, Sculpture and Drawing