Brian Marki Fine Art - Gallery and Framing

Gordon Marshall: Transformations – Gordon Marshall opens his 2007 exhibit with a year's worth of "wonderful agony" to quote him directly. Painting is a very personal activity until the artist gives his work to the world by letting go of it. Once out of the studio, each painting takes on its own life. Every painting communicates the entire process to the viewer. Every viewer has his own personal interpretation of every painting. This is art, this is painting.

Artist Auditions: Phase III – In June of 2006, two artists sat down to discuss the climate of the arts in Portland. Recognizing a need for more "fun" in the dynamics between artist and gallery, they decided to come up with a juried process that would applaud the artist's ability to take risks, exercise integrity, create exceptional work and have fun.

They put out a call to artists in several cities in the Northwest, from San Francisco to Vancouver, BC. They received nearly 200 submissions from artists, as well as a slew of disgruntled replies. At the time, they were offering a two-person exhibit at an undisclosed gallery here in Portland. They refused to mention the name of the gallery, or to reveal the names of the jurors. They wanted to see the work of those artists who were motivated by something other than a big name. They wanted to put the emphasis of the process back on the work, not the politics.

At this time, they have documented the entire process of the auditions, including a soiree at the Brian Marki gallery, in which artists were invited to attend, given secret passwords and buttons and asked to mingle with 50 collectors who were there to celebrate the expansion of the Brian Marki space. They also documented studio visits with the 9 finalists, as well as a rare karaoke round in which artists were invited to either perform themselves, or take 15 minutes, with video camera in hand, to arrange for a stranger to perform in their place.

Scott Gellatly – This most recent series is all about Taking Refuge. Each painting was either created at the Tualatin River Wildlife Refuge, or inspired by it. Gellatly paints everything from its rich, glowing fields to its expansive views westward. His work aims to capture the atmosphere of the place as it transforms through the changing seasons. For Gellatly, the act of painting, and the paintings themselves, serve as destinations in which to take refuge. The viewer is invited to experience a space of respite as a new season unfolds.

Janine Setter – Minature Christmas World!

Jason Bradbury & Laura Joseph – Inspired by the microscopic form, Jason Bradbury's recent series of paintings has shifted from individual groupings of fossilized images to an abstracted focus on the formation of structure and shape. This body of work, entitled "Structural Segue" shows a story of transition from the fossilized stillness of the distant past to the active growth of brand new structure. These abstract works have a morphological feel to them without being literal, leaving the viewer open to their own interpretation. With a consistent sense of discovery and mystery intact, this showing of paintings and scratchboards is a structural segue to future works.

Laura Joseph is interested in the effect of landscape on the soul. According to Joseph, "It is our love of the land that mirrors our inner wildness and that is what saves and inspires us." Someone said that every community has a Walden Pond or a Pilgrim Creek, a simple place that can inspire an individual. Joseph's quest as an artist is to record the beauty and constant pattern of changes that occur on these last remaining natural areas and to catch and hold this in all its vitality - to preserve it at least in time and space. Her most recent series is entitled, "Where I Live".

Sandro Negri – Negri is a living legend, with countless articles and stunning reviews all throughout Europe. He has done everything from painting his homeland and the quiet lives of those with whom he grew up, to designing film posters for Robert Altman. Negri will be in attendance at the artist's reception on September 16th, from 2:00-6:00PM, with pen in hand, signing copies of his complementary catalog. The show will run from September 1st - 30th, and is titled, "Venezia".

Scott Ward & Mimi Fox – Scott Ward is a Seattle-based artist with roots in design. He brings a clarity of color and line to his work, revealing a talent for communicating raw emotion in pared down imagery. His work appears childlike, but upon further investigation, offers up an intelligent humor that is sorely missing in today's artistic landscape. His vibrant colors and bold juxtapositions leave the viewer with an appreciation of the uncanny, offered playfully under the guise of the familiar.

Mimi Fox spends her time engaged with the harvesters of the sea. She brings paint and ink onboard the ship, passing long nights on watch with sketches and washes over carefully studied marine charts and maps. She honors an endangered way of life, giving meaning and relevance to every detail of her work at sea. The forms, the sights and sounds, the stories are all manipulated and pulled together here in the series she has entitled "The Artist Goes to Sea," a metaphor for that voyage which is the creative life.

Sarah Boss & Craig Payne – Sarah Boss looks at industrial decay as a metaphor for our human lives in that we are all created with purpose in our hearts but as time goes by and through inattention and neglect, much of that purpose falls away and we are left with scars or imprints of nature and the natural breakdown of the physical. Sarah's work is sublime in its minimalism, very alive in its color and texture, lacking for nothing in its beauty, at the same time telling the story of an object past its prime. Her images are transcendent in the way she allows us to see beyond the specific and our imaginations are engaged trying to read meaning into her abstractions. Sarah's images go beyond their humble origins as she presents them in large format and unadorned by framing she allows the image to simply stand on its own.

Craig Payne investigates the industrial landscape we may or may not be aware of. He captures a moment in the life of a place most of us would prefer not to notice. His studies bring beauty to what we might consider ugly. He brings us carefully considered views of light and form of our urban industrial landscape that the Ash Can School brought to our attention a hundred years ago. Bringing this genre forward to our time, Craig has given us a new opportunity to understand the world we live in. His large format images are dramatic and inspired, leaving the viewer with a sense of awe and a little fear.

Gordon Marshall, Scott Gellatly & Roger Thomas – Gordon Marshall is known for his abstract figurative paintings. Marshall is currently preparing for his February 2007 show. In the meantime we are fortunate to be able to exhibit a few pieces pulled from the archives. Marshall's emotionally charged paintings have a veiled sense of mystery that invite a more studied view than ordinary representational work may require. His surfaces are thick with layers laid over time, concealing earlier versions of the work. Glimpsed through levels of color, one can see echoes emanating from prior renditions. Each finished piece bears traces of the journey in development.

Scott Gellatly works in oil on real gesso panels he prepares himself. He continues to explore plein air expression. Drawing from the beautiful Northwest landscape, Gellatly works with translucent layers of color allowing the light to penetrate the color and bounce off the gesso ground back to the eye. The luminosity generated through this technique is immediately apparent. Gallatly builds on the sense of atmosphere created by traditional plein air landscape painters from almost two hundred years ago, with a current flair. Moody and warm, one finds calm and serenity in his paintings.

Roger Thomas is recognized primarily for the fused glass creations he has developed to reveal the landscape in glass. Working with local Northwest glass manufacturers, Thomas has work in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, as well as some of the most prestigious glass collections in the world. Although Thomas enjoys keeping a low profile in Portland, I am proud to exhibit this master of glass in his hometown. Using frit, or ground glass, Thomas creates layers of translucent color just as a painter layers a painting, letting the eye do the blending. The result is an object of beauty not common in today's art world.

Ike Leahy & Jeffrey Palladini – Ike Leahy has captured stunning images of the Pacific Northwest's lush countryside in a series of photographs he calls "The Living Earth". From the deep blue waters of Crater Lake to the rushing white rapids of Lost Creek Falls, you will easily find yourself transported from the urban landscape into an environment filled with natural peace and beauty. Ike has been photographing nature scenes for over twenty years, hiking through the forests of Oregon and Washington State in search of what he refers to as "golden moments" - when the elements of the universe come together in perfect harmony providing us with a glimpse of extraordinary beauty. One such moment has been captured in a piece titled "Pioneer Schoolhouse".

The works of artist Jeffrey Palladini echo the spirit and sentiment of the Bay Area Figurative tradition - a unique art movement that began in Northern California in 1950. His body of work is populated by figures, often overlaid with thin lines, whose identity is veiled by a kiss, an embrace or by an obscured pose. The interactions and physical dialog between his characters relate directly to our earliest and most profound experiences and contacts which often impact our deepest needs and fears.

Richard Glenn: “Telling Stories” – Portland artist Richard Glenn returns to Brian Marki Fine Art to present a new series of fused and slumped glass photo-collage titled Telling Stories. “The stories each of us weave are observations into our psyche. Whether fact, fiction or something in-between, our words and actions combine to create the story that is our life” states Richard whose work reflects this assertion. Telling Stories introduces the viewer to different areas of the artist’s world, his thoughts and his feelings. Images of pop and consumer culture, organic matter and personal nostalgia populate geometric fields of bright colors delivering sharp contrast. Richard’s role of storyteller is supported by the inclusion of a short statement, which each piece is accompanied by, that serves to enlighten us to the specific thought process behind the work at hand.

Heidi Preuss Grew & Nathalie Ann McDonald – Introducing the ceramics work of Nathalie Ann MacDonald and Heidi Preuss Grew. Although these artists are from opposite sides of the country, they both do very intimate figurative work. Preuss Grew, from Salem Oregon, creates "loose portraits" in stoneware that often involve a melding of animal and human features. MacDonald, from Massachusetts, works in "personal narrative," creating small porcelain figures with intricate detail.

Figurescapes – Marshall’s signature austere abstract figures have moved into a lush new realm that shifts towards landscape. He begins each painting with brilliant color, adding layers of paint and washes for depth and subtlety. His many—layered paintings present a deep emotional experience, and are a favorite among collectors.

Subdivisions – New work by Brett Bowers. Brett’s work engages the viewer both visually and intellectually with it’s thoughtful exuberance applied to a synthesis of pattern and motion. “I take a very musical approach to my paintings. I attempt to create a structure in which nature’s rhythmic patterns are synthesized and transformed into abstract compositions that reflect a musical subdivision of space. ”

Studio M – A collaboration of the talented staff here at Brian Marki Fine Art. “We are all artists here, and making art is very important to each of us. This collaboration has been discussed for a while, beginning with the different types of art we know how to make, and then the collaborative process. We knew of few examples of art made in partnerships, and we envisioned a sort of rolling ‘story’ or musical improvisation, where one of us would begin a piece and others would jump in with thier own talents. As the work develops, images emerge and evolve with input from each of us.”