Fall 2012

Here at the Gallery we are (hopefully) saying goodbye to the sweltering summer heat (though since our air-conditioner has been repaired things have been much more bearable!). With the advent of autumn, energy returns to the city and we look forward to a lively season of art that teaches your mind and touches your soul. 

I just finished reading my latest copy of American Craft magazine, and have been thinking about how its editorial, “In Defense of the Art History Major,” reflects our goals here. The editorial takes exception to businessman Edward Conard’s term for people who, in his opinion, don’t contribute to the economy, “art history majors.”   His assertion that the arts have no real value is not an uncommon one. Funding for the arts is the first to be cut, whether by school boards or national governments.  Art is seen as a frivolity we are hard pressed to afford in these difficult economic times, when “marketable skills” must be honed and serious world crises must be addressed with spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. But I can’t help but feel that these thinkers know the price of everything and the value of nothing. 

During our WORDS exhibition, we hung a sign that quoted Pablo Picasso, “Art is not made to decorate rooms.  It is an offensive weapon in the defense against the enemy.” And while all of our exhibitions are not quite so vigorous, our artists contribute real value in their paintings and poetry.  They illuminate feelings, elucidate concepts, define the argument for our disparate audience, offering them a new point of view on the conflicts in the world, allowing them to experience a culture different from their own, and see the similarities in their shared humanity.  Drawing pictures can become drawing conclusions.

This fall, Oregon artist Anne Barber-Shams takes us to Andalusian Spain at a time when Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in harmony there.  With her gilded paintings and transcribed odes, she leads us through a metaphorical portal towards creativity as peace.

And later, Andrew Courtney takes us on a journey with his camera to the heart of a little known community of African Palestinians in Jerusalem. His stunning black and white portraits reflect a two-year effort to illuminate their lives as ‘Guardians of the Mosque.’ 

Both of these artists offer work that is important to the world. As that editorial so rightly concludes, “what has power in the long run is the creative stuff.”  It is necessary, in these difficult times, to remember, Ars Longa, Vita Brevis