A running account of life in the gallery and arts district

Monday, January 14, 2008

Two new shows worth seeing

Jacobs Gallery, located in the Hult Center, is showing three artists: Sarah Grew, Claire Flint, and Ken Herrin.
I have not yet seen the show, and from what I read in Keefer's piece in the Guard, I still have no idea what to expect but will write about it when I do. Everyone has said it is one of the strongest shows that Jacobs has mounted in the last few years. If you see it before I do please tell me what you think. The show runs through the 16th of February.

Karin Clarke has Jan Zach, famous for his sculpture but lesser known for his paintings. This is a good show and deserves to be seen when you have time to spend comparing the artist's marks on paper to the sculptural translation he gives them in his three-d work. They say artists should trust and believe in their mark for it is theirs alone. This show is a great example of that thought.

Tragically, one of his most famous works was commissioned by the Meier & Frank for the rotunda of the newly constructed Valley River Center and stood turning for many years until some heartless, soulless,
*&%# had it taken out when they remodeled. I highly recommend this show. The doomed "Can-Can" now seen only in photographs, was created for Meir & Frank for its Eugene store at Valley River Center, where it hung in a rotunda. Fifty feet tall and rotating on a vertical axis, "Can-Can" was indeed his greatest single accomplishment. The show runs through February 5th.
On a slightly more irreverent note:
There is a sculpture outside the Jordan Schnitzer, that in some perverse way has always reminded me of Nixon boarding the helicopter for the last flight from the White House. The studies for Prometheus are in this show.

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