2014 Exhibitions and Installations:
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December 2014: SMALL WONDERS
A show of small works by North Bank Gallery Artists, December 5 through 27, 2014 - Artworks are less than 10” in any dimension. |
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November 2014: REID TREVARTHEN – New Work, KATHI RICK – ‘The Washing”- a collaborative film
The work of two distinct artists and their unique creative visions. REID TREVARTHEN's meticulous creations from the pages of cast off magazines are a wonder to behold. His is the work of a true process driven artist. |
Reid Trevarthen
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Kathi Rick
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October 2014: Dale Strouse, BACK TO THE FUTURE
The work of noted Northwest photographer and North Bank member Dale Strouse. Dale has been a vital part of the Vancouver and Portland photographic community for many years, and has taught landscape and large format camera workshops all over the Western United States. He is also a talent graphic designer, and teaches photographic printing techniques at WSU Vancouver. His mixture of modern and vintage photographic and print making techniques produces some of the most gorgeous photographic images you will ever see. |
Dale Strouse
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September 2014: "departures"
New work by Diana Relth & Tom Relth A father and his daughter exemplify the journey from traditional modes of artmaking into a new generation of expression in departures. One a painter traveling around the world in an attempt to enhance his process, the other an interdisciplinary creator trying to break from her traditional training, the Relths become a lens through which we can examine the shifts that occur within a family and the natural evolution of the larger art world. Vivid paintings, sculpture and multimedia works made up this new exhibit. |
Diana Relth - Installation
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Tom Relth "Can't see the forest through the trees" Acrylic on Linen 63 x 197"
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August 2014:
Gallery 1: "The Magic and Power of Words" Curated by Vancouver Poet Laureate Christopher Luna An exhibit that featured artwork that reanimates the word magic, and reinvents the power of love: love letters, love songs, manifestoes, spells, incantations, lamentations, and battle cries. Think: Barbara Kruger, Tracey Emin, Christopher Wool, Mark Flood, Janet Cardiff, Nichole Blackman and graffiti writers. In celebration of the magic and power of words, some of the writers who have contributed to the show read from their work at the reception. Featured poetry by Christopher Luna and a special performance by North Bank Artist Gallery member kathi rick. Gallery 2: Johanna Engdahl: NEW PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK by JOHANNA ENGDAHL & RICHARD LONG In the second gallery, North Bank featured the photographic work of Johanna Engdahl and Richard Long. These talented young photographers showed new work. Longs meticulously beautiful black and white urban landscapes show a razor wit, and darkly humored social conscience underlying the visual perfection of his found tableaus. Johanna Engdahl’s self portraits are moody, surreal, heartbreakingly beautiful and mysterious. She moves in between the viewer and the lens like a muse in a poets dream. Not to be missed! Publisher and Editor, Printed Matter Vancouver 
Johanna Engdahl "Snow Self"
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Kanaan Kanaan - Installation
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July 2014
Kaite Thompson Chase SILHOUETTES & SHADOWS The Mystique of Androgyny The Art of Kaite Thompson Chase with guest artists Bill Schmeling, Lynn Nadal & Lauren Carmichael July’s show featured new work by member artist Kaite Thompson Chase. It was a 3-dimensional exploration of gender perceptions of the ‘other,’ the self, and questions of androgyny. Kaite Thompson Chase says, “’It’s a boy!’ or ‘It’s a girl!’ With those three short words, an entire culture of expectation is thrust upon an innocent newborn—or nowadays, a fetus still developing, who has yet to make a grand entrance into a culture demanding that it adhere to certain norms for whatever that society is, in whatever part of the world that infant is born. Despite vigorous efforts of the Women’s Liberation and other civil rights movements in recent decades, all of us, to varying degrees, carry those expectations with us and visit them upon unsuspecting children and adults. Those preconceived notions and hard-wire social implants have pierced our sub- conscious minds as well. |
Kaite Thompson Chase
Lauren Carmichael Installation
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Erin Dengerink "In Process"
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June 2014
YES! A group exhibition featuring Pacific Northwest installation based artists. This exhibition included the work of Terri Bradley, Erin Dengerink, Danielle Foushée, Sarah Paul Ocampo, and Lindsay Williams. In the front gallery, YES! incorporated the use of unconventional materials, and unexpected techniques to create ambitious, large-scale pieces. The result was a collection of high impact artworks that showcase the talents of these emerging professional artists. Second Gallery: Erin Dengerink’s One becomes a bird featured several works on paper that explore organic forms as well as a large installation titled From Tears to Joy. Through the simple and elegant process of having water drip on the form of From Tears to Joy the artwork visibly transformed during the opening and throughout the exhibition. |
Mar Goman
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May 2014
Mar Goman RE: COLLECTIONS Explains Goman, “The front gallery will be largely occupied by the installation LUCY, which is based on the true story of a woman who was committed to a mental institution by her parents because she dressed and acted like a man. I have taken the sketchy facts about Lucy’s actual life and created an environment which might be Lucy’s room in the asylum. The second gallery will contain work in a variety of media based on my collections of old buttons, bottles, boxes, books, fabrics, rusty metal, and other found objects. Featured on one wall will be a collection of mail art I have sent to my friend Jack Danger over the past ten years. The themes that run through this work are existential angst, relationships, the spiritual journey, death, despair, and transformation—however a sense of humor is sometimes evident as well.” |
April 2014
Weather You Like It or Not
“Everyone complains about the weather at least occasionally, forecasters can’t seem to predict it any better than when we were kids, and nobody can control it. So what’s a person to do? Answer: turn it into art!
The average individual probably still thinks of outdoor photography primarily as a fair weather activity. Actually, brilliant sunshine can create challenging conditions for photography, and some of the best images can occur when the weather is at its worst. Rather than sit around and grouse about it, members of the Inner Light Photographic Society have decided to celebrate weather in all its variety in their upcoming exhibition: Weather You Like It or Not.” -Al Flory
Inner Light Photographic Society
Inner Light was founded in 1986 by photographer Shedrich Williames (a friend and protege of Ruth Bernhard). Today, the group includes 22 photographers who work in a wide range of photographic styles and media, from classic black and white landscape to manipulated imagery, from street to semi-abstract photography, from alternative process dating back to the beginning of photography to the latest in digital imaging.
All of the members of Inner Light are exhibited photographers, and the group shows together frequently. The Oregonian, in a review of one of the group’s shows commented: “what makes this diversely profiled group of photographers so fascinating (is) a range of appreciation of the silvery medium and a common search by its individual members for genuine expression.”
STUDENT GALLERY (back gallery space)
In April, we will also feature student work by photographers Britt Hazlett and Jenny Olsen from Portland Community College.
The work of Jenny Olsen is a meditation on the dark and brooding nature of memory in the face of familiar places. The work of Britt Hazlett is a contemplation and celebration of intimate relationships. Both sets of these large scale black and white photographs are powerful and stunning.
Weather You Like It or Not
“Everyone complains about the weather at least occasionally, forecasters can’t seem to predict it any better than when we were kids, and nobody can control it. So what’s a person to do? Answer: turn it into art!
The average individual probably still thinks of outdoor photography primarily as a fair weather activity. Actually, brilliant sunshine can create challenging conditions for photography, and some of the best images can occur when the weather is at its worst. Rather than sit around and grouse about it, members of the Inner Light Photographic Society have decided to celebrate weather in all its variety in their upcoming exhibition: Weather You Like It or Not.” -Al Flory
Inner Light Photographic Society
Inner Light was founded in 1986 by photographer Shedrich Williames (a friend and protege of Ruth Bernhard). Today, the group includes 22 photographers who work in a wide range of photographic styles and media, from classic black and white landscape to manipulated imagery, from street to semi-abstract photography, from alternative process dating back to the beginning of photography to the latest in digital imaging.
All of the members of Inner Light are exhibited photographers, and the group shows together frequently. The Oregonian, in a review of one of the group’s shows commented: “what makes this diversely profiled group of photographers so fascinating (is) a range of appreciation of the silvery medium and a common search by its individual members for genuine expression.”
STUDENT GALLERY (back gallery space)
In April, we will also feature student work by photographers Britt Hazlett and Jenny Olsen from Portland Community College.
The work of Jenny Olsen is a meditation on the dark and brooding nature of memory in the face of familiar places. The work of Britt Hazlett is a contemplation and celebration of intimate relationships. Both sets of these large scale black and white photographs are powerful and stunning.
Mary Alayne Thomas
March 2014
THE WOMEN
March is National Women’s History Month. To celebrate the contributions of women locally in the arts, we hosted a women’s only show and art talk. The group exhibited whimsical, playful, challenging, and bravely beautiful images that emerged from the creative forces of our guests Anna Magruder, Joanne Licardo, Heide Davis, Mary Alayne Thomas, Carol Opie and Amelia Opie. Artists reception was First Friday, March 7, from 5-9pm.
“My name is Amelia Opie, and I live in southeast Portland. Iʼm married to wonderful man, and we have one son together, who is autistic. (If you ever meet him, he loves Star Wars and saying hi to babies and dogs) Years ago I converted our family garage into my studio, where I get to be creative; I paint, draw and make hurricane- level messes.
I’ve mostly been painting animals for the past few years. Often the animals are doing human activities, which I greatly enjoy doing. Cats can be a lot of fun to paint because of their spots, stripes, multi-colored fur and pissed-off expressions. Having fun painting things that are silly, cute, or even weird will always be ok with me.”
– Amelia Opie
“Being an artist past raising kids, I can stretch out and explore and grow wings as a painter, at last! All the years while nursing my babies, I dreamed up painting ideas that I now have time to pour onto canvas.
I don’t stop at one style, I stay open to the many possibilities that oil paint can bring out. So I paint in old master, traditional styles with portraits, nudes, still lives etc., but then swing over to abstracts and Imaginary Realism, landscapes, clouds or mandalas.
Painting has always been what powers me up and feeds my soul.
I enjoy sharing my love of paint with my students in my studio by the river in SE Portland.” - Joanne Licardo
“I was born in Dallas, Texas and spent my early years in various parts of the desert southwest before settling in Allen, Texas, where I completed my primary education. After high school, I headed off to college at the University of North Texas to major in graphic design with a minor in philosophy, taking a detour to explore life in Los Angeles and Palo Alto. After graduating from college, I traveled and worked as a graphic designer, moving from Texas to Colorado and eventually migrating North to Portland where I opened my own graphic design business in 2005.
In 2009, I decided to take a leap of faith and leave the routine and security of my design business to focus on what’s become my passion—oil painting and illustration. My favorite subjects are people and animals and whatever lies between. Many of my images are inspired by found photos as well as the photos in old yearbooks. Drifting between realism and surrealism, I love recreating vintage America, re-imagining the lives and stories of the characters on my canvas, or just exploring the emotional color of faces in the crowd.” -Anna Magruder
“My background is in science, zoology to be exact. It was around the age of eight that I decided I wanted to become a zookeeper. After earning a BS in Zoology and a specialized AS in Zoo Animal Technology, I eagerly set off on my chosen path. I worked as a zookeeper for 17 years. I have taken care of a wide variety of amazing animals, and somewhere in there my specialty ended up being with the hoof stock.
I began working in clay in 2001. As my career as a zookeeper eventually wound down, I realized I enjoyed the ceramics more and more, and it naturally progressed into my next endeavor. Much of my work is thrown on the wheel, and then perhaps altered from there, although I have been enjoying more hand-building as of late.
Also very natural was the predominant theme of animals in my body of work, so I get to continue to share my love of animals. Another important component of my work is that I want to have fun. I am a fan of bold images using bright colors. I am enjoying creating these pieces, and expressing my sense of humor. I like to think that my work puts the fun in functional.” – Carol Opie
“I’ve lived in Portland and England for the last few years but I’m originally from Texas. I’ve painted all my life but had a burst of creative energy several years ago after raising two kids. The result is a mixture of abstract landscapes and figurative work that are bright and fun and sometimes a little eerie.
My art has been hugely influenced by my professional work as a decorative painter. I love experimenting with different materials such as poster paint, varnishes and gold leaf. Recently I’ve picked up oil painting again. My paintings are pattern filled experiments, sometimes abstract and sometimes telling a story.” -Heide Davis
“I love creating! I have painted all my life, and grew up totally ensconced in art. My parents are both artists, who raised me in a little, pink, haunted adobe house in Santa Fe New Mexico. When I wasn’t chasing lizards through the high desert landscape, I spent my childhood in my father’s vegetable garden, tangling up my mother’s loom, and making clay animals and dolls in my father’s pottery studio.
I was initially taken with a love for the luminosity and versatility of watercolor. I have since gone on to work with encaustic, resin, silkscreen, gold leaf, India ink, and colored pencil. My artwork begins as a watercolor, which is then coated with encaustic (beeswax combined with resin). The other media are then layered between the wax washes. There is a delicacy and softness that emanates from the layering of art forms within the transparent surface. The result is an unusual depth, a three-dimensional artwork with an emphasis on unique stylized patterns, shapes and textures.”
-Mary Alayne Thomas
THE WOMEN
March is National Women’s History Month. To celebrate the contributions of women locally in the arts, we hosted a women’s only show and art talk. The group exhibited whimsical, playful, challenging, and bravely beautiful images that emerged from the creative forces of our guests Anna Magruder, Joanne Licardo, Heide Davis, Mary Alayne Thomas, Carol Opie and Amelia Opie. Artists reception was First Friday, March 7, from 5-9pm.
“My name is Amelia Opie, and I live in southeast Portland. Iʼm married to wonderful man, and we have one son together, who is autistic. (If you ever meet him, he loves Star Wars and saying hi to babies and dogs) Years ago I converted our family garage into my studio, where I get to be creative; I paint, draw and make hurricane- level messes.
I’ve mostly been painting animals for the past few years. Often the animals are doing human activities, which I greatly enjoy doing. Cats can be a lot of fun to paint because of their spots, stripes, multi-colored fur and pissed-off expressions. Having fun painting things that are silly, cute, or even weird will always be ok with me.”
– Amelia Opie
“Being an artist past raising kids, I can stretch out and explore and grow wings as a painter, at last! All the years while nursing my babies, I dreamed up painting ideas that I now have time to pour onto canvas.
I don’t stop at one style, I stay open to the many possibilities that oil paint can bring out. So I paint in old master, traditional styles with portraits, nudes, still lives etc., but then swing over to abstracts and Imaginary Realism, landscapes, clouds or mandalas.
Painting has always been what powers me up and feeds my soul.
I enjoy sharing my love of paint with my students in my studio by the river in SE Portland.” - Joanne Licardo
“I was born in Dallas, Texas and spent my early years in various parts of the desert southwest before settling in Allen, Texas, where I completed my primary education. After high school, I headed off to college at the University of North Texas to major in graphic design with a minor in philosophy, taking a detour to explore life in Los Angeles and Palo Alto. After graduating from college, I traveled and worked as a graphic designer, moving from Texas to Colorado and eventually migrating North to Portland where I opened my own graphic design business in 2005.
In 2009, I decided to take a leap of faith and leave the routine and security of my design business to focus on what’s become my passion—oil painting and illustration. My favorite subjects are people and animals and whatever lies between. Many of my images are inspired by found photos as well as the photos in old yearbooks. Drifting between realism and surrealism, I love recreating vintage America, re-imagining the lives and stories of the characters on my canvas, or just exploring the emotional color of faces in the crowd.” -Anna Magruder
“My background is in science, zoology to be exact. It was around the age of eight that I decided I wanted to become a zookeeper. After earning a BS in Zoology and a specialized AS in Zoo Animal Technology, I eagerly set off on my chosen path. I worked as a zookeeper for 17 years. I have taken care of a wide variety of amazing animals, and somewhere in there my specialty ended up being with the hoof stock.
I began working in clay in 2001. As my career as a zookeeper eventually wound down, I realized I enjoyed the ceramics more and more, and it naturally progressed into my next endeavor. Much of my work is thrown on the wheel, and then perhaps altered from there, although I have been enjoying more hand-building as of late.
Also very natural was the predominant theme of animals in my body of work, so I get to continue to share my love of animals. Another important component of my work is that I want to have fun. I am a fan of bold images using bright colors. I am enjoying creating these pieces, and expressing my sense of humor. I like to think that my work puts the fun in functional.” – Carol Opie
“I’ve lived in Portland and England for the last few years but I’m originally from Texas. I’ve painted all my life but had a burst of creative energy several years ago after raising two kids. The result is a mixture of abstract landscapes and figurative work that are bright and fun and sometimes a little eerie.
My art has been hugely influenced by my professional work as a decorative painter. I love experimenting with different materials such as poster paint, varnishes and gold leaf. Recently I’ve picked up oil painting again. My paintings are pattern filled experiments, sometimes abstract and sometimes telling a story.” -Heide Davis
“I love creating! I have painted all my life, and grew up totally ensconced in art. My parents are both artists, who raised me in a little, pink, haunted adobe house in Santa Fe New Mexico. When I wasn’t chasing lizards through the high desert landscape, I spent my childhood in my father’s vegetable garden, tangling up my mother’s loom, and making clay animals and dolls in my father’s pottery studio.
I was initially taken with a love for the luminosity and versatility of watercolor. I have since gone on to work with encaustic, resin, silkscreen, gold leaf, India ink, and colored pencil. My artwork begins as a watercolor, which is then coated with encaustic (beeswax combined with resin). The other media are then layered between the wax washes. There is a delicacy and softness that emanates from the layering of art forms within the transparent surface. The result is an unusual depth, a three-dimensional artwork with an emphasis on unique stylized patterns, shapes and textures.”
-Mary Alayne Thomas
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February 2014
Judith Seeger IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PAINT California artist Judith Seeger is our guest this month and will exhibit her colorful exploration of the palette. Please join us for First Friday, February 7, from 5-9pm to meet the artist, experience the show, and enjoy food & wine. First Friday canceled due to weather. Please check out this show during the rest of February. In her own words: “The genesis of these canvases was a reluctance to waste paint. Not having a sealable palette box, at the end of my weekly painting class, I would have to discard the unused paint. I started buying canvas boards and scraping the paint onto them, using one board for each canvas I was working on at the time. The object was not to create a specific image, but to make something that was worth looking at. There were eventually 34 of these canvas boards, made between July, 1999 and January, 2002. People see many different things in these images, and often prefer different orientations from the ones I choose. They also scale amazingly well; I have prints of the same image ranging from 30” x 40” to 2.5” x 3.5. In 2010, I found that people liked some of these boards and wanted to buy them. I was reluctant to sell them, so I started having prints made. In the course of that, I discovered that there were smaller paintings within the larger ones, and the Hen and Chickens series was born. There are currently nearly 150 of these images, not, of course, that all are successful.” -Judith Seeger |
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January 2014: Spectrum- Student Work from Near and Far
North Bank showed two and three dimensional work from students from the Vancouver School District, as well as work from former students of member artist Tom Relth from his years in Morocco. In the back gallery was a showing of local photographer Kate Singh’s beautiful and haunting images of The Historic Academy. January had something for everyone. |
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