Artbeat

LR galleries' exhibits salute two Arkansas artists

Amy Edgington’s Road to Extinction is one of her collages featured at Gallery 26.
Amy Edgington’s Road to Extinction is one of her collages featured at Gallery 26.

Two late Arkansas artists, one whose star had just started to rise and one an established presence in central Arkansas' art scene, are being celebrated at two Little Rock galleries.

photo

Courtesy of M2 Gallery

Tim West’s untitled landscape hangs at M2 Gallery as part of a show of his works titled “West.”

"West," the art of Tim West, continues at M2 Gallery through Aug. 15. The reclusive West, of Winslow, died in 2012. His mostly surrealistic mixed media art carries the aesthetic of a self-taught artist, even though West had a master's degree in fine art.

"In Memoriam" celebrates the colorful, sometimes whimsical and often pointed collages of Amy Edgington. The work, some from private collections, hangs at Gallery 26 through Sept. 10. Edgington, who died in November, created thoughtful, often complex collages that had a painterly quality.

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Edgington was clever. Not just in the witty titles she often chose for her memorable, well-executed collages, but for her subversive use of color, form and context. What's on the surface is more complicated than you might expect.

Take Killer Casserole, for example. A woman and several children hold platters and bowls of food, smiling blissfully as they display the bounty of Mother Earth, represented by the dominant image of a woman lying on her back, her interior revealing the consequences of too many mouths to feed. Her head is turned toward a grim-faced farm worker. Her hair flows behind, merging into an ominous smoke (a reference to the burning of forests in the Amazon, perhaps?). The woman and children are totally unaware of the mother's health or the consequences of unawareness.

Killer Casserole possesses the power one feels strongly in Alexandre Hogue's Dust Bowl-era masterpiece Mother Earth Laid Bare.

Other notable works include the charming The Happy Hunting Ground, depicting a cat stalking fireflies; Position in Life Is Everything, a piece exploring themes of addiction, greed and oppression; and White Wash, which depicts racism via a clothesline and retro images.

Along with the collages and prints are some fascinating odds and ends -- Walk Like a Chameleon is a pair of shoes painted with chameleons, while Stamp Out Hate is a pair of women's shoes with the soles and heels covered with stamps. There is also an oversize book, Worlds Within, in which Edgington has painted each page with several surreal, dreamlike creations.

• David Rackley's hand-painted silver gelatin print photographs mostly follow a European carnival theme in "Recent Works." The images are beautiful; standout pieces include the Picasso-esque Under the Mask and the stunning perspective of Magician's Assistant, in which a woman rises above the head of the magician. Defying gravity, but not creative beauty.

Three other images are intriguing. Aftermath, set on the grounds of an abandoned theater or perhaps fairgrounds, shows a woman seemingly studying the graffiti-painted structure. It is dreamlike, almost otherworldly. Aftermath II and III seem post-apocalyptic, but are very beautiful.

Amy Edgington, "In Memoriam," and David Rackley, "Recent Works," through Sept. 10, Gallery 26, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd., Suite 1, Little Rock. Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Information: (501) 664-8996, gallery26.com.

WESTWARD

West's often confrontational paintings and drawings found their way to M2 Gallery via Fayetteville photographer Diana Hausam. She was driving back roads looking for interesting subjects to photograph when she came across West's bicycle fence on his Winslow land. She took West's art to M2 owner Mac Murphy, who gave West a show in 2009, his first in decades. Others followed.

The new show at M2 features some previously unseen work and six prints from five engraved metal plates. Several of Hausam's superb photographs of West also are being shown. She is also working on a new documentary about West's life and art.

West's largely untitled artwork often appears to be a stream-of-consciousness creation, improvisational in its execution. He used ballpoint pens, pastels, markers, watered-down acrylic paint and other media. His mother is a frequent presence in his work and he clearly was fascinated by trees.

The art has yellowed from age and exposure, some are stained with water, ink or smoke; yet, those elements often add to the impact of the work, as though they always belonged.

Landscapes show a significant Asian influence; a few appear undamaged by the elements and have an undeniable elegance.

"West," through Aug. 15, M2 Gallery, 11525 Cantrell Road, Suite 918, Little Rock. Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and by appointment. Information: (501) 225-6257.

BRIEFLY ...

Works created during a painting trip to the French province of Provence by six Arkansas painters and three others will be shown Aug. 25-28 at the Art Group Gallery.

Arkansans on the trip were Bob Snider, Holly Tilley, Terri Haugen, Vonda Rainey, Mary Ellen Holder, Susan Plunkett and former Arkansan Robin Miller-Bookhout, who now resides in New Orleans. The exhibit will feature paintings by each artist, along with Iowa resident Dee House and work by Arles, France, artist Wendy Carando.

Art Group Gallery, Pleasant Ridge Shopping Center, 11525 Cantrell Road, Suite 910, Little Rock. Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-6 p.m. Sunday. Information: (501) 690-2193; artgrouparkansas.com.

Email:

ewidner@arkansasonline.com

Style on 07/26/2016

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