Visit art displays at the Bandon Library in the lobby gallery and cases. Click here for background and contact information.
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The show is open to the public from Tuesday through Saturday during the library’s hours:
Tuesday: 10:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 10:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Thursday: 10:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Friday: 10:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday: 10:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Closed on City of Bandon holidays
December 2019 & January 2020
“Oracles and Icons” Paintings by Angele Passalacqua
Vintage Tin Collection from Dawn Vonderlin
Human beings have been telling and retelling stories since the beginning of time, stories whose function is to untangle the mysteries and describe the truths of our world. Out of these stories grew symbolic figures so pervasive as to become iconic and universally understood, allowing cultures to communicate across time. Angela Passalacqua draws upon such iconography, creating paintings whose stories we recognize, even as we puzzle out their specifics. The technological world vies with nature in ‘The Sextant and the Apple;’ the implacable Oracle speaks, Hermes delivers her message; the Zodiac tells its tale of human and cosmic evolution; the calm innocence of the cherub reminds us of the need for simplicity in a complex world and, always, dreams—our own, private oracles—thrust themselves into our consciousness. There is much more to life than what we experience awake, and more to know than what we can deliberately learn.
Painting with oils on wood, Angela creates surfaces that are textured, fresco-like. They feel old, their colors glowing softly as though mellowed with time. Birds, maidens, moons, ships, clouds, musical instruments, float through these images that are both Classical and entirely contemporary and original. The multiplicity of these images reflects the depths of understanding available to us; they tell stories we already know, yet need to hear again and again.
Certainly no world has so thoroughly understood and harnessed the power of storytelling through iconography as the world of advertising. Images that bypass the analytical process to speak directly to, and manipulate, human needs and desires is the goal of advertising, and these images work to great effect, as we often know to our cost! But through the lens of nostalgia, and with admiration for the imagination and talent of the artists of yesterday, we can appreciate this collection of vintage tins, shared by Dawn Vonderlin. Look beyond the surfaces to find the hidden treasures here: take note of the surrealistic image on a can of Colgate’s Baby Talc: the baby holds a can of talc, which baby holds a can of talc, and so on and so on, presumably to infinity. The charm of this collection lies in such cleverness, as well as the callback to that impossibly perfect place where we never lived, the past.
OCTOBER & NOVEMBER 2019
“Heat and Light” paintings by Christine Hanlon, photographs by Jan Ayers, and South Coast Woodturners
There will be a reception for the artists on Sunday, October 20th from 2-4 pm, in the Sprague Room at the library.
Christine Hanlon returns to the Library Art Gallery after an absence of 5 years. One of Bandon’s best technical painters, she renders scenes from life with an unerring eye for composition and emotional impact. Her little watercolors tell big stories; of heroism, hard work in the face of danger, while also capturing the beauty of great fires. For millennia we have worshipped fire as a sacred and divine force with cleansing power, for good and for ill. Its often uncontrollable nature fills us with fear and awe, and Christine manages to capture those feelings despite, or perhaps because of, the small scale of these paintings. We move in close to see the figures lit in a field of darkness, and take in the magnitude of what the firefighters face, and what they do. These images radiate heat and light.
The photos by Jan Ayers are extreme closeup images of her husband’s bronze sculptures, but in this context take on the qualities of molten metal and charred wood, revealing new mysteries in their abstraction. Again the power of fire is brought to bear here, in the melting and shaping of metal, and the ability to tame it in the service of art.
The South Coast Woodturners continue the theme of forests and fire, with handmade bowls and other practical objects, some of which are decorated by burning patterns into the wood. Made with local woods, these pieces marry functionality and aesthetics beautifully.
AUGUST & SEPTEMBER 2019
Abstract paintings by Jon Leach and Merv Cole, along with the Humbug Mountain Weavers & Spinners
August 1st to September 30th, 2019
Abstract painter Jon Leach shows with us for the first time. John’s canvases are layered, subtle, dense, and often demanding. Titles such as “Discovery: the musician’s instruments had been stolen during the Solstice,” only deepen their mystery. Colors lie in pools, from which other colors rise and recede. There is something evocative of the sea in them, or the Heavens, or the dark corners of the Earth. Take your time with these paintings.
This is also Merv Cole ‘s debut at the gallery. The two are good friends who enjoy showing their work together, but where Jon is restrained, Merv is exuberant. Where the motion and colors of Jon’s paintings seem to move away from the viewer and recede deeper into the canvas, pulling us in after them, Merv’s sweeping gestures all but fling the paint off the canvas in an abundance of energy. But Merv’s paintings can calm, too, and create a meditative space for us to contemplate the depths. In this collection, Jon’s paintings are dark and complex, inviting us in. Merv’s are bright and invite us to dance, but they are not simple. Both artists challenge and delight.
Humbug Mountain Weavers & Spinners bring a multitude of works of ingenuity and originality. Using found or recycled materials, these artisans weave not only wool, but plastic IV tubing and grocery bags, VHS tape and strips of surgical gowns, creating usable objects such as hats, bowls, and purses. With their expertise with spinning wheels and looms, they find ways to take materials that others throw away, and make useful items of them. They have salvaged discarded edges of fabrics, the waste that weaving cotton or wool creates, and made rugs and table runners. Examine these imaginative pieces, and rethink the meaning of the word “trash.”
JUNE & JULY 2019
The 5th Annual Mosaic Show, “Traditions, Kept & Broken
June 1st to July 31st, 2019
On Saturday, June 15th at 2 pm please join us in the Sprague Room for a Mosaic Extravaganza! There will be a brief lecture on the history of mosaic art, a guided tour through the exhibit, and then attendees can make a mosaic refrigerator magnet to take home.
This year, the show celebrates the traditions of mosaic-making, and those methods and techniques still in use today. The work of the 14 artists on display demonstrates how those traditions are continued or deviated from by those working in this exciting and varied medium. Jacqueline Iskander and Vera Melnyk use materials and methods dating to Antiquity, yet their work is thoroughly contemporary. They experiment with what mosaic art can express, rather than depict.
The other tradition we’re looking at this year is pique-assiette, the art of making mosaics from broken dishes and found objects, which began in France and Spain at the start of the 20th century. Denise Sirchie’s work is a fabulous example of the wild creativity possible with this technique. Her sculptural works and the pictorial pique-assiette pieces by Peggy Jackson show the range of work being done in this mode.
MAY 2019
Bandon High School Art Students
May 1st – 31st 2019
Every May, the Bandon Library Art Gallery features the work of the Bandon High School Art Students. Under the direction of teacher Jen Ells, the grades 9 – 12 students at Bandon High encounter a wide range of historical and contemporary artists. Such work often becomes a jumping-off point, giving the students great creative freedom while maintaining the discipline of the assignments. They work clay, paint on silk, and of course, draw and paint on paper and canvas, both realistically and surrealistically. They make portraits and self-portraits; folk art and still life. Their work is abstract, expressionistic, personal, and always interesting and original—even inspired.
All month there will be a box in the gallery to collect your votes for People’s Choice Award. All participating students will get drawing pencils and erasers, and there will be a special Curator’s Prize awarded.
APRIL 2019
Dave Reynolds B&W Photographs
South Coast Button Club “Celebrating Buttons Mid-Mod Style”
April at Bandon Library Art Gallery: Dave Reynolds returns with two series of B&W photographs. With “Trick of the Light,” his images play with light as a compositional element, rendering landscapes into lightscapes, hyper-real and visually striking. He gives us a heightened glimpse of Bandon’s familiar topography and ocean views.
In the series “Trickle Down,” Dave has explored the old Douglas Pacific Lumber Company buildings to create a commentary on what it looks like when a primary source of jobs and community cohesion disintegrates, leaving only a mess behind. The images are a haunting reminder of a thriving period in Bandon’s history, and, in their way, a testament to the city’s resiliency.
In the cases, the South Coast Button Club brings us “Celebrating Buttons Mid-Mod Style,” an exhibit of mid-20th century buttons. The SCBC, whose members range from North Bend to Brookings, is a group of button collectors and enthusiasts who meet monthly at the Gold Beach Library to enjoy and study the art, history, manufacture and material of vintage and antique sewing buttons.
Dave Reynolds photographs will be on display through April 30th; the Button Club will be in the cases through May 31st.
FEBRUARY & MARCH 2019
Reception Saturday, February 9th, 1-3 pm
Earthly Delights IV: Art of the Natural World
Bandon Library Art Gallery is happy to welcome back Paula Reis, Crystal Landucci, and Veneita Stender, whose work celebrates the natural world so beautifully.
Paula Reis continues her exploration of her garden through macro photography. In these stunning images, her bold, effulgent blooms offer up their secrets—usually reserved for butterflies and hummingbirds—in startling bursts of color. At this proximity, one can trace the delicate veins in each petal, see the dusty pollen clinging to the stamen.
Crystal Landucci’s necklaces and earrings are always a delight. Using feathers, charms, beads, hand-forged metals, and whatever else inspires her in the moment, she puts together 3-dimensional collages of whimsy and playfulness in the form of wearable art. This year she introduces tassels into the mix, adding splashes of color and a new texture. Her jewelry is always fun to wear.
For fine silversmith work, look no further than Veneita Stender, who works her materials with great sensitivity and skill. Using semi-precious as well as found stones in simple but elegant designs, she creates small, unique sculptures. She shapes and cuts the stone, forges and fabricates the metal, and reaches for a synergetic connection, where the energy of the stone communicates with the energy of the wearer, creating an experience beyond the merely aesthetic.
JANUARY 2019
Nature Works Collective – Eco-printed and dyed fabric and paper.
Works in this show are by Christine Hall, Carol P. Jones, and Barbara Lebiedzik
The Nature Works Collective is a group of women dedicated to making wearable art, as well as practical and decorative objects, all made with natural fabrics such as silk, cotton, or hemp, and dyed and printed using plant materials. This collection of scarves, boxes, wall-hangings, and hand-bound journals (and a re-purposed shoe!), exemplifies the soft colors and smudged leaf and petal shapes the direct contact printing technique so beautifully creates. Some of the wall pieces are woven by the artists, and incorporate sticks, buttons, and beads. Each piece is entirely unique, and lovingly hand-crafted.
Eco-printing is a direct contact printing technique. Plant pigments are transferred to fabric or paper using heat. Each scarf, table-runner, journal, or wall-hanging is unique. Plant colors vary depending on growing conditions, stage of leaf growth, time of year harvested, and freshness. The colors of the plant materials may also change as they interact with other natural dyes and mordants used on the fabric.
The work in this show is by Christine Hall, Carol P. Jones, and Barbara Lebiedzik. All work is for sale.