NOVEMBER EXHIBIT REVIEW: DANVILLE ART GUILD

“Familiar Scene on the Fork” by Paul Overstreet

 

“Reflections of Boyle County” is an exhibit on display November 2007 at the Community Arts Center by the Danville Art Guild, a group of six local artists in the Danville/Boyle County area.  This exhibit features works by Jack Carey, David Cornwell, David Farmer, Marlene Hanna, Paul Overstreet and Tillie Sowders.  The majority of the work and the focus of the show is on landscapes and scenes from Boyle County.  The scenery in the paintings covers locales as varied as Main Street, Dix River, and the Forkland area with an emphasis on the rural areas of the county.  It is surprising to me that there are no paintings in this show that reflect downtown Danville, but with all of the nice rolling hills and farm scenes, I can’t complain.  It is incredible to note in this show that although there are six different artists, each work contributes to the other without distracting the viewer.  There really aren’t any works included that jump out as being out of place in this exhibit.  With each artist painting from the local palette, one can tell that these paintings and the artists who painted them get along and are comfortable in the presence of one another.  Too many group exhibits fall apart when artists try to make works that call too much attention to them without complementing the works of the other artists involved.  One great example of how well the pieces complement each other in the exhibit can be found on a wall in the Grand Hall of the Community Arts Center where two paintings hang, one by Marlene Hanna, the other by David Cornwell.  Marlene’s work, titled Breakfast, features a grapefruit half on a white plate with blue trim, while Cornwell’s work, Lemon in Blue Bowl, features a lemon, cut in half in a blue bowl – the scale and color palette of both works are surprisingly similar despite the different media used.  Marlene’s work is done with oil paints while David uses colored pencils for this particular piece.

“Breakfast” by Marlene Hanna (top)

“Lemon in Blue Bowl” by David Cornwell (bottom)

 

Some artists, such as Paul Overstreet and Jack Carey chose to focus on Boyle County’s past, including brief narratives with some of their works.  Overstreet depicted a scene from the Battle of Perryville where a horse was shot out from under a general.  In this work, the action is captured perfectly as the viewer feels as if they are in the scene themselves. In the foreground, a soldier appears to be quickly moving out of the way as the horse falls – explosions bursting in the near distance.  Another Overstreet painting features Penn’s Store in the 1930’s with a car of that era parked out front.  Penn’s Store is so much of a point of reference in the community that I have (half) jokingly said that the Community Arts Center could have an entire show of paintings featuring the building.  Maybe someday we will if I can round up enough pieces.  Also focusing on the past, Jack Carey included a work called Kissing Bridge, which shows a long bridge that once crossed Dix River where couples would often kiss in the darkness of the tunnel.  My father, who likes to fish in that area, has been talking about this painting all month.

Another interesting aspect of this exhibit is the range of media shown by the artists.  Although 90% of the show is two-dimensional works in varied media from acrylic to oils and even a few colored pencil works, however, there are a few exceptions by artist David Cornwell who included five sculptures in the exhibit.  Four of the five sculptures (three birds and a bear) were carved of soapstone, in a style that reminds me a lot of Inuit artists.  Another exceptional piece by Cornwell is titled Broken Feather, a woodcarving in a caricature style of an Indian with a broken feather in his headdress.  The piece is very well balanced and appears (for all I can tell) to be carved from a single piece of wood.  The angles and features of the face are very well done and give a whimsical appearance as the frustrated chief eyes his broken feather.  Another interesting medium that Cornwell uses is pyrography, known to most as wood burning.  However, Cornwell uses this technique on paper.  I was not aware that pyrography would work on paper, but apparently it does to great effect.

Although most of the pieces in the show are landscapes, there are a few floral paintings by artists Marlene Hanna and Tilly Sowders, both of whom do an excellent job of capturing the beauty of their subjects.  When they were concerned that the pieces weren’t specific to the Boyle County theme, I reassured them that they could be considered Boyle county flowers.  Marlene’s florals in this exhibit were handled in a style akin to scientific studies with only the flower appearing in the frame, the rest of the background disappearing in a gray or white tone, while Tilly’s works back away from individual flowers and approaches them as a group in vases as a part of a still life.  I like to see how different artists approach a similar theme, and it looks as if both Marlene and Tilly have found great ways to put their own spin on the traditional floral still life.

This show was a great group exhibit that allowed viewers to see their surrounding county through the eyes of six different artists, each with a distinct style and approach.  In this area, we are certainly blessed with not only great scenery, but also great artists to capture it.

Thanks,

Brandon Long

Executive Director, Community Arts Center 

Tags: Art, boyle county, danville, kentucky, kentucky art