Form/Space Atelier Photographer Dan Hawkins and my Friend Eva Isaksen--TOGETHER!!

Wow! What a blockbuster this is! Form/Space Atelier represented photographer Dan Hawkins and Eva Isaksen, both friends of mine at SAM gallery. You must see this show!

Form/Space Atelier Assistant Curator Emily Hoch, Curator and Impresario Paul Kuniholm and unidentified art collector at "Beautiful Simple" party 5/8/09.

A great party, a great exhibit.

Buy or barter Raleigh Briggs book "Make Your Place; Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills", written and illustrated by Raleigh: letsgiveuptheghost@gmail.com

Shannon Barry...................................................at Form/Space Atelier June 12- July 5

Shannon Barry exhibits at Form/Space Atelier June 12- July 5. Opening reception June 12, 6pm.

Form/Space Atelier Program for June 2009

Show Title: The Quiet Society

Show Duration: June 12- July 5, 2009

Opening Reception June 12, 6PM, as part
of Belltown Second Friday Artwalk www.belltownartwalk.com

Shannon Barry studied in the atelier of Mark Kang-O'Higgins at the Gage Academy of Art, Seattle. The Quiet Society is her second consecutive solo exhibition at Form/Space Atelier, and her third, and possibly final, exhibit overall at the gallery.

Artist's Statement:

This series is called The Quiet Society because the central characters, despite their different surroundings, all share a common relaxed state.-Shannon Barry

Curator's Notes:

Shannon Barry eschews obfuscation at every chance she can, and her art is no exception. Ms. Barry has a great degree of skill as an artist, and has distinguished herself as an academic through her study at the atelier of Mark Kang O'Higgins, and since passing from Gage, formidable and sustained self-study of art literature, New York museum visits and consistent studio practice. Anyone familiar with the curriculum at the Gage Academy of Art is aware of the rigorous battery of daily life study, unquestionably the time-honored truth of an artist's training. Draftsmanship cannot be faked, where it is required for freehand expression. Ms. Barry is an outstanding draftsperson, along the lines of Lucien Freud, Alice Neel and Wayne Thiebaud. Ms. Barry paid homage to Thiebaud's hand in a years-long series of donuts and coffee cups in oil on canvas, her primary medium. She was living across the street from Top Pot Donuts at the time, and this series was a visual report, almost anthropological, of her environment at the time. This series was also Ms. Barry's first commercial success, her first collector purchasing a work from her which has fixed her current rate of value. A curated showing of this series was exhibited as part of a group show at Form/Space Atelier in April 2008.
Ms. Barry next began a series of large-scale abstract landscapes of clouds in bright, cartoon-like renderings. As a curator, I find this series to be a bold expression, and as art objects, these paintings are extremely original, eye-catching and elicit happy emotions in virtually every observer. The case for a therapeutic work of art could definitely be made with Ms. Barry's Clouds series. The "wow" factor was recorded by this curator, who sat with these paintings in an exhibit at Form/Space Atelier in August of 2008, "wow" being the consistent ejaculation of those visiting the exhibit during the duration of the show.
With the advent of the Quiet Society in June 2009, Ms. Barry returns to production of large-scale figures in oil on canvas. The characters in these paintings, with the exception of a work after John Singer Sargent, are the product of Ms. Barry's imagination. She is sure of her expression with this series. Her drafting, color-mixing and compositional skills are synergized in masterstrokes.