Conference Date:
Saturday, September 18th, 2010
8 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Show Opening:
Saturday, September 4th, 2010
7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Show Dates:
September 1st- September 25th
Participating Artists:
- Chella
- Deladier Almeida
- D. A. Bishop
- Dwarka Bonner
- Marie-Therese Brown
- Cynthia Charters
- Celia Delimont
- Phillipe Gandiol
- Boyd Gavin
- Gregory Kondose
- Connie Kirk
- Pat Mahony
- Marie Pascal
- Marti Walker
- John Weber
- Patrick Dullanty
- Anne Hysell
- Bud Gordon
- Mike Bagdonas
- Christine Coy
The California Landscape and Plein Aire Conference, 2010
Gertrude Stein once said of Oakland that there was no "there" there...The Natsoulas show demonstrates that there is indeed a "there" there, a there of flatlands that allow you to see for miles and miles without interruption; a there full of waterways where you can fish and swim and frolic; a there colored by light filtered through hot summer air and cool, foggy mornings; a there that sustains us, delights us and sometimes aggravates us with its harshness and the continuing loss of farmlands and wetlands. A there that is unrelentingly ours.
--Victoria Dalkey, 2003
California Landscape Painters, the 9th annual exhibition of work at the John Natsoulas Gallery by the Sacramento Valley School of Landscape Painters. Concurrent with and highlighting this year's show will be a one-day semiar on Saturday, September 18th, 2010 from 8am -3:30pm. The morning program will feature plein air paintings demonstrations by eminent Sacramento Valley landscape painters including: Deladier Almeida, Chella, Dwarka Bonner, Marti Walker, Mike Bagdonas, Philippe Gandiol, Marie-Therese Brown, Andrew Dorn, and Leslie Toms. Following the demonstrations will be a lunch with the artists at the John Natsoulas Gallery.
Trends in art adapt to the inevitable advance of time and cultural progression, and the genre of landscape painting is no exception. The landscape art of the twentieth century tended toward smaller sizing and encompassed a more limited visual sphere. Instead of vast horizons, it showcased more intimate settings, sometimes as minimal in composition as a single tree. However, it was this specificity that allowed for the artists to create a more approachable understanding of their environment-one that is still championed today by the likes of Dwarka Bonner in his stunning piece Oaks. There has never been a single prevailing Californian aesthetic, but it is these consistent references to nature and concern with atmospherics that seems to assert itself as our state's ubiquitous influence within the broader artistic community.
One of the most important things to note about California landscape painting, particularly in the Sacramento area, is the influence of Gregory Kondos and Wayne Thiebaud. The significant impact of their local professorships on this year's exhibiting artists can hardly be overlooked. Seen in the work of students like Clay Vorhes and Melissa Chandon, Thiebaud and Kondos' approach to light and form resonates as an intensely original interpretation of what is too easily deemed an antiquated genre. Local artists Pat Mahony, Roy Tellefson, Michael Tompkins, and Boyd Gavin continue to create plein air paintings in this vein, only furthering the reputation and quality of our regional art. Their careers bloomed in the '80s and '90s while painting important areas of the Valley, and have since broadened in scope to include the entirety of the state. In this work, there is evidence of an authentic Americana that only grows more rare with over-population and development. The goal of our exhibition is to avoid the traditional seascapes or views of Yosemite's Half Dome, and rather explore this new imagery in the context of a modern perspective. There is true beauty in the ability to see for miles and miles without interruption, and in the works of these artists, you come to fully comprehend the power and beauty of California's vast landscape.