The Museum Connects With the St. George Community

While the economic situation remains gloomy, fill your heart and life with art.  Visit the St. George Art Museum! On June 13th, the Museum opened with From Pale to Brilliant:  Photography of the West, an exhibit in two parts. 

In the Main Gallery, Through the Infrared Lens, an exhibit of the work of 8 photographers, curated by Barry Parsons, will glow in white, while Whispers of the West by photographer, Steve Mohlenkamp, will fill the Mezzanine Gallery and take the visitor on a tour of the fabulously colored West.

Gina Jrel’s Shakespeare As Muse paintings will transform the Legacy Gallery. 

All exhibits end on September 12, 2009. Hours are 10:00 to 5:00 pm Monday through Saturday with 3rd Thursdays 10:00 am to 9:00 pm and Art Conversations at 7:00 pm. Fees are $3 for adults, $1 for children 3-11, and under 3 are free, as are Museum Members.

The St. George Art Museum features:
On June 18th Barry Parsons, Curator of the Infrared Lens
On July 16th Steve Mohlenkamp, Photographer of Whispers of the West
On August 20th Gina Jrel, Shakespeare as Muse

THROUGH THE INFRARED LENS
Infrared photographs are dreamy and evocative because artists are recording not only visible light but invisible infrared radiation.  In an outdoor scene which is sunlit, grass and green foliage will take on a white, snowy appearance because the chlorophyll in a healthy plant reflects infrared radiation, but absorbs most of the visible radiation.  Buildings will appear very light or white with a glow around them since they also reflect a great deal of infrared rays. 

The exhibition Through the Infrared Lens will be on view at the St. George Art Museum from June 13th-September 12th, 2009.  Participants are David L. Hurst, Pat Hurst, Gary Hurst, Craig Law, Nard Nebeker, Rob Oliver, Barry Parsons and Julie Parsons.  David and Pat Hurst are married as are Barry and Julie Parsons.  There are 53 photographs in the show, and all of the images were shot with a digital camera and an infrared filter. 

For the exhibition, Barry Parsons transformed an image of fallen, burned trees into a vision that is dramatic and mystical due to the marked contrast of the thin, dead tree trunks scattered in the foreground and the glowing, upright trees in the background.  Parsons says he likes working with infrared because it imparts an unearthly radiance to a scene.   Parsons, who lives in Wellsville, was the curator of the exhibition.  He is an adjunct professor at Utah State University, Brigham City campus, where he has taught basic photography for 10 years, and he has been taking pictures for 25 years.  When questions about unique experiences he has had, Parsons remembered a visit to Yosemite National Park where he stood alone at the lookout where Ansel Adams made one of his famous images.  Parsons noticed there were a lot of tourists in different locations taking photos with their point-and-shoot cameras.  He set up his eight-by-ten view camera, and pulled a dark cloth over his head to darken the daylight.  When he emerged from the cover, there was a long line of people behind him photographing the scenery.  Unlike the tourists, Parsons didn’t take one image at the site. 

Craig Law, a professor of art at Utah State University for 31 years, states the challenge of infrared is to obtain an image that feels like it is ethereal and a step removed from normal reality, yet not having the technique dominant.  Law, who lives in Logan, has been involved with infrared about as long as he has been a professor.  He recalls, “My first notable infrared images were done in the late 1970’s, and they are still with me.  The images are part of a body of work with the figure as the subject using black-and-white infrared film as the recording material.”  His work resides in notable collections, including the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.  His photographs have also been published in Smithsonian Magazine.

Nard Nebeker’s image of two Las Vegas palm trees brings out a softness and mood unlike traditional photography.  The trees have chalk-like highlights, and the foliage in the background has a feathered appearance.  Nebeker loves the look of infrared imagery because it’s so different from black-and-white photography and because he’s utilizing a light spectrum that normally cannot be seen with the naked eye.  He says, “Infrared…gives an alien-eye effect which is fun.”  He hopes that patrons viewing his compositions say, “I never noticed that before”. 

The mountain scene Rob Oliver shot in Paradise has a magical quality in as much as the tree trunks seem to emit white smoke and the swirl of leaves looks like the clouds overhead.  Oliver says, “I see myself as an artist, with a camera, who is able to use light, instead of paints, pigments or even words, to create and bring to life my vision of the world.”  Oliver, a resident of Brigham City, experiences an adrenal surge from infrared photography because he can’t see exactly what he will get when he looks through the lens.  For 15 years, he has been photographing places, especially Promontory Point.

Pat Hurst’s photo of Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnel in the desert west of the Great Salt Lake seems worlds away with its mysterious shine.  The tunnel constructed in 1976 is one of four 18’ cast concrete earthwork tunnels or tubes laid out in an open x configuration by Holt.  The alignment of the tunnels corresponds with points at the solstices and constellations.  Each tunnel is punctured by holes creating a constellation whose shadows are cast and move about through the tunnel as the sun moves across the sky varying by time and the seasons.  Hurst, who lives in West Haven, has an eye for the uncommon.  The first photo she produced was of an old, rusty truck with a pine tree growing out of it.  The piece was included in the corporate calendar of Autoliv where Hurst worked on the assembly line.  Concerning the first infrared piece she created of a grain field and barn roof in Idaho, Hurst says, “I was in awe of what both my eye and camera saw and the resulting print.”

David L. Hurst declares he always has his eyes and ears open to find or hear of a new place to explore and maybe find animals and scenery to photograph.  He quest took him to the south fork of Chalk Creek near Coalville where he shot a mountain range that looks like disjointed buildings designed by the famous architect Frank Gehry.  The interrelation of the mountains and the infrared lens initiates a surreal look, which is one of the effects Hurst likes most about the medium.  He has been energized by photography since the mid 1980’s when his goal was to compose high-quality fine art, which included converting the only bathroom in his home into a weekend darkroom.

Julie Parsons took her first photograph at age ten for 25 years since that time.  She earned a BFA and gravitated toward infrared because it’s a little odd. 

It wasn’t a big leap from infrared film to digital for Gary Hurst of Roy because he’s been pushing the limits of infrared for 15 years.  What fascinates Hurst about the effect of the invisible radiation wavelengths is the varying sensitivity of the subjects notable in his photograph of towering redwood trees in a large grove in Northern California.  He says photography allows him to let go of day-to-day rigors and stresses and tap into his creative self.

Information for this exhibit comes from Mary Alice Hobbs, and the exhibit is courtesy of the Brigham City Museum/Gallery where it was on view from 11/7-12/6/2008.

WHISPERS OF THE WEST by Steve Mohlenkamp
We move from pale in the Main Gallery to brilliant when we enter the Mezzanine Gallery with the work of Steve Mohlenkamp.  He is a self taught commercial and fine art photographer based in Denver, Colorado.  He also has experience in graphic design, advertising, and, as director of photography, in magazines.  His passion lies in capturing a unique vision of the spirit of the American West.  His fine art collection entitled Whispers of the West is an endeavor of over 25 years of exploring the West and 21 years of living in the West, creating images of mountains, canyons, oceans, and deserts. 

“Even though I was born and raised on an Illinois farm, I remember going on a family vacation to the American West when I was six.  It was mesmerizing for me, and the memory has never faded,…not even a little.  I spent all of my allowance on photo post cards, never sending any of them to anyone, but rather keeping them for myself, to look at over and over…I still remember the glowing, blazing light on the canyons and mountains in those images, and how captivating it was to me.  Looking back now, I realize just how much of an influence that trip and those postcards really were…It beckoned me west, and gave me the spirit.”

Steve has report cards from school with remarks about his constant hiding behind his books while drawing, so it really all represents a lifetime dedicated to one thing, art.

Mohlenkamp’s work has been used by countless commercial clients and hangs in many corporate and private collections.  Some of his clients include Arizona Highways and Sunset Magazines, The Ford Motor Company, Chevrolet (division of GM in Detroit), Nikon World Magazine, Marlboro Europe, The State of Colorado, Cowboys & Indians Magazine, the National Park Service and Forest Service, No Fear Gear, Anheuser Busch, Car & Driver Magazine, Plateau Magazine, Mattel Toys, Polygram Records (John Mellencamp), Sheraton Hotels, The Shell Oil Company, NBC and ABC Television networks, Audi Motor Company, Fox Television, Sierra Press Publications, and Road & Track Magazine.  His websites are www.stevemohlenkamp.com and www.whispersofthewest.com.

SHAKESPEARE AS MUSE by Gina Jrel
Local artist, Gina Jrel, is a contemporary, stylized painter.  Inspired by Picasso, Modigliani, Klimt, and the Art nouveau movement, Jrel’s unusual painting style is a whimsical, colorful combination of geometric abstraction, and spontaneous gesture painting.  A painter for 31 years, Jrel earned her BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute.  Her work has been displayed in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Kansas City, New York City, Salt Lake City and locally.  Her murals and paintings adorn walls, floors, and ceilings throughout the southwestern United States.  Jrel’s art has been licensed for use by corporations throughout the country and is in private collections worldwide. 

Her bohemian warehouse painting studio, The Loft (in Arrow Business Park at 928 N. Westridge Drive), is open to the public in St. George where she shows her work and teaches classes.  Gina left the commercial art world with the intent that her efforts and work were used for things that are not always for profit.  She generously shares her time and talent with many nonprofit organizations.  She works in a variety of 2D and 3D media, the bulk of her work is oil and acrylic on canvas with embellishments. 

While she began drawing at age 3, she is most inspired and most productive between 3-5am.
She has Synesthesia which is where text forms are seen in colors.  According to the free online dictionary, “Synaesthesia is defined medically as a secondary sensation accompanying an actual perception, as the perceiving of sound as a color or the sensation of being touched in a place at some distance from the actual place of touching.

Jrel’s work can also be seen locally in The Loft, and at Juniper Fine Art Gallery in Kayenta in Ivins and Manzanita Trading Company in Springdale, Utah.  Her website is www.gina-jrel-art.com. 

As she believes in going beyond realism into the feelings behind the seen, the Shakespeare plays are a natural subject in which to explore and translate the words and meanings into visual form.  Some of the plays depicted include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet.

You will want to be sure to see and explore each of these exhibits.  Come to the St. George Art Museum (budget priced for education and entertainment)!