New Exhibitions from Two Artists
Newport’s premier visual and performing centers will host two new exhibitions featuring the work of Jane Luana Stauffer and David Fish, opening this Friday, Aug. 1.
Stauffer’s “A Lifetime of Painting” and Fish’s “Incised Images: Selected Works in Scrimshaw” will show in galleries inside the Newport Visual Arts Center. The second exhibit from Fish, “Pacific Views” will be at the Olive Street Gallery inside the Newport Performing Arts Center.
An opening reception for both artists will take place from 5 to 7 pm on Friday, Aug. 1, at the visual arts center. A second reception celebrating the opening of Fish’s exhibit in the Olive Gallery will take place from 1 to 3 pm on Saturday, Aug. 2, at the performing arts center.
Stauffer’s “A Lifetime of Painting” will be on display in the Runyan Gallery through September 27. Her atmospheric images are celebrated for their glowing color, masterful light effects on water and land and her signature sunset skies and clouds, all emphasized by open, simplified compositions. The exhibition will feature her distinctive landscapes rendered in soft pastels, as well as captivating large-scale sky and cloud paintings in oil, and a recent series of small-scale coastal landscapes created with oil and oil/cold wax medium.
In addition to her renowned landscape work, Stauffer will unveil “Paintings from the Journey to Self,” a compelling collection of 17 large, intuitive works on canvas. These pieces narrate an emotional journey undertaken during her years in Hawaii in response to a mysterious health crisis.
“We are honored to celebrate 45 years of art in the making by Jane Luana Stauffer,” said Chasse Davison, center director. “We’re thrilled to welcome her back to her old stomping grounds for her retrospective show.”
The special two-part exhibition, “David Fish: in Retrospect” will bring well-deserved attention to the Newport-based artist, whose work was well recognized in western Oregon through the 1970s and 1980s and has continued to be appreciated since his passing in 1995.
At the COVAS Showcase, “Incised Images: Selected Works in Scrimshaw” will feature Fish’s varied approach to working in scrimshaw, evident in the black-ink incised images skillfully aligned to the scale and material nature of an individual ivory bone surface — whether modest-size pendants and other use-objects, similarly inset, or the extended length and visual impact of a full walrus tusk.
Such graphic, dark-light contrast brings focus to Fish’s selection of singular botanical or wildlife subjects, his representations of Indigenous American portraiture and his hybrid coastal views — where waves break below ‘stippled’ clouds, adjacent to fragmented geometric patterns.
Just a few blocks away at the Olive Street Gallery, Fish’s “Pacific Views” will be on display through September 28. The show presents an overview of the artist’s drawings in ink or ink with watercolor. Fish is well-recognized for his keenly observed renderings of Oregon’s coastal terrain, and the linear and tonal range of his work invites a closer look. At times, the modest paper seems to surge to near-capacity: Fish pauses at a tumble of sand-crusted rocks and polished shells while elsewhere, hatched lines acknowledge salt-weathered buildings along Yaquina Bay’s dockside.
“David Fish’s work was created when the local art scene’s roots were beginning to take hold,” Davidson said. “Through this exhibit, we honor David Fish’s contribution to the rich artistic history of Newport and glimpse the diverse media that artists delved into, as they explored ways to generate incomes from creative pursuits.”
The Newport Visual Arts Center is located at 777 NW Beach Drive and is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 4 pm.
The Olive Street Gallery, located inside the Newport Performing Arts Center at 777 W Olive Street in Newport, is open most Tuesdays through Fridays, from 10 am to 3 pm. Olive Street Gallery exhibits can also be viewed at, or up to one hour before, most ticketed events at the center. For more information, go to coastarts.org or call 541-265-6540.