The exhibition is created by Kelly Holt, Spruce Peak Arts Curator, and features the work of artists: Arista Alanis, Mary Brevda, Rory Jackson, Joseph Salerno and Homer Wells.
Artist Reception • Friday, October 25, 2019, 5:00pm – 6:30pm
On view at Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center: September 25 – November 30, 2019.
Gallery Hours: Thursday through Saturday 11:00am – 5:00pm and one hour prior to events and performances. The exhibition may be viewed by appointment. Contact Kelly Holt, curator • kholt@sprucepeakarts.org • 802.760.4634. All artwork is for sale through the Box Office.
The gallery at Spruce Peak Arts features a group exhibition in celebration of the mountain landscape for the Fall Season. The exhibition opens in collaboration with Stowe Mountain Film Festival, presented by Acabay, in partnership with the VT Ski & Snowboard Museum, on October 25th and October 26th. The collection includes painting, sculpture and photography.
Artists are responding to physicality of mountains, from our local Green Mountain ridge lines to the awe-inspiring mountains of Patagonia. Working in varied mediums, the pieces capture an essence of the landscape – often emotional, spiritual and studied.
Painter Rory Jackson divides his time between the coastal region of Three Tides Point in Ghana and Lincoln Gap, Vermont. Of his oils in the exhibit on both linen and canvas, he writes “As a Vermonter, the Mountain air has a sensory effect like none other, it is home. It is the clean breath that sweeps through the lungs of the hillside.”
Both Ridgeline Series and Woods Edge Series by plein air painter Joseph Salerno are featured in the exhibition – presented as a horizontal vista of both intricate relationships of form and abstracted tones of light and dark, all celebrating favorite treeline settings near his home studio in Johnson, Vermont. Arista Alanis’ vibrant expressionistic paintings move back and forth between figurative landscape and abstraction. Of her oils and mixed media paintings, the artist explains, “The artwork is not about specific places, but about significant moments that ignite a feeling of being alive in the space.”
Partners in life, travel and art from Vermont to Patagonia, Mary Brevda (photographer) and Homer Wells (sculptor, painter, inventor), capture the landscape in complimentary ways with dynamic perspectives, dramatic lighting, and etched aluminum pieces. Both artists are largely self-taught and always experimenting.
About the Artists
Arista Alanis’ paintings, drawings, and monoprints derive from the landscape. Places and experiences take on significant meaning: Vermont’s landscape in all its seasons, the tides on the coast of Maine, or travels to new places with her sister and family. The artwork is not about specific places, but about significant moments that ignite a feeling of being alive in the space. The formal structures of nature directly experienced, or recalled, give my work the solid foundation upon which the artist improvises abstractions. Her personal experiences in nature are realized in the medium of the paint. And, the intensity of emotion is physically put forth through the movement/marks of the paint.
Originally from Texas, Alanis has been on staff at the Vermont Studio Center for the past twenty-two years. She received an MFA from Louisiana State University, and a BFA from Texas Woman’s University. Alanis is currently the Community Arts Program Coordinator at VSC.
Mary Brevda
Mary Brevda has been exploring photography for the past 40 years, beginning with a film camera and developing and printing her own black and white photos, to adventures in color digital photography using multiple substrates. She uses a 6D Cannon camera, and participates in classes at Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine.
Traveling and nature has often been an inspiration for her work, looking at the landscape differently through the lens of a camera. Through her travels, she enjoys finding ways to capture the light and to find unusual angles leaving room for personal interpretation for the viewer. Brevda’s gallery exhibitions span from Vermont to Cape Cod Massachusetts, and Colorado and Montana.
Rory Jackson comes from a lineage of talented artists and painters – yet has a style all his own. Jackson exhibits his paintings nationwide, and his works are held in esteemed collections both locally and internationally. Jackson maintains a serious studio practice. His inspirations are ignited by travel, value of family, and his observation of light in the landscape in his two homes in Lincoln, Vermont and Cape Three Points, Ghana.
Joseph Salerno is a painter who lives and works in Johnson, Vermont. His work is represented by the Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery in Shelburne, VT, Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts in Brattleboro, VT, and the Ober Gallery in Kent, CT. He has been on the faculty at Johnson State College (now Northern Vermont University) since 1991.
Homer Wells
Homer Wells studied art and architecture at The University of Oregon in the 70’s. The artist spearheaded many successful businesses from sign making to billboard production to commercial art and adventures to Burning Man. In addition to his commercial work, Wells explores many media including clay, wax, pastel, air brushing, and metal. As an inventor, Wells has been driven by a fascination with mechanics and movement which has led to the creation of unusual kinetic sculptures. His work has been exhibited and collected nationwide.