PO Box 937 / 11101 Highway One / Point Reyes Station, CA 94956 / PH: 415.663.1347 / www.galleryrouteone.orgPRESS RELEASE. For immediate release (download PDF)
Contact Lisa Foote at 510.730.0594 or lisa@galleryrouteone.org
GALLERY ROUTE ONE EXHIBITIONS:
Studio Artists of Art Works Downtown
Layers of Secrets – Valerie L. Winslow, Visiting Artist Program
Counter/Shading – Inaugural exhibit by 2024 GRO Fellow, Taryn Möller Nicoll
On exhibit Saturday, February 17 to Sunday, March 17, 2024
Artists’ Reception: Saturday, February 17, 3:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
The gallery is open to visitors Thursday to Monday, 11 – 5
SUMMARY:
Gallery Route One presents three exhibits opening Saturday, February 17, 2024: Studio Artists of Art Works Downtown, a kaleidoscope of diverse creativity emanating from the studios of Art Works Downtown, based in San Rafael; Layers of Secrets, by visiting artist Valerie L. Winslow, featuring low-relief sculptures and recycled objects probing psychological aspects of mental health; and Counter/Shading, the inaugural exhibit by 2024 GRO Fellow Taryn Möller Nicoll.
Center Gallery
Studio Artists of Art Works Downtown
In collaboration with San Rafael-based Art Works Downtown, Gallery Route One presents Studio Artists of Art Works Downtown, a kaleidoscope of diverse creativity emanating from the studios of the organization. Each piece of art in the exhibit is a testament to the diverse creativity inhabiting the studios at Art Works Downtown. This curated exhibit is a harmony of lush mediums, fresh perspectives, and finely crafted expressions.
Participating artists include Barry Beach, CiCi Chao, Marc Cohen, Mirto Golino, Kathy Gray, Joanne Harwood, Susan McCormick, Patricia Oji, Cindy A. Pavlinac, Joy Phoenix, Barbara Poole, Susan Searway-Fertig, and Sue Well.
Since the founding of Art Works Downtown (AWD) in 1996, the core purpose of the organization has been to enrich our community by encouraging artistic activities, educating the public, increasing appreciation of art, and strengthening the relationship between artists, arts organizations and the larger community. AWD provides an environment that is seeded in its historic building on Fourth Street but expands its reach to the broader community in Marin. More than a physical location, AWD creates a setting that fosters unity, belonging, collaboration, opportunity, and creativity – all elements of a thriving and healthy arts community. To learn more please visit www.artworksdowntown.org
Project Space
Valerie L. Winslow: Layers of Secrets
Gallery Route One’s Visiting Artist Program presents Layers of Secrets by Valerie L. Winslow. This exhibit of low-relief sculptures and recycled objects probes the psychology of personal loss, depression, anxiety, domestic and child abuse, and isolation that the artist experienced as a child and young adult. Winslow constructs shrine forms housing clay sculptures, suggesting that such experiences are still taboo (enshrined) and often hidden within the family dynamics.
While exploring the psychological and narrative aspects of depicting human forms, Winslow discovered clay as an ideal vehicle for expressing emotional content. The plasticity of clay gives Winslow the opportunity to explore darker psychological narratives. Additional themes in Winslow’s work include introspective observations of world events: the pandemic and lock-down issues, corporate exploitation of workers, and gender inequality.
Valerie L. Winslow is a contemporary figurative artist whose art has been exhibited in museums and galleries nationwide since the mid-seventies. Her work is in many private collections and has won numerous awards. An accomplished draughtswoman and an expert in artistic anatomy, Winslow has taught figurative art and artistic anatomy for forty years at art institutions on the West Coast and was invited by Pixar Animation Studios to teach artistic anatomy to computer animators. She is the author/artist of two artistic anatomy books.
To view more of Winslow’s work, please visit valerielwinslow.com
Annex Gallery
Taryn Möller Nicoll: Counter/Shading
Counter/Shading, the inaugural exhibit by 2024 Taryn Möller Nicoll, an experiment in conceptual camouflage: In this body of work, recognizable elements from botanical illustration, human anatomy and the figure are detached from their traditional content and reconfigured according to their formal qualities via collage.
A recent move from the geometric grittiness of downtown Miami to the verdant escapism of Sonoma County provoked a personal conviction toward the design and cultivation of her backyard. She explains, “In the moments between maneuvering plants and pruning runaway shrubs, I have noticed and reflected upon the opposing optical goals of visual art and nature.“
The artist creates an illusion of solidity and dimension on a flat surface through the use of light and shade. In contrast, nature utilizes the camouflaging phenomenon of countershading to create the illusionary appearance of flatness on a rounded surface. The artist imparts volume, definition and movement to something that is flat and static; nature flattens, stills and obscures the edges of something that is dimensional and dynamic.
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Taryn Möller Nicoll immigrated to the United States in 2004. She received her BFA with Honors from Otis College of Art and Design in 2012, and she completed MFA from Louisiana State University in 2017. Her pieces have been exhibited at museums and galleries such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Johns Hopkins Welch Medical Library, the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, and the Shaw Center for the Arts in Baton Rouge. Alongside her studio practice, Taryn is an arts administrator and educator who specializes in curatorial practice, community engagement and creative placemaking.
To learn more about the artist’s work, please visit www.tarynmoller.com
A regional landmark since 1983, Gallery Route One is an arts organization located in the town of Point Reyes Station, adjacent to the entry for Marin County’s Point Reyes National Seashore. Besides offering rotating exhibits by member artists, GRO also maintains its various programs as well as exhibitions addressing environmental, immigration and social justice issues.