PO Box 937 / 11101 Highway One / Point Reyes Station, CA 94956 / PH: 415.663.1347 / www.galleryrouteone.orgPRESS RELEASE. For immediate release
Contact Lisa Foote at 510.730.0594 or lisa@galleryrouteone.org
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GALLERY ROUTE ONE EXHIBITIONS:
Jenny-Lynn Hall – (im)material
Beth Fein, Visiting Artist Program – The Poetry of Water
Renée Owen and Mirka Knaster – RUST: A Topography of Time
On exhibit Saturday, May 4 to Sunday, June 9, 2024
Artists’ Reception and Artist Talks: Saturday, May 4, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
The gallery is open to visitors Thursday to Monday, 11 – 5=
SUMMARY:
Gallery Route One presents three exhibits opening Saturday, May 4, 2024: (im)material— an installation addressing the arbitrary nature of reality by GRO artist member Jenny-Lynn Hall; The Poetry of Water, by visiting artist Beth Fein, an exhibit of prints on paper and silk are an abstraction of natural habitats and water reclamation, integrating art and science as visual poetry; and RUST: A Topography of Time by GRO artist members Renée Owen and Mirka Knaster, textural conversation entwining the artists’ interpretations of the diaspora, lines stretched across the globe, with the patterns and colors of rust creating a metaphor for the changes and loss woven through the refugees’ plight.
Center Gallery:
Jenny-Lynn Hall: (im)material
Gallery Route One presents (im)material, — an installation addressing the arbitrary nature of reality by GRO Artist Member Jenny-Lynn Hall.
This installation addresses the arbitrary nature of reality. Moving through time, unforeseen events both large and small shape our understanding of life. In this series of paintings, the randomness occurring in our individual lives is overlaid with the constant of the interconnectedness of all life, which cannot be seen but sensed. Interconnectedness is represented here by a geometric sub grid, made of elements and proportions that are found in nature; sense-of-self by the transparent and opaque and layers of colors that obscure the geometric grid. The geometric pattern underlying these paintings is based on hexagons and expansions of six. The hexagon sets up 45, 30 and 60-degree angles which are commonly found in natural forms. This grid is a metaphor for harmony and connection.
Every living thing has unique anatomy and unique ways of perceiving. Perception of reality varies for each person not only through the variance in our sensory organs, but also due to any preconceived notions. Hall explains, “We only see our physical bodies in reflections in a flat mirror, whereas others see us moving through space from all angles. We do not know what we look like most of the time. We do not know the effect that we have on others when they interact with us or simply look at us.”
The driving theme for (im)material is a mysterious connectivity beyond the thinking mind that links all of life. Most religions speak of an invisible guiding force, described by many names. Geometry has been used by many cultures to illustrate the concept of interconnectivity.
To learn more about the artist’s work, please visit www.jennylynnhall.com
Project Space:
Beth Fein: The Poetry of Water
Gallery Route One’s Visiting Artist Program presents The Poetry of Water by Beth Fein, an exhibit of prints on paper and silk are an abstraction of natural habitats and water reclamation, integrating art and science as visual poetry.
The photo etchings in the exhibit are an abstraction of natural habitats and water reclamation, integrating art and science. These artworks emphasize the importance and future of water in the overall context of the environment and global warming. Climate change is making water shortages occur more frequently. Clean, reclaimed water that is put back into streams and aquifers will help mitigate the competition for water and preserve the natural environment needed by both humans and wildlife.
This work was inspired by a specific California central coast power company’s water project that was designed to introduce reused clean water into a stream, so that steel head trout could continue to spawn. The artist explains, “These etchings derive from my observations of many different environments. I deconstruct photos of diverse locales. The new imagery is blended with abstracted scientific data of water reclamation. With my feet firmly planted on the earth, my art practice is a collage of personal experiences within the world that we live in: magnifying the unpredictability of time and outside forces that permeate the essence of my artistic intent.”
Beth Fein’s works transverse the figurative to the abstract and her practice encompasses printmaking, performance, sculpture, and installation, investigating how movement and flow combine in art and life: while exploring the impermanence of living.
Beth Fein is an interdisciplinary artist who lives in Berkeley,CA. She works in her Oakland studio and as an artist-in-resident at KALA Art Institute in Berkeley. Her art practice includes installation, sculpture, printmaking, video, and performance. She has exhibited nationally and internationally. Her work is in the collections of: the Yale University Library, the Oakland Museum of California, Taller Grafica Experimental Havana, and the San Francisco Art Commission. She has been awarded artist residencies in Cuba, Spain, Argentina, Basel, Switzerland, New York, Vermont and California. Fein is a professional member of the California Society of Printmakers, the Los Angeles Society of Printmakers and the Boston Printmakers.
To view more of Beth Fein’s work, please visit http://www.bethfein.com/.
Annex Gallery
Renée Owen and Mirka Knaster: RUST: A Topography of Time
Gallery Route One Artist Members Renée Owen and Mirka Knaster present their joint exhibition, RUST: A Topography of Time, a textural conversation entwining the artists’ interpretations of the diaspora, lines stretched across the globe, with the patterns and colors of rust creating a metaphor for the changes and loss woven through the refugees’ plight.
The exhibit explores what compels men and women, children and the elderly to flee their homeland, leaving behind entire families and all they have ever known to disperse over dangerous routes to find a new home This exhibit, as well as the collaborative conversation between the two artists, explores these questions, hinting at answers unfolding through the tactile exploration of their artwork. Whether working with rust-dyed fabric, cast paper pulp or found rusty wire and objects, the immersion in materials evolves. Colors, layers and the haptic act of stitching or shaping are transmuted into a visual poetry that conjures up the pathos of rough seas, remote mountain passages or desolate desert terrain that displaced people navigate in their desperate search for safety. A collective narrative unfolds, which speaks to our own personal histories and cultural roots, reminding us that we are all connected fragments of humanity.
Renée Owen began her creative journey playing with the visual poetry of words, shapes and colors, and making artist’s books. Now she forges a new language, creating sculptures of paper, felt, wire, wood and found objects, often working in multiples and with an ethos of sustainability. She shows her artwork widely, in exhibitions and in print and online journals, and it can be found in public and private collections. She also serves her artistic community as Curator and Coordinator, engaging audiences with her creative approach to exhibitions. More of what moves her can be found in her award-winning books of poetry, This One Life (Backbone Press Book Award) and Alone on a Wild Coast (Snapshot Press Book Award), both available at Gallery Route One or from her website. In addition to making art, Renée enjoys performing her poetry with music and hiking the wilds near her Northern California home.
Mirka Knaster creates 2-D and 3-D pieces using textiles, paper, and other materials in a studio overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Her award-winning work is in private collections in the U.S. and England and has been exhibited internationally. As an independent curator, she has highlighted artists from other cultures as well as immigration and environmental issues. Born along the Adriatic Sea and educated in the U.S., she earned degrees in three cross-cultural fields. Worldwide adventures deeply inform her sensibility and exploration of fiber art. Nature, East Asian aesthetics, 20th-century abstract art, and meditation practice are her most significant inspirations.
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. For more information, please visit: https://galleryrouteone.org/