Lanning Gallery Celebrates “The Figure?

Tuesday, 03 June 2008 04:01

Sedona, AZ - The human form remains a classic subject of artists and on Sedona’s “1^st Friday,” June 6^th, from 5 to 8 p.m. Lanning Gallery will celebrate the myriad interpretations their artists bring to this theme.  Visitors will be able to enjoy both sculpture and paintings in a wide variety of styles and mediums from both established and emerging classic and contemporary artists. 

The skill to capture the human form is not only measured by specifically representational renderings but also by creative interpretations of artistic imaginations.  For a sculptor like Chet Eskey the figure becomes a sleek and elegant stylized form.  Whether rendered in marble or bronze, they stand in lovely contrast to the more realistic zaftig figures of sculptor Antonia Gallegos.  The great simplicity of form brought to her stone-toned bronze pieces provides each with a powerful presence.  “Her great gift is the ability to capture authentic womanly forms and authentic auras, whether it’s pensiveness, strength or humor,” says Gallery Director Isabelle Cozart. “Her pieces are grounded in their woman-ness and that gives each a great authority.”

In paintings, emerging artist Julie Schumer uses a combination of mediums to create her Abstract Expressionist figures; form, line and color are her additional tools.  For the artist a naturalistic approach strips figures to their core representation of color and light.  Oil paints are the classic medium of choice for Shang Ding an acclaimed artist and honored professor in China before he immigrated to the United States twenty years ago; his spellbinding figures are painted in a dramatically realistic style that regularly stops gallery visitors in their tracks. 

Of the late Alfred Rogoway’s paintings the New York Times has said: “His people inhabit a dreamy never-never land made very colorful.” Rogoway has a long history including early triumphs in California, his mark on the New Mexico art scene of the 1940s and his acclaim from NY’s Museum of Modern Art exhibiting next to Pollack, de Kooning, Miro and Picasso. His soulful paintings have been called “a cheerful mingling of the expressionistic and the naïve” by The New Yorker and World of Art has said: “Compassion plus form are embodied in [Rogoway’s] paintings... and convince us again of his stature.”

“The Figure” is an exhibition that will satisfy every art-lover who appreciates the simplicities and complexities provided by our human form.  An SGA “1^st Friday” and “Art of Gold” event.  For further information, call Lanning Gallery, 928.282.6865, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit www.lanninggallery.com.  Open daily: 10-6 Mon-Sat, 11-5 Sun.

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