Above: Many political and other well-known personalities — including one above portrayed as Pinocchio — are lampooned in ceramic by artist Christe Brunson, as part of the New Zone Gallery’s first member show in its new location. Photos by Paul Carter for Eugene Scene.
By Randi Bjornstad
The first member show in the New Zone’s new gallery space — located at 110 E. 11th Ave. on the corner of 11th and Oak steets where St. Vincent de Paul used to have a thrift store — will be on display through May 28 before it is taken down to make way for the monthly show in June.
Old Man Oak is a ceramic piece by artist Wayne Singer, is on display in the New Zone’s May show.
The venerable artists’ collective has known several locations in its three decades, but this latest incarnation is among the best. To begin with, it offers 4,200 square feet of open space in a building on the corner of one of downtown Eugene’s busiest intersections. Then, there are the large banks of windows that take up two sides of the gallery, giving passersby a good glimpse of the wide array of creative paintings ceramics, sculptures, and other forms of artistic expression inside.
On a recent afternoon as a welcome rain pelted down outside, painter Demetra Kalams was the artist-on-duty from noon to 3 p.m.. Members of the nonprofit group take turns minding the store as part of their membership requirement. Their payment comes in the form of having a dependable outlet where they can show and sell their work.
A detail from Sunset on the Bay, by Demetra Kalams, shows the artist’s exploration of oil painting after years of pursuing watercolor as her primary medium.
Kalams has two abstract oil paintings in the opening show, and for her, this style of her new work is as fresh as the gallery itself. Kalams, who in addition to her membership in the New Zone Gallery also shows her work at The Gallery in Harrisburg, has been known for years for often ethereal watercolors featuring subjects from flowers to horses to human figures, alone or in groups.
“I realized that I was getting tired of just doing watercolors,” Kalams said, and about the same time, serendipitously, a fellow artist gave Kalams the gift of her own oil paints. The techniques are about the same between watercolor and oil, she said, but the difference in the result can be striking.
The New Zone Gallery Membership Show
When: Through May 28
Where: 110 E. 11th Ave., Eugene
Gallery hours: Noon to 6 p.m. daily
Information: 541-683-0759 or newzonegallery.org
Above: A view of the New Zone art collective’s first show in its new space at 11th and Oak streets in downtown Eugene. In the foreground, a sculpture of recycled steel by artist Steve Mast, is part of the gallery’s first member show in the new location. It runs through May 28.
