(Above: Maude Anne May’s “Each Moment Counts for Something Timeless” is one of dozens of artworks on display in a show called “Homage” at the Maude Kerns Art Center)
By Randi Bjornstad
Three women artists — one from Portland and two sisters from Eugene — are showing their art that commemorates the importance of family at the Maude Kerns Art Center in a show appropriately titled, “Homage.”
And it’s interesting how differently they do it.
Maude Anne May, the Portland artist, imagines her stories, using simple line drawings — usually a square or rectangle with a triangle on top drawn on linen fabric — combined with single or multiple images of faces or figures that illustrate each theme, often explained in rather lengthy titles.
Sisters Brooke Stone and Rachel Marcotte portray their views of family more traditionally, through paintings that reflect a similar feeling of warmth and affection using detail and vivid color, but with distinctly different painting styles.
Michael Fisher, executive director of the Maude Kerns Art Center, finds the work of all three fascinating and the combination of their work a good fit for a single show.
“I first knew Maude May years ago as a fiber artist, and she’s been moving away from that in this combination of fabric and photography,” Fisher said. “This work also incorporates quotes and texts in the pieces, and I love the added richness of that combination of words and art.”
Likewise, he relishes immersing himself in the work of Stone and Marcotte, sometimes easily grasping and other times speculating as to relationships and personalities of the subjects of their paintings.
“I’m pretty sure these two paintings must be of their parents, one from several decades ago and one much more recently,” Fisher said, gesturing at two sets of portraits sitting on the gallery floor waiting to be hung. “And over there are two others, both titled ‘Naomi.’ One is a child and one is an adult, but looking at them closely, I believe they must be the same person, which is interesting to see.”
The show opens Jan. 11 with a public reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. It runs through Feb. 8.
As he measured and leveled and put pictures up on the wall, Fisher acknowledged that this will be his last show as the exhibits curator at the Maude Kerns Art Center, now that he has become its director.
The art center is in the process of recruiting for a new exhibits curator; the application period ends Jan. 18, Fisher said, and the job description and requirements are online the organization’s website at mkartcenter.org.
“As executive director, I’ll still have a role, but it will be interesting to see what direction a new person will take with the design of exhibits,” he said. “My emphasis always has been very story driven — I like to design a show that tells a story as it moves through the space — but other people might have other ideas.”
Besides a full schedule of art shows, the Maude Kerns Art Center is inaugurating several new programs this year, aimed at improving its community outreach, Fisher said.
One is called “Saturday Salon at Maude,” will take place the second Saturday of each month, featuring a variety of entertainment such as musical performance, lectures, spoken word, one-act plays. The first, from 5 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Jan. 12, presents the folk music duo, Gossamer Strings.
On the last Thursday of each month, the center will host “Movies at Maude,” showing art films, Fisher said. The first session will be at 7 pm. on Thursday, Jan. 31, with a showing of “Loving Vincent,” a 2017 animated film about the work and final days of artist Vincent van Gogh.
Homage
When: Jan. 11 through Feb. 8; opening reception 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Jan. 11
Where: Maude Kerns Art Center, 1910 E. 15th Ave., Eugene
Gallery hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; noon to 4 p.m. Saturday
Information: 541-345-1571 or mkartcenter.org
