(Above: Matthew Dennison’s Barred Owl is one of 44 works depicting the Animal Collective art show at the Karin Clarke Gallery.)

By Randi Bjornstad

Rabbits are a familiar subject of Marit Berg’s work, including this piece called 2 Jacks

Composer Camille Saint-Saëns’ famous Carnival of the Animals, written in February 1886, featured musical interpretations of animals in 14 movements. His composition offered descriptions of a lion, hens and roosters, swift animals (wild donkeys), tortoises, an elephant, kangaroos, fish in an aquarium, creatures with long ears (braying donkeys this time), a cuckoo deep in the woods, an entire aviary, a humorous depiction of pianists as animals, skeletons and fossils (based on his own Danse Macabre), a swan, and a final movement combining most or all of those themes.

Now, 135 years and one month later, the Karin Clarke Gallery introduces its new show, Animal Collective, that presents the work of eight Northwest artists and their collective renditions of — oddly enough — 14 categories of animals, in this case rabbits, birds, squirrel, elk, fox, bear, coyote, deer, hippo, raccoon, goat, dog, domestic cat, and tigers.

The works included in this show include paintings, etchings, drawings, and mixed-media works.

Robert Schlegel’s paintings of animals and people often take on a whimsical approach.

The artists included in the show vary widely in their backgrounds, philosophies, and approaches:

  • Rick Bartow (1946-2016)  — Native Oregonian and Native American whose work embodies Native American transformation stories, often centered on animals.
  • Marit Berg — Focuses on balances between species and how they evolve to thrive in their habitats; from Tacoma, Wash.; first time showing at the Karin Clarke Gallery.
  • Tom Blodgett (1940-2012) — Native Oregonian whose drawings encompass portraits of people, animals, and landscapes, often in impressionistic or dreamlike scenes.
  • Matthew Dennison — Portland artist who explores people, animals, and their environments through interpretations of ordinary surroundings.
  • Tallmadge Doyle — Eugene artist with experience in painting, printmaking and public art, whose work often addresses critical issues such as climate change and conservation.
  • Adam Grosowsky — Eugene artist who paints large in primary colors and deep black, often including animals in his pieces.
  • Robert Schlegel — Artist from Banks, Ore., whose acrylic and oil paintings move between representation and abstract, often featuring birds.
  • Betsy Wolfston — Eugene artist known primarily for ceramics but now also for a new series of ink-on-vellum interpretations of birds.

The show includes 44 works by these varied artists, some whimsical (Schlegel), others fanciful (Bartow), still others rendered with soft sympathy (Wolfston).

Clarke said she wanted to do a themed show after a popular show last year at this time that featured Oregon landscapes, especially because themed exhibits offer a chance to include new artists and a wide variety of work.

“I switched to an animal theme just a few months ago,” she said. “It was an organic decision process, partially from seeing artwork posted (online) by artists I admired.”

Wolfston had been sharing her paintings and drawings of birds. She also had seen Dennison’s small “portraits” of animals, and then she discovered Berg’s etchings.

Focusing on animals also gave her a chance to honor the late artists Bartow and Blodgett, and she rounded out the group with work by Growsowsky, Schlegel, and Doyle.

The isolation of the pandemic also played indirectly in her decision, Clarke said.

“I think it was related to this last year and people’s pets —thinking of the deer and turkeys (in my mother’s yard) — that have been an extra important distraction and pleasure in our recent lives,” she said. “Most of these artists are known for other types or subjects in their work, not just animals, and they all are highly respected in their craft. So I thought it would be something people would be excited to see, something a bit playful, surprising, and hopefully enjoyable.”

 

Pigeon as Holy Spirit by Betsy Wolfston.