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In Memory of Laura Russo
1943 - 2010
Click Here for Oregon Live Article
Au Naturel: CCC's Fourth Annual Juried International Art Exhibition
The Clatsop Community College (CCC) Art Center Gallery is proud to announce that Au Naturel: The Nude in the 21st
Century-CCC's fourth annual juried international art exhibition-will be on display at CCC's newly renovated Art Center
Gallery February 25th - April 8th, 2010. The exhibit will open with a reception honoring the selected artists Thursday,
February 25th at 6:00 pm. Awards will be announced at the reception, which will include cash prizes, purchase awards,
a solo show award for a selected artist for the upcoming Art Center Gallery exhibition season, and a select number of
workshop awards in the areas of drawing, painting, and printmaking. Local guitarist Dave Drury will be providing the
musical entertainment. A No-Host Post-Reception Party at the Wet Dog Café, which is located at 144 11th Street, will
follow the reception.
Now in its fourth consecutive year, the 2010 competition has generated the greatest response yet from artists across the
country and around the globe, as well as from local and regional artists. The juror was confronted with a challenging and
arduous task, and after much deliberation, 61 works of art were selected from over 500 submitted images by 158 artists
from 29 states, in addition to international submissions from Canada and Europe. The 2010 exhibit will represent 55 artists
from 17 states.
The juror for this year's exhibition is Laura Russo, owner of one of Portland's leading galleries, Laura Russo Gallery,
and a noted authority on contemporary and 20th century Northwest Art. Ms. Russo, an educated painter, began her career
in art acquisition thirty years ago. For eleven years, she was associated with The Fountain Gallery in Portland, the premier
gallery of the time. In 1986, Ms. Russo established her namesake gallery, which specializes in contemporary Northwest art.
She exhibits current artists as well as those former artists who shaped the art energy of the Northwest - abstract
expressionist painter Carl Morris, sculptor Hilda Morris, her uncle Michele Russo, as well as the estates of Louis Bunce
and Kenneth Callahan. Ms. Russo's nationally recognized gallery exhibits contemporary work in all media, including painting,
sculpture and works on paper. Ms. Russo is a noted juror, consultant, lecturer, and board member for art organizations, museums
and universities in Oregon.
The jurying process is never easy, and this year's competition was no exception. Ms. Russo, extremely thoughtful in her
selections, describes how it was "a daunting task to pare down to a comfortable number for the exhibit." She further explains
her selection process in regard to her overall vision for the show: "I wanted to present a range of approaches and sensibilities.
I specifically looked for work that I felt displayed technical proficiency and, because of the traditional subject matter, I was
also drawn to work that presented a unique or innovative vision of the nude."
Armin Mühsam, originally from Romania, educated in Germany as well as in the U.S., and currently Associate Professor of Painting
and Drawing at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, will be exhibiting his work in the Au Naturel for the
second consecutive year. Mühsam believes that the discipline of life drawing and painting continues to play a key role for the
contemporary artist. "For a representational artist like me," he explains, "drawing the human figure from life, that is, the
examination and appreciation of the figure's proportions, lines, rhythm and tension, keeps the senses sharp and continually
hones the feeling for significant form that is so important for my studio practice."
This year's exhibit will showcase a range of approaches to the figure, from realistic to abstract. Ray Horton, Portland artist and
graphic designer who co-founded the Portland Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and also taught for half a decade
in the PNCA evening extension program, has been selected to exhibit in the Au Naturel every year since its inception. Horton sees
the figure as a means to explore the process of abstraction, which he describes as "an attempt to minimize the amount of information
in a work." He goes on to explain his unique method as a "winnowing process that challenges perceptions and, when successful,
requires that the viewers become engaged with the work to the extent that they fill in the "missing" parts; that they see what
isn't there as well as what is there, and that each perception delivers its own level of importance."
John Stahl of Tillamook, who has exhibited widely throughout the Northwest since the early 1970s and was awarded second place in
the inaugural 2007 Au Naturel exhibit, has once again been selected to exhibit in this year's show. His approach crosses a wide
range of artistic disciplines, including painting, collage, printmaking, and sculpture. This multi-media approach allows him
"to express himself in a wide variety of means." He explains the steps in his process: "first, the suggestion, usually from
material; second, the conscious organization of these forms; and third, the compositional enrichment."
As in the previous three Au Naturel exhibits, local artists once again have a significant presence in the show. Gillian Hall,
who is currently in the CCC nursing program and has previously taken many art classes at the college, offers an explanation of
why the human form is such a powerful image: "It is poignantly illustrative of the human condition - our fascination with the
human form. We see it, just as we see everything else: in context with only ourselves. But we are only creatures like all others,
wandering naked from point to point to point. Perhaps this is why our form is so compelling. It represents our true vulnerability:
ourselves withdrawn from all context and standing naked and still to be captured by somebody else."
Nicholas Knapton, another local artist from Astoria who has also exhibited in two prior Au Naturel shows, elaborates further
on this idea. "We have a constant desire to seek out the figure, whether abstracted in a painting or live in front of us. The
figure or the human form is what we always gravitate towards visually, if not in other ways…..Au Naturel: The Nude in the 21st
Century is a show celebrating this desire," he explains. He also describes how it is not always easy to find a venue to show
figurative artwork, especially the nude. "The show also creates a platform for those involved to show their work and have it
recognized by those who appreciate the figure in art."
This event is free and open to the public. Special thanks to the Cannery Pier Hotel, the Wet Dog Café, and the Redhare. The CCC
Art Center Gallery is located at 1799 Lexington Avenue in Astoria and is ADA accessible. The gallery hours are from 8:00 a.m. -
6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturday from 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. The gallery is open on Sundays and holidays by appointment
only. Please note that special Spring Break hours between Monday, March 29 and Saturday, April 3 are from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
For more information, please contact Kristin Shauck at 503-338-2472.
Clatsop Community College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution.
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