Senior artwork can to be as predictable as an early morning round of golf. In fact, it was almost a given that every senior center exhibition would have watercolor flower paintings, bucolic scenes with a cottage or barn and heartfelt portraits of the grandchildren.
So how do you explain the efflorescence of fresh ideas and risk-taking by the over-50 set of amateur and professional artists in this year’s Celebrating Life! exhibition? It’s true—medical advances, modern technology and a more active lifestyle have made 60 the new 40, but that only partly explains why this year’s artists are able to look at the world with such fresh eyes.
The full explanation may lie in getting to know something about each artist. Starting at the top, best-of-show award-winner A.J. Schreiner, a retired plumbing contractor, has always been interested in art. He has studied painting and design at UNLV and digital photography at CCSN. Currently working in digital photography and using image-editing software, he is able to emulate some of the surrealistic painterly effects he so admires. His first efforts were inspired by Rene Magritte, the Belgian surrealist whose paradoxical street scenes with bright daylight skies and lamp-lit shadowy foregrounds fascinated him. His digital photograph “Retention” takes as its subject a commonplace water retention basin at Alexander and Tenaya; the digitally enhanced colors transform it into a dramatic and moody evocation of nature’s sometimes destructive forces.
Atsuko Parker, a classmate of A.J.’s at CCSN, also emulates Magritte but with the juxtaposition of the mundane and the extraordinary. Her cleverly titled “What Happens Here Stays Here” is a worm’s-eye view of the Roman statues of Venus and Cupid. Using digital manipulation, a trickle of eggs seems to rain down from the sky, juxtaposing the symbol of fertility and new life with the symbols of love and beauty.
Peter Geselowitz is seeking beauty of a different kind. Originally from South Africa, he and his wife made their living painting trompe l’oeil murals in Florida, until coming here. (Check them out at www.3d2dmurals.com; they’re amazing.) Peter’s acrylic painting “Desperately Seeking Beauty” captures the effect of finding beauty unexpectedly—a wrought-iron balcony frames an unremarkable scene of an asphalt parking lot and apartment blocks rendered in strict perspective; the eye is led to a more distant row of trees, and finally rising above it all emerges Sunrise mountain burnt by the last rays of the setting sun.
Greg Allred experienced burnout of a different sort. Seventeen years ago he stopped making art, although he kept up his hobby of restoring vintage and antique toys. About a year ago his son pressed him to “begin making things again.” Having started his career years ago as a photographer, Allred decided to work in a new art medium—steel. His mind cleared by a 17-year hiatus, he resumed making art with a fresh outlook and renewed vigor, beginning with a series of homage paintings and sculptures. This led to “Tea with Pablo,” a life-size steel construction colored with enamel paints and oil pastels. Based on a Picasso cubist painting, it is a jaunty tribute to an artist who found inspiration late in life by appropriating and reconfiguring the masterworks of Velasquez, Delacroix and Manet.
Many well-known modern artists have gone back late in their careers to life-drawing classes in order to reconnect to the world. As one who has spent many hours drawing live models, I can attest to the intense focus required. Betty Johnson, whose “Tuesday’s Model” won first place in the drawing category, started drawing in 1976 to take her mind off the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. Her keenly observed figure study in sanguine conte pencil wouldn’t be out of place in an exhibit of master drawings. The model’s piercing blue eyes and strong hands are rendered with precision. But what makes it a great drawing are the details—the barely noticeable underbite, the slightly parted dry lips, the tussled crop of short blonde hair.
These artists have embraced change, pulled up roots, experimented with new media or discovered the inner artist hidden below the surface. Their work has a freshness and vigor associated with youth. “Sixty is the new 40” may be more than a popular catch-phrase.
Celebrating Life! 2007: Senior Juried Fine Art CompetitionThrough July 1, Charleston Heights Arts Center, 800 Brush St., 229-6383