July 22 – August 16, 2008
Reception: July 26, 2008, 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
The Paintings Edge workshop,” cautions the course catalogue, “is not for beginners.” Every year, as part of the Idyllwild Summer Arts Institute, several dozen professional artists and advanced art students convene in this intensive colloquium in painting – painting techniques, painting subjects, painting ideas. Roland Reiss, who has conducted it from its inception in 2001, designed “Paintings Edge” to combine the best aspects of workshop and conference, allowing the registrants to interact with one another and advanced, nationally renowned professionals during the day and to attend (with others interested in contemporary painting issues) lectures by those professionals at night. The two-week dialogue, with its vital exchange of concepts and methods, proves lively, collegial, and productive for visiting artists and registrants alike.
“Paintings Edge 2008” brings together work by this year’s registrants and this year’s visiting and guest artists and faculty. In the majority of the registrants’ cases the artwork on view was produced at least in part during the workshop, and the work by the visiting and guest artists was originally shown at the gallery in Idyllwild during the course.
Besides Reiss and supporting faculty Carol Lee Chase and Andy Kolar, the exhibition features the work of Visiting Artists Mark Bradford and Peter Plagens and Guest Artists Micaela Amateau Amato, Laurie Fendrich, Jill Giegerich, Wendell Gladstone, Stephen Maine, Andy Moses, Leslie Shows, and Ben Weiner.
“Paintings Edge 2008” also includes the work of workshop participants Irene Abraham, Neil Bender, Susan Connell, Robert Frashure, Christine Frerichs, Alexa Gerrity, Sophie Grant, Maureen Gutierrez-Prieto, Noah Haytin, Rachel Higgins, Victoria Jacob, Kirra Jamison, Kathryn Jaroneski, Chris Kahler, Karen Kauffman, David King, Aitor Lajarin, Daniel Lannes Pereira, Heather Lembcke, Casey Loose, Michelle Montjoy, Barbara Moody, Christine Morla, Mark Mullin, Sheila Nadimi, Kathryn Neale, Felicity Nove, Christina Ondrus, Trude Parkinson, Cathie Partridge, Kimberly Rose, Claire Stephens, Gretel Stephens, Lava Thomas, Kathleen Thompson, and Marcos Raul Valella.