Small can be very beautiful.
A visit to the Arkansas Arts Council's touring exhibition "Small Works on Paper" is a welcome reminder of that.
This is an exhibit of works by artists from around the state that also tours the state. Artworks can be no larger than 18 by 24 inches in size, by Arkansans who are members of the Arkansas Artist Registry. After opening in January at the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff, "Small Works" made a stop at the University of Arkansas at Monticello before its current stay, through April 13, at the Windgate Gallery at the University of Arkansas -- Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock.
One of the pleasures of "Small Works" is the variety of media employed -- photography, prints, oil, watercolor and acrylic, to name a few. Styles and subject material are equally varied, keeping viewers engaged throughout this 39-piece exhibit.
A few high points:
• J.P. Bell's Repair of No. 2. Fayetteville-based photographer Bell has two books of his images of railroad trains. This black-and-white photo of a man on top of a locomotive has a modernist vibe.
• On McClellan Indian Mound and the Moon, Lepanto's Norwood Creech creates a celestial experience with watercolor crayons. The colors and wild swoops of entwining lines captivate the viewer.
• Terra Fondriest of St. Joe has a humorous, charming photograph in Chicken Speak. In it, a chicken communicates directly at a child.
• Little Rock artist Diane Page Harper's imaginative The Afterlife of Wonderland continues the artist's exploration of pen and ink in fantastic/fantasy directions.
• Cary Jenkins, a Democrat-Gazette employee, is a photographer whose work has been in the Arkansas Arts Center's Delta Exhibition. The Little Rock photographer's black-and-white image of the interior of a Fordyce church currently not in use, Dereliction, speaks eloquently of personal and cultural decay.
• Markeith Woods of Pine Bluff won the best in show award for Do You Remember What I Worked For?, a mixed media of a woman wearing a tilted crown. The work clearly communicates its subject's questioning of her life's choices.
The exhibition's next stops: Mullins Library, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, May 1-30; Searcy Art Gallery, Searcy, June 5-July 6; Campus Center, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, July 15-Aug. 31; East Arkansas Community College, Forrest City, Sept. 2-27; Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Oct. 3-25; Hempstead Hall, University of Arkansas at Hope, Nov. 11-22.
"Small Works on Paper," through April 13, Windgate Gallery, Center for Humanities and Arts, University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock. Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. (501) 812-2715.
FLOWING THROUGH
Arkansas' natural beauty can take your breath away; it's a beautiful reminder to slow down and appreciate our lives.
For those who want that beauty in their homes, photographer Paul Caldwell offers a pleasing collection of new work at Little Rock's Cantrell Gallery. "Flow," which Caldwell says studies subjects and motion, hangs through May 11.
Through skillful use of framing and aperture and shutter speed, a photographer can capture what can speed by us in a split-second, before we can take it all in. With these tools, the photographer can take an image from literal representation to a work with depth that reminds us how nature can touch us to our very core.
There is a sense of serenity and, in certain images of Caldwell's, a spiritual depth. Especially memorable: The Glory Hole, Newton County, one of the state's most beloved waterfalls. Here, Caldwell's camera suggests light is also pouring through this reddish rock. The stunning Milky Way over Roark Bluff, Buffalo River is haunting and otherworldly.
"Flow," through May 11. Cantrell Gallery, 8206 Cantrell Road, Little Rock. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Info: (501) 224-1335.
OPENING
A show of recent work by Amanda Linn and Emily Wood opens with a reception at 7 p.m. Saturday at Gallery 26, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd., Suite 1, Little Rock. Wood was recently selected for the "61st Annual Delta Exhibition" at the Arkansas Arts Center.
Linn and Wood's show continues through May 11. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. For information, call (501) 664-8996.
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Style on 03/24/2019