Duwamish Residency Artists

• March 5 - 26, 2015
• Opening: Thursday, March 5

Since the summer of 2012, a group of artists have gathered together to learn, experience and create along the shores of the Duwamish River. Guest curated by Sharon Arnold, this exhibition offers a beautifully distilled collection of visual interpretations of the waterway and its environs. The works Arnold has chosen were thoughtfully culled from the aftermath of the most recent residencies. While some pieces are directly related to days on the river, others represent the consequence of a slow and subtle infiltration of the Duwamish experience into an individual artist’s visual vocabulary and studio practice.

Residency artists Ethan Bickel, Chris Crites, Sue Danielson, Linda Davidson, Jessica Dodge, Emily Gherard, Robert Hardgrave, David Kane, Steve MacFarlane, Fiona McGuigan, Gene Gentry McMahon and Juliet Shen work en plein air and (more-or-less) together for eight consecutive days each August. To deepen their bond with the site, each new year involves learning another aspect of Duwamish River history, culture and ecology. Last summer’s residency began with an on-site lecture about native plants led by Jim Demetre, urban gardener, plant authority and long-time editor of Artdish. On previous summers, the group toured the Duwamish Long House, cruised the river with the Duwamish Cleanup Coalition, and visited the CleanScapes facility. The historic 1906 Georgetown Steam Plant, located along an oxbow of the originally meandering river has, over the past few years, become a favorite haunt. Elements from the plant appear in the imagery of several artists in the exhibition.

The ongoing experience of learning and creating together in the complex and seemingly contradictory environment of the Duwamish River – where industry, neighborhoods and habitat restoration co-exist – has resulted in strong ties to both this unique site and to each other. 4Culture is proud to have this opportunity to shed a light on the work of this this diverse community of visual artists.

The ongoing experience of learning and creating together in the complex and seemingly contradictory environment of the Duwamish River – where industry, neighborhoods and habitat restoration co-exist – has resulted in strong ties among the Duwamish Residency Artists to both this unique site and to each other. 4Culture is proud to have this opportunity to shed a light on the work of this this diverse community of visual artists.

About the Artist

Ethan Bickel earned a Master’s degree in landscape architecture from Rhode Island School of Design. He is interested in cultural landscape and nature. Photography is his medium of choice.

Chris Crites is a painter (most recently known for portraits painted on paper bags) with a background in graphic design and fine arts. He was awarded an Artist Trust Fellowship in 2013. He is represented by G. Gibson Gallery.

Sue Danielson is a Seattle-based painter who is co-founder (and co-administrator) of the Duwamish Artist Residency. Danielson is a Washington native; her works on paper and paintings focus on way memory becomes altered over time.

Linda Davidson earned a BFA in illustration from Rhode Island School of Design; she moved to Seattle in 1997. While known as a painter, Davidson has used the Duwamish residency to explore working in photography. She is represented by G. Gibson Gallery.

Jessica Dodge works in the unusual medium of reverse glass painting; her work has been exhibited internationally. She is also a designer/painter of theater sets.

Emily Gherard is a painter who earned a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and MFA from the University of Washington. She was a 2013 Neddy finalist and a 2014 Stranger Genius Award nominee.

Robert Hardgrave is a Seattle-based painter working in wildly divergent scale; he is represented by Cullom Gallery. His work appears in the 2014 Pacific Coast issue of New American Paintings #115.

David Kane is a figurative painter and enjoys a cult following for his wonderfully quirky narratives presenting scenes from an imaginary retro-futuristic world.

Steve MacFarlane is a printmaker with a foundation in figurative painting and drawing. His works on paper are primarily monotypes. He is a graduate of Grinnell College.

Fiona McGuigan is co-founder (and co-administrator) of the Duwamish Artist Residency. She is a figurative painter whose work explores the process of memorization through recollecting, layering, cutting and the reassembling of one image into many.

Gene Gentry McMahon is a veteran painter, well known in the regional art scene; her work is represented in many public and private collections.

Juliet Shen, a New York native, has lived in Seattle since the late 1980s. Coming from a background in design, her drawings often incorporate letterpress printed elements. She is represented by Cullom Gallery.

About our Guest Curator: Sharon Arnold is a Seattle-based curator, artist and writer. She studied at Pratt Institute in New York and Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts, focusing on sculpture, art history and philosophy. In 2010, she launched Bridge Productions/LxWxH, a publication company focusing on artist catalogues, literary chapbooks, and a quarterly subscription project. Progressive and inventive, LxWxH quickly grew into a highly regarded exhibition venue. In 2014, she became director and co-owner of Roq La Rue Gallery in Pioneer Square. Ms. Arnold writes about contemporary art for her blog Dimensions Variable and on occasion for various Seattle publications such as City Arts Magazine and Art Nerd.