Several years ago, when so many of our artists and their galleries were devoted to sounding the alarm on behalf of the environment, and particularly the disappearing Great Salt Lake, Pamela Beach had her own perspective, literally, on the matter. From the front porch of the home where […]
This month, David Ericson Fine Art once again presents two artists whose differing styles highlight the breadth of contrast encompassed by today’s art. While a former professor like me wants to see this as a teaching opportunity, Dave Ericson insists that the arrangement is practical. Alternating the still-life […]
Once upon a time, art was all about content. Hard as it may be to believe, for the longest time technique didn’t really enter into it. The dubious may want to check out an early exception: public sculpture in ancient Rome, where eventually two forms existed side-by-side. One, […]
Brian Kershisnik is among the more generously talented artists presently on the Utah scene. Not only does he paint and make prints, but he writes songs that he then performs and records with a group of musicians. From there, he made the natural leap to poetry, which he […]
After a hit Broadway musical, the curious presentation of an animated TV show, and a live-action series on plural wives—each more popular than could have been anticipated—it may be hard to believe that there was a recent time when some Latter-day Saints, except when on a mission, didn’t […]
On any given day, galleries are better able than museums to show artists in depth, so that the subjects and treatments each prefers can be clearly seen. Sometimes a single venue places two such artists side-by-side, allowing useful comparisons, and at other times it’s necessary to travel between […]
It’s almost like Frank Huff, Jr. dares you to dismiss his work. Or part of it. Take, for instance, his painting of a nondescript parking lot. Why bother? It’s not some social commentary, à la Joni Mitchell, paving paradise and all that. There’s no real judgment here. It’s […]
“Apologia” is a technical term that, while related to “apology,” actually means “explanation.” The connection is historical, since an explanation functions like an apology, in clarifying why something is different from what’s expected. On her website, Rebecca Klundt offers an elaborate “apologia” for her work, which she puckishly […]
Given so many bad stories and ill-will in our national conversation these days, it’s easy to overlook those artists who still want to share their by-no-means-universal appreciation, and even gratitude, for the positive works they witness and the good lives they enjoy, but do not presume to feel […]
Often, when an artist with a well-established, familiar, even popular mode decides to undertake something new, the news travels fast. So, many who gathered at David Ericson’s gallery in the Avenues for the unveiling of Emily McPhie’s new work were there in anticipation of something they’d not seen […]
An artist who complained that everyone he drew ended up looking like him was told, “That’s what makes it art.” Every true work of art is a self-portrait, someone said. It’s not the worst definition of what distinguishes art from other uses of the same materials and techniques. […]
The actress, the model, the bird-girl, the queen, the naturalist — Emily Christensen McPhie’s portraits of women in her Nature as a Goddess show at David Ericson racks them all in, in a way the old-time illustrator Arthur Rackham would like, in the way Cindy Sherman the modern […]
My late grandfather always asked two questions when house hunting: “Is the school paid for?” and “How far is the nearest liquor store?” So why is David Ericson, whose gallery is in an 1800s red brick 2-story charmer smack next to the downtown DABC, moving to the Avenues […]
What would you come back to see if you could, after death? Would you want to sit in your favorite restaurant? The one you’d been in hundreds of times, with servers who you knew by name, even your own kin at the table? They wouldn’t be able to […]
David Ericson Fine Art is a gallery’s gallery: old, jumbled, cozy. In this 1883 building, two chairs have been carefully set across from each other in front of the small fireplace, with its old ornamental insert, the solid, dull brass looking like an ancient shield against winter. There’s […]
Controversy has erupted over the Logan City School District’s decision to sell 11 paintings by regional artists apparently purchased through a program of early arts champion and Utah state representative Alice Merrill Horne, whose 150th birthday was celebrated Jan. 2. She helped 37 school districts and libraries across Utah […]
A tree, with its trunk and ever-expanding branches, is composed of lines, but there is no regularity to them: they are a natural system of creation with a beauty and structure of their own, speaking to their innate essence. Certain artists are like this: they honestly express the […]
You’ve been hearing “hit it out of the ballpark” a lot lately in the political arena so I hesitate to apply the phrase to an art show, but Frank McEntire really has done it with The God Particle at David Ericson Fine Art. It’s a gem of an […]
Nathan Florence is a man open to options. Florence, whose work was on display at David Ericson Fine Art during the month of December, is a Utah native who studied art in Philadelphia and spent time traveling in Europe before returning to his home state to pursue his career […]
