{"id":10384,"date":"2012-05-03T12:30:32","date_gmt":"2012-05-03T18:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=10384"},"modified":"2022-06-10T12:17:41","modified_gmt":"2022-06-10T18:17:41","slug":"springville-salon-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/springville-salon-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"The Eye of the Beholder: Actual and Alternate Awards at the Spring Salon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Two Travelers by Emily McPhie<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019ve been in conversations where artist friends tried to figure out the best way to get into juried shows. I was surprised to learn it’s not simply a matter of what they consider to be their \u201cbest\u201d work. Eager to get into prestigious shows, and hopefully win an award they can put on their CV, artists will create a strategy for each exhibit. Some will investigate the jurors, to see what their professional interests are or what work they\u2019ve chosen for past exhibits. Size is another consideration. Should an artist go small, hoping that their work will better squeeze into limited square footage? Or should they go big, to show off their skills and make an impression? At this year\u2019s Spring Salon, going big seems to have been a smart move. At the Springville Museum of Art there are plenty of medium-sized and smaller works, and if your aim was simply to be accepted, minimal might have been a smart strategy. But when it came to awards, works that can be measured by the foot won out.<\/p>\n

Since I reviewed last year\u2019s show, it might be helpful to relate this year\u2019s review to it. Interestingly, this year\u2019s exhibit had the same number of works accepted (253) though fewer were entered. Since this year the museum was able to keep everything on the main floor, overall the entries must have been smaller, or the display tighter. The large pieces, sometimes three or four times the average size, certainly stood out. Greg Stock\u2019s award-winning \u201cPM Thundershower,\u201d full of electric blues and vibrant brushstrokes, dominates the first room you can see when entering. As in years past, this gallery is dominated by landscapes. In fact, the format and layout of the Salon hasn\u2019t changed. To the right of the entrance, a room of figure-related works. To the left, as mentioned, landscapes. Abstract and non-objective works are tucked into the back gallery (which makes it easier to simply duck your head in and move on if you don\u2019t get what is going on there). The eclectic central gallery houses some of the most interesting works, and a mix of prize-winners is in what used to be the Museum\u2019s entry gallery. Photography was once again relegated to its own hallway.<\/p>\n

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Literary Figures by Paul Davis<\/p><\/div>\n

With a few exceptions new media, installation, fiber art and other \u201cnon-traditional\u201d forms were again absent from the Salon. The two exceptions: Vance Mellen has returned. Again, \u201cThe Tornado\u201d\u00a0includes<\/em>\u00a0video, rather than\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0one. Into a large black and gray abstract surface the artist has embedded a stylized video component of a tornado approaching and then confronting a power line. Bryan Evan Hutchison\u2019s \u201cFinal Stop,\u201d which shows the view from within a passing subway car as it arrives, on an endless loop, at the line\u2019s last stop, is a straightforward video piece. But for the most part, the types of artists who get into and win exhibits like the CUAC\u2019s annual\u00a0Utah Ties<\/em>\u00a0exhibit are absent.<\/p>\n

Obviously, it\u2019s impossible to tell to what extent an exhibit\u2019s selections are skewed by the artists (who do or don\u2019t submit) or by the jurors. Looking at the award winners, though, it\u2019s evident that the tastes of most of the staff and jurors are solidly Utahan: an appreciation for painterly craftsmanship with a tendency towards realism.<\/p>\n

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Winter Afternoon by Brad Adlridge<\/p><\/div>\n

The first place jurors\u2019 award went to Brad Aldridge\u2019s view of Salt Lake City on a winter afternoon.|1|<\/strong>\u00a0The vantage point is Ensign Peak. The painting takes in most of the valley, and the Capitol and downtown high-rises occupy the foreground while Main Street and State Street take the eye along a traditional perspective line to a hazy, slightly inversion-laden distance. Aldridge\u2019s attention to detail is admirable and his brushwork creates a crunchy atmosphere that mimics wonderfully the frozen white that blankets the city. That his authentic view of the city is one that most would not like to hang above their couch (how many of us like to remember what Salt Lake looks like in January?), adds a certain intrigue to the piece.<\/p>\n

Other awards went to longtime Utah favorites: Gary Ernest Smith for a classic cows-and-barn scene with a subtle attention to evening light;|2|\u00a0<\/strong>Paul Davis for a monochromatic menagerie of literary figures (yes, it sounds like the mural above a Barnes and Noble caf\u00e9, but there is much more wit and better painting here),|3|<\/strong>\u00a0and Lee Udall Bennion, for a classic evocation of the joys of rural living.|4|<\/strong>\u00a0Deon Duncan also picked up an award for her detailed sculpture of a triathlete,|5|\u00a0<\/strong>and Sallie Clinton Poet, who I usually associate with religious art, won for an abstract landscape.|6|<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Angus Ranch by Gary Ernest Smith<\/p><\/div>\n

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Just Past Solstice by Lee Udall Bennion<\/p><\/div>\n

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Unknown Allegory by Brian Kershisnik<\/p><\/div>\n

The staff\u2019s tastes, represented by the six awards they gave, don\u2019t diverge greatly (and seem to pre-date 1950). Vern Swanson gave his director\u2019s award to Matt Larson\u2019s \u201cAfter the Party,\u201d a large horizontal portrait of a woman reclining on a couch.|0|<\/strong>\u00a0The type of painting Larson is doing is frequently referred to as contemporary classicism, which resembles the informal style of painting that was common at the 19th-century French Salons. Because painting fancy dress and headgear is interesting, a common pitfall for the genre is the tendency to create nostalgic scenes of a bygone era. Larson\u2019s painting indulges the aesthetic tendency without falling into the trap. The title\u2019s reference to a \u201cparty\u201d explains the contemporary girl\u2019s poofy black dress, and the blue dash of a headband. Meanwhile the tension in her legs and her pensive look invite the viewer to create their own story of what happened \u201cat\u201d the party.<\/p>\n

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After the Party by Matt Larson<\/p><\/div>\n

Jeffrey Pugh, who was the first-place winner last year, was passed over by jurors Mark Magleby and Lila Abersold, but Jessica Weiss, the museum\u2019s Associate Curator of Education, gave his \u201cAFC\u201d her ribbon. Because of the painting\u2019s static, centralized composition, I prefer Pugh\u2019s also-accepted \u201cBarn Storming,\u201d but since the barns and cows of that piece reminds one of the similarity of his style to his father-in-law\u2019s (Gary Ernest Smith), it was probably best not to call attention to it with an award.<\/p>\n

Brian Kershisnik\u2019s \u201cUnknown Allegory,\u201d a large work that dominates the central gallery, won an Associate Curator\u2019s Award.|7|<\/strong>\u00a0It has all the elements you love in a Kershisnik: a pastoral setting, angels, a father, a daughter, a dog; and symbolic objects like a sword, fruit, pitcher, pen and paper. What does it all mean? Maybe the artist doesn\u2019t even know, but he does know that the viewer is curious. To tease them he has placed a doorknob in one of the painting\u2019s four panels, suggesting the answer is just beyond if you dare to open the door. I was tempted to do just that, but the museum\u2019s \u201cWhy Don\u2019t We Touch The Art\u201d signs were enough to keep me in check.<\/p>\n

Another piece that I had troubles not touching was Edie Roberson\u2019s \u201cAn Absurd Board.\u201d|8|<\/strong>\u00a0She is such a fine trompe l\u2019oeil artist that even close up I couldn\u2019t help myself from touching a part of her painting to see if it were a pasted rather than a painted element.<\/p>\n

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An Absurd Day by Edie Roberson<\/p><\/div>\n

Though there were many fine pieces in the abstract room, I didn\u2019t find any award-winners. In there, Jann Marie Nielsen\u2019s \u201cPerfect Day Hwy 6\u201d is a good case of why the museum\u2019s attempt to manage the size of their show by categorizing work is problematic. From the blue and white upper portion of the painting, which calls to mind a cloudy day, to the earth-toned strip at the bottom, the painting is obviously a landscape, and could have easily appeared in the other rooms.|9|<\/strong>\u00a0If by \u201cabstract\u201d art the museum means to suggest work that is \u201cabstracted\u201d then Nielsen\u2019s placement is appropriate enough (though technically all art is \u2018abstracted\u2019 and so the term is meaningless), but if they mean non-objective, like Darryl Erdmann\u2019s large \u201cWest Valley,\u201d or Helen Snelgrove\u2019s concrete wrapped on a stick, then it doesn\u2019t belong here. What is out of place in this room no matter which definition you assume is Scott Thomas Filipiak\u2019s \u201cSundance 360,\u201d a nothing-but-realistic photograph hung in the round so that you stand inside of it and spin yourself around to view it. Observe its poor craftsmanship and you might wonder if it belongs in this exhibit at all.<\/p>\n

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Perfect Day Hwy 6 by Jann Marie Nielsen<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s an easy thing to criticize. It\u2019s a completely different matter to jury, as a friend pointed out to me as we went through the show. \u201cWell, what would you choose?\u201d was her response to my grumbling. To appease her I\u2019ve provided a few of suggestions for alternate awards.<\/p>\n

David Meikle\u2019s view of a Bryce Canyon or Kodachrome Valley scene (it\u2019s \u201cColor Country\u201d title is unspecific) won the Assistant Director\u2019s Award. For my ribbon I prefer Bob Marshall\u2019s landscape in the same room. After seeing so many water scenes from the former BYU professor it was refreshing to see this dried-out view of the desert. Called \u201cSnow Canyon Dusk,\u201d the colorful canyon actually appears only as a butte in the distance.|10|\u00a0<\/strong>Whereas the success of Meikle\u2019s piece is in large part because of the grandeur of the fully lit scene (within the eroded formations that fill the canvas there are also two arches), Marshall\u2019s scene is fairly mundane. It is his feathery brushstroke and the orchestration of secondary colors that makes the work worth notice.<\/p>\n

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Snow Canyon Dusk by Robert Marshall<\/p><\/div>\n

I mentioned Edie Roberson\u2019s work and I certainly think she is the best painter in her genre. Also worth mention is Vincent Cobb, whose \u201cStacked Boxes\u201d won an Award of Merit and got to hang in the room with most of the prize-winners.|11|\u00a0<\/strong>He\u2019s a young painter, but the size and execution of his work shows he\u2019s ambitious and I think he could have been nudged higher in the awards list. As an alternate to the folksy feel of prize-winning pieces like Kershisnik\u2019s or Bennion\u2019s, take a look at Ryan Buffington\u2019s \u201cThe Sail,\u201d where a woman standing in the bed of a tire-less pickup stretches out a blanket in the billowing wind.|12|<\/strong>\u00a0His large work is hard to miss, but if you\u2019re willing to pay attention to the smaller pieces, Emily McPhie\u2019s \u201cThe Two Travelers\u201d|13|<\/strong>\u00a0and Heather Campbell\u2019s \u201cEnlightenment\u201d|14|<\/strong>\u00a0shouldn\u2019t be missed. Dan Toone\u2019s non-objective \u201cAustere,\u201d where large and small and flat and round are kept in dynamic balance, should be a contender in the sculpture field. And if you like figurative work, Blue Critchfield\u2019s \u201cIt Grows Back\u201d|15|<\/strong>\u00a0has figures as realistically rendered as any other in the show, but the metaphorical quality of his piece and changes in painting style make it much more interesting.<\/p>\n

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Stacked Boxes by Vincent Cobb<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Sail by Ryan Buffington<\/p><\/div>\n

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Enlightenment by Heather Campbell<\/p><\/div>\n

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It Grows Back by Samuel Blue Critchfield<\/p><\/div>\n

A shortlist is fine, but in the end a juror must choose a winner, so . . . Nathan Barnes\u2019 \u201cCNS,\u201d which didn\u2019t even get an Award of Merit, is my choice. I\u2019m not exactly sure what is going on in this painting full of overlapping styles, forms and materials, but it\u2019s definitely worth looking at. And giving the painting that front-and-center, first-place award would make sure you would. It would also nudge the Springville Salon into the 21st-century.
\n
\nThe Springville Museum of Art’s<\/a>\u00a088th annual Spring Salon is on exhibit through July 1.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been in conversations where artist friends tried to figure out the best way to get into juried shows. I was surprised to learn it’s not simply a matter of what they consider to be their \u201cbest\u201d work. Eager to get into prestigious shows, and hopefully win an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1531,"featured_media":10454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,14],"tags":[107],"class_list":["post-10384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exhibition_reviews","category-visual_arts","tag-springville-museum-of-art"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/067.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 10:47:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1531"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10384"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63887,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10384\/revisions\/63887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}