Introduction
The collections in this museum are exploring the roots of the northwest in the west. In this museum, there are many works that have been exhibited in TAM multiple times. Among the many works that have been exhibited includes the work by Gaylen Hansen’s “Kernal riding through the snake”, and the work of William Ivey’s “Blues and Whites”. These paintings are great work and one cannot be tired of viewing them again and again. The exhibition clearly shows through the art work that this Museum is exploring the roots of the people of ancient America and the Northwest.
In The museum, there are fabulous pieces that made my day since in my whole life I have never seen them before. The pieces that made my day include, Mark Tobey’s “Northwest Fantasy”, Sherry Markovitz’s Mind boggling sculpture among much more. I acknowledge that having attended this exhibition I did not have the expectation but to my surprise the work by great artist made this exhibition worth attending. The work by Tobey clear portrays him as a great painter the uniqueness in design in his work “white Painting”. The art is more luminous in that the canvas has layers of transparent white washes in a motion of lyric poetry.
The work by Barstow’s show the tradition of the native America in which the reminiscent of both de kooning and the Basquiat is displayed. The painting is huge in which the menacing head was painted in a rough gestural manner.
Markovitz’s work is unique in that the head is made of papier-mache which is entrusted with beads, sequins, oil beads and acrylic paint. The fiberglass that is a homage by American craft and the tradition of western in which animal head- trophies are mounted on the wall.
The museum has traditional cowboy art which have a contemporary twist and some of these arts include William Cumming’s “Kay Gee Doc” which is a painting in which a cowboy is herding a calf, and it’s a painting that is pop-art inspired. The Justin Colt Beckman’s video “screenplay (gunplay)”.In this video an actor practice a fast draw art and the twirl of gun in front of a green screen. It is clear that the particular cowboy has not mastered the art of gunplay. The unfortunate thing about the museum is a large charcoal drawing by Paul Harcharick hanged on a panel that is direct to Beckman’s video. Although this artwork is nice, it is placed badly and framed under glass hence bright videos reflect making it to be invisible.
What pleased me most is to see that the local favorite Mary Randlett and Bill Colby were both included in the exhibition. The watercolor by Colby’s “Aurora Violet” that is a landscape which has the lower section and looks like a sumi and large and stormy sky and has used dark violet, gray and blue. The Randlett’s photograph “Emerging City, Seattle” a photo of the skyline that emerges from a hazy sky in a very beautiful and ghostly tone gray in color. The two artworks were amazing, and it's evident that the artist took their time to come up with an outstanding artwork.
The exhibition is seen as a precursor of the new wing of this marvelous museum that will be featuring the Haub Family collection of the people of west American art that is scheduled to be opened in the fall.
