'08 Creativity award goes to McCandless

JH News&Guide

Lyndsay McCandless, owner of Lyndsay McCandless contemporary art gallery, is winner of the 2008 Award for Creativity.

Given the past 14 years by the Cultural Council of Jackson Hole, the honor recognizes people who are enhancing and enriching the Jackson Hole cultural community through creative efforts.

"The extraordinary dedication, talent and kindness that Lyndsay extends to our community makes her an appropriate honoree," the group said in its announcement. The Cultural Council of Jackson Hole is dedicated to promoting arts and culture and includes 20 nonprofit organizations. McCandless who moved to Jackson Hole in 1991 and taught art classes, waitressed and worked at the Martin-Harris Gallery before hanging her own shingle, first as Jackson Street Gallery and then as Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary.

Nominator Tammy Christel said it's McCandless' activism that sets her apart. "She has overturned our traditional concept of art galleries by turning hers into a welcoming 'home' for countless worthy initiatives," Christel said. "Her energy and commitment are unmatched. "Through her exhibits and events, Lyndsay provides venues for women's initiatives, conservation, Latino resources, children and more. Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary does so much more than support the arts," Christel said. "There are few concepts Lyndsay won't consider. Artists are activists, and Lyndsay's personal brand of activism furthers and supports our ever-diversifying arts community."

The Cultural Council of Jackson Hole invites everyone to attend the 14th Annual Award for Creativity Celebration from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 11 at Dancers' Workshop Studio 1 in the Center for the Arts. McCandless will be honored at the free event, which will include hors d'oeuvres, wine and live music.

Kingswood, Hood interpret wildlife art

JH News&Guide | Jack Murray

Tradition wildlife art and abstract style are two things that don't usually go together in the worlds of painting and sculpture. This blending of forms is exactly what Ron Kingswood and Barry Hood bring to Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary. Their work will be featured during a reception from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Friday for the First Friday event. Hood will be present at the reception.

Ron Kingswood dabbled in traditional wildlife art early in his professional career and only recently began exploring the abstract qualities of nature. His early work help the conceptual design he employs today but was rooted in more conventional representations of nature; featuring realistic animals, if not the actual landscape. But Kingswood's latest series explores the essence of the environment as opposed to the literal interpretation of it.

"The excitement in painting lies not in the executing of perfect likeness of images," Kingswood said. "There is one constant thread that has persisted throughout my work and that is nature itself. These visions of the landscape have only to be unearthed by wandering and roaming familiar refuges."

Indeed, there is a spiritual sense to his work. It is not a portrait of nature so much as a feeling. Kingswood utilizes large-scale canvases and open space to immerse the observer in the scene. The rough lines of reds, browns, blacks and yellows from his brush stand against a mosaic of a background. Gallery owner Lyndsay McCandless describes him as a "master with muted colors," and nowhere is this more apparent than in the powerful backdrops of his paintings. Kingwood finds strength in the swirling seas of white, blue and gray, creating a seemingly endless and beautiful overcast sky.

He makes no attempt to hide the erratic, scratchy strokes he makes. This rawness is part of what McCandless likes about his paintings. "His work is about gestures, about paring nature down to its essence," she said. "You can almost see him in the studio, imagine his movements and his marks."

Kingswood's style makes his paintings almost interactive in that there is no literal interpretation, only what the observer brings to the paintings. This type of work has to be felt as much as witnessed, and that is the core of his unification of abstract and wildlife art.

Bringing the same type of interactive art to First Friday is Barry Hood and his sculptures in glass. Using a unique process, Hood creates molds for his sculptures using the environment. This may mean pouring molten glass into a mold made from a tree trunk, or letting the glass settle over sprigs of grass or reeds to produce visual recesses in large panels.

Hood uses his art as a way to connect the onlooker back to the environment. "This is visual art that isn't meant to be talked about, it's supposed to be absorbed," he said. "The most important ingredient is that it involves the viewer."

The luxury of being able to touch the pieces and the natural aspects in the work remind us of our impact on the environment. Hood wants the viewer to appreciate and care for the environment through his art. Whether it's a frosty, multicolored hunk formed in a tree, or a clear, multipanel hanging piece, the texture is formed and embedded with organic features, giving the sculptures an utterly natural feel.