Enjoying contemporary art

Shy Rabbit's all-inclusive show probes art in the aftermath of modernity

by Jules Masterjohn

Artist Kathy Disner’s “Grace Under Pressure,” part of the Shy Rabbit’s “The ART of it ALL 2” exhibit, on display through Jan. 11

A visit to Shy Rabbit Contemporary Arts in Pagosa Springs is always a welcome immersion into contemporary art—art that poses questions and speaks for the unique time and place in which it is created. A gallery dedicated to contemporary art is rare in our geographically isolated region yet Shy Rabbit has flourished for nearly 10 years. Located on the west side of Pagosa in a tastefully converted warehouse, Shy Rabbit has become a mecca for seekers of contemporary art.
The current exhibition, “The ART of it ALL 2,” is an all-media, international juried exhibition that fills the walls of Shy Rabbit’s two main galleries with 90 works by 46 makers from 15 states. Michael Coffee, juror of the show and co-owner of Shy Rabbit with his spouse Denise Coffee, waded through 450 submissions from 145 artists from 24 states, Canada, U.K., Italy and South Korea. While half of the works included in the show are by Colorado artists, and a handful are from Pagosa Springs, none of the international submissions were selected.
As I walked into Shy Rabbit, my attention immediately moved to five oil paintings by Pagosa Springs artist Kathie Disner. From across the room, these works dominate the wall with their extreme contrast of light and shadow. Up close, each painting reveals a lusciously painted and realistically rendered vintage tool, such as a metal clamp, griping a delicate porcelain teacup amidst a black background. The background acts as a stage for the interaction between the tool and cup. Adding to the drama, the tools are bathed in soft shadow and the teacups emanate a heavenly light.

Disner’s paintings can be seen as allegories for the relationship between our vulnerability and our invincibility. In “Grace Under Pressure,” for example, the use of visual metaphors – the cup embodying fragile beauty and the vice personifying brute strength – creates a poetic and meaningful avenue for contemplation of our human experience.
The paintings by Nebraska artist Sandra Williams also use visual imagery to tell a story. “Manufactured Animal #1” portrays an edible landscape where a teddy bear-sized chocolate rabbit towers over a sea of colorful jellybeans, foil-covered eggs and deformed sugar chicks. The painting’s edge is framed in a putty-like material that reminds me of melting chocolate and the painting’s surface is drenched in a clear resin reminiscent of the cellophane commonly found wrapping an Easter basket. A playful rendition of, perhaps, a child’s dream, Williams entices us to not think too much but rather to simply enjoy the sweet, visual feast.
Another Pagosa Springs artist, Linda Echterhoff, presents work from her series, Sentimental Despair. Ghostly and magical at the same time, her cast-bronze sculpture “And Then One,” depicts three white kiwi vines draped with small portions of croqueted doilies that appear to float on the wall.
Echterhoff begins her creative process with actual kiwi vines found in their natural state and adds portions of doilies to the vines so they look like “dying leaves at end of the vine." Once the work meets her satisfaction, both visually and viscerally, the sculptures are taken to a commercial foundry in Texas to be cast in bronze using a technique called the lost wax process. This ancient technique results in an identical replica of the original object. Echterhoff finishes the sculptures with a white patina, emphasizing the intricate texture of the forms and reinforcing their feather-light impression.

Sandra Williams’ visual treat, “Manufactured Animals #1.”

So, why would an artist use kiwi vines and doilies? Both objects are made of organic fibers and will decay readily. This reality – the lack of permanence in all things – was posing some existential dilemmas for Echterhoff, so she used the creative process to work through her feelings about life’s temporary nature. The result is her Sentimental Despair series. Ironically, she has created an object that will survive her and will most likely be around for thousands of years.

With such engaging and thought-provoking contemporary works in the gallery, I was surprised to see the inclusion of others that, by most definitions, would not be considered within the genres of “contemporary” or “fine" art. The presence of Todd Condon’s meticulously crafted replicas of Early American-style side chairs and Valentina Bezney’s Ukrainian-inspired painted rhea eggs puzzled me. Then I remembered the title of the show.

 “The ART of it ALL 2” does live up to its name as an inclusive showing of numerous styles, genres, and mediums by makers from here and beyond. And, perhaps by this inclusivity, it dilutes Shy Rabbit Contemporary Arts’s distinction as a “Contemporary Oasis,” as stated on its website.
Consider the words of art history professor and author Terry Smith. In his book, What is Contemporary Art?, he writes, “In the aftermath of modernity, art has indeed only one option: to be contemporary. But 'being contemporary' these days means much more than a mindless embrace of the present. Of course all newly forged art is of its moment, and of its time, but perhaps never before has art been made within such a widespread sense that currency and contingency is all that there is in the world, all that there ever may be.”