May 3 - June 2, 2012

THE LAURA RUSSO GALLERY IS PLEASED TO PRESENT:

Tom Cramer: New Work

Jackie K. Johnson: Recent Paintings

OPENING RECEPTION:
First Thursday May 3, 2012
First Thursday Hours, 5-8pm


Tom Cramer


Tom Cramer
Still Life    2012
oil and woodburning on birch plywood
27.5" x 26.25"

The gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new wood carvings and wood burnings by Portland artist Tom Cramer. His distinctive creations dynamically explore semi-abstract line and energetic color. Cramer’s frequent travels and wide-ranging interests guide his artistic process and the enigmatic designs of his work. Technology and the patterns of the natural world also seep into his creative process. The results are visually dense carved, painted and sometimes burned wood panels. Whether carved and painted wood reliefs or wood burnings, Cramer’s works captivate the eye with the mystery of their interwoven shapes and subtly shifting colors, sometimes hinting at recognizable images, and other times embracing rhythmic abstraction.

Well-known Portland artist Tom Cramer graduated from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 1982 and then studied at the Pratt Institute in New York. He has shown his work since the mid-1970s and was included repeatedly in the Portland Art Museum’s Oregon Biennials in the 1980s and 1990s . His work is included in the collections of the Portland Art Museum, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Salem, the University of Portland, and the University of Oregon; Microsoft Corporation and Whatcom County Museum of Art in Washington; and the Boise Art Museum in Idaho. His commissions include costume and set design for the Oregon Ballet Theater and Ballet Pacifica, as well as a recent mural project for Nike Corporation. His distinctive painted designs can be seen on murals and vehicles across the Portland metropolitan region.

More examples by Tom Cramer


Jackie K. Johnson



Jackie K. Johnson
Pick Up Sticks    2012
oil on canvas
48.75 " x 60.75"

Jackie K. Johnson has a long tradition of using a variety of evocative, totemic forms and sophisticated color to explore the twists and turns of her lived experience. Witnessing and experiencing the turmoil of personal loss, political upheaval, and the stresses of life on the body, Johnson channels her responses into her paintings. Her latest work reflects on the complexity of urban life in the 21st century. Densely packed images suggest bridges that morph into ladders and again, perhaps, into a striding figure. Natural shapes such as leaves and fish intersect with more industrial forms like smoke stacks or apartment houses. Several paintings have fragments tumbling away from the center, hinting at debris falling, but gently with some rhythm and intent. Overall, these paintings give a unique sense of moving through time and space, with intersections of motion and stillness, stability and instability, those things which in combination make up a life.

A native of Oregon and a graduate of the Pacific Northwest College of Art, Jackie Johnson made New York City her home from 1978 to 1993 where she worked and exhibited her paintings. She has been included in a number of gallery and museum invitationals such as the Blair Art Museum and the Johnstown Art Museum in Pennsylvania, the Academy of Art in Easton, Maryland, and 55 Mercer Street Gallery in New York. Her work is part of collections including the City of Portland, Meyer Memorial Trust, Oregon Health and Science University, Safeco Corporation and the Portland Art Museum.

More examples by Jackie K. Johnson