Selections from Dada Motel

Selections from Dada Motel
UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum, Las Vegas Jan 25 – March 21, 2008

Visitors to UNLV’s Marjorie Barrick Museum will have a chance to experience the work of Northern Nevada artists who took over downtown Reno last summer for what they called “a celebration of Reno's unlimited potential for absurdity.”

“Selections from the Dada Motel” features the work of 28 artists—representing media ranging from photography and animation, to sculpture and eggs—who participated in an independently organized three-day celebration of Reno art, dubbed “The Dada Motel,” last summer. Participants rented hotel rooms in and around the El Cortez Hotel in downtown Reno and organized eclectic displays of their work by turning the rooms into impromptu art galleries.

The exhibit runs from Jan. 25 through March 21 and is curated by Dada Motel participant Chad Sorg.

Bridges and Lakes, Backseat Gallery, Carson City April 1 – April 30, 2008

Bridges and Lakes Backseat Gallery, Carson City, April 1 – April 30, 2008

“Bridges and Lakes” an exhibit of small landscape drawings on paper by Reno artist Rossitza Todorova will be on display at the Backseat Gallery April 1 – April 30, 2008.

An Artist Reception will be held on Wed, April 2, 2008 from 5-7pm.

The Backseat Gallery is located inside Comma Coffee in Carson City's historic downtown district at 312 South Carson Street, across from the State Legislature Building

Sheppard Gallery Valentine’s Day Art Auction

Show some love
Sheppard Gallery Heart Art Auction
By Cherie Louise Turner
This article was published in the Reno News and Review on 02.07.08.

Every other year for the past 18, a special event has taken place around Feb. 14 that has everything to do with heart, art and giving, but nothing to do with awkward dates or diamond jewelry. It’s the Valentine’s Day Art Auction, a silent auction and raffle to benefit UNR’s Sheppard Gallery. It’s the gallery’s only fundraiser.

This year, for the ninth biennial auction, roughly 90 artists are represented. All work is currently on show at the gallery. Most of the artists, like Eunkang Koh, Tamara Scronce, J. Damron, Robert Brown, Anthony Alston, Ahren Hertel and Rebekah Bogard are from Northern Nevada, though a handful of out-of-towners, like Polly Apfelbaum and Fawn Krieger, have contributed as well.

Each artist has donated an original piece of work that will go to the highest bidder, with the proceeds going to Sheppard Gallery.

Though artists are allowed to create whatever they wish, many stuck to a heart theme. Works range from handmade books to sculpture, paintings to prints.

Larry Williamson’s piñon pine creation, “Hearts ‘o’ Plenty–Great Basin Cupid with a Little Touch of the Devil,” is a wood-carved wall sculpture featuring red hearts and a figure with arms open and placed at center.

Hertel’s painting, “Puncture” depicts a hummingbird poking at the bubbly output of a tentacled water creature. Apfelbaum created the flowery, “Valentine Bouquet.”

Leah Ruby donated a handmade book titled Wallpaper Sample Book for Couples. The pages resemble Rorschach inkblot tests—mirror images joined in the middle.

A limited edition print by artist and UNR professor Michael Sarich will be put up on the block.
The artist Renate’s piece, “Delicious,” is “a series of five sets of wax lips on which shiny little beads have been carefully adhered.”

A number of pieces point toward the harsher, darker side of the emotional scale; several featuring bullet imagery. Among such fierce works is Damron’s “Untitled,” from the series Red Lips, War Paint, Half a Horse, which makes its pointed statement with a finely crafted spike atop a beautiful block of oak.

Bidding starts at $45. At the last auction, the highest winning bid for any work was $400. Given the quality of the work and résumés of the artists represented, such cash outlays practically constitute a fire sale.

Not surprisingly, this is a great event at which to cut your art-buying teeth, and for the more involved art collector, it’s a fabulous chance at some stunning buys. To win, you should be present and ready to bid, though you can send a representative, or give the gallery your highest bid in cash or check beforehand.

Event organizer Kathy Wood expects a crowd of 300 or more and, she says, the bidding gets wild up to the last seconds.

Raffle prizes include dinner at the Peppermill or Sushi Pier 2, a gift certificate to Se7en Teahouse, Steamboat Springs, or a bottle of wine from Whispering Vine.

Bidding goes all week starting Feb. 4, with the auction, raffle and party starting around 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 8.

copyright © 2008 Reno News and Review