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July Issue 2009
Tyndall Galleries
in Chapel Hill, NC, Features Works by Gayle Stott Lowry
Tyndall
Galleries in Chapel Hill, NC, is presenting the exhibit, Iceland:
Land of Change and Volatility, featuring new oil paintings
by Gayle Stott Lowry, on view through July 18, 2009.
Gayle Stott Lowry's work is collected nationally by individuals and corporations alike and was recently acquired by the North Carolina Museum of Art. She studied Art and Primary Education at East Carolina University. Lowry continued her studies of painting with Wolf Kahn and Sidney Goodman and was awarded a Residency at the Vermont Studio Center. Hear art has been exhibited in shows at Meredith College, Duke University, the Fayetteville Museum of Art, the University of Virginia, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Lowry has also presented lectures at the Lucy Daniels Foundation, the Duke Museum of Art, the Mint Museum of Art, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, the Asheville Art Museum, and the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Institute.
Lowry offers the following artist's statement about this exhibition"
"In late August of 2008, I traveled to the remote, minimal, but exquisitely beautiful, country of Iceland. I wanted to explore the theme of living with forces beyond our control, on a personal and a collective level. Iceland's volatile climate and isolated geographical location appealed to me. Caught in a liminal state with environmental and technological changes taking place, Iceland seemed a perfect visual symbol of transformation for the landscape paintings I planned to create for this series entitled TRANSITIONS."
"Iceland is one of the last countries in Europe where, in spite of modernization, nature reigns independent. Nature appears to have a will independent of man, a will that the people have not managed to subjugate after centuries of effort. The history of Iceland up to the 20th century is the story of successive defeats by the raging elements, when volcanoes destroyed farms and farmland, pushing the inhabitants to the brink of starvation. Melting of the icecap by volcanic eruptions, created massive flooding, washing roads and bridges away."
"With the advent of 20th century technology, the harnessing of the seemingly limitless supplies of geothermal heating and hydroelectric power has offered Iceland the means to live more comfortably and efficiently. The conflict over whether to protect or harness these awesome forces inherent in Icelandic nature for the service of its inhabitants is a source of great debate."
"Due to the lack of pollution, the clarity of the water, air and light is remarkable. Iceland is a very pristine country and the Icelandic people go to great lengths to protect their environment, providing an important example for the rest of the world."
"Global warming greatly impacts their existence, as the melting icecaps raise ocean levels, eventually threatening their coastal areas, as well as many parts of the rest of the world. Their fishing industry, on which they are so dependent for food and income, already suffers from pollution and the changes in the ocean temperatures. But the increases in temperatures have lengthened their growing season, enabling them to raise more feed for livestock. The additional groundcover also helps impede the constant erosion of their hillsides and mountains."
"Conflicting emotions reside within the Icelanders regarding their land: veneration, fear, devotion, helplessness and pride. They refer to the weather as 'him', the worthy opponent, the eternal, faceless, cunning and deadly opponent. Iceland's maritime climate is noted for its changeability. In one location, weather conditions such as wind, rain, snow, hail and fog can occur within a single day."
"From the earliest days of settlement, a kind of animism has been endemic in Iceland. Their identity is linked with the land, personally naming the sacred mountains, hills, lakes, waterfalls, icecaps, glaciers and streams, thus linking them with eternity."
"Iceland is a land of fire and ice, tension and release. Massive waterfalls abound. Active volcanoes rear above lava plains and geothermal areas. There are numerous icecaps, some enormous, with glacial tongues flowing from them, and icebergs calving large chunks of themselves into glacial lagoons. Steep-sided fiords, formed by glaciers, punctuate the northwest and southeast coast. Beaches of black sand and deserts formed by lava create an otherworldly atmosphere."
"In my paintings of the Iceland, we are granted a glimpse of unadulterated, transcendental landscape. The bounteous flow and the fall of water recall eternity in flux. With these images of melting glaciers and waterfalls with their profusion of water cascading down, I am releasing what can't be controlled, while showing the enormous affect it is having on its surroundings. The unrelenting power of such release and the relief that results is made manifest in these images."
For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 919/942-2290 or visit (www.tyndallgalleries.com).
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