BY KAREN BOSSICK
Cuban-born artist Julie Figueroa Beltran will take you on a fantastic journey into a land where highways run underwater as jellyfish float in the background.
Sun Valley artist Mimi Stuart, who paints for celebrities, will unveil two new expressionist paintings—“Flying Gold,” which was inspired by the worldwide quest for the Olympic dream, and “Yes She Can,” inspired by a young girl named Bess Coleman who a century ago dreamed to become an aviatrix and went on to become a world-class barnstormer known as Queen Bess.
And painter Lloyd Martin will mark his debut solo in the American West as Ketchum galleries stage their President’s Week Gallery Walk tonight.
Galleries will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. tonight—Friday, Feb. 16—offering refreshments.
Here are some of the highlights:
BROSCHOFSKY GALLERIES, 360 Courtyard—Featuring new works by Ken Peloke, known for his equine portraits.
GAIL SEVERN GALLERY, 400 First Avenue North-Featuring the encaustics of Rana Rochat, whose encaustic paintings explore abstraction based on an intuition and instinct. Also, Sheila Gardener’s stunning oil and watercolor portraits of Hell Roaring Creek, the Big Wood River and other local scenes.
The gallery is also featuring Marcia Myers’ frescoes on linen, Linda Christensen’s figurative paintings that deal with life’s everyday occurrences, Pamela DeTuncq’s playful taxidermy, David deVillier’s richly symbolic paintings, Bean Finneran’s hand-rolled ceramic sculptures and Laura McPhee’s images of the Northwest and Calcutta.
LIPTON FINE ARTS, Featuring “Art of Equus,” contemporary photographs by Tori Gagne, who created images at U.S. wild horse sanctuaries, barns in her native state of Minnesota, at stud farms in Italy and in the Carmargue region of France where she photographed the sturdy white horses that live in the marshy delta of the Rhone River.
Her series “Moonlit Dance,” for instance, depicts the horse in an unusual world of dreams and magic. Gagne will be present during Gallery Walk, and proceeds from Gallery Walk sales will benefit Swiftsure Ranch Therapeutic Equestrian Center.
“My personal relationship with a rescued racehorse has led me deeper into the world of the horse,” said Gagne. “Being with a horse and photographing them is a kind of therapy for me, a way to express myself. Beyond their obvious beauty, grace and power, there is the fact that horses and riding teach trust, forgiveness, patience, respect and emotional control among other things.”
KETCHUM INNOVATION CENTER, 311 1st Ave. North—Featuring the EOS Expressionist Art by Artist of Energy Mimi Stuart, who will be there to talk about her work, while her amiable husband Charlie pours wine, water, and doling out cheese, crackers and desserts.
There also will be a pop-up bazaar, Markt 208 and 5B Vino Valet.
Stuart’s art has been featured at the Museum of Flight and it occupies the homes of many celebrities.
Proceeds from sales will go to daughter Hayley’s new group film project about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Hayley Stuart introduced the subject during her TEDxTalk on mega-dams in September 2017 and will have her handcrafted basketry for sale to further the cause.
The film, titled “Still River, Silent Jungle,” will focus on a female-led whitewater expedition on the Tuichi River in the Bolivian Amazon. The expedition was designed to raise awareness of socio-ecological conflicts caused by two proposed mega-dams—the Chepete and Bala, which would flood a thousand square kilometers of Amazon rainforest, displacing 53 indigenous communities.
FRIESEN GALLERY, Sun Valley Road at First Avenue—Renowned American painter Lloyd Martin is marking his debut solo show with Friesen. The exhibit, “AMBIT,” also marks his first solo exhibition in the Western United States.
Martin is internationally known for his rhythmically constructed abstract painting, which offer a sense of movement and flow via bright-hued lush colors. Architectural structure gives his paintings a sense of gravity and his chemistry of elements act as meditations.
GILMAN CONTEMPORARY, 661 Sun Valley Road—David Burdeny’s aerial photographs of salt ponds and bodies of water show the Great Salt Lake near Salt Lake City as you’ve probably never seen it before. He also captures the crisp white sands and blue rivers of Brazil with his eye for a minimalist palette. The abstract presentations appear closely akin to paintings of the 1950s and 1960s, making viewers wonder whether they’re looking at a painting or photograph.
The gallery will also feature Laura Schiff Bean’s exhibition, “Untold Stories.” Bean, who is known for her dress portraits, reflects on today’s world and the amount of distraction and noise we’re subjected to as indicated by the letters that seem to escape from the folds of the dresses.
KNEELAND GALLERY, 271 First Avenue North--The President’s Day Weekend walk will feature an exhibition titled “Beyond the Surface.” It features the work of Sun Valley artist Lori McNee, known for both still lifes and plein air art of local landscapes that are opulent and color and texture and rich in symbolism.
Shanna Kunz, a Utah artist, is showing different interpretations of the landscape of her area highlighted by the play of mood, light and color.
And Silas Thompson, an Idaho painter, has contributed paintings that capture the mountains and high desert vistas of Idaho in a distinctive impressionist style. Thompson’s passion for painting was instilled at an early age by his parents and nurtured under an apprenticeship under acclaimed plein air painter Robert Moore, who lives near the Snake River Canyon.
All artists will be present.
HARVEY ART PROJECTS, 659 Sun Valley Road—The gallery is offering little gems of contemporary aboriginal art, including Tiger Yaltangki’s unique representation of a water tank, Mabel Juli’s “Moon Dreaming,” and Jimmy Pompey’s “Cowboy Story”—Australian style.
Its new exhibit, “Winter Blue,” features selected artists from Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. Among them: Ray Ken, Wakartu Cory Surprise, Nyarapayi Giles, Esther Giles and Pepai Jangala Carroll.
SUN VALLEY CENTER FOR THE ARTS, Fifth and Washington streets—“This Land is Whose Land?” exhibition offers photographs and art that were prompted by the global and local conversations about refugees and immigration. Angie Smith, a Los Angeles-based artist, has contributed portraits and stories of refugees who have settled in Boise a fter leaving their homes in Africa and Southeast Asia.
Fazal Sheikh, uses photography to document the lives of people living in refugee camps that have been in place for decades. Shiva Ahmadi, a Tehran-born artist creates hand-drawn works inspired by Middle Eastern creative traditions and the Syrian refugee crisis.
And Tiffany Chung uses sculpture, embroidery, photography and film to explore the complex relationships between political, economic and environmental factors that can trigger refugee crises.
MESH GALLERY, 4th and Leadville Avenue—Presenting “Poppies for Patriots,” an American flag boasting 3 glass-blown poppies that is being auctioned off to benefit Higher Ground Sun Valley’s therapeutic recreation programs for wounded warriors. Also, photographs of local landscapes by Jeff and Kyle Lubeck, Ed Cannady, Tori Taglio and others.
WOOD RIVER FINE ARTS, 360 East Avenue in The Courtyard—Featuring award winning artists from the annual Masters of the American West Show at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles.
FREDERIC BOLOIX FINE ARTS, 4th and Leadville Avenue in The Galleria—Featuring Cuban-born artist Julio Figueroa Beltrain’s fantastical imagery of highways under water with giant flying orchids and more. Also, works by Latin American artists Jose Bedia, Gustavo Acosta and Julio Larraz.
STONE ART GALLERY, 631 East Second Avenue behind Ton Notch—Featuring unfinished stone, fossils, hand carved tables and gem stone art created by Jeff Homchick, Zee Haag, Robert Cruce, Salvador Duran and Luigi Talara.
MOUNTAIN IMAGES GALLERY—Large-scale landscapes by James Bourret, along with works by Jerry Hadam of Saddletree Gallery and Ketchum photographer Diana Citret.