| "Life of Christ," an 11-foot-long woodcut by the late Clay Walker |
PERRYSBURG – Clay Walker’s art has come home.
Walker grew up in Sylvania in the 1930s and graduated from the University of Toledo. His work was shown
at the University of Toledo and at Bowling Green State University before leaving the area and gaining
notice nationally.
Then in 1968, he stopped showing his work, and became something of a recluse.
Now an exhibit of work by Walker, who died in 2008, has opened in River House Arts, a new art gallery in
downtown Perrysburg.
Run by husband and wife, William Jordan and Paula Baldoni, "Walker: Mid-20th Century Works on
Paper" is the inaugural show in the space, which had served solely as his photo studio. Using the
space, which they rent, for both a gallery and studio has been in the works for several years. They had
planned to open the gallery in spring, but then they discovered Walker’s work.
Through Robin Ballmer, of the Perrysburg Area Arts Council, they met and visited Lynne Walker, the
artist’s
sister, who lives in Toledo. "We looked at the works on the walls and were just blown away,"
Jordan said.
Though he worked in several media, and even designed his own homes, the core of Walker’s work is his
prints.
Baldoni noted that when he started creating prints at the Toledo Museum of Art, the museum didn’t have
printing facilities.
| Prints by the featured artist Clay Walker on display in the gallery. |
That couldn’t stop Walker. "Art really was the driving force of his life," Lynne Walker said.
He would even forget to eat.
Lynne and Clay Walker were on the opposite ends of a family of nine. He, the oldest, and she the
youngest. He was serving in the Army during World War II, when he learned
of the birth of his youngest sister.
Walker was strong-willed about his art. His sister remembered being at a show with him and complimenting
one of his paintings. The artist allowed that it was the most popular piece, then added, "I don’t
really like it."
He attended the University of Toledo on the G.I. Bill, and then Kent State. He taught at Oberlin before
heading west, first to Texas and then to California.
His prints were widely popular. Between 1954 and 1967, he exhibited in 200 shows, including a traveling
exhibit organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, said Perry Meyer, the gallery director
who is handling Walker’s work for his widow, Muriel.
The work now on exhibit in Perrysburg are prints from that period, though some date from earlier.
Some are bold constructions that evoke the those of the Abstract Expres-sionists. Others are blunt social
commentaries, depicting roughly hewn, human figures.
"Life of Christ,"
a woodcut stretches 11 feet long and 4 feet tall in the back wall, epitomizes that style.
It also shows Walker’s ingenuity. Meyer said he wasn’t sure how Walker managed to print that large a
print.
In 1968, Walker withdrew from the art scene, though he continued to create. He did still sell some work
to a limited number of friends, patrons and galleries.
| River House Arts (above) in Perrysburg opened its first exhibit with an evening reception last week. |
In part his retreat from view may have
been a reaction to physical problems. He suffered from arthritis and that forced some changes in his
work. But mostly it was a philosophical rejection of the very business of art.
At the time, art was becoming more of a commodity with marketing taking on heightened importance.
"He just got fed up with the whole business side of art," Meyer said.
"Nobody knows anything about him," Meyer said. That may have been very different "if a
gallery had picked him up and put him out there… Now the challenge is to put him on the map."
Meyer said when he first visited Walker’s studio outside of San Diego, Calif., he was
"overwhelmed" by the amount of work, some of it unsigned, some prints unnumbered.
Walker left 22 drawers stuffed with prints, Meyer said. He can’t even estimated a how many pieces there
are.
He also has five notebooks full of correspondence, which gives clues where other of his works may be.
The Perrysburg show represents the start of the process of rediscovery.
"Walker: Mid-20th Century Works on Paper" continues through Jan. 10 at the River House Arts,
115 W. Front St. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday
noon to 8 p.m.
