| River House Arts in Perrysburg is hosting retrospective exhibit through Jan. 25 (Photo courtesy of William Jordan) |
PERRYSBURG – It’s easy to be feel a little overwhelmed when walking into the main room in the River House
Arts for its Salon of Gallery Artists & Friends exhibit.
In true salon fashion the works are layered up the wall. A feast of color, texture and images – prints,
paintings, drawings, photos one on top of the other.
Large antique mirrors are positioned on the walls expanding the room, and adding another layer of images.
Then a single image – say one of the abstract burst of color by Nishiki Tayui – demands the viewer’s
attention, and closer study. Having found an purchase the eye moves from one piece to another, getting
lost in the details of each.
The salon show is a celebration of the gallery’s three years in existence.
The idea, said Paula Baldoni, who operates the gallery with her husband William Jordan, was to have a
retrospective on the artists who have shown in the gallery, plus a couple new discoveries.
She said she made the initial selection of what should be included, then Jordan and artist Sandra Jane
Heard installed the show. As they worked, Baldoni said, they "kept finding more and more art."
While the main room is hung salon style, the other spaces the gallery present in the art in a more
spacious way.
In all, 22 artists are represented by more than 170 works.
They include numerous pieces by the late Clay Walker. Walker grew up in Sylvania, before leaving to teach
in institutions around the country, and then settling in California.
A prolific creator of striking image, Walker had little interest in self-promotion. His work has
languished.
A rare exhibit of his work was the gallery’s first show in November, 2009. Now collectors are beginning
to catch up. The Toledo Museum of Art has purchased a Walker painting through River House, but it is not
yet on display.
Most of the works have already been shown at the gallery before including the spare color field paintings
and leather masks of Ivan Kende, the most recently exhibited artist at the gallery.
While there are a number of regional artists on display, a number have roots abroad.
Heard is from England, studied in California and now lives in Perrysburg. Her evocative sculptures
employing everyday objects marked a rebirth of her artistic endeavors.
The two artists are John Elkerr and Sayaka Ganz are shown at River House for the first time.
Elkerr, of An Arbor, Much., creates emotionally raw drawings of grotesque figures.
Ganz’s work created with recycled material is more familiar. One of her sculptures is in the Bowling
Green Community Center. She lived in Bowling Green for a time, and now lives in Indiana. In the show,
she has a sea bird fashioned from metal machine parts, and sea creatures made from old stainless steel
kitchen utensils.
Both pieces have a gracefulness that belies their material.
The show continues through Jan. 25.
Much of next year, Baldoni said, the gallery will be devoted to work by Native American artists, as a
counterpoint to the commemorations of the sieges at Fort Meigs.
Hours for the gallery at 115 W. Front St., are Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and by
appointment. Call (419) 874-8900.
