Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon Coast today. (Lincoln City, OR) 2005-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 2019)
artsy Gallery hosts student show From left: Tyler Perus, Savannah Duncan and Cade Bybee Students from the Taft High Art program will display an exhibit of their recent work at the Pacific Artists’ Co-op Gallery in Lincoln City, with an opening reception this Friday, Dec. 13. The reception will run from 5 to 7 pm, offering light refreshments and the chance to chat with the young artists. The exhibit showcases the students’ exploration of various media, resulting in surreal collage imagery, colorful storyboards, linoleum stamp carving, digital design techniques and more, offering a host of new perspectives. The Taft High Art program consists of one fine arts class and two digital design classes. Students explore projects from clay sculpture and painting to 3D printing, digital fabrication and t-shirt screen printing. The program is fueled by student leadership, engagement and creativity. The exhibit will be on display throughout December, available to view from 10 am to 5 pm daily at 620 NE Highway 101. In the early ‘90s Bailey took a long break from making images to pursue a new career and raise a family. He works at University of Oregon as an administrator unrelated to art or photography. In 2009, he resumed his personal photography with the steam plant project, which concluded in 2015. Bailey had just begun a project of the Eugene Civic Stadium just weeks before it burned to the ground. He is currently working on a portfolio entitled “Eugene Civic Stadium — The Last Days.” The show will run through Monday, Jan. 6, at the Chessman Gallery, located inside the Lincoln City Cultural Center at 540 NE Hwy. 101. For more information, call 541-994-9994 Full steam ahead Chessman Gallery’s new show is generating excitement The raw beauty of mid-century industrial design is the focus of a new exhibit by photographer James Bailey, opening at Lincoln City’s Chessman Gallery this Friday, Dec. 13. “EWEB Steam Plant — A Photographic Study” by James Bailey chronicles three decades of early industrial design at a Eugene Water and Electric Board steam power plant that has been preserved in a pristine state for 20 years. Friday’s opening reception will run from 5 to 7 pm, offering the chance to view the artwork and chat with fellow art lovers while enjoying wine and light refreshments The plant, located on the Eugene Riverfront, was constructed in phases from 1930 to 1952 and designed to serve as backup power generation for the utility’s hydroelectric plants. It continues to be protected from deterioration and is considered surplus property. Some areas of the plant are intact, but other large areas have been removed for purposes of decontamination. The plant is now decommissioned and listed for sale. Bailey’s photographic work from the plant is most closely aligned with the industrial landscape genre of photography. “Industrial spaces, particularly from the early- to mid-20th Century, are created almost entirely with function in mind,” he said. “Form follows function and while some consideration may be given to the aesthetics of given machine, the work space as a whole has, at best, random and untended aesthetics.” “Spaces created with little or no regard to visual aesthetics generate their own aesthetics,” he added. “Photography can make accidental visual aesthetics intentional ones and present them to a viewer. Regardless of how austere an industrial space may be, it consists of shape, texture, light and shadow and that is fertile ground for a visual artist.” Bailey was born into a photographic household. His mother operated a small portrait and wedding studio in southern Indiana. His interest in personal photography developed in high school when he was attracted to the abandoned farms in the neighboring countryside. He earned an MFA in photography from Ohio University and went on to complete a one-year residential workshop with photographer Minor White. He was a teaching assistant at Ansel Adams’ 1976 Yosemite workshops and taught photography in the California Community College System from 1975 to 1985. oregoncoastTODAY.com • facebook.com/oregoncoasttoday • December 13, 2019 • 7
