12
JANUARY 19�26, 2022
MIXED MEDIUM
THE ARTS AROUND
EASTERN OREGON
Walla Walla artists explore traditions of painting
Show by Andrew and Emily
Somoskey in Nightingale
Gallery runs through Feb. 9
Go! staff
L
A GRANDE — The Night-
ingale Gallery at Eastern
Oregon University begins winter
term with an exhibition by Walla
Walla artists Andrew and Emily
Somoskey.
Their exhibition, titled “Vis-
à-vis,” opened Jan 14 in Night-
ingale Gallery, located in Loso
Hall room 106 on the campus of
Eastern Oregon University. The
show runs through Feb. 9.
Nightingale Gallery is open
11 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through
Friday. Proper face coverings
are required of all campus
visitors and social distancing is
encouraged.
“Vis-à-vis” consists of a va-
riety of works that explore and
expand upon the traditions of
painting. Emily’s mixed-media
work on canvas integrates
layers of paint and collaged
digital prints, while Andrew’s
includes oil painting on canvas,
wall-based installation and
vinyl collage.
The French term “vis-à-vis”
originally referred to a carriage
where passengers faced one
another, and came to describe
two entities in opposition or
working alongside one another.
Its direct translation refers to
two things that are face-to-
face. This proximity generates a
dialogue that inspires and drives
the exhibition.
Both Emily and Andrew hail
from Ohio and earned MFA
degrees from Michigan State
University. They now nurture
student artists at Whitman Col-
lege in Walla Walla, Washington.
“‘Vis-à-vis’ encourages
viewers to explore Emily and
Andrew’s complex, layered
compositions, as well as en-
gage in the ongoing dialogue of
the two artists’ works,” Gallery
Director Cory Peeke said.
Both Emily and Andrew’s
work examines the ways in
which we navigate transitional
spaces and the systems within
our environments through the
language of abstraction.
“The systems I reference
within my process center
around textual and symbolic
language. They also refer to the
history of abstraction,” Andrew
said.
While Andrew’s work is
based in encoding and decod-
ing text, and Emily’s mixed-
media work is based in the
pieces and fragments from the
world itself, they both ask, “How
do we navigate the familiar and
respond to the unknown?”
“My work gives form to the
complexity, instability, and
enigmatic nature of our lived
experiences,” Emily said.
For more information, visit
eou.edu/art or follow the Night-
ingale Gallery on Facebook and
Instagram.
Work by Andrew and Emily Somoskey is now on exhibit at EOU’s Nighingale Gallery.
11am-8pm Tuesday-Saturday