Maybe not everyone’s first choice on a Saturday night would be to attend an art opening, but just the thought of mingling with other art lovers while sipping a glass of wine and listening to live piano music in the background thrilled me.
It wasn’t my Beloved’s first choice either, but he indulged me on the promise of ice cream treat on the way home.
Window dressing at the downtown show.
Even if art openings aren’t your thing, maybe you’ll appreciate a quick peek at the show that opened last week at the Yuma Art Center. Minus the wine and ice cream.
Among the works I took in was the microscopic photography of Robert Schaal. His portion of the show was titled “Hidden Beauty,” and indeed he revealed the unseen loveliness that surrounds us.
Agave Rising by Robert Schaal
Because it was an opening instead of simply an art show, I got to meet the artists behind the works. Schaal told me he places slices of household items–an agave plant, in the case above–on a microscope slide, adjusts the lighting to his liking and takes a picture. He then chooses the crop and orientation and names it. Many of his pieces look like otherworldly landscapes. It’s hard to remember one’s looking at a microscopic slice of something.
I appreciated the abstract nature of the prints, but the concrete thinker in me appreciated the exhibit didactics.
Here are a few more pieces:
The Red Tear and Desert Evening
The Pinwheel
Two other artists also showed works at the opening. I found them less cerebral, but interesting nonetheless.
Hector D. Llamas offered “Las Damas de Llamas,” a blend of futurism and traditional Mexican culture.
Where Secrets Turn Into Dreams by Hector D. Llamas
And Tyler Voorhees showed “Tall Tales,” sort of a surrealistic approach to western art.
Draw by Tyler Voorhees
I appreciated Voorhees’ sense of humor, evident in his exhaustive exhibit didactics and even in his signature which embraces his initials. He told me the control buttons on the TV represent his children.
The show represented dichotomy: microscopic landscapes, modern tradition, Old West surrealism. So often, Saturday night is a one-note soiree, but this art offered the flip side of things.
