Rick Bartow: Self Portrait and Dream
July 15 - August 29
Opening Reception: July 17th, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Remarks by Karen Murphy at 6 pm
First Friday Artwalk, August 7th, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Karin Clarke Gallery is proud to present a large exhibit by one of Oregon's most admired artists Rick Bartow (1945-2016).
Gallerist Karin Clarke worked closely with the Bartow Trust to select a large and stunning range of works including pastel drawings, monotypes, lithographs, and drypoint prints, which are being framed especially for this exhibit. Self-portraits, birds, Native American figures, and animals are among the subjects. Because the estate is rapidly being sold and museums are actively collecting the work, we are lucky to have pulled together such an appealing and exciting collection.
Bartow was a member of the Wiyot tribe from Northwestern California. Widely collected in the Northwest in the course of his over forty-year career, Bartow has attracted national attention, and is represented in many museum collections, notably a commissioned sculpture for the Smithsonian/National Museum of the American Indian in New York. A wide range of cultural and life experiences inspired Rick Bartow's drawings, paintings, sculpture, and prints. Native American transformation myths are the heart of much of his work. Bartow lived and worked on the Oregon coast, where he observed hawks, ravens, eagles, and crows - the subjects that populate his artwork.
This year, exciting events continue to develop in the legacy of Rick Bartow. The impressive exhibit Rick Bartow: Storyteller continues in the Portland Art Museum's new Rothko Pavillion through December 2027. His work - including a major drawing featured in our gallery last year - will be shown at the Wheelwight Museum’s exhibit (Santa Fe) this fall. His largest painting, The Magical Mind of Rural America, was permanently installed in the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums, and works continued to be acquired by museums across the country. In May, The Rick Bartow Studio was dedicated at the Yakona Nature Preserve at the Oregon Coast.
Join us for an opening reception on Friday, July 17 th., when Bartow Trustee Karen Murphy will speak about Rick's legacy and the components that the Trust has supported over the last ten years since his passing. Trust Manager, Wilder Schmaltz, will also be in attendance.
