Rick Bartow: Absinthe Dream

Karin Clarke Gallery is proud to present an exhibit of 30 prints from the late Newport artist Rick Bartow. Bartow was one of the nation's most prominent contemporary Native American artists, known for his large and powerful pastel works and equally fascinating sculpture. Central to

Bartow's work is the theme of transformation, particularly between the human and animal realms, often juxtaposing corporeal and spiritual dimensions of existence.

 

In 2015, the year before he died, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) produced a 40-year retrospective of Bartow's work entitled Things You Know but Cannot Explain, which has now traveled to 11 museums around the country and has furthered his reputation and collectability.

 

JSMA Curator Danielle Knapp writes in the monograph that accompanied the exhibit, "The prints' smaller scale might seem, at first, unexpected in a body of work that includes much grander visual expressions; but in Bartow's hands, the smaller, more tightly composed works carry the same emotional weight and vitality as his larger works on canvas and paper." We are thrilled to showcase some of the best of these small prints as well as a number of larger, bolder works in this exhibit.

 

The gallery will have hard-cover books Things You Know But Cannot Explain available for sale during the exhibit ($50).

 

We thank Portland's Froelick Gallery for working with us to make this exhibit possible.