Last night I made it out the the Frye Art Museum in Seattle to check out the new show by Robyn O'Neil and Amy Helfand.

Last night I made it out the the Frye Art Museum to check out the new show by Robyn O'Neil and Amy Helfand, which goes on through July 30th, 2006. It's title: "Modern Nature."

I showed up for the members only night, and I must say, I am quickly finding out that the only people who become members at these types of things are usually in their late 90's and pushing. They mostly hang out by the free wine and munch on the french bread topped with fresh mozzarella, basil, and a slice of tomato, so at least it's not hard to get a close look at all the art. I've also found that they don't really pay attention to the "no food, no drink" rules in certain parts of the museum, but it's not like they're moving too fast for the guards.

Anyway, the museum does seem to crack down on the rules. Although they let me in as a non-member, not to mention supplying me with a press packet for the event, there was still to be absolutely no photography. Thank dog the packet came with all the images I'm about to show you.

First off, is Robyn O'neil. Apparently she started out making brightly colored paintings back in the day, but later decided to make these plain graphite drawings around 6 years ago. She says it gave her an escape from the "art people." Since then, she's shown her works in New York, Houston, the Whitney Biennial, and now here in Seattle. The series of drawings she had to show are of large landscapes, filled with bare trees, a few animals, and lots and lots of middle-aged men wearing matching tracksuits.

This first one is called "As Ye the sinister / Creep and feign / Those once held / Become those now slain" and is made up of three panels, overall measuring 90 x 150 3/4 inches. Here's some details down below.

See all the litte guys in tracksuits? I read somewhere in The Stranger that they're "modeled on her sweatsuit-clad father and his beer-swilling regular-guy friends."

Regular guy friends?

In the drawings, Robyn shows a picture of how the dull landscape and Mother Nature work together as a great equalizer, putting all of the men on equal footing. I know it's hard to see them in these images, but if you go and see the show, you'll see how primitive they look. Some of them even fight with sticks.

In "And then they were upon him," one guy's even getting stoned. heh heh. Getting stoned. heh.

"Sweet companions remain ignored, and now it is known – a nether sky" is 11 x 26 inches. It's hard for me to tell now, but I think there might be an atomic cloud on the left side of the nether sky. Do all the little guys on left look like they're wearing white, too? Must be a battle. I dunno for sure, but I'm at least assuming the dogs are the sweet companions.

Up above, some detail.

"And though your enemy may speak sweet, he and his approach with hate," is one of the smaller pieces at only 7 1/2 x 10 inches. It seems like the smaller the picture is, the more personal they become. For example, this is one of the only ones with a person in the foreground, and as the main subject.

"We are not okay, we cannot live like this anymore" has a few interesting things going for it. There's a couple guys on their hands and knees puking, a few guys being hung in trees, some guys are hugging, and also, there are five owls sitting on a branch, who are supposed to represent the artist’s innermost family circle. I don't know how the family members fit into all of this, but in the press release I was given, it states, "...The tracksuited protagonists of O’Neil’s meticulous landscapes behave badly, but they also show compassion for their fellow man. We find men hanging from gallows and trees in varying degrees of undress, raising weapons at one another, and being subjected to humiliation. However, we also find them seeking solace in the landscape or helping one another..."

Such is life!

"Conflict and worship, the latch won’t unbind"

"But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

No track stars in this one. "Portrait of a Moose"

"Paragon, Indiana on a Sunday"

"And he shall leave his brethren for that which is flawed and harmless"

Moving on, the other part of the show was made up of some prints and carpets done by Amy Helfand. There wasn't very much, and it didn't seem too spectacular, but here you go. The exhibition, which is Helfand’s museum premier, is inspired by the Wild Garden at Wave Hill, the famed public garden in the Bronx. Again, the title of the show, Modern Nature, seems to fit pretty well.

Plants for Hedge-banks and like Places, 7.5 x 10 inches, edition 3 of 8

Plants of vigorous habit for the Wild Garden, 11.5 x 18 inches

Plants suited for Dry and Gravelly Soil, 30 x 22.5 inches

Wild Garden Plan is a 5' x 7' rug made of Tibetan wool.

Before I sign off, I want to say thanks to T.J. Johnson, the Communication and Media Coordinator for the Frye Art Museum, for getting me all set up with this press stuff. Like I said before, this particular show runs through July 30th, but there are also 3 others going on. One's called "Swallow Harder: Selections from Ben and Aileen Krohn Collection" which ends May 14th. There are also two permanent collections to check out called "The Walser Greathouse Legacy" and "Spectatorship Desire."

I also want to mention that in August there will be a show featuring works by Henry Darger. Mark it on your calander. I think it's gonna be AMAZING.

The Frye Art Museum is free, always. Go check it out!

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