Serendipity and Family Favorites Found at Benko Art Gallery
Group Show Opening Saturday October 15, 2016 - 6 to 10 pm
Since arriving in Tahoe this summer, the word serendipity often finds its way into conversation. Coming from San Francisco, I did expect to find Tahoe to be a haven for crafters and artisans of all types, with much of the focus on nature and natural materials. Make Tahoe was launched to document the discovery and activities of these local artists and seemed a natural shift in focus from our previous website, San Francisco Art Magazine, which explored the local emerging artist scene in the City. Art that was featured typically contained subject matter that engaged the viewer in a dialogue about internal processes, societal issues or technology’s effect on either. The art often elicited an emotional reaction that was not necessarily comfortable but was necessary.
Here in Tahoe, the mood is more welcoming. Even dealing with the difficult issues of climate change, human encroachment, habitat destruction, and depletion of natural resources, themes are typically dealt with in artistic presentation that feels good and reminds you that you are not all bad simply because you are human.
Pocket Knife by Steve Southerland
(Painting by Chelsea Kosta shown behind gallery visitors)
Off we went in South Lake Tahoe, exploring art and nature when we walked into Benko Art Gallery at 3979 Lake Tahoe Boulevard. And there it was - serendipity. I don’t know if SanFranTahoe exists, but if it does, Benko Art Gallery may be it. Here you will find everything from a live art performance (a painter creating as you watch) to works created using natural materials elevated to high art to pieces depicting the environment preserved for your pleasure through high tech media to works that explore internal and societal conflicts that interest, excite and may even disturb you - all reminding you that just because it’s Tahoe, it’s not always a vacation.
We met the owners of Benko Art Gallery, Chelsea Kosta and John Benko. They too have relocated from San Francisco and made room for Tahoe's local emerging artists and exceptional crafters. You may already know John Benko from his iconic paintings depicting larger than life Pinecones. The various local conifer cones are abstracted but contain so much detail you can almost feel the sap on the sharp tips and smell the pine. Chelsea Kosta creates luxuriously sensual layers of paint for those of us drawn to color and texture, which seem to echo the feeling of watching the surface of Lake Tahoe.
At the opening of the group show, I unleashed my family to sniff things out for themselves. As expected, my elementary school aged son and daughter were immediately attracted to the performance element. They talked with the live artist, Jake Gillispie, who was painting a new work near the entrance. Jake Gillispie often works in recycled materials and paint. The kids explored the characters within and were excited to see a painting coming to life.
The kids did not join in the act of painting itself, but they did join a couple performing on a keyboard in the gallery’s loft. Not a traditional musical group, Tristan and Lynn were a couple that bonded through music. Lynn had never performed in public before. She and her partner in music and life invited the gallery guests to explore the keyboard and add to the visitor experience. They could not be more welcoming and the soundtrack couldn’t have been more fitting as others also joined in the creation of the evening’s synergistic musical background. When I asked them how they became the musical guests for the evening, they told us they were not from the Tahoe area. They were just passing through and it was serendipity that they met up with the gallery owners.
As soon as we were feeling all warm and fuzzy from these wonderful and beneficial encounters, things began to get edgy in a big way. I saw my husband checking out his favorite find of the evening - Pocketknife by Steve Southerland. In contrast to its name, this extraordinarily ordinary “pocket” knife was larger than my children. With its blade wide open, inviting you examine it’s apparent working parts, my maternal instinct elicited a sharp, “don’t touch!”
The kids were also curious about the mechanical steampunk sculptures by Jason Woodcock. The exposed wooden gears revealed the inner workings of these curious contraptions with their inner thoughts in action. My son’s favorite was the Spider. The Spider had a large, breakable light bulb of a thorax seated in a durable metal exoskeleton. The sculpture began weaving possibilities in my youngster’s brain that mirrored the imaginative arachnid - fragile and capable of exploding into innumerable small, sharp fragments but not wholly destructible. My daughter then leaned toward another piece of glass, a sand blasted bead by Sam Ruderman with the image off the Tree of Life fused on its surface. She told me this was her favorite item in the gallery. These beautiful beads are called Earth Tokens, with a hollow center and hole drilled through so they can be worn or a cord, allowing you to take your roots wherever you go.
Tree of Life Earth Token
by Sam Ruderman
Just like all my kids are my favorite, I can’t pick just one artist in this show. Headed back downstairs from the loft I was stunned by the view of Iggy Strbac’s Vernal Falls. I stopped at the top of the stairway, as if on the edge of a cliff, to get a better look. The natural beauty of this wonder is amplified by layers of photographic images, bringing out all the drama of the real thing without the danger of actually falling. Photographer Dylan Warren held the Strbac's feet while the artist got close enough to capture this image so you could safely enjoy the view.
I also enjoyed gazing at Iggy Strbac’s time lapse, night sky photograph, Bonsai Rock. This was so much more than what you could experience when your eyes adjust at night. Even though there are areas of the globe where you can see a lot more of the light from the stars at night with the naked eye, this image, which capitalizes on long exposure and incorporates subjects holding flashlights (similar to painting with light), creates a uniquely atmospheric vision not unlike the Milky Way itself. Time truly seems to stand still. Boulders absorb and intensify the light and you can almost feel the moisture of the lake.
In contrast to the undeniable beauty of photographing the stars in the sky, David Justice creates, among other things, paintings of stars of another sort. Included in the exhibit are four portraits of ‘famous’ people. Perhaps ‘historical’ is a better word. I met fellow former San Franciscans Gentleman Jim Corbett and The Emperor Norton in the loft. It seemed a bit serendipitous to meet them here after having forsaken my daily commute on the BART for long walks in the forest. The portrait of Gentleman Jim struck me because I didn’t know him by his face. This portrait, like the pugilist’s promo photo from the late 1800’s, announced him as a professional fighter simply by the rendering of his visage. The Emperor was introduced to the viewer by the icons surrounding him in his portrait, including a BART train and the Bay Bridge, both of which he announced should be built back in the mid 1800’s.
Beethoven
by Dave Justice
If the Emperor was much written about, often with humor, he was in good company near Dave Justice’s portrait of writer and humorist Dan Dequille, who spent part of his life closer to Tahoe, in Virginia City, but on the main level resided the fourth portrait - my favorite piece of the evening. (Did I just say that?) I’m referring to Justice’s rendition of Joseph Karl Stieler’s famous 1820’s portrait of Beethoven. Justice’s Beethoven sits uneasily on an easel, as if just disturbed. Beethoven is not engaged with any of the works that surround him but is acutely aware of your presence and none too happy about it. Justice clearly did more than justice to the original. In the Stieler’s piece, the image clearly plays to your expectations of this musical master. Justice’s version, on the other hand, strikes a chord that made me feel distinctly like I should step away and cause no further interruption lest I interfere with the completion of something extremely important. Perhaps he is somehow busy orchestrating that serendipitous music in the loft.
I’ll be back at Benko Art Gallery on November 26th for the new group show. Don’t miss the Great American Beard Brawl hosted by Dave Justice at the show opening!
Benko Art Gallery at http://www.benkoartgallery.com
John Benko at http://www.johnbenko.com
Chelsea Kosta at http://www.benkoartgallery.com/artists
Jake Gillispie at http://www.pictaram.com/user/jakegillsart/274580548 and https://vimeo.com/user24416531
Steve Southerland at https://www.facebook.com/cowcampart
Sam Ruderman at https://www.instagram.com/samrglass
Dylan Warren at https://www.instagram.com/dylanwarrenphotography
Iggy Strbac at http://milkywaychasers.com/2016/06/13/iggy-strbac-at-bonsai-rock/
Dave Justice at https://davejustice.carbonmade.com/
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