Re-energized creativity
New show at ViVO Contemporary stresses the importance of playfulness
Gary Oakley has to be in the right headspace to create his paintings.
The local artist said it’s a balance — not overthinking, but also not underthinking, what he wants to convey in his works. Known for large paintings inspired by New Mexico landscapes, his pieces are not depictions of any specific place, which he said allows viewers to attach their own memories and experiences to the works.
“I’m just an energetic person, kind of physically,” he said describing why he’s drawn to this genre. “I feel like the landscapes, in New Mexico especially, are particularly energetic themselves.”
When painting at his studio, he says, he spends a lot of time walking back and forth to stay loose and listens to music from a variety of genres.
He said the more he tries to control himself and his movements, the more it feels like he’s being censored.
“I feel the more fun I have, the more risk I take, the better the results,” said Oakley.
A few of Oakley’s large landscapes, as well as the work of eight other artists, are part of a Canyon Road gallery show highlighting the importance of playfulness as part of the artistic process. ViVO Contemporary’s “State of Play” opens later this week and will remain on display until March 11.
“There’s a certain amount of artists that feel like to get in that child-like state of creativity, where you’re reacting directly with the visual and not thinking of the iconography or the history of making art or what your teacher said, is an important part of the process,” said Warren Keating, ViVO Contemporary’s spokesperson, whose work will also be in the show.
To complement the exhibition theme, Oakley said, he decided to go with a series of sky-heavy landscape works. In one of his show paintings, “Nostalgia,” about two-thirds of the canvas is taken up by clouds with the clear blue sky pushing through the middle.
“I feel like skies are a really fun way to stay loose and not get tight, partly because skies are always unreallooking in New Mexico, because there’s so much expanse and curves in the sky and the clouds,” he said. “I can let my body mimic that on a big scale.”
Keating added that most of the artists are “method” or “discover as they go” creators. Allowing oneself not to think so much about the formal, educational aspect of art or the pressure to create a certain type of image, Keating says, removes “baggage” that Western culture has often saddled artists with.
“I think that’s what “State of Play” is about: re-energizing that part of you every time you create; to leave the door open to have a new idea,” he said.
William Sayler, a multimedia artist who will also be in the show, thinks of the theme slightly differently. The former art professor who taught at New York’s Pratt Institute for more than 40 years, said playfulness comes only with mastery of an art form and knowledge of its history. He likened it to learning how to play a game.
“There are rules of a game, then it becomes fun when you totally master that,” said Sayler.
For local artist Ann Laser, on the other hand, the act of creating art itself is her personal “state of play.” The Arkansas native and psychotherapist didn’t fully tap into her creative side until she was almost 60. At that point, her kids were grown and she felt “stale” in her professional life. She began taking art classes and, today, she creates prints, mixed-media paintings and drawings, and pieces made from collected, multicolored tea bags.
“I’m at the stage of my life where I do wanna have fun,” said Laser. “I’ve done a lot of work, and now it’s time to have fun.”
For ViVO’s show, she will be debuting a new series of monoprints inspired by the totem poles. Her work is flat rather than pole-like, she said, but follows a similar “layered” style of having divided sections with different design patterns.
“When I came to art and realized I am an artist, it just gave me a whole new lease on life,” Laser explained. “It is about finding the playful side of myself and demonstrating it through art.”
Other artists featured in “State of Play” include Nina Glaser, Barrie Brown, Ilse Bolle, Norma Alonzo, Patricia Pearce and Sally Chiu. An artist talk is also being scheduled for some time in February at the gallery, according to Keating, though a date has not been set yet.