Wednesday, November 7, 2012

JS Bird Exhibit - "Psyche" - Opens November 13



The Lane Community College Art Gallery is proud to present the sabbatical exhibition, Psyche by art faculty, JS Bird.

JS Bird is a painting instructor for the Department of Art and Applied Design at Lane Community College. Following a recent sabbatical, JS has been producing a new body of work exploring the myth of Psyche and Eros…using  “iconographic female images of Pop culture to cast in the role of Psyche, famous women who are culturally associated with beauty and sexuality.  While these icons are associated with sexuality and fantasy, there actually is no relationship between the icon and the viewer, except what lives inside the viewers head.”

In discussing his art as it relates to his audience, JS states, ”In most cases art is neutral, it is an object, (objectified) yet the viewer creates a relationship with the art only by looking at it.  While adopting pop culture’s pictorial conventions of sexuality, I am relying on context to transform the images into a form that transcends the very conventions utilized.  Such an overt, embellished fantasy, perhaps, holds within it, the capacity to force the viewer to confront, rather than indulge in, ones desire, or rejection, of the image.
The show runs from November 13th through December 6th. A sabbatical talk and closing reception will take place on Thursday, November 29th, beginning at 4:00 pm with a reception immediately following at 5:00. The lecture and reception are free and open to the public. The gallery is located in building 11 on the main campus, 4000 E. 30th Avenue. There is no charge for admission. The Art and Applied Design Department phone number is 541-463-5409.

Image top:  Psyche Received Persephone's Potion
Image middle:  Psyche West Wind
Image bottom:  Psyche's Dilemma (detail)