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1. Donald G. Longcrier at City Arts Center

   11/24/09 21:21:04 | 0 Comments

   
   Donald G. Longcrier
   Eleanor Kirkpatrick Gallery at City Arts Center
   November 19 through December 23, 2009.
   
   

   The work on exhibit here grew out of ideas that I have been thinking about and that interest me. I don't think it is important that the viewer be concerned with what those interests are or where the specific ideas came from. I know it is not necessary for someone to have that information to participate in a visual dialogue with the work.

   Paraphrasing Samuel Beckett's famous quote about Finnegans Wake, [it] is not about something. It is that something itself*. I would caution the viewer not to spend too much time trying to understand what the work in this exhibition is about, but rather, look at what it is.

   I work with materials that are familiar to me; rope, wood, beeswax, carpenter's tools, and fishing tackle. Individual pieces are often quiet. Everything is simple. Objects are presented in the simplest possible way, without embellishment, or decoration. These are humble pieces and there is no pretense or attempt at anything profound.

   Artworks in this exhibition, like most of my works, are untitled. Titles are eliminated to avoid confusion, attempts at cleverness, or wordplay. Parenthetical titles are used for the purpose of helping me keep track of various works. Objects described in the titles may or may not be accurately named, but describe the individual piece to me.

   The late Nobel Prize winning physicist, Richard Feynman, told a story of his youth at camps in the Catskills. The fathers of the children would visit on the weekends, and all the fathers would hike the trails teaching their children the name of this bird or that bird. On Mondays, the children would ask Feynman, "What kind of bird is that?" He would answer, "I haven't the slightest idea." So the kids would say his father did not tell him anything. "But it was the opposite" his father "had "taught him. His father would look at a bird and say, "Do you know what kind of bird that is? It's a brown throated thrush; but in Portuguese it's a ____, in Japanese it's a ____, in Italian it's a ____, etcetera. Now," his father says" you know in all the languages …what the name of that bird is and …you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird. You only know about humans in different places and what they call the bird. Now" says Feynman's father, "let's look at the bird."**

   I believe we are all capable of learning something if we look at the bird.

   Donald G. Longcrier

   *On Joyce's Finnegans Wake: Dante...Bruno.Vico..Joyce, 1929

   ** The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman, 1999
   
   
   
   
   Donald G. Longcrier, 2009, Installation View,
   Foreground: Untitled(Barrel Vault) ©2009
   Background Left: Untitled(Mallet/Net) ©2009,
   background Right: Untitled(Enciclica) ©2009
   
   
   
   Donald G. Longcrier, Installation View,
   Right: Untitled(Bridge Timbers and Yellow Balls) ©2001
   
   
   
   Donald G. Longcrier, Installation View
   Foreground: Untitled(Porcelain)©2009
   Middle: Untitled(Line Drier) ©2009
   Background: Untitled(Rope Nets)©1993-2009
   
   
   
   Donald G. Longcrier, Installation View
   Foreground: Undtitled(Porcelain) ©2009
   Background: Untitled(Beam) ©1993

   
   
   Donald G. Longcrier, Installation View ©2009
   
   
   
   
   
   Donald G. Longcrier, Installation View ©2009
   
   
   
   Donald G. Longcrier, Installation View
   Untitled(Line Drier) ©2009
   
   
   
   Donald G. Longcrier, Installation View
   Untitled(Yellow Balls, 1,2, and 3) ©2009
   
   
   
   Donald G. Longcrier, Installation View
   Left: Untitled(Barrel Vault) ©2009
   Right: Untitled(Fid) ©2009
   
   
   
   Donald G. Longcrier, Untitled(Wax Bed) ©2009

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2. Donald G. Longcrier at City Arts Center

   11/24/09 20:57:14 | 0 Comments

   Donald G. Longcrier
   Eleanor Kirkpatrick Gallery at City Arts Center
   November 19 through December 23, 2009.
   http://www.cityartscenter.org/exhibits/current.html
   
   
   

   The work on exhibit here grew out of ideas that I have been thinking about and that interest me. I don't think it is important that the viewer be concerned with what those interests are or where the specific ideas came from. I know it is not necessary for someone to have that information to participate in a visual dialogue with the work.

   Paraphrasing Samuel Beckett's famous quote about Finnegans Wake, [it] is not about something. It is that something itself*. I would caution the viewer not to spend too much time trying to understand what the work in this exhibition is about, but rather, look at what it is.

   I work with materials that are familiar to me; rope, wood, beeswax, carpenter's tools, and fishing tackle. Individual pieces are often quiet. Everything is simple. Objects are presented in the simplest possible way, without embellishment, or decoration. These are humble pieces and there is no pretense or attempt at anything profound.

   Artworks in this exhibition, like most of my works, are untitled. Titles are eliminated to avoid confusion, attempts at cleverness, or wordplay. Parenthetical titles are used for the purpose of helping me keep track of various works. Objects described in the titles may or may not be accurately named, but describe the individual piece to me.

   The late Nobel Prize winning physicist, Richard Feynman, told a story of his youth at camps in the Catskills. The fathers of the children would visit on the weekends, and all the fathers would hike the trails teaching their children the name of this bird or that bird. On Mondays, the children would ask Feynman, "What kind of bird is that?" He would answer, "I haven't the slightest idea." So the kids would say his father did not tell him anything. "But it was the opposite" his father "had "taught him. His father would look at a bird and say, "Do you know what kind of bird that is? It's a brown throated thrush; but in Portuguese it's a ____, in Japanese it's a ____, in Italian it's a ____, etcetera. Now," his father says" you know in all the languages …what the name of that bird is and …you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird. You only know about humans in different places and what they call the bird. Now" says Feynman's father, "let's look at the bird."**

   I believe we are all capable of learning something if we look at the bird.

   Donald G. Longcrier

   *On Joyce's Finnegans Wake: Dante...Bruno.Vico..Joyce, 1929

   ** The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman, 1999
   
   

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3. Native Trout of the American West

   02/25/09 14:48:13 | 0 Comments

   
   
   
   
   Native Trout of the American West
   Donald G. Longcrier
   Nona Jean Hulsey Gallery, Norick Art Center, Oklahoma City University
   Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
   August 26 - October 12, 2007
   
   
   

   Native Trout of the American West

   Donald G. Longcrier

   Someone asked me once, "What the hell are you doing in an exhibition of Western Art?" I think the answer to that question lies at the heart of the paintings exhibited here.

   These paintings represent a discussion of some of the West's most pressing contemporary issues, the first and foremost of which, will always be water and its management. One cannot speak about the West without discussing public land and private ownership, environmental and economic concerns such as mining and farming arid land.

   The native trout species I have chosen to paint were once common to most rivers and streams from the Pacific Ocean to the Rockies, from Mexico to Canada. Now, they number a fraction of their original population and many are only found inhabiting tiny, isolated headwater streams in small areas of their original range. Where some of these fish once grew to legendary size--Lahontan cutthroat trout were reported to reach sixty pounds--many now survive as six to ten inch specimens.

   Wild, native trout populations are indicative of the environment in which they live, and reflect the choices we have made and will be making regarding the use of these watersheds. Native trout habitat has been affected by grazing, farming, and irrigation needs. Blocked by dams, spawning runs have ceased. Many native species have been displaced by the introduction of non-native species.

   Fortunately, recovery efforts supported by, private organizations, government, and tribal agencies are underway throughout the region.

   A simpler explanation of the paintings might have to do with the fact that research for the work requires me to spend as much time as possible, chasing after wild native fish in remote but beautiful locations. Regrettably, the time spent on research is never enough. But, fishing is all about hope
   
   
   
   
   Native Trout of the American West, Installation View
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Golden Trout Creek Golden Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita, 54" x 108", Acrylic and encaustic on wood, 2007
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarki pleuriticus, 54" x 108", Acrylic and encaustic on wood, 2007
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Coastal Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus, 54" x 108", Acrylic and encaustic on wood, 2007
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Apache Trout Oncorhynchus gilae apache, 54" x 108", Acrylic and encaustic on wood, 2007
   
   
   
   
   
   Lahontan Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi, 54" x 108", Acrylic and encaustic on wood, 2007
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Native Trout of the American West, 2007, Installation View
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Golden Trout Creek Golden Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita, 54" x 108", Acrylic and encaustic on wood, 2007

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4. Facing the Desert

   05/12/08 13:23:17 | 0 Comments

   Facing the Desert
   Donald G. Longcrier 2002
   Untitled Gallery
   Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
   
   

   Facing the Desert
   

   
   In "The Silent Life", Thomas Merton states that "the monastic horizon is clearly the horizon of the desert…His [the monk's] eyes are not turned towards the battlefields in the plain [rather] they gaze out upon the desert…"
   

   
   The work exhibited here grew out of an interest in the contemplative life of monks, from both eastern and western religious traditions. It is simple, plain, and sometimes mysterious. Rather than attempting to illustrate ascetic principles and the monastic ideal, found objects are assembled and presented in a very simple way using materials and tools familiar to me; rope, wood, beeswax, measuring tape, and carpenter's chalk.
   

   
   Donald G. Longcrier 2002

   
   
   
   

   Facing the Desert , Installation View:
   Left :Untitled (Bridge Timbers/ Yellow Balls), 9'H. x 15.5'W. x 4.5'D., Wood, metal, rope. 1996
   Right: Untitled (Carpenter's chalk pile), 15.5" H. x 45" W. x 45" D., Chalk and beeswax, 2002

   
   

   

   
   Facing the Desert , Installation View: Installation View: Right: Untitled (Rope Nets), 9' H. x 4.5' Diameter, Rope. 2002

   
   
   

   

   Facing the Desert , Installation View: Installation View: Left: Untitled (Rope Nets), 9' H. x 4.5' Diameter, Rope, 2002
   
   

   

   Facing the Desert , Installation View:
   Left: Untitled (Steel Circle), 44" Diameter x 3.5" D., Steel, wood and cloth, 2001
   Right:Untitled (Measuring tape,tape), 7.5" Diameter x 3.5" D, Paper and Cloth , 2002
   
   
   

   

   
   Untitled (Measuring tape, tape), Paper and cloth, 7.5" Diameter x 3" D., 2001
   
   
   
   

   

   Facing the Desert , Installation View:
   Back: Untitled (Yellow Boxes), 42" H. x 22' W. x 16" D., Metal. 1996

   
   
   
   

   

   Facing the Desert , Installation View:
   
   
   
   

   

   Facing the Desert , Installation View:
   Foreground: Untitled (Welding Pot), 6" H. x 31.5" W. x 11.5" D., Steel, ink, and chalk, 2001
   Background: Untitled (Carpenter's chalk pile), 15.5" H. x 45" W. x 45" D., Chalk and beeswax, 2002
   
   
   
   Installation Photos: Ann Sherman

   
   

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