Ships-ChristianSpruell-theGreatHighway

Ship, VI, VIII, VIIII, XII

Christian Spruell

Through August 11 on our Main Wall

The Ship that Found Herself
We now, held in captivity,
Spring to our bondage nor grieve–
See now, how it is blesseder,
Brothers, to give than receive!
Keep trust, wherefore we were made,
Paying the debt that we owe;
For a clean thrust, and the shear of the blade,
Will carry us where would go.
– Rudyard Kipling

Inner~Outer-Nature-Marie-Vanelder-TheGreatHighway

inner~outer NATURE

Marie Van Elder

March 28th – March 28th
Reception Saturday, March 30th 6-9 pm

The Great Highway Gallery is excited to present inner~outer NATURE, site specific installation, and paintings by Marie Van Elder.

Artist StatementEncountering stumps in the woods is like running into an old forgotten friend..or a new one! She has always been there, with only the “essential”, the base left, resiliently, insignificantly waiting with her roots in the ground, still nurturing new life and regrowth ( fairy ring). To me their form is evocative of the human body and individual experience, showing her past trauma and struggles and long life experience. Her vessel shape with hollow inside has been collecting memories and “inner life” and gives her a sense of ancient wisdom. It is a very spiritual experience…

About The Artist
Van Elder was born in Brussels, Belgium. She graduated from Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium and received her MFA in Painting in 2003 from California College of the Arts, San Francisco. Van Elder’s work has been exhibited in California (San Jose ICA, SF MOMA Artists Gallery, Oakland Art Gallery, Berkeley Art Center, Marin MOCA, Headlands CFA, etc…), New York, Utah, and Tokyo. She was recently included in the national exhibition RTBF/Canvas, La Collection at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels and featured in New American Paintings and Studio Visit magazine. She currently lives and works between Northern California and Brussels.

To What Depths

Amy Tavern

January 24th – February 23rd
Reception Saturday, January 26th 6-9 pm

The Great Highway Gallery is excited to present To What Depths, site specific installation, drawings, video and photographs by Amy Tavern.


  

Artist Statement
“The light we see from distant galaxies left them millions of years ago…Thus, when we look at the universe, we are seeing it as it was in the past.”

When I first read these lines in Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time (1988) I was brought to tears. They were the most beautiful and saddest words I had ever read. In that moment, I had to turn away from the book. The subject matter had become too much for me to take. I was flooded with thoughts of mortality, remembering and forgetting, loss and longing. I understood that as we stand in the present and look up at the night sky we are literally looking at the past: the past made visible, the past becomes the present, the past is present.

To What Depths investigates ideas around time, parallel worlds, and psychological spaces by finding symbolic reference in the ocean and the Universe. I philosophically and poetically approach concepts of physics – such as the multiverse, dark matter, and the speed of light – observing similarities between them and in connection to what it means to be human. The shared experiences of love and loss, triumph and failure can make us feel as if we are living in another world, separated from the familiar and everyday, or experiencing unexplainable duality. Direct observation of the ocean and the stars informs my imagery, resulting in visuals that are interchangeable and represent both entities at the same time.

Through a variety of traditional and exploratory multi-media techniques, I deconstruct and reconstruct personal recollections, pairing them with poetic interpretations of space and time. I use a distinct vocabulary of crooked, curving, and perfectly straight lines, amorphous shapes, and nuanced blues to abstractly illustrate my thoughts on space, time, and emotion. Mixed-media drawings, layered photographs, a glitch-focused video, and a sculptural installation appear to be pools of salt water, islands in the sky, portals into space, or glimpses inside imaginary bodies. They suggest the ocean is a universe, reality exists in another world, and the past is visible in the present. Two books of single line poetry complement the group, adding another layer to the narrative while pulling the reader into the past present.

Amy Tavern is an interdisciplinary artist. She has exhibited nationally and internationally with solo shows in the United States, Belgium, Sweden, and Iceland. She has taught and lectured across the country and in Europe, and her work as a metalsmith has been included in numerous publications, most notably, the cover of Metalsmith Magazine. A believer in phenomenology, her work begins with direct experience and, although autobiographical, refers to the human condition, universal themes, and the passing of time. Using labor-intensive methods, Amy translates recollection through drawing, photography, sculpture, animation, and video.

Originally from Richfield Springs, New York, Amy holds a BA in Arts Administration from the State University of New York College at Fredonia, a BFA in Metal Design from the University of Washington, Seattle, and an MFA in Fine Arts from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Amy is a former Penland School of Crafts resident artist and has completed numerous artist residencies in Iceland.

Amy lives and works in San Francisco, California.

About the Gallery
The Great Highway is a fine art gallery located in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset district. The gallery was founded by John Lindsey, a long time resident of the city with a deep appreciation for images and ideas that explore the intersection of land and water in contemporary work. The Great Highway Gallery’s mission is to seek, analyze, support, and promote the work of a diverse group of artists who seek sincere authenticity, challenge conventional thinking, amuse us, and push the boundaries of today’s creative media. To learn more about the gallery, visit www.thegreathighway.com.


About

The Great Highway is a fine art gallery and working studio featuring contemporary works in all mediums. The gallery has a deep appreciation for images and ideas that explore where lands meet water.

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Location and Hours

The Great Highway
3649 Lawton St.
San Francisco, CA 94122

phone: (415) 680-3891
email: info@thegreathighway.com

Hours:
By appointment 7 days a week

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