Kevin Kadar: From the Form to the Sublime

Kevin Kadar is a highly regarded Portland painter who has emerged as one of the most important figurative painters in the region. A small exhibition of Kadar’s work will open June 11 and continue through Aug. 6 in the Roberts Family Print Study Center at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University. The exhibition has been guest-curated by David Roberts, an art collector, art patron, and former researcher at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art.

Dividing his time between Oregon and France, Kadar infuses his intimate landscapes and figures with a romantic vision of idyllic settings and an Old Master academic treatment of forms. Characterized by a dark, somber palette, frenzied, expressionistic brushstrokes, and a cold, scrutinizing eye for the human figure, Kadar explores a wide variety of themes in his work, from mysticism and religion to spirituality and sexuality.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State Street (corner of State and Cottage Streets) in downtown Salem near the University campus. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed on Sunday and Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children under 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day.

For further information, please call 503-370-6855.

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The Romantic Vision of Michael Brophy

Michael Brophy is a highly regarded Portland landscape painter equally committed to pictorial tradition and forceful storytelling. Through works that depict the savage beauty of the altered landscapes of Oregon’s rivers, forests, and mountains, Brophy carefully engages the social and political forces reshaping the national dialogues that define environmental preservation and sustainability.

A major exhibition of Brophy’s work, The Romantic Vision of Michael Brophy, will show June 4 through Aug. 27 at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University. Organized by the Tacoma Art Museum in collaboration with the Hallie Ford Museum, the exhibition traces Brophy’s career over the past dozen years. Included in the exhibition are 24 works drawn from Oregon, Washington and California collections.

Born and educated in Oregon, Brophy has been described as the quintessential regional artist because of his subject matter and painting style. As a landscape painter, Brophy continually asks, "Why does the landscape look the way it does?" His answers are not simple and point to the complex relationship between industry, history, and environmental preservation. His art reminds the viewer that the need for natural resources must be balanced with solutions that provide long-term sustainability.

Brophy will give a slide lecture on his work June 3 from 5 to 6 pm in the Roger Hull Lecture Hall; a preview reception will follow from 6 to 8 pm in the lobby and galleries downstairs.

The Romantic Vision of Michael Brophy has been supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State Street (corner of State and Cottage Streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed on Sunday and Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children under 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day.

For further information, please call 503-370-6855.

[ email this story ]