ARTISTS EXHIBITIONS
NatalieFeatherston
I n Nacalie Fearhersron's
I bur.-".r, in Princeron, NewI l.rr"u. there is a freezer fullI ol tuu". cakes and chocoiate
I .ubbitr. She needs themfor backup. "Sometimes myhusband wonders if he can eat
them," the stilllife paintersays. "That sruffs been sitringout in the studio for three
hours at a time. I'm not even
going to feed it to the dog."But you can't blame him for
asking. The desserts Featherston
renders in oil on panel do indeed
look good enough to eat. Theyare decadent, too, in the classic
sense of che word: custard oozes
from a slice of tiramisu; a BlackForest cake sags under the weight of the fluorescent cherry goo ar its center. Then rhere
are the chocolate bunnies that seem so real you can almost tasre rhe artificial flavor."\7hen I was studying in school, everyone wanted to be a figure painter," says the
North Carolina native, who received her art education in New York. "I u,as the onlyone who wanted to do still lifes. There is a narrative quality to them. The objects are
related; it s like a conversation that goes on." She believes her still lifes (the range ofwhich also inciudes subjects such as flowers) are "the ultimate preservation, capturingthe perfect moment before the desserts melt or the petals fall aparc."
But there's more to Featherston's work than these witty, modern takes ontraditional Dutch OId Master-style uanitas pairtir,gs. She also brings her offbear sense
of humor to the "Young Artist Shows Promise" series, a group of trantpe l'oei/ pieces
inspired by crayon drawings done by her niece, complete with the rape thar wouldadhere them to a refrigerator door. "The title is a play on phrases I used to hear a lot:
'promising young artist,''emerging artist.' At thattime, I'd been painting for10 years. I mean, what am
I emerging from, a broomcloset?" Featherston says
with a laugh. "And," she
adds, "I'm not all thatyoung, either."
-Eue Tolpa
Meya-Munson GalluT.
Natalie Featherston: Suitable
for Framing. Sep 16-2 j.Rereption Sep 16. 5-7. 225
Canyox, Santa Fe. 505-983-1657. Mon-Sar 10-5, Sun
1 1 4, unuu rnunsonga/lery, com.
Natalie Featherston. Above, Peter Parsnip, oil on panel,12 x 9"; below The Magic Garden,oil on panel, 13 x 15"
Prints
orty-five years ago, the art oflithogra-phy was in danger-only a handful ofpeople in the U.S. were skilled in the
craft. But in 1957 the method of translatingartworks to raised surfaces ofstone, zrnc, andaluminum was resuscitated with the found-ing ofthe now internationally recognized
Tamarind Institute, in Albuquerque. Theprintmaking, teaching, and research center,
which is afflliated with the University ofNew Mexico, has trained hundreds of artistsfrom around the world.
John Addison, owner of the Addison Arrsgallery in Santa Fe, wancs to show us just
how vital the medium has become again.For this show of some of his favorite printscreated at the Tamarind Institute, he has
selected what he describes as "provocative
representational" work. One of his criteriawas that even the abstract pieces have a
narrattve. Many of the prints, such as
Chinese immigrant Hung Liu's Sisten inAnm, terd toward a strong political story.
Others are playful, such as the amusinglithographs ofLlliana Porter, who attachesj-D stuffed animal heads to her work. Each
of the works emits a pulse vigorous enough
to prove that lithography is once agatnaliveand well.-D olora McE lrolt
Addison Arts, Thmarind Institute Prints.
Sep 16-0ct 15. Reception Sep 16, 5*7. 209Galisteo, Santa Fe. 505-992-0704. Mon--Sat
1 0-5, Sun 1 1 -3. wttw.addislnarts. czm.
Tamarind Institute
(t t;-..r tfr
^ \*l
Tony Fitzpatrick. Hero4S-color Iithograph w/chine-col 16, 19k x 15h"
66 SEPTEMBER 2OO5
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