Balazs’ thoughts become reality
Harold Balazs has been musing again. While most folks’ musings vanish without a trace, Balazs’ fanciful ideas frequently become enamel plaques, fabricated assemblages and free-standing abstract sculptures.
The latest collection of his manifested thoughts can be found in “Harold Balazs – The Mead Codex and Stories,” opening Friday at the Art Spirit Gallery in Coeur d’Alene.
“It’s a tremendous show with more than 125 objects,” says gallery owner Steve Gibbs. “Every piece incorporates multiple ideas, techniques and materials.”
There are two- and three-dimensional pieces that feature puns, homages and juxtapositions of outwardly nonrelated impressions and shapes.
Among the works are a couple of wall shrines from Balazs’ yearlong 2002 exhibition at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma. Each shrine is “composed of cultural objects, Rube Goldberg inventions, things that have fallen together in very curious ways,” says the artist.
Although he has had several hundred art shows during his professional career, Balazs is best known in the Pacific Northwest for his large-scale metal sculptures and architectural art commissions.
His most recent public art piece is the monumental brushed stainless steel Rotary Fountain near the Looff Carousel in Spokane’s Riverfront Park.
“It is one of the best things I’ve done,” reflects Balazs. “All your life you hope you are going to do something that is real important. I may have nicked the edge of that with this.”
When the 25-foot fountain is operating at full volume, water surges another six to eight feet in the air, forming a dome that cascades like a waterfall.
“It is really a splendid thing to see,” he says. “It is like watching waves crash on rocks at the beach.”
Meet Balazs during an artist’s reception on Friday between 5 and 8 p.m. at the gallery, 415 Sherman Ave., as part of Coeur d’Alene’s Second Friday Artwalk. The show is up through Nov. 5.
Other Coeur d’Alene openings
In addition to the Art Spirit Gallery, nine downtown Coeur d’Alene galleries are having receptions from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday (most shows are up for four weeks).
• Angel Gallery of Fine Art and Antiques, 423 Sherman Ave., is featuring the Northwest-themed colored pencil and gauche works of Craig Shillam and new oils by Mary Maxim.
• Cisco’s, 212 N. Fourth St., specializes in Western, Native American, sporting and wildlife art.
• Devin Galleries, 507 Sherman Ave., is showing “Tuscany through the Eyes of a Master,” featuring new works by oil painter Leonard Wren.
• Erlendson Art Glass, 116 E. Lakeside Ave., is showcasing handblown glass sculptures using 24-carat gold leaf rainbows. There are ongoing glass-blowing demonstrations.
• Frame of Mind Gallery, 119 N. Second St., is the Second Friday Artwalk’s featured gallery. During October the gallery is spotlighting the work of veteran painters Carrie Stuart Parks, Carl Funseth, Barbara Peretti, Jim Carkhuff and Nona Hengen.
• Mosgrove Gallery, 211 Coeur d’Alene Ave., No. 101, is hosting the Windermere Art Raffle to benefit NYA Tuggle. Original art includes work by Robert “Mac” McNeal and a Tim Mosgrove vase.
• Northwest Artists, 217 Sherman Ave., features 30 artists and crafters with ceramic objects, photography, feather jewelry, carved wooden bowls, paintings and sculpture. In the spotlight during October are painters Jackie Jewett, Suzanne Jewell and Dianne Munkittrick.
• The Painter’s Chair Fine Art Gallery, 223 Sherman Ave., presents Alaska landscapes by Stephen Shortridge, new works by Karleen Hooks and live entertainment by Abraham Kellmer and Daniel Powers.
• Summers’ Glass, 211 Sherman Ave., offers a collection of fused glass masks, bowls, jewelry and ornaments in fall colors.
• Additional venues displaying artwork include: All Things Irish, 315 Sherman Ave.; Christmas at the Lake, 517 Sherman Ave.; Rivers of Art, 110 N. Fourth St.; and Worthington’s Fine Antiques and Gifts, 210 Sherman Ave.
Makoto Fujimura at Whitworth
Internationally exhibited artist Makoto Fujimura of New York City will be on the Whitworth College campus for a week beginning Monday. A show of his abstract images opens Tuesday in the Koehler Gallery.
Fujimura uses the traditional Japanese art of Nihonga – rock-pigment painting on handmade paper – to create his work.
The exhibit runs through Dec. 9 in the gallery in the Fine Arts Building on the college campus, 300 W. Hawthorne Road.
An artist’s reception is Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. in the gallery. Fujimura will present a free lecture at 7 p.m. in Weyerhaeuser Hall Room 203.
In addition to his exhibition, Fujimura will spend the week as a visiting artist making prints with Whitworth students.
One of Fujimura’s original Loop Press prints will be unveiled at a second public reception, Oct. 21 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., in the Hixson Union Building’s Multipurpose Room. Fujimura will talk about his artwork and the prints he and Whitworth students have created. For more information about Fujimura’s artwork, visit www.makotofujimura.com.
Koehler Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free; call 777-3258 for information.
Prichard Gallery’s pictures
Two photography shows open Friday at the University of Idaho’s Prichard Art Gallery – Richard Buswell’s “Silent Frontier” and John Pfahl’s “Extreme Horticulture.”
Buswell “makes black-and-white photographs detailing the remnants of Montana’s frontier days in the fine art photography tradition,” says gallery director Roger Rowley in a news release.
“His photographs are a poignant reminder of the struggles and false starts of the shifting population patterns of the last century,” Rowley says. “His detailed studies of what is left behind and its decay provide an elegant subject for his image making.”
An opening reception is Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. in the gallery, 414 S. Main St. in downtown Moscow.
The free exhibit is up through Nov. 19. The new extended gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For additional information call (208) 885-3586.
More about Pfahl can be found at http://johnpfahl.com.
While in Moscow
Stop by a new multimedia exhibit opening Friday at the Above the Rim Gallery with an artists’ reception from 5 to 7 p.m.
On display is work by three Idaho artists: painter Nancy Landt of St. Maries, photographer Dave Thomas of Deary and quilter Celia Boland of Moscow. The work is up through Nov. 28.
The gallery, 513 S. Main St., is upstairs above Paradise Creek Bicycles in downtown Moscow. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. For additional information go to www.abovetherimgallery.com.
Clegg, Waldman, Chelf, Hazard
Four longtime professional artists – Donald Clegg, Gay Waldman, Dianna Chelf and George Hazard – are showing their work at the William Grant Gallery beginning Saturday.
Clegg’s realistic watercolor still lifes have been exhibited in more than 125 juried and invitational shows. He’s also the author of the how-to book “Celebrating the Seasons in Watercolor.”
Waldman’s images are created through photographic alterations encompassing hand-coloring with pencils, pastels and digital manipulation. Some images emerge from film and others digitally.
Chelf’s folk art stems from Pennsylvania-Dutch roots. “My interpretation is more on the whimsical side,” she says in her artist’s statement, “with painted details depicting early American life.”
Hazard was born and raised on a farm homesteaded by his great grandfather in Deer Park. His love for the outdoors is reflected in his realistic oil paintings.
Meet the artists during a reception Saturday between noon and 4 p.m. at the gallery, 820 W. Francis Ave. View the work through Nov. 14. Regular hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Bagley displays work
Several pieces by local gallery owner and artist Conrad G. Bagley are on display in the main floor atrium hallway of the Magnuson Nursing Building at the Washington State University Intercollegiate College of Nursing’s Spokane campus, 2917 W. Fort George Wright Drive.
The free exhibit of works in oil, acrylic, steel and glass is up through Nov. 18. View the show Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.