2008 Woodie Awards
A fiesta of art, with bugs
Anna Wiegenstein - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 6/28/07 Section: 80 Hours
Ever hear of the rare Dancinus Buttercupus?
It's a specimen nothing less than spectacular - a hybrid of beetles and a buttercup flower. As for that first half of the name, one need look no further than the way the pair of bugs prance together hand-in-hand to figure out where the "dance" part of things came from.
One minor issue: the Dancinus Buttercupus isn't what you'd call "real." Unfortunately for the world, it exists only in the imagination of Iowa artist Diane Naylor. Fortunately for Iowa City residents, all it takes is a trip to the second floor of 538 S. Gilbert St. to view the imaginary insect, along with a host of others, including a meditating Floatamus Absolutimus, at the Hudson River Gallery.
On Saturday, the gallery will host Fiesta de Arte as a further celebration of Naylor's works. The evening will include refreshments, readings from spiritual poet and Fairfield resident Tony Ellis and UI M.F.A. drawing and intermedia grad Deanne Wortmann, and dance.
Naylor, an eastern Iowa native, recently opened a showing of her paintings at the gallery. Ranging from rehabbed antique cuckoo clocks to fairy-tale landscapes and dreamlike insects, the exhibit is quixotic and entertaining with not a hint of snobbery.
The true stars of the room, though, are collages and painted portraits of Iowan artists as pixie-like creatures with faux-scientific names. Gallery owners and authors from all over the state are transformed into characters who might look more at home in Peter Pan. For example, Iowa City photographer Sandra Dyas' portrait reads: "This specimen is a type of shutterbug found in the regions where color is … and is not."
One of the many portraits lining the main exhibition room at the gallery is of local dancers Nora Garda and Mark McCusker twirling together above an ancient map. Here, the roots of this weekend's fiesta can be found. Upon the opening of Naylor's work at the gallery, the pair, the founders of the Iowa City dance group Habeas Corpus, were so impressed by the painting, they felt reciprocation of some sort was necessary.
The result - this Saturday's celebration.
"It's been gaining momentum ever since [the opening of the exhibition]," said Hudson River framer and gallery assistant Robin Stephen, noting that the fiesta planning only began in the past two weeks.
"I think it was the artists responding and wanting to be more involved in the show, because they're actually a part of it," Stephen said.
On whether Hudson River Gallery would find itself hosting more multimedia events similar to the fiesta, Stephen said the gallery wouldn't need much persuasion, were the desire there:
"That would very much depend on the artist's wishes - Nick [Hotek, the gallery's owner] is up for any type of creative expression."
E-mail DI reporter Anna Wiegenstein at:
anna-wiegenstein@uiowa.edu
It's a specimen nothing less than spectacular - a hybrid of beetles and a buttercup flower. As for that first half of the name, one need look no further than the way the pair of bugs prance together hand-in-hand to figure out where the "dance" part of things came from.
One minor issue: the Dancinus Buttercupus isn't what you'd call "real." Unfortunately for the world, it exists only in the imagination of Iowa artist Diane Naylor. Fortunately for Iowa City residents, all it takes is a trip to the second floor of 538 S. Gilbert St. to view the imaginary insect, along with a host of others, including a meditating Floatamus Absolutimus, at the Hudson River Gallery.
On Saturday, the gallery will host Fiesta de Arte as a further celebration of Naylor's works. The evening will include refreshments, readings from spiritual poet and Fairfield resident Tony Ellis and UI M.F.A. drawing and intermedia grad Deanne Wortmann, and dance.
Naylor, an eastern Iowa native, recently opened a showing of her paintings at the gallery. Ranging from rehabbed antique cuckoo clocks to fairy-tale landscapes and dreamlike insects, the exhibit is quixotic and entertaining with not a hint of snobbery.
The true stars of the room, though, are collages and painted portraits of Iowan artists as pixie-like creatures with faux-scientific names. Gallery owners and authors from all over the state are transformed into characters who might look more at home in Peter Pan. For example, Iowa City photographer Sandra Dyas' portrait reads: "This specimen is a type of shutterbug found in the regions where color is … and is not."
One of the many portraits lining the main exhibition room at the gallery is of local dancers Nora Garda and Mark McCusker twirling together above an ancient map. Here, the roots of this weekend's fiesta can be found. Upon the opening of Naylor's work at the gallery, the pair, the founders of the Iowa City dance group Habeas Corpus, were so impressed by the painting, they felt reciprocation of some sort was necessary.
The result - this Saturday's celebration.
"It's been gaining momentum ever since [the opening of the exhibition]," said Hudson River framer and gallery assistant Robin Stephen, noting that the fiesta planning only began in the past two weeks.
"I think it was the artists responding and wanting to be more involved in the show, because they're actually a part of it," Stephen said.
On whether Hudson River Gallery would find itself hosting more multimedia events similar to the fiesta, Stephen said the gallery wouldn't need much persuasion, were the desire there:
"That would very much depend on the artist's wishes - Nick [Hotek, the gallery's owner] is up for any type of creative expression."
E-mail DI reporter Anna Wiegenstein at:
anna-wiegenstein@uiowa.edu
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