JAMES BRIGHT and JOANNE LANDIS
at Lynden Gallery 5:00 to 8:00

JOHN HERTZLER   press release
at Elizabethtown College 6:00 to 8:00

Artists’ Receptions, Friday, January 27, 2006

LYNDEN GALLERY kicks off a yearlong celebration of sculptural art with two receptions Friday, January 27th.  James Bright, sculptor, and Joanne Landis, painter, travel from Penn States HUB gallery in State College, where this exhibit originated, to Lynden Gallery.  An Artist Reception will be held from 5:00 to 8:00 and feature jazz guitarist John Kunkle.  John Hertzler will exhibit new work at the Lyet Gallery in the Leffler Chapel and Performing Arts Center on the campus of Elizabethtown College the same evening from 6:00 to 8:00. 

James Bright and Joanne Landis, Figuratively Speaking, was conceived between the two artists upon recognizing their mutual fascination of the figure.  The two met near Lewistown at a gallery where both were exhibiting.  They were mutually drawn to one another’s work.  Says Jim,

            “I was drawn to Joanne’s work because of the energy and
                                                             the narrative qualities – the mystery.”

This mysterious quality of the work, is not so much intentional, as it is the life blood of the work - the breathing, evolving, story-telling nature.  Jim’s recognition of his own process and continuum is articulated in his sculpture. 

JAMES BRIGHT sometimes begins with an organic form, curve or space that will evolve into being.  More recently, a story or idea will “spark a piece”  and the work has become more relational, exploring interactions between people.   In sculpting, he says, “the honesty can’t be hidden.”  With the painstaking process of bringing a work to completion, one must forget the labor of evolution and finishing to begin again. 

The process of sculpting is laborious, the medium chosen dictating differing skills and sublimations.  Bright works most often in wood and bronze, and explained the disparate requirements:  “Bronze has a permanence, where wood can be full of surprises.”  The slow process of woodcarving allows the sculptor to stand back often, walk around the piece, and discover it’s internal eccentricities.  Each slice of the blade and chunk of wood removed reveals nuances of grain and color.

Each dialogue of process causes Jim to learn something new about himself.  The work itself, becomes a vehicle further articulating the viewers stance – bringing with it questions and responses for consideration.  Conversation with others causes him to think and see the pieces differently.  He talks of the need to let a piece sit for a while, to get far enough away from it, to really see it.  A teacher himself for decades, the recently retired Jim Bright has found the ultimate teacher in his work. 

A graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA, Jim received a BS in Art Education, then went on to receive a MA in Sculpture.  He studied in Lucca, Italy in 1980 and has been sculpting in various mediums since the 1960’s.  Only in the past year, since retiring from teaching art at the Chief Logan/Indian Valley High School in Lewistown, PA, has he been able to devote full time to sculpting. 

JOANNE LANDIS brings her own sculptural quality to the canvas, with figurative forms evolving in a dynamic story-telling kind of way.  She says of her narrative approach to painting:

         “I only know where I start.  A figure or gesture moves me.  I paint the     figure.  She moves inside, then outside.  She turns her head, looks out, looks in, reaches for something, lets something go, disappears, reappears, smaller, larger, or as someone else.   So on and on the painting evolves and the story is complete.” 

As with any good story, each painting has a title unique and telling – Eve with Dove, The Wound, The Mirrored Sisters, Return to Health, and The Day Before I Died.  Colorful, formative, and rich with detail, the viewer is treated to a feast for the eyes and the imagination.  Superbly and elegantly rendered, Joanne’s pure delight in the process is evident – energetically deliberating the finer points of story telling and leaving an unfinished quality that begs a tale of intrigue. 

Landis received her Certificate of Fashion Illustration from Parson’s School of Design in New York City, New York.   She has taught Fashion Illustration at the New School in New York City, New York since 1983, and currently teaches at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She has been awarded numerous fellowships and awards and her work is held in the John Sloan Museum, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.

Joanne’s work has been reviewed by the State College Magazine, Traditional Home Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Philadelphia Gallery Guide, Southern Accents Magazine, and ARTspeak.  She has work in private and public collections all over the country. 

The Figuratively Speaking exhibition continues at Lynden Gallery through the end of February, and is open to the public from 9:00 to 5:00 Tuesday thru Saturday.  The Artist’s Reception on Friday, January 27th will feature the classical guitar of John Kunkle of Harrisburg, and a $3.00 cover appreciated, but not required for admission.

JOHN HERTZLER, also represented by Lynden Gallery, will have new work on exhibit at the Lyet Gallery in the Leffler Chapel and Performing Arts Center on the campus of Elizabethtown College.    An Artist’s Reception will also be held the same Friday evening, January 27 from 6:00 to 8:00 in the evening. 

For more information on either exhibit, please contact the Lynden Gallery at 717.367.9236 or refer to our website, www.lyndengallery.com.  The gallery is open Tuesday thru Saturday, 9:00 to 5:00, and offers convenient parking and handicap accessibility.