Artist profile
A highly prolific multidisciplinary artist, Rick Bartow’s three decade career has shown him to be a sculptor, painter, printmaker, musician and storyteller of the highest order, Coyote’s Road finds the artist using a pantheon of creatures- bears, coyotes, birds, fish, bull men- to approach themes of mortality, longevity and healing. Bartow employs the metaphor of walking a great distance to represent long life; the foot is a recurring image, suggesting ritual dance, connection to the land and the simple but important act of carrying oneself.
Central to the exhibit is the monumental sculpture Bear Mother Dancing on Ignorance/Fear, which stands at nearly ten feet tall and is carved from the wood of a tree harvested from the University of Oregon campus. The bear’s angled face is reminiscent of Kabuki theatre; pointed, pencil-like bristles form a halo around her head and shoulders; many hand shapes play over her torso, as if of those in her care; her anthropomorphic feet tread upon a skull and bones- the titular plagues. Says Bartow: “The image of the bear made herself known to me years ago but recently appeared in the tall book end maple planks, begging to be reawakened once more as a symbol for protective motherhood and as a symbol of medicine and ancient doctoring.”
more info at
www.Froelickgallery.com
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