Memory, Myth, and Magic

"Clyfford Still’s art and thought are pervaded with powerful, albeit subtle, allusions to memory (both cultural and personal), the ancient past and to long-established aesthetic traditions that are sometimes summoned only to be shattered afresh in his hands. This exhibition—covering a span of approximately forty years (c.1929-70) and including over fifty paintings, photographs by the artist himself, works on paper and sculptures—explores these currents of imagery and ideas that surge through Still’s figurative and abstract compositions. Unlock the mysteries to Still's extensive body of work." CSM

"After seeing many of Clyfford Still's works I have come to the conclusion that he is a sorcerer with powerful magic...Nay! An Earth Shaker."- Clay Spohn, artist and colleague of Clyfford Still

David Anfam, senior consulting curator to the Museum gave a lecture on May 23, 2013 to increase understanding of Still's work and how he managed his own narrative. We learned about a book from Still's library, Themis by Jane Harrison, that influenced how he thought about his work and how he described it. Before Pollack and before Gottleib brought the primitive into their work, Clyfford Still was delving into the primitive mind and espousing "making something out of your self".

Honor the Earth

Sacred Bison/22x30 inches/Oil and Gold Leaf on PaperPower Image #7-Connection to Ancestors/30x40 inches/OIl on canvas

A decade ago, we followed Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, and the Indigo Girls around Montana for the Honor the Earth Tour. The purpose of those musicians traveling together was to register Native Americans on the Reservations to vote. The Buffalo of Yellowstone were being slaughtered, and the point was to change some opinions in the State Legislature of Montana. It helped but the Buffalo still need support and protection from slaughter. I came home with the music and painted and painted to the double CD until it was scratched. I now have my second copy. The rhythms of the music and the messages transformed my painting. The Power Images that began as moving horses as metaphors for higher power evolved into the connection to ancestors series and that into images of bison. The recently sold charcoal of a resting buffalo references photos of the Yellowstone Bison. They are the remaining herd with a link to the prehistoric bison. I have many full circle moments in my work. Moving from Power Image #7 to the study of cave art to the Legends of Native Americans and now to connection to the only prehistoric mammal still living is a spiral that I am enjoying following. All power is found in circles.

Celebrating Joan Mitchell

The Joan Mitchell Foundation has been posting on Facebook wonderful paintings each day of the month of February to celebrate her birthday. Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was a "second generation" abstract expressionist painter and printmaker. She was an essential member of the American Abstract expressionist movement, even though much of her career took place in France. A passionate inner vision guided Joan's brush. Like her peer Cy Twombly, she extended the vocabulary of her Abstract Expressionist forebears. She imbued their painterliness with a compositional and chromatic bravery that defiantly alarms us into grasping their beauty. You can read Armantrout Studio Facebook page by clicking the icon under social networks.

Robert Wilson, Clementine Hunter

Visual artist and director, Robert Wilson, is directing a new chamber opera based on the life of artist, Clementine Hunter. Sheryl Sutton says "My character stands to elucidate her spiritual life. She was a painter, but she painted at night, she painted from midnight to 6 in the morning. So everyone knew her as a mother, a cook, a field hand. They knew her in all these worldly ways, but her real life was from midnight to 6 a.m., and she said she painted what God told her to."

William Turnbull 1922-2012

William Turnbull, sculptor and painter, blending primitive and modern forms in highly poetic work, rest in peace.