UPCOMING at GALLERY 1855...

March 2012: Rick York & Tim Messick

There is a certain tension between the external documentary process of photography and the internal reality of the subject. As Piet Mondrian puts it, “The emotion of beauty is always obscured by the appearance of the object.” The successful artist makes use of this tension to shape the emotional landscape of the art piece. Through this mastery of composition, the artist invites us, as viewers, to add our stories to that of the artist. The work of Rick York and Tim Messick, on display throughout the month of March at Gallery 1855, invites you to verify Mondrian’s quote for yourself. You will find images ranging from subjects that appear dream-like, documents without the hard edge of documentation, to subjects intriguingly devoid of context and scale.

York and Messick met at Humbolt State where they both majored in botany. Both are residents of Davis who share a long standing interest in art. Yet each has developed as an artist in unique ways. After a dozen years as a successful botanist, Messick, searching for more creative space in his work life, moved into graphic design. He is currently a senior graphic designer for an environmental consulting firm. Messick’s artistic goal is “to seek out a ‘sense of place’ and then to explore ways of conveying that sense or mood of place and time photographically.”

By contrast, York, now a senior biologist at the CA Energy Commission, spent many years taking documentary photographs of plants and flowers with the eye of a professional botanist. Ten years ago, with the acquisition of his first digital camera, York reclaimed his passion for creating art and now takes photographs of nearly everything except flowers. His inspiration comes through paying attention to every day places and things, where he tries to “look for the extraordinary in the ordinary.”

You are warmly invited to meet Tim Messick and Rick York and view their work during our free open house and reception on Sunday, March 11th. The exhibition will be on display Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 3 P.M., throughout the month of March. Please call (530) 756-7807 for more details.

Length of show: March 1, 2012 – March 30, 2012
Open house: March 11, 2012 from 1 PM to 4 PM

April: Linda Conner

Length of show: April 2, 2012 – April 30, 2012
Open house: April 8, 2012 from 1 PM to 4 PM

May: Pete Eckert

Length of show: May 1, 2012 – May 31, 2012
Open house: May 13, 2012 from 1 PM to 4 PM

June: Oliver Gagliani

Length of show: June 1, 2012 – June 29, 2012
Open house: June 10, 2012 from 1 PM to 4 PM

July: Deborah Lattimore

Length of show: July 2, 2012 – July 31, 2012
Open house: July 8, 2012 from 1 PM to 4 PM

August: Photography Club of Davis

Length of show: August 1, 2012 – August 31, 2012
Open house: August 12, 2012 from 1 PM to 4 PM

September: Beni Rubinstein

Length of show: September 4, 2012–September 28, 2012
Open house: September 9, 2012 from 1 PM to 4 PM

October: Celebration of Life

Length of show: October 1, 2012 – October 31, 2012
Open house: October 14, 2012 from 1 PM to 4 PM

November: Joseph Finkleman

Length of show: November 1, 2012–November 30, 2012
Open house: November 11, 2012 from 1 PM to 4 PM

December: Walter Kitundu

Length of show: December 3, 2012 – December 28, 2012
Open house: December 9, 2012 from 1 PM to 4 PM