BY JENNIFFER WARDELL
Clipper Staff Writer
BOUNTIFUL — It takes a big show to say goodbye to 15 years of art.
The Bountiful/Davis Art Center’s Foundations exhibit, open Sept. 28 through Nov. 2, is an official sendoff to the building the art center has been occupying since 1997. Though the art center will hold one final Christmas show before moving up to the county courthouse, this is BDAC’s goodbye party.
The exhibit features work from 90 artists who have exhibited at the center, including sections honoring former BDAC director Arley G. Curtz and a small collection of works from departed local artists. An opening reception on Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. will feature appearances by Curtz and several artists.
The art feels like a goodbye party all on its own. This is a huge, sprawling exhibit, encompassing everything from still lifes to illustration to abstracts. There’s a little of everything the art center has been over the years, condensed down to three galleries that feel like they could take days to appreciate properly.
The modern art pieces are well chosen, striking enough to make up for the fact that they’re in the minority. BDAC has always been brave about bringing more abstract, stylized art to one of the state’s most traditional and domestic corners. The most effective, represented here by Trent Alvey’s “Ritual 3” and Merrily Kulmer’s “Winter Trees,” echo nature enough to make a connection with viewers more used to landscapes.
Beauty, however, offers its own rewards. Denis Phillips “Untited 205” is awash in a warm golden flow overlooked by the ghost of our very familiar mountains. The petals of the brilliant orange flower in Anne Marie Oborn’s “Bravado” are a study in grace, and the tender gaze of the mother in Sandra Rast’s “More Priceless than Pearls” evokes all the warmth of family.
Such familiar things made beautiful is a comfort, a gift of seeing what we know transformed into its most glorious state. It’s a gift that BDAC has given Davis County for 15 years. May it continue to do so for decades more.
jwardell@davisclipper.com
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