El Capitan, Sunrise,Winter, Yosemite National Park, CA 1968

Etherton Gallery presents its summer exhibition, Masters of American Photography (June 11, 2011 – August 27, 2011). The show opens with a reception Saturday, June 11, 2011, 7-10pm.

Chief Joseph-Nez Perces (c1879) by Frank A. Rinehart

The exhibition, which celebrates Etherton Gallery’s 30^th Anniversary, features a selection of photographs recently acquired from important private collections by the great practitioners of American photography: including Ansel Adams, Richard Misrach, Ruth Bernhard and Frank A. Rinehart, and works culled from the gallery’s extensive holdings.

Tyrannosaurus Rex and Impala (1984) by Richard Misrach

Galax, Virginia (1962) by Lee Friedlander

The exhibition articulates the breadth of Etherton Gallery’s distinctly classical American aesthetic with a few twists and turns, developed over the last 30 years. Highlights of the show include rare vintage prints from the Night Desert series (c. 1975-77) by Richard Misrach; El Capitan, Sunrise, Winter, Yosemite National Park, California (1968) by Ansel Adams; Ruth Bernhard’s sensuous nude, In the Box, Horizontal (1962); Joel Peter Witkin’s s beautiful portrait, La Giovanissima (2007); a vintage print of Helmut Newton’s In My Apartment, Paris (1978); and a rare image of  Chief Joseph – Nez Perces (1879) by Frank A. Rinehart.

Chicago (1950) by Harry Callahan

Other highlights include works by Harry Callahan, Linda Connor, Lee Friedlander, Emmet Gowin, Mark Klett, Danny Lyon, Timothy O’Sullivan, Frederick Sommer, Garry Winogrand, and numerous others.

Untitled, Plate 22 from the Night Desert series (1977) by Richard Misrach

Etherton Gallery is located in SoCo (the recently designated cultural district South of Congress) at 135 South 6th Avenue in downtown Tucson, AZ 85701, above Janos Downtown Kitchen+Cocktails. Regular hours: Tues-Sat, 11am-5pm and by appointment. For more information, contact the gallery at (520) 624-7370 or info@ethertongallery.com

Smoking Man by Beth Hynes

On Saturday December 4, the new fine art gallery named Wanderlust Gallery will open its doors to the public. They are participating in the 1^st Saturday art walk and the gallery is located in the historic building on 6^th & 6^th.  The exhibition featured is called The Nature of Man. A quote by Peter Landry about the show is: “Man is not of divine origins; nor is he headed that way, he is not perfect nor is he perfectible. He is what he is; by nature formed.”

Zero Grams Trans Fat by S. Jordan Palmer

This unique exhibition is a student exhibition from artists from University of Arizona, Pima College, and Northern Arizona University. Three students Jacob Biggerstaff, Carly O’Neill and Josh Schffer curated it. There are 18 artists in the presentation.  The art students focused primarily on the darker side of human existence, exemplifying issues of struggle and suffering, violence and vices, addiction and aggression.  This is the type of art that will make you think and reflect. All the art in my opinion is very professional and priced to sell.

They Spruce Themselves Up by Brandon Shimmel

Untitled by Mathew Trowbridge

No Wire Hangers by Devon Inglee

This very unique new gallery is just starting up and will be progressing in the near future with professional lighting and more variety. The gallery owners Alisa Rabinovich and Joseph Zapf-Kent are hoping to offer art of various styles and price ranges.

Alisa has a very interesting background. She is originally from Uzbekistan, formerly a part of the Soviet Union. She moved to the USA on a refugee program in 1990. She has studied art from a very early age and for the past four years prior to moving to Tucson was a fashion buyer and visual merchandiser. Her artistic ability makes her capable of working in all mediums and should be very successful as a gallery owner. Here education in the arts is international in studies and experience.

Her partner Joseph is a lifetime resident of Arizona and his parents have been artists making pottery for many years. <http://www.manapottery.com> Joseph, like Alisha, have been stricken what we travelers call the Wanderlust, hence the name of their gallery. He moved back to Tucson recently from Sedona where he worked for a jewelry company, Starborn Creations.

Both of the partners feel that “art is an adventure and should not be limited by the confines of labels and genres. Art is something to be shared and is a social medium and a pure form of communication.  It should be accessible to all and believe people should be able to walk into a gallery without feeling intimidated or judged for their lack of knowledge.” They want their gallery to be inviting to all and realize it is still evolving.  It will have portions resembling a boutique, a teaching space, a working space and a performance piece. It will be an enjoyable adventure for all art patrons to watch as it evolves.

Wanderlust is located at 439 N. 6th Ave. Its a few doors West of  the corner of Sixth and Sixth. 439 W. 6th Ave. 520-207-3346.

Email: wanderlustfineart@gmail.com

HOURS for 12/4/2010 Opening: 6 pm to 9:00 pm.

Drama Queen by Nikki Westra

The works of , Nikki Westra: Collage, will be exhibited at an artist’s reception October 22 at the Temple Gallery.  Her work features intricate collages using images appropriated from anatomical texts, published between the late 19^th and mid 20^th century.

The artist was inspired by meeting the renowned photographer Frederick Sommer.  Westra cuts up beautifully colored anatomical drawings and then rearranges the delicately veined organs and tissue in new relationships to make her collages. She literally transforms the machinery of  the human body reorganizing tissue and bone to make something new.

Valor by Nikki Westra

For example in Valor, Westra strategically juxtaposes unrelated parts of the body, bringing to life a fantastic new being that resembles a back-to-the-future Roman warrior. By moving pelvis, spinal cord and bony fingers to the surface, she constructs an exoskeleton helmet that protects the figure’s head and the green tracery beneath the skin. The accolades symbolized by the medal of valor, seem like meaningless praise to Westra’s inconsolable figure.

Game Face by Nikki Westra

This theme is also evident in Game Face, in which Westra reverses the position of tissue and bone to form a helmet, and here presents half a rib cage as a shield or perhaps a cape and transforms pieces of bone into an axe. Like Prometheus, who defied the laws of nature and created man, Westra’s transformation of the human body into new, unimagined beings, defies the laws of human anatomy. The effect is eerily beautiful and fascinating, drawing us in to look closely at the work and ultimately, at ourselves.

Nikki Westra returned to the practice of art after a distinguished legal career. Always an avid amateur photographer, early on she became interested in composition and balance. While living in Prescott, Arizona, during the 1990s, she made the acquaintance of photographer, Frederick Sommer whose philosophy of art and life had a profound influence on her work. Westra likes to think that Sommer, who also experimented with collage, would approve of the structure and source material of her collages.

Nikki Westra: Collages will be available for viewing and purchase until November 23, 2010. The Temple Gallery will host an artist reception on Friday, October 22, 5:30-7:30 pm.

LOCATION: The Temple Gallery is located in SoCo (South of Congress) at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave in downtown Tucson.

HOURS: Open Monday – Friday, 10am to 5pm and prior to Arizona Theatre Company performances on Saturday and Sunday.

For information about the exhibition, contact Etherton Gallery, which manages the Temple Gallery at (520) 624-7370 or info@ethertongallery.com. To confirm gallery hours, please call the Temple of Music and Art at (520) 807-8029.