He had me at “palimpsest.”
Jason Rohlf’s new exhibition at Diehl Gallery in Jackson, Wyoming looks to have what it takes to be a really fresh, exciting show. At least that’s what images suggest. So engaging are Rohlf’s pinwheel bright paintings they prompted me to read the man’s “biography.”
It isn’t a biography; it’s an artist’s statement. It’s wordy and needn’t be, but there’s “palimpsest!”
Acrylic on Linen, 12 x 9 in.
“Like an urban palimpsest many of the most thoughtful moments occur as these conflicting efforts achieve harmony and then begin to recede resulting in the melding of competing ideas,” says Rohlf.
What he means is that when he’s working, new ideas and “elements from the past” collide and layer. Hard fought details, he notes, likely “earn a swift opaque top coat as a result of each days [sic] fits and starts.”
Other works depict birds. Rolf’s birds are struck through with color, into a branch, and further. The hope, says Rohlf, is to express “intimacy shared between the activity and its effect on the environment it occupies.”
“Jason Rohlf: Views from Here” is on exhibition at Diehl Gallery through August 11th, 2015. www.diehlgallery.com
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Trailside Galleries’ month-long “Masters in Miniature” invitational exhibition includes up to 200 small works by Trailside’s artists. In its fifth year, the Miniatures Show is ever more popular. The show provides quantity, quality, and economy for those getting a taste of Western style art. From “tightly painted” to impressionistic canvases, it’s easy to spend hours perusing. The exhibit is in its final days, so scoot!
Trailside never rests. At any given time during the summer the gallery offers a multitude of showcases and exhibitions. Works are available for straight purchase or by “draw.” An ISSUU catalog illustrates “A Western Convergence,” with masterful works by Bill Anton, Logan Maxwell Hagege, Z.S. Liang, Tim Solliday and Jim Norton. All with their own view of the West. www.trailsidegalleries.com
Tammy Christel 
