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January 19 through February 9, 2006
Artists' Reception: Friday, January 19, 2006 from 6 to 9 PM
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Art Access Gallery
Etsuko Ogura, Japan Town: Circa 1960 - 1962 |
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 Art Access Gallery is pleased to host Japan Town: Circa 1960 1962, an installation featuring the clay works of Etsuko Ogura. This exhibit will hang from January 19 through February 9, with the Artist's Reception being held on Friday, January 19 from 6 to 9 PM, during the Salt Lake Gallery Association's monthly Gallery Stroll.
Etsuko Ogura explains that she is a product of two cultures Japanese and American. She says, "Because of my cultural duality, it makes it possible for me to draw from both as I create my work. The fleeting impermanence of our daily lives is of particular interest to me. I am always reminded of time and how it escapes. To capture and preserve a moment in time is one of my challenges."
The artist grew up in the vicinity of downtown Salt Lake City in the early 60's. The community of Japanese Town existed along First South, an area currently occupied by the Salt Palace Convention Center. According to Ogura, Japan Town was uprooted in the name of economic progress. The shops disbanded and the communal center disappeared. Ogura remembers, ³ Japanese Town was a vital center of activities for Japanese families, especially those of the first generation of immigrants called Issei. It was a place to gather where families exchanged their latest news such as births, deaths, weddings, comings and goings of others, and upcoming events. Those vital events of bygone days are nonessential and nonexistent today. The language barrier is no longer an issue and necessary store products are now supplied through other means.
Etsuko Ogura's installation is based upon her childhood memories of growing up in this Japanese community of the early 60's in Salt Lake City. Her core medium is clay, with other media such as wood, metal, paper, rocks and plant materials included. She hopes that her installation will invoke in viewers the feeling that we are all immigrants a common ground that binds us all as Americans.
Etsuko Ogura graduated from the University of Utah in 2005 with an MFA. She is fluent in both Japanese and English and teaches Japanese at Salt Lake Community College. She is presently Director of the Japan Cultural Heritage Foundation and active in Salt Lake City¹s Sisters City Project where she is helping plan a 50th Anniversary Celebration for the Japanese city of Matsumoto. In 2000, she was a founder of Clay Arts Utah, a non-profit, state-wide educational organization for ceramic artists.
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Access II Gallery
Trailer Park, paintings by Scott Foster |
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Scott Foster Presents the Trailer Park as an American Icon |
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Art Access II Gallery is pleased to host Trailer Park, featuring oil and acrylic paintings on panel by Logan resident Scott Foster. This exhibit will open on January 19 and hang through February 9. The artist¹s reception will be held on Friday, January 19 from 6 to 9 PM during the Salt Lake Gallery Association¹s monthly Gallery Stroll.
The artist says that the subject for this body of work is a trailer park in Logan, Utah, "The University Trailer Court is a place where I have spent much time over the past year, painting and drawing from observation, as well as photographing for later reference."
He goes on to say, " Amid the culture of the consumer that has characterized America during the past century, the mobile home stands out as the application of simplicity, efficiency and utility to the realm of housing. Like our McDonald¹s and Wal-Mart's which offer uniform food and products independent to regional tastes and desires, the mobile home regardless of regional architecture or scenery is capable of being installed anywhere for any prospective homeowner."
Foster refers to a reticence on the part of the general American public to accept the mobile home into the strata of desirable housing and talks about the stereotype of those who make their homes in such dwellings. He says, "The trailer is not without beauty or elegance. Its spare exterior and simplified floor plan are a testament to the simple and stoic values that have shaped our nation. Devoid of ornamental architecture or massive physical bulk, the subtle shifts of corrugation and the contrast between metallic surfaces and foliage are appealing to my artist's eye."
Scott Foster is an MFA candidate at Utah State University, with an emphasis in painting. He expects to graduate in May of 2008
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