Peter Ferguson – “Barents” detail
When I think of the Lush Life, I envision wealthy celebrities flaunting stacks of cash while smoking cigars and drinking bubbly in the champagne room. On August 10th, Lush Life Four opened at Roq La Rue in Seattle, and I’m happy to say that the exhibiting artists have a much better vision than I. Now in its fourth year, the annual group show brings an eclectic mix of styles and interpretations to the subject matter.
Canadian illustrator Peter Ferguson has three oil paintings in the exhibition, all of which feature maverick explorers dressed for the elements. They could have easily been pulled from your grandparents dusty National Geographics, if not for the other-worldly creatures providing a small level of surreal interaction.
Peter Ferguson – “Barents”
Peter Ferguson – “The Embassies”
Peter Ferguson – “Found On Expedition”
Chris Berens – “Lady of the Cloth”
Chris Berens – “Lady of the Cloth” detail
Chris Berens also has three pieces on display in his multiple layer, patchwork style, which creates dreamlike images that are hard to describe to someone unfamiliar with his work. In “Lush Limbo”, Berens portrays an exquisitely dressed female as she walks along a rocky and wooded trail. Pink bowed lanterns populate the space above her intricately embroidered umbrella, but down below in a small cave, a troll like creature gazes out, interrupting the serenity of the forest. The level of detail combined with the style will leave any viewer mesmerized.
Chris Berens – “Lush Limbo”
Others took the theme and flipped the script, like Travis Louie’s “Ode To A Thylacine” which features a graphite rendition of the now extinct Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger. It could be interpreted that the Thylacine went extinct because of man’s decadence and desire for the lavish and extravagant. On a similar tangent, Michael Alm has used his wood-working skills to replicate the skulls of the “Common Goat” and a “Fallow Deer”. The deer is mounted on the wall as a trophy, and I’m sure somewhere in the world, there is something similar on the wall of someone’s champagne room.
Lush Life Four is a show not to miss, so be sure you get to Roq La Rue before October 6th.
Written by Robbie Lowery
Travis Louie – “Ode To A Thylacine”
Michael Alm
Michael Alm – “Common Goat (Capra Aegagrus Hircus)”
Annie Owens – “Vultures”
Camille Rose Garcia – “Circus Elephant Dream #1”
Madeline Von Foerster – “Blackbird”
Lindsey Carr – “Platonic Solids”
Jessica Joslin – “Isolde”
Handiedan – “Flux #3”
Handiedan – “Flux #3” detail
Glenn Barr – “Thoughts of Tethys”
Sam Wolfe Connelly – “Moonstruck”
Zoey Williams – “Proboscis”
Seamus Conley – “Almost Paradise”
