The Taos News from Taos, New Mexico • Page 12

Hernandez' work honored Thurs. 1977 THE TAOS NEWS Bl WINTER SHOW-The Clay and winter showing of ceramic Fiber Gallery will hold a recep- sculpture by Dick Evans and tion Saturday (Jan. 8) to open its Egyptian Children's Tapestries. Winter show to open Taos jeweler John Hernandez has received national recognition for his unique work, "Winged Scarab." A photograph of the piece appears In the new book "Skystone and Silver The Collector's Book of Southwest Indian Jewelry," by Carl Rosnek and Joseph Stacey, regarded as a major, definitive work on the topic. Hernandez is one of the few non-Indians whose work was pictured.

The same photograph was also chosen for reproduction in a recent issue of "Newsweek" magazine as companion illustration for a review of the book. "Winged Scarab" is Hernandez' first major work. It is on view at Return Gallery in Taos, along with subsequent pieces from the "dream" series by Hernandez. The artist, 25, is a California native who has made his home in the Taos area for several years, and now lives in El Prado The theme which dominates his work is, in his own word, "ascension." show minimal concern for their usefulness as personal adornment, and a growing trend toward bridging the gap between jewelry and sculpture. "Winged Scarab," which measures about five inches across, is made of silver channelwork, with ivory and turquoise inlays Rounded stones in the back and head arc opals, and tiny points of ebony are used at the nock.

The tail is hinged, and the central scarab body completely finished on the underside including fully detailed legs of silver is detachable from the rest of the piece. The body is hollow, allowing light to shine through the mouth to back-light the central opal. The heishi strands mounted to the piece are turquoise and ivory, crafted by David Cordova of Arroyo Hondo. ASCENSION "Winged Scarab," by John Hernandez, with heishi by David Cordova, as recently been featured in a major book on Southwestern jewelry and in "Newsweek" magazine. The piece, along with other works by Hernandez, is on display at Return in Taos.

Photo by Arnie Trujillo The winter exhibition at the ciay and Fiber Gallery will feature the ceramic sculpture of Dick Evans and Egyptian Children's Tapestries. The exhibition will open with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 8) at which Evans will be present. Evans, who is currently teaching ceramics at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, was formerly in the art department of the University of New Mexico.

He will be showing his newest work which consists of a series of segmented pieces in procelain with subtle lustre and matte glazes and a series of post forms that are similarly glazed. Evans has exhibited widely throughout the United States. He has had one-person shows at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City; the Regency Gallery, Lubbock, The Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City; the Roswell Museum, Roswell, N.M.; the Memorial Union Art Gallery, University of Wisconsin at Madison; and the Bradley Gallery in Milwaukee. He has also participated in several group and juried regional exhibitions and has been the recipient of many purchase awards He is represented in a number of permanent collections, including the Salt Lake Art Center and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts in Salt Lake City; the Arkansas Little Rock; California Polytechnic Art Department and Ball State University Art Gallery, Muncie, Ind. Evans' shapes and glazes are often inspired by both the desert and the sea.

"Fish and the desert seem very close to me, and 1 don't know why. I look at tropical fish a lot for color inspiration and particularly at night, the desert gives you the feeling you might be underwater," he says. The Egyptian children's tapestries from the village of Harrania have become internationally acclaimed The project began in 1952 under the direction of an Egyptian architect, Rames Wissa-Wassef, who believed the capacity for high artistic creac- tivity exists in everyone. To test that theory, he began his "Experiment in Creativity" in the tiny Coptic village of Harrania. He invited village farm children between the ages of 8 and 12 to his workshop to weave.

He chose weaving as tme medium for his experiment because it is a very slow process and would allow time for the child's ideas to develop in his mind as he worked. Wissa-Wassef taught the children the basic weaving techniques, but gave them no instruction in design. He insisted on three rules: No preliminary sketches; no external artistic influences; and no criticism from adults. The results are lively and imaginative tapestries which tell the story of village life as the children see it. The success of this experiment led to the establishment of other weaving workshops in the village and to the revival of weaving as a means of livelihood in the ancient Coptic Christian tradition.

The current showing will include work from the 20 or more studios in Harrania. Gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Sunday. Clay and Fiber Gallery is located behind Stables Art Gallery.

Charles Stewart's 'Helen' admired Anticipation and exclamations marked the first show of 1977 at the Stewart Gallery. A reception Sunday (Jan.2) brought an interested group to the newly-remodeled gallery for the unveiling of "Helen." "Helen" is a seven foot, dark walnut sculpture by Charles Stewart. A long-time Taos resident artist, he has executed his polychrome sculpture as a tribute to the Helen of Greek legend "whose face launched a thousand ships" and beyond that, to woman's spirituality throughout the ages. her youthful pink ribbons and golden hair netting. Stewart has executed hie sculpture with the very adornments of antiquity itself gold and silver leaf, precious stones, symbolic coloration and representations.

Stewart says she represents "a young as well as an aged spirit her (blue) drape represets the ancient idea of the Milky Way; the cloud veil. From the back, her hair is covered with the stars' dew net enfolding the idea of the head of a dove." Yet another tie with antiquity and (The Taos News ACS A This piece may be seen as yet another statement within Stewart's dominant spirituality of all it be rendered on canvas, in bronze or volcanic rock, or on wood panels. This spirituality which reaches to the cosmos, abides in the primal earth mother, or abounds within the Indian tradition, is evidenced in the majority of his work. "Helen" speaks a victoy of her own, clad in her adornments and jewels, wearing her crown of victory. the sea is the bronze bast- which depicts sea plants and sand, fiddler crabs and snails.

Assisting in the casting was Frank Lyon. sculptor-owner of the Taos Art Bronze Foundry "Helen" may be seen at the Stewat Gallery in the Cabot Plaza. Other artist now showing at the gallery include Dale Amburn, Laura Wuf man. Marc Bergetson. and Tony Mygatt.

Womack HELEN Admired by Larry Kaplan Art notes: Fechirfs paintings show in Leningrad By REG1NA COOKE Showing for more than a month at Leningrad's Great Russian muse-urn are 36 of Nicolai Fechin's American paintings, drawings and bronzes, many on loan from the artist's daughter Eya Feehin Branham'and Fenn Gallery Santa Fe, and a painting of the Ranches de Taos church from the permanent collection of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center The exhibition went to Leningrad the last of December after showing in the Fine Arts Museum of Kazan, capital of the autonomous Tartar Republic, since mid-September when Kya, accompanied by her daughter Nikki, took her father's ashes to be buried there Eya and Nikki were guests of Russia's Ministry of Culture on the all-expense paid three-week trip, during which they "received the most cordial treatment The memorial service for Feehin 11881-1955), imbued with beauty and dignity, had among its large attendance persons who had known Feehin, some of whom had modeled for him when he taught at the Kazan Art School. His program for leaching is still in use at the school which was founded by Kya's maternal grandfather Belkovich. Although Kya came to America with her parents in 192:1, she still has vivid memories of visits to her father's studio in the art school the feel of the respect and love that always surrounded him there." Vast coverage of the American exhibition was given by newspapers and television in Kazan, a city with one million population and Russia's second oldest university, and whose art museum owns a large Feehin collection to which Eya added many of her father's drawings In Kazan, Kya and Nikki visited with Fechin's last remaining relatives, two nieces and a nephew, a brother's children, and from there went to the village on the out- skirls of Kazan where the artist's family had lived Having the use of a car and the services of an interpreter Mrs Branharn and her daughter visited villages and traveled to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, where the Feehin exhibit will also go on view at the fine museum before returning to America Mrs. Branham found this unusual, very old city in the Caucasus mountains much more Asiatic Here anthropology projects were under way in diggings, and vineyards and tobacco cultivation were flourishing The country, says Mrs Branham, reminded her of "a cross between New Mexico and California Russia is made up of different types of country as well as peoples, and the weather and crops were great Everywhere'she was conscious of the reverence for museums and art Another exciting experience, was a trip on a hydrofoil on the Volga Kazan is situated on the upper part of the river Interest began some years ago when New York City galleries' owner Victor Hammer was the first to speak to Russia's ministry of Culture about showing the Feehin exhibition in may of 1975, Mrs Branham made her first trip back to Russia after leaving there with her parents and the same year Forrest Fenn opened at Fenn Galleries, Santa Fe, a vast exhibition of Fechin's art including many works on loan to the I' for the first time, from Russian museums and for which Fenn culminated negotiations Kya wrote the sketch about her father for an impressive Fenn catalog, in which she said, "11) America, home was Taos Feehin later established residence in Santa Monica. Calif and painted in Mexico and Bali From the Fenn Galllery the comprehensive exhibition went to Seattle's Frye Museum, drawing a record crowd and from there to Cody, to show at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.

Mrs. Branham went to Seattle for the opening. The two exhibitions were agreed upon as an exchange between Russia and the U.S. A book on Feehin in Russian, containing material collected from many of the artist's students, is now sold out. Published in 1975 by Northland Press, is a handsome new book entitled "Nicolai Feehin" by Mary N.

Balcomb with foreword by Eya and which will be "given further notice in this column. Mrs. Branham is now at her San Cristobal ranch while daughter Nikki is attending Colorado College Colorado Springs. into the mind as it''iiMiuegrates and breaks down A masterpiece Said Betty "Washington I) Mar "The most provocative film the Cannes Festival A tuur de force of directing ami editing Taryn Power her film debut with a and honesty that was the talk the festival's first week 1 "Berkeley Gazette Dan Bickirv "A powerful intelligent work whu.se explorations American mythology 01 of men and the proce.s.- one of the most impo yean, Anais Nin wrote ic puts one in the hear brilliant, internal the related mental di.sintegratinii make it 1 American tilths reo-nt Bruce Williamson noted The method in the madriev-, brilliantly expressed In Hopper 'Tracks 1 a io! U( mga America-', innocence. guilt Ame'ric-i' delusion 11 One Track- trenieh weil organized.

and well Jin- vvilh an miuiite amount oi and intuition Jaglom levels of the Daih realitv mixed wise hallucination' ano reflection of actions inner truth oi the characters Figaro Pan- 'he nightmare Tracks At'soluteh Showing during Critics Week for Academy Award consideration at California's Mann Theatres, W'estwood, recently was "Tracks," featuring Dennis Hopper of Taos, introducing Taryn Power and also starring Dean Stockwell and Topo Slope, Alfred Ryder, Michael F.mil. Zack Norman and Barbara Flood The film writlen and directed by Henry Jaglom, with Bert Schneider executive producer and produced by Howard Zukor was the official F.S.A. selection Critics Week at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival Hollywood's "Variety," Dec ly contained highly enthusiastic comments with photographs of Hopper from the film: Wrote Walt Trott of "Stars and Stripes" "Dennis Hopper gives the performance of his career as the tor mented last innocent, putting together an incredible portrait of confusion, violence and vulnerability 'Tracks' is a powerful portrait of the mind of a soldier coming home A disturbing film that must be seen, felt and understood Joan Buck said in "Vogue" "A revolutionary filmmaker: Henry Jaglom with his inner and sensual ap proach to telling a story, may well turn out to be the much needed interpreter between the sexes Tracks' lakes us I JANUARY SPECIALS I Embroidered Sheepskin Afghan coats for $90 Kids handsewn Canadian Indian Mocs Now oH. Sandpainting originals oH. Wool Ecuador sweaters, Turkish gtovat, and other warm winter wooliM still arriving.

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