ArtsHound

Farewell New Zone: The New Zone Gallery opens August’s First Friday ArtWalk with its final show at its downtown location on Broadway (which it has called home for 10 years) with pieces from more than 70 artists, as well as a featured collection — Muses, Dreams and Wanderings — by artist Tom Capri. The come-one, come-all attitude of the gallery and its members has been a bright spot on Eugene’s arts horizon with beloved annual shows like the Salon du People. EW wishes New Zone the best of luck finding a new location to carry on its tradition of fostering experimental and unorthodox work and a strong community spirit. Bravo.

The Mayor’s Art Show may be defunct, but in its place Karin Clarke of the Karin Clarke Gallery (760 Willamette Street) is hosting a multi-county juried Eugene Biennial. The art will be up until Aug. 27 with an opening reception and award ceremony during First Friday ArtWalk 5:30 to 7:30 pm Aug. 5. See the work of some local and regional heavyweights like Heather Halpern of Whiteaker Printmakers; portraitist Lynda Lanker; head of the University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts Library Edward Teague (which, full disclosure, is also the name of Captain Jack Sparrow’s father); vibrant printmaker Germaine Bennett; haunting still-life painter Sarah Ciampa; colorist Satoko Motouji and many more.

Also on the ArtWalk is the new show by painter Benjamin Terrell, The Forest and The Field, with an opening reception 6 pm at The Barn Light East (545 E. 8th Avenue). Terrell has painted a masterful collection featuring eight large-scale paintings in rich jewel tones that are more like allegorical meditations on nature. Look for the pieces “Panda and Procession,” “Spoke the Cub to the Bear” and “Alight.” The work will be up through Sept. 1.

The new kid on the First Friday ArtWalk block is the pop surrealist Alexi Era Gallery (245 W. 8th Ave.), which will be an official stop for the first time 6 pm Friday, Aug. 5. The gallery opens Lowbrow Tarot II, an exhibit featuring the new works of 22 international lowbrow artists who used the Major Arcana, or the trump cards of a tarot deck, as inspiration. Renowned L.A.-based pop surrealist Bob Doucette speaks at 6 pm followed by a lecture on “The History of the Tarot” at 7 pm. Alongside the tarot show, the dreamy watercolors of Tracy Lewis will be on display featuring ladies, lambs, blossoms and skulls.