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Art Galleries

This content was published: April 5, 2018. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.

Nicholas Arbatsky

Sylvania North View Gallery

Timberline

Artwork consisting of a green topographical map as a background with two rectangles on top; on the left is a white rectangle with a blue square in it, and on the right is a rectangular map in a lighter shade of green than the background.

  • Dates: April 5 to May 18, 2018
  • Opening reception and gallery talk: Thursday, April 5, 4-7pm

In 1998, New York-based artist Nicholas Arbatsky made his first trip to Mount Hood, Oregon, specifically to the see the snow sculpting on Palmer Glacier used for extreme sports activities. In the following twenty years he has made more than thirty visits to the area, immersing himself in the snowboard culture that gravitates to Mount Hood’s unique landscape–the only terrain in the USA open for summer snow sports. The images from the Timberline Series were photographed on the peak’s western slopes between the altitudes of 2,000 and 11,000 feet. The film was scanned to digital files and printed directly onto Sintra using archival UV pigmented ink. This unique technical process allows for the imagery to appear to float in 3-dimension above the printed surface plane. The viewpoint of Arbatsky’s camera is determined by rotation and velocity using increments of 180, 270 and 360 degrees, while exposure length and motion record a layered panorama in a single negative. By capturing the shape of wind and the color of time, the subject he records appears just out of range of the viewer’s focus, hovering in a state of suspended clarity.

Arbatsky’s Mount Hood photographs have been exhibited around the country in combination with his terrain park inspired constructions, which function as participatory social sculptures. The exhibition at the North View Gallery will bring the project back to its origins and allow for an exploration of the geographic aspects of the installation, featuring large scale topographic renderings of the Mount Hood environs. The artist will deliver a talk at the opening to discuss technical advances in photographic processes explored over the last twenty years as well as the shaping of the mountain from a sculptural standpoint, with comparisons to the Land Art Movement begun in the 1960s.

  • Panorama view of gallery with abstract photos on left and right sides, and in the middle the floor to ceiling windows with photos mounted on the glass and a view of trees outside.
  • Wall of gallery with 10 photographs of simple abstract landscapes that are arranged in a wave pattern.
  • 10 abstract landscape photos mounted on 2 large windows that look outside to a view of trees and a concrete walkway.
  • 3 dark blue abstract landscape photos hung on a gallery wall, with 2 shaped map photos on either side.
  • 3 dark blue abstract landscape photos hung on a gallery wall, with 2 shaped map photos on either side.
  • 3 abstract, multicolored rectangular photos, hung on a gallery wall, 2 on top and 1 below.

Gallery hours: Monday – Friday 8am-4pm, Saturday 11am-4pm

Directions: Follow signs to the bookstore and visitor parking. The gallery is located in the Communications and Technology (CT) building, adjacent to the bookstore on the NE corner of campus.