“James Ratliff Gallery Salutes Summer:”

SEDONA, Ariz. - June 24, 2015 - PRLog -- “Freedom of Expression” opens Friday, July 3, at James Ratliff Gallery, Hillside Sedona, 671 State Route 179, Suites A1 & A-2, Sedona, AZ.  In its 50^thanniversary year, the James Ratliff Gallery chose this themed exhibition, “Freedom of Expression”, in honor of Independence Day. Both James and Patricia Ratliff will be available to chat with the public during the July 3 opening reception 5:00 – 8:00 PM.

James Ratliff Gallery artists explore the vistas of America’s landscapes, both inner and outer, real and imagined.  For the artist, the challenge actuates what’s within, waiting to be expressed in sculptures; paintings, found objects.  James Ratliff Gallery cultivates freedom of expression in each of its artists.  Traditional Navajo artist, David K. John, reaches into the depths of the past.  David says: “My paintings are my own vision” he goes on, “because so much is being lost with the passing of the older generations.  I believe it is the role of the artist to communicate and teach the next generation.  I try to do this through my paintings.”

Landscape painters, Jody Ahrens, Judy Choate, and Lelija Roy paint their possibles into existence.   For each of these artists, the inspiration and process involve multiple stages: treks in the forest, mountains or wilderness, endless hours of studio time.

An abstract artist like Tony Griffith pursues the outdoors yet transforms and informs the experience with an inevitable Zen character.. Griffith calls his work “Surreal landscapes and mindscapes of the southwest”. His influences include surrealism, minimalism, pop art and Buddhism.

William Crook, self-taught artist,explores the whimsical aspects of life, celebrating its humorous foibles in expressionistic colors while often veering towards the naïve or primitive.  “When I started painting it was to counterbalance the rigors of work.   Evolving with a virtual life of its own, my art almost led me to its present form. I have enjoyed the creative freedom to fuse pen and ink figurative drawing with oil stick and acrylic media to yield my own brand of Primitive Expressionism,” comments Crook.

Tyanne uses Found Objects to create masks and feather fans.  Tyanne’s affinity for harbingers of the spirits talking dates back to her long residence in Montana during which time she often had the occasion to attend Pow Wows, even those of the peoples of all nations. For Tyanne, art is play and play is art.

Sheer delight of the “new kid on the block” of James Ratliff Gallery is Ying Muncy, sculptor of bronze and clay works.  Ying says:  “I like playing with animal shapes, people, nature and mixing in flairs of the abstract to add to the realistic nature of my art.  I distort shapes slightly and add a little bit of eccentricity to keep my art interesting, while still preserving the life-like nature of my pieces.

John Dawson is a cheerful, good humored sort of person who says "I only visit reality as a tourist."  And that attitude combined with a huge talent and refined skill is what makes John Dawson a world class artist!  According to the man himself, “The ebb and flow of life…I've always been interested in the human drama.  It's an endless subject.  The real search is how to express it.”   And express it he does! Since Dawson’s art spans a 40-year career, his work is arguably one of this century’s most outstanding, exploratory, dramatic, mysterious oeuvre of work.

Dawson reflects, “Whatever idea I have to start with is never going to literally come across the way I originally conceived it.”   A Dawson work is always an engagement with mystery, with incompleteness, just like life.  I think that’s why Dawson’s paintings are timeless in time.  A work by John Dawson is the independent third kind of reality which exists as a medium between the viewer and the artist.  What is seen depends on the perspective of life experience both bring to it.  Patricia Ratliff elaborates:  “To me there is never anything which isn’t completely influenced by our personal history and DNA, each of which contributes to (if not creates) our life perspective.   It seems like the “conditional appreciation of art” is “conditioning” due to our life perspective.”

It seems the 4^th of July is ideally suited to celebrate and present art.
“Art is everywhere”, .James and Patricia Ratliff engage the seasoned and new art viewers by offering a range of contemporary art which captivates, inspires and elicits appreciation. It’s a love affair, a seduction. Jim comments on the variety of work on exhibition at the gallery and its appeal for personal or business collections: “For 50 years I’ve always told clients that it’s the rarity of the work that signals its investment value. The thrill watching clients discover what captivates them is an equal satisfaction of working in the gallery business. John Dawson, for example, is a different talent. He fulfills the rarity component; he’s highly talented, offering signature visual statements, if sometimes jarring images, contemporary to our times. His work might not always be considered “beautiful”, but it’s definitely “rare”. All told, art offers the opportunity to engage….that’s what life is all about! The singular, enduring advantage of art is its permanence and the ability to savor “magic” each day…It’s the height, breadth and depth – the essence of living.” Besides, and most importantly, we need beauty to live as vitally as we need air to breathe. As Italian architect, Renzo Piano, has so aptly stated:  “Art is a visible expression of freedom. Art is freedom, the American art is even more free, sometimes a bit wild, even impolite (irreverent, disobedient), but free.”

For further information, contact the James Ratliff Gallery:  928-282-1404, e-mail: FineArt@jamesratliffgallery.com,visit www.jamesratliffgallery.com.