Justin Gibbens – A Contemporary Bestiary

Work by Justin Gibbens is included in the exhibit, A Contemporary Bestiary, at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University in Salem, OR.

A Contemporary Bestiary
September 13 – December 21, 2014
Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery
Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University

A Contemporary Bestiary features work by artists from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia who incorporate animal imagery in their artwork as a means to address a wide variety of issues. Organized by Director John Olbrantz, the exhibition includes paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, ceramics, and photography by artists Rick Bartow, Rachel Denny, Alfredo Arreguin, Mark Calderon, Fay Jones, Robert McCauley, Sherry Markovitz, and Robert Davidson, among others. The exhibition opens September 13 and continues through December 21, 2014, in the Maribeth Collins Lobby and Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery.

The exhibition features 56 objects on loan from public and private collections throughout the region, including a number of objects from the permanent collection of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art. A wide variety of animals are represented, including Frank Boyden birds, David Gilhooly frogs, Gaylen Hansen fish and dogs, Ed Wicklander cats, Ted Wadell cattle, and Deborah Butterfield horses. In addition to the objects on display, the exhibition features a text panel, quotes from the artists, object labels, and quotes from James Lipton’s book An Exaltation of Larks.