Ruhlen - Owen Contemporary, Santa Fe NM - "Creative Transition" - May 27 > June 9th, 2016

Creative Transition

Martha Rea Baker, Elaine Holien, Mary Long, Martha Mans, Kurt Meer, Stephen Pentak, Daniel Phill, Jinni Thomas, Kevin Tolman, Pauline Ziegen, Sally Hepler, Bret Price

Ruhlen - Owen Contemporary

225 Canyon Road Santa Fe, NM 87501

Tel： 505.820.0807 e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

May 27 > June 9th, 2016

Martha Rea Baker- Chronos IX, 48 x 48”, oil, mixed media on panel 2016

Mary Long- Overlook 2, 24 x 24”, encaustic, mixed media on panel 2015

Pauline Ziegen- Capturing the Sound of Rain, 44 x 42”, mixed media on panel 2016

SANTA FE, NM. Ruhlen-Owen Contemporary 2016 introduced an exciting change at one of Santa Fe’s well-established and best know art galleries.
Tim Owen, the long-time gallery director with Karan Ruhlen Gallery has become the new owner for the previous gallery founder and owner, Karan Ruhlen. The new gallery title, Ruhlen-Owen Contemporary has been altered to reflect the transition of ownership and will become Owen Contemporary in 2017.
Our inaugurial exhibition, Creative Transition, will open on May 27 and will feature artwork from all of our very talented and long-standing gallery artists.
Martha Rea Baker’s paintings that are rich both in oil or encaustic medium are indicative of the passage she has made from her more objective watercolor paintings to her strong abstract compositions. Daniel Phil engages the viewer with his paintings that transform bright colors and botanical shapes into powerful compositions.
Pauline Ziegen’s oil and gold leaf panels reflect her transition back and forth from her classic landscapes to a more abstracted version. Stephen Pentak creates modified landscape paintings with broad brushstrokes and marked surfaces.
Adding to our group of landscape artists with a more traditional style are Martha Mans with her oil and watercolor paintings of the Southwest and Kurt Meer with his masterfully painted oils of water scenes that have a dream-like quality.
Kevin Tolman’s works on paper and canvas move from child-like markings to a sophisticated composition all within the same painting. Random markings also appear on the beautifully muted color surfaces of Mary Long’s many-layered encaustic paintings. One can always sense that there is a story from the script-like markings just beneath and above the surface of Jinni Thomas’ paintings.
The bronze sculpture of Sally Hepler is a dramatic transition of steel that has been transformed into elegant abstract metal ribbons. Like-wise, the sculptor Bret Price has manipulated both thin steel strips and rebar into his brightly colored and fluid sculptures.