angell wings2017 catalogforweb · 2005 ‘in the company of crows and ravens,’ foster/white...
TRANSCRIPT
TONY ANGELL
WINGS
T O N Y A N G E L LW I N G S
F O S T E R / W H I T E G A L L E R YS E A T T L E 2 0 1 7
T O N Y A N G E L L
WINGS
INTRODUCTION
Of the many species we share the planet with, birds may well provide the greatest inspiration to the inquiring human mind. Birds are central characters in our cultural myths, subjects of our artistic expressions and the focus of scientific inquiry. Certainly their beauty and complex habits and behavior can give us pause, but it is their capacity to defy gravity that most often defies words to fully describe and explain. I have always found that responding to these companions in nature artistically comes far closer to conveying my feelings for them than a deluge of verbs and adjectives could ever do.
Here then is a collection of moments from my life that I’ve sought to give sculptural form. There is a range, from a wingless ancestor for comparison and appreciation, to the most exquisitely evolved avian forms that flash by overhead or beneath the waves of the Salish Sea.
I hope this collection provides the visitor with their own avenue to push off into a richer experience amid the natural heritage so essential to our life here in the Pacific Northwest.
Preening Display
bronze10.75 X 14 X 10 inches
Preening Display (Wing Care)
Birds are elegant and remain so with attention to grooming. It is however not all feather care and conditioning; a male Merganser will make a point of preening and wing stretching before admiring females. Displaying his attractiveness is also a confirmation of his fitness, thereby indicating he is a good choice for a mate.
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Pushing Offbronze21 X 13 X 10 inches
Pushing Off
Art possesses metaphorical elements. The emotion behind the piece I am working on gathers strength towards the finish. Here, a peregrine falcon commits to flight and does so with power and purpose. The instant is not unlike one we experience when we push off from the security of the known and towards the challenges, rewards and possibilities of what lies ahead. A full life requires this adventure from time to time.
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Over the Late Winter Seabronze13.25 X 32.5 X 15.25 inches
Over The Late Winter Sea
In fall and through the winter four species of Loon can sometimes be seen or heard on our marine waters. Mythic birds these loons, their calls cut through the fog over the bay where I have a studio on Lopez Island. By the very end of winter the common loon begins its molt into its breeding plumage. I have watched them at Shark Reef Sanctuary, just off shore and cutting low over the water as they head back to the far north.
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Migrationbronze1.75 X 13.5 X 10.5 inches
Migration
At the entrance to the San Juan Channel between Lopez and San Juan Island, the raging tidal currents can stir up bottom nutrients that nurture an abundance of marine life. Sea birds gather here in winter to dive for fish. Once, I observed nearly a hundred wintering pacific loons assemble to feed there. From the bluffs above I watched some approach in small tight formations only to quickly settle on the waters and plunge for food. The following week the birds were gone on their way north for the Arctic spring and summer. Their feeding time here is a critical preparation for the breeding season ahead.
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Divers in the Salish Seabronze10.5 X 15.25 X 10 inches
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Divers In The Salish Sea
There is much serendipity when one can look below any surface and it is particularly so when diving in the Salish Sea. On a few occasions I’ve rounded a kelp forest to catch a glimpse of the winged divers we share the waters with. Guillemots, puffins, auklets, murrelets and murres employ their wings to surge about at different depths and distances from shore to catch small fish. Imagine the unique design and strength of wing and body that provides them with such versatility and freedom.
Crow Play bronze21.5 X 8 X 8 inches
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Crow Play
Not unlike ourselves, crows enjoy and engage in play activity. A chase or a tug of war are non threatening activities where they can get acquainted, test their strength and perfect their powers of flight. Their maneuvers in the afternoon skies leave me in awe. No amount of arm flapping will ever take us aloft
First Flightbronze12.25 X 13.5 X 9 inchesOpposite page: Detail
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First Flight
In the winter months birds of prey migrate southward to our region. They are hungry and seeking sustenance. They take up posts along the shores of the Sound, perch at roadsides and high up on snags. Possessing vision many times more powerful than ours, they can scan the surrounding country for prey. Should their patience be unrewarded, they take a moment to fly to new ground and repeat the procedure. Their presence among us requires undisturbed open places where they can hunt and food is abundant.
Night Huntbronze17.5 X 8.5 X 7 inches
Night Hunt
Amid the darkness of our forest I often catch glimpses of small owls gliding soundlessly through the corridors of branches. Seeking the source of their prey’s faint sounds they bring vitality and intrigue to an otherwise somber night.
Ancient Lakebronze, stone4.75 X 10.5 X 9 inches
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Ancient Lake
I am in awe of the turtle’s manner, which, like its shell, has been fashioned over a period of time difficult to imagine. Its endurance remains to remind us of how subtle beauty can be and of the origins of diversity.
Tailored by Time and Placebronze11.5 X 7.5 X 4 inches
Tailored by Time and Place
Owls are among the most diverse of all avian species. Some are as small as sparrows and others are eagle-sized. The tiny elf owls perch in waiting before flitting about in the desert nights on rounded wings to catch moths nearly as large as they are. Their plumage is a perfect match for the sun browned desert landscape they occupy.
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Holding Groundbronze13.75 X 14 X 12 inches
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Holding Ground
It is a constant challenge to steward our natural heritage when development and the consumptive interests of human kind compete for the remaining open lands and shores. The short eared owls I have known, both from rehabilitating them and watching them in the field, can employ their wings as we might hands and arms to keep a threat at bay. As a ground nesting species they are particularly vulnerable. How they will fare against the onslaught of the human tide flooding over our wetlands along the Sound remains a concern.
The Wood Hewerbronze
12.25 X 11 X 4.25 inchesOpposite page: Detail
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The Wood Hewer
Were a flicker’s tail feathers not relatively rigid they would soon be worn down by the bird’s vigorous foraging over the rugged barks of fir and cedar. It is well known they keep the forest healthy by digging out the insect larvae that kill trees. What is not appreciated is that their abandoned nest cavities become essential roosting and brood rearing locations for a vast number of other birds and dens for small mammals.
Wind Hoverbronze, stone20 X 19 X 15 inchesOpposite page: Detail
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Wind Hover
A kestrel was my constant companion when I was a child growing up in what was once a San Fernando Valley of orchards and farms. The bird possessed a wild manner and a sleek form that invited my earliest artistic interpretations. When aloft she could hang stationary with the wind beneath her wings. Should a grasshopper stir beneath her perch she became a feathered spear launching to the ground to take it. A dear friend was this bird, whose spirit and association provided a gift of inspiration that has lasted a life time.
The Conversationbronze14.5 X 19.75 X 10.25 inches
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The Conversation
I flatter myself from time to time by thinking that when ravens respond to my calling to them they are conversing with me. I do believe that a raven I had living with me for a few years, Macaw, did develop a greeting call that we would exchange every morning when I opened his enclosure for his flight about the neighborhood. Still, listening to these birds chortle, croak and gargle their calling back and forth I am convinced information is exchanged. The First Nation People of the Pacific Northwest listened to the raven’s calls and interpreted their meanings. With the raven’s long history of living in company with people I wonder what opinions they might be sharing in this age and time.
Fly Bybronze15.5 X 18 X 12 inches
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Fly By
The Cooper’s hawks of our woods have done well raising young nearly every year. What impresses me is how well people and hawks can keep company. Unless I really seek them out I wouldn’t know they were there. A few times, as I stood on my porch a hawk would round one corner of my studio and fly by within arms length. On each occasion I have caught what seemed to be a calm, almost nonchalant look on the hawk’s face. Without words it seemed to say, “So, what’s the big deal? I live here too.”
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Fly Bybronze15.5 X 18 X 12 inches(Alternate view)
The Scoldbronze,10.5 X 9 X 8 inches
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The Scold
With one of my less than polished raven calls, I recently interrupted a serious “discussion” ravens were having amid the woods near my studio on Lopez Island. Upon seeing me, one of the birds turned on its perch and growled a scolding call in my direction. “How dare you,” it seemed to say, before flying off with the other ravens to resume their exchanges uninterrupted.
TONY ANGELL
Education
1958-62 Bachelor of Arts, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 1964-66 Master of Arts Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Selected Exhibitions
2017 ‘Wings,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA “Birds In Art” Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI “Prix de West” Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK 2015 ‘The House of Owls,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA ‘Of a Feather,’ White River Valley Museum, Auburn, WA2013 ‘Spirit Companions,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA ‘Responding to Nature in Form and Line,’ Robert Graves Gallery, Wenatchee, WA2012 ‘Celebrating form: An Artist’s Response to His Life Amid Nature,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA2011 ‘Conversations with Nature in Bronze and Stone,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA2009 ‘Companions from Land and Sky,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA ‘Tony Angell: Spirits of Place,’ Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA 2007 ‘Artists Honor Puget Soundscape,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA ‘Birds In Art,’ Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI2006 ‘In Recognition of Victoria and Albert Award,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA2005 ‘In the Company of Crows and Ravens,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA ‘Birds in Art,’ Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI ‘Wildlife Art for a New Century II,’ Nat. Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY2004 ‘Silver Anniversary Rendezvous 2004,’ Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK ‘Birds in Art,’ Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI2003 ‘Birds in Art,’ Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI ‘Wildlife Art for a New Century I,’ National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY2002 ‘Birds in Art,’ Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI ‘Iridescent Light: Origins of Pacific Northwest Art,’ Museum of Northwest Art, LaConner ‘The Frye at Fifty: Five Decades of Collecting,’ Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA ‘Spirit Companions,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA2001 ‘Master Artist Retrospective/Birds in Art,’ Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau1999 ‘Images of Forest and Shore,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA ‘Earthscapes,’ Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA1998 ‘Natural Habitat,’ Spanierman Gallery, New York, NY ‘Distillations of Place,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA1998-10 Prix de West Invitational, Oklahoma City, OK ‘Birds in Art,’ Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI1997 ‘Great American Artists,’ Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH1996 C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, MT National Academy of Design, New York City, NY
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1994 ‘Community of Images,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA ‘Wildlife Art in America,’ James Ford Bell Museum, MN1993 ‘Recent Work by Gallery Artists,’ Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA1992-93 ‘Birds In Art,’ National Touring Show of Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau1991 ‘Drawing Show,’ Foster/White Gallery at Frederick & Nelson, Seattle, WA Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA, solo show1981-97 National Academy of Western Artists, Oklahoma City, OK1987 ‘Animals in Art,’ traveling show in United States, Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI1986 ‘Retrospective,’ Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK1985 ‘Birds In Art 10th Anniversary Exhibition,’ Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI1980 Washington State Capitol Museum, Olympia, WA1979 ‘Coastal Art Forms,’ Tacoma Art Museum, WA1978 ‘Birds In American Art,’ Cape Cod, MA1976 ‘Nature In Art,’ Tacoma Art Museum, WA1975 ‘Animals In Art: An International and Historical Review,’ Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada ‘Tony Angell Drawings,’ James Ford Bell Museum, St. Paul, MN1971 Allied Arts/Richard White Gallery, Seattle, WA1970 ‘Tony Angell, Drawings and Paintings,’ Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Selected Public and Corporate Collections
Western Washington University, WA Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA Redmond City Hall, Redmond, WA Bainbridge Island Public Library Garden Complex, Bainbridge Island, WA Boeing, Seattle, WA Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Frances Anderson Arts Center, Edmonds, WA Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA Gilcrease Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA Seattle Aquarium, Seattle, WA Seattle Public Schools Administration Center, Seattle, WA Seattle Woodland Park Zoo/Educational Center, Seattle, WA UW Medical Center, Seattle, WA Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England Virginia Mason Clinic, Seattle, WA Whatcom Community College, Bellingham WA
Selected Books Written and/or Illustrated by the Artist
2015 Tony Angell, ‘The House of Owls,’ Yale University Press, New Haven/London. Author and illustrator.
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2012 John Marzluff and Tony Angell, ‘Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans,’ Free Press. Co-author and illustrator.2009 Tony Angell, ‘Puget Sound Through An Artist Eye,’ University of Washington Press2005 John Marzluff and Tony Angell, ‘In the Company of Crows and Ravens,’ Yale University Press. Co-author and illustrator.1998 William H. Gerdts, ‘Natural Habitat: Contemporary Wildlife Artists of North America,’ Spanierman Gallery, New York, NY1978 Tony Angell, ‘Ravens, Crows, Magpies and Jays,’ University of Washington Press, Seattle/London. Author and illustrator.1974 Tony Angell, ‘Owls,’ University of Washington Press, Seattle/London. Author and illustrator.1972 Tony Angell, ‘Birds of Prey of the Pacific Northwest Slope,’ Pacific Search Press, Seattle. Author and illustrator.
Selected Awards
2017 Juror’s Excellence Award, Pratt Fine Arts Center 40th Anniversary Celebration and Ruby Riot Auction2016 Northwest Luminary, Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA2015 National Outdoor Book Award for The House of Owls, Environment Category2014 The Puget Sound Keeper’s Alliance, Puget Sound Hero Award 2011 University of Washington Department of Communications Alumni Hall of Fame, Artist and Environmentalist2010 Washington State Book Award Finalist: Puget Sound Through An Artist’s Eye2006 Illustrated Works Recipient of Overall Award 2006, Victoria & Albert Museum, London2005 Washington State Book Award for In the Company of Crows and Ravens2001 Master Artist Award, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum1994 The Virginia Merrill Bloedel Lecture Fellow1989 American Association of University Presses Design Production Award: Sea Brothers: American Sea Fiction since Moby Dick1986 Association of Graphic Design Award: ‘Blackbirds of the Americas’ Fifty Best Books Award: ‘Blackbirds of the Americas’ Governor’s Writer’s Day Award: ‘Blackbirds of the Americas’1980 Silver medal, International Book Design Competition, Leipzig, Austria: ‘Ravens, Crows, Magpies and Jays’1974 Governor’s Writer’s Day Award: ‘Owls’1973 Governor’s Writer’s Day Award: ‘Birds of Prey in the Pacific Northwest Slope’
Selected Books, Articles, and Catalogues about the Artist
2015 Jan Gardner, “‘The House of Owls’ by Tony Angell,” The Boston Globe, May 9 Todd Wilkinson, ‘Confluence: In This Environmental Age, More Sculptors Are Taking On Wildlife to Make a Green Statement,’ Sculpture Review, Spring 2015 Mary Ann Gwinn, ‘Tony Angell: A Grateful Guest in the House of Owls,’ The Seattle Times, May 3
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Julie Zickefoose, ‘Wise Guys,’ The Wall Street Journal, April 24 Gale Fiege, ‘Angell’s New Book Documents Owl Family,’ The Everett Herald, April 19 Todd Wilkinson, ‘Through Wild Rock,’ Western Art and Architecture, April 2015 Nancy Worssam, “‘Of a Feather’: Northwest Artists’ Visions Take Flight,” The Seattle Times, March 62012 James Gorman, ‘The Games Crows Play, and Other Winged Tales,’ The New York Times, June 112007 Mary Ann Gwinn, ‘Crows and Ravens’: Fear and Fascination, Evermore,” The Seattle Times, October 232000 Richard Seven, ‘A Life In Stone,’ Seattle Sunday Times Magazine, December1996 Todd Wilkenson, ‘Summoning Spirits from Stone,’ Seattle Magazine, November1987 ‘Sculptor: Tony Angell,’ KCTS Channel 9 special program, fall, television show ‘Raven Into Flight,’ Seattle Sunday Times, May 211976 Pat Baillargeon, ‘Tony Angell,’ Pacific Search Magazine 1969 ‘Tony Angell: Learning is an Experience,’ Seattle Times Magazine, November
Wings by Tony AngellNovember 2 - 25, 2017 at Foster/White GalleryArtwork photography by Gregg Krogstad and Donal MurphyCopyright © 2017 Foster/White GalleryArtworks © 2017 Tony AngellAll rights reservedNo part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher
Cover image: Pushing Off, bronze, 21 X 13 X 10 inches