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“APPLE OF MY EYE” BY PETER & DOROTHY BONNEAU

Two Vaults Gallery reveals 21 views of the horse

By Matt Nagle

For its first theme show of 2008, Two Vaults Gallery has assembled a remarkable mixture of paintings and sculpture all based on 21 artists’ view of the horse. Owner Paula Tutmarc-Johnson said she wanted “something different” to showcase, and found that the horse is such a universal symbol spanning every continent and culture going back to pre-civilization cave paintings that this four-legged subject would bound to attract both art aficionados and casual observers alike. It certainly did that during the show’s unveiling for this month’s Art Walk, as the gallery was filled to capacity with many of the artists present to talk about their works, some of which are straightforward renditions of the noble creature while others are much more wacky.

Local favorite Christopher Mathie ventured into new territory for this exhibit. Noted for his Raku pottery and abstract expressionist paintings, Mathie maintained his dramatic signature painting style in the two works he created just for this Two Vaults equine exhibit, “Candy” and “Edward.” Candy was a horse Mathie had when he was a small boy. “That’s what I remember her to look like,” he said. “I was kind of nervous painting a horse because I had never done one before, but I just told myself, ‘stay true to your style.’” He did just that, and the results are two 48-inch by 12-inch paintings that show a real master’s touch.

Peter and Dorothy Bonneau contributed several sculptures to the exhibit. The artists work in paper clay, a regular type of low-fire clay with paper pulp mixed in allowing the sculptor to rewet and rework areas of the piece. Generally Peter does the sculpting and Dorothy does the painting. “I really love architecture, and usually I try to put some kind of architecture into my pieces,” Peter Bonneau said. “Pleasure Crafts” illustrates this well with tongue-in-cheek playfulness – a prehistoric-looking horse perched atop a small egg-shaped trailer perched atop a pyramid. “Apple of My Eye” is a little house-shaped structure that somewhat resembles a Spanish mission with delicate, pale orange flowers etched in. A horse stands on the roof. A large and removable gold-plated apple sits in the open doorway; lifting it out reveals a secret compartment. (On an interesting note, Peter Bonneau has one of those jobs about which people say, “I always wonder who did that.” He is an instructional illustrator and creates the airline emergency procedure cards “found in the pocket of the seat in front of you” as flight attendants say.)  

Two of the most eye-catching pieces in the exhibit are Marsha Glaziere’s big 60-inch by 48-inch collages. Made up of mixed media on toned paper, the works are excellently executed with strategically placed pieces of ripped cardboard and paper giving depth and texture to the painted portions of each horse. She captured the animal’s eyes with exquisite perfection.

On a more wonderfully weird note, the sculptures by musician and artist Eric “Two Scoops” Moore prove that recycling can mean more than sorting bottles and cans for the trash man to pick up. He used toilet tissue tubes and dryer lint to create “Lady Godiva Revisited,” which shows the naked longhaired female riding bareback on a white horse.

Recycled objects are found again in Bill Sears’ awesome “Dark Equus” series of Samurai cyborg horses. Built from an amazing variety of broken toy pieces and found metal bric-a-brac, Sears’ tabletop horses are painted completely black. Some have tiny red lights, and one of them rocks and plays a lullaby, which stands in stark contrast to what some might consider their rather scary looking appearance. They’d make perfect baby shower gifts for Morticia Addams.

There are many more excellent works to view on this show. Don’t miss it before it closes May 10. Two Vaults, voted “Best Art Gallery” this year by Tacoma Weekly readers, is located at 602 S. Fawcett on the corner of Sixth Avenue, open Tuesday-Saturday. Visit www.twovaults.com for a cybertour of the show.

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