Painting is Not Dead
Oil paintings by Heidi Endemann

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.
Exhibit remains through October 3, 2010
Gualala Arts Center

Gualala Arts is thrilled to have a solo exhibit of Heidi Endemann showing her intriguing large oils in the Burnett Gallery and Jacob Foyer from the opening Saturday, September 11 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. through Sunday, October 3, 2010. This local painter is a treasure to our Mendocino Coast.

Heidi will be featuring a new series, called the "Icarus Project." It will consist of 70 individual panels, each measuring 16"x16". The "Icarus Project" is an ongoing series with no end in sight. In Greek mythology, Icarus, the son of Daedalus, who was escaping from Crete on artificial wings made for him by his father, flew so close to the sun that the wax with which his wings were fastened melted and he fell into the Aegean Sea. This project involves portraying children with Icarus' wings. "Blessed are the Children, for they light the way into the future in spite of our many assaults on them and the planet."

The 25 panel "Butterfly Project" will be on view. The "Butterfly Project" is part of the "Animals at Risk Series." It could just as well belong with the "Warming Trend Series." Butterflies are so delicate and sensitive to climate change. They are our warning, our canary in the coalmine. "Warming Trend" was begun in 1997 and Endemann is still evolving with the topic. Additional paintings from the "Animals at Risk" series and the "Warming Trend" series will be on display.

In Heidi Endemann's words, "Figurative paintings can acquire the responsibility of addressing social, environmental and political issues through visual parables. This combination has the potential to interact with, and make an impression on, a wider audience."

All these works are oil on linen.

About Heidi Endemann

Heidi Endemann was born in Mannheim, Germany. Upon graduating from the Institute for Art and Design in Cologne, Heidi immigrated to the United States. Since 1972, Heidi and her husband, Don, have lived in Gualala, CA. Heidi has always painted, while also being consumed by a career in commercial art. The move to Gualala helped Heidi give up the lucrative business side of her life and to finally paint full time. Heidi used watercolor as her painting medium for almost 20 years (partly because of the toxic nature of other media), but returned to her first love, oil painting, when her studio in Gualala was completed in 1991.

Years ago, Heidi believed that art should be serene and peaceful as a contrast to our turbulent times. This philosophy slowly changed beginning in the mid-eighties. Because of her concern about the future of all living things on earth and man's involvement in causing the fragility, Heidi felt obligated and challenged as a thinking human being and as a painter (just as a writer might) to produce works with social, political and/or environmental relevance. Her intent is to create work that is beautifully and academically executed in order to seduce the viewer into a longer gaze, making room for a dialog as to its meaning.

Heidi has exhibited in Germany, and at many galleries in New York and California. She was the recipient of an Individual Fellowship from the National Endowment for Arts in 1989 and has taught at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco.

For more information about Heidi Endemann and her work, please visit her web site at HeidiEndemann.com.

Proudly sponsored by Alan & Janet Coleman.

The Gualala Arts Center, located at 46501 Old State Highway in Gualala, CA,
is open weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and weekends from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Please call (707) 884-1138 for more information, or email info@gualalaarts.org.

Serving the coastal communities of northern Sonoma & southern Mendocino Counties.