“The Beat Generation and Beyond” - a perfectly designed exhibit at an gallery near you

The Natsulas Gallery's latest: “The Beat Generation and Beyond” is a beautifully designed exhibit combining a collection of paintings and sculptures with well essays and information about the time and people.   The exhibit pays homage to the heroes or rather “anti heroes” of the post war era who shoved aside the Norman Rockwell concept of art and embraced the abstract and the notion of an uncertain future. 

The creators of the exhibit chose painters and sculptures with a variety of distinct styles.  There were a multi media sculpture/paintings created by George Herms in the 60's which combined together discarded iron rings bits of driftwood and other “found items” which would be considered trash and overlooked by much of society but were given life and expression 

"Altar" (1960) by George Herms                                                    in the hands of the artist.  A painting by                                                                                                            Tom Holland entitled “Frontal” (1964)  experimented with tones and color that seemed to be applied by “marking” the canvas in long gentle strokes that jumped across raised levels on the canvas and suggested a calm, focused sense of peace.

The exhibit included backgrounds of the pieces and gripping mini-biographies of some of the painters such as Horst Trave who fled Germany at the end of the 1930's, disagreeing with Hitler's politics and disapproving of the direction Germany was going in and eventually landing in the United States and actually fought for the American forces.  

Other essays about the period in general,  provided a glimpse at a time when poets, painters,  musicians and writers formed supportive communities where they combined together their arts, supported each other and traded with each other for their creations.   

The design of the exhibit draws the visitor in and paints a complete picture of the period, the people and their art.  It stands in contrast to the typical display that gives you the art piece little more than a quickly printed label with basic information.  All in all it makes for a much more enjoyable experience and leaves the “would be” art lover wanting more.

The John Natsulas Gallery is located at 521 First St in Downtown Davis.  The Exhibit “The Beat Generation and Beyond” runs from September 24th through October 24th , 2009.