Thursday, October 25, 2018

You're Invited: First Friday Artwalk, November 2, 2018




Architect As Artist

Warren Pollock and Jeffrey Hummel

First in a Series

November 2 – 25, 2018

Reception with the Artists:


First Friday Artwalk, November 2nd, 6-8 pm

IMAGES SHOWN IN MONTAGE ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT:

Warren Pollock, 14’ 8” Bridge.  Indian Ink and Prismacolor, D’Arches paper
Jeffrey Hummel, Bali Door I.  Photograph


About the Show:  


Architect as Artist: Warren Pollock and Jeffrey Hummel
First in a Series

It has been said that art and architecture are closely connected. Indeed, the Victorian art critic, John Ruskin, wrote, “No person who is not a great sculptor or painter can be an architect. If he is not a sculptor or painter, he can only be a builder.”  Certainly, artistic skills enhance architectural results.  At the most fundamental level, the visualization of the “work” - drawing, painting, photography, sculpture or structure - begins in the brain and is made visual through tools of the trade:  pens, brushes, ink, paint, camera, stone and chisels. Modern technology, with its computers, CNC machines, 3D Printers, and a host of other developments, provides unique opportunities for both architect and artist to explore new dimensions of art.  Indeed, those “architect/artist brains,” with their bent toward exploring both space and form, are able to let their imaginations soar! 

In a series of shows the Gallery seeks to explore the creative opportunities provided by the mix of art and architecture.   In this first show, two Northwest practitioners - both Bainbridge Island residents - illustrate the synergies of art and architecture and provide some insight into how it works.  Warren Pollock has recently retired after some 33 years of designing and building residential, commercial and art related structures in the United States and around the world.  Jeffery Hummel, whose architectural firm is located in Seattle, is involved in residential, commercial, retail, and development projects in the Northwest and Hawaii. 

Art has been an integral part of each architect’s life.  They both note that they started early.  Pollock reports that he sketched and drew from an early age and learned perspective drawing when he was seven.  The sketches he has placed in this show illustrate the “pull of the pen,” to draw your eye, and your mind, to that yet unseen point just around the bend.   Hummel too reports a long love of art, as well as architecture.  An award winning photographer, his work focuses on the essential elements of larger structures, their pattern, texture and rhythm, and the play of light upon those elements.   Additionally, both artists have worked with wood for many years and have created several furniture pieces for this show. 

            We are pleased to welcome them to The Island Gallery.



About the Artists:

Warren Pollock (Bainbridge Island): Warren was born in Vancouver, Washington in 1945, earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Washington in 1968, and after apprenticeships in Seattle and Denver, became a licensed Architect in 1972.

Warren learned perspective drawing when he was seven years old.  He has been sketching and drawing his whole life and has used pen and paper to develop and communicate design ideas throughout his professional career.  

Warren was the Managing Principal of a successful architectural practice, Warren Pollock and Associates Architects, for 28 years.  His work included custom houses, multi-family units, office buildings and mixed-use development projects. From 2004-2009 he was the Principal and Commercial Mixed-Use Team Design Leader for MulvannyG2 Architecture in Bellevue, which undertook housing projects in the United States and China and affordable housing in Seattle.  From 2012-2016, he was the Founder and Managing Partner of Metrica Architects, an international design firm with offices in Seattle and Bogota, Colombia. Projects included an international airport in Western Australia and a museum and center for the arts in Bogota.  He has also traveled to Milan for the Salone International Furniture Show and Design Week for the last seven years.  He retired from his architectural practice and moved from Seattle to Bainbridge Island in 2017 and has been drawing and building furniture at BARN (Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network).
Awards include AIA Citation for Retail Design, Builders of Our Community Environmental Award, AIA Home of the Month seven times, and MAME Silver Award for Market Excellence. He has also served as an Expert Witness for arbitrations and trials.  

 Jeffrey Hummel (Bainbridge Island):  Jeff lives on Bainbridge Island with his wife, two boys and assorted animals.  He has a Bachelor of Architecture from Washington State University and has been an architect for 34-plus years, a photographer nearly as long and a woodworker even longer.  He has won several awards for his photography, particularly his black and white images, and shows on both Bainbridge Island and in Seattle.

Jeff owns and operates Hummel Architects, p.c., in Seattle and does residential, multi-family, commercial, retail and development projects in Washington, Hawaii and Oregon.  His other company, Toad Holler Woodworks on Bainbridge Island, produces live-edge one-of-a-kind wood and mixed media wood and metal furniture.  His pieces are sold through The Island Gallery on Bainbridge Island or by commission.

For this show, Architect as Artist, Jeff is showing both photography and furniture.  The series of photographs reflects Jeff’s background in architecture and design.  The series of furniture pieces is a departure from much of the work Jeff has done previously.  In his own words, on these two genres:

Photography.  The abstract compositions reduce the subjects to their essential elements, emphasizing the structure, pattern, texture or rhythm of the objects in the built environment and the play of light upon that structural order. The Doors (Bali) speak to me of the same elements as above (structure, pattern, texture or rhythm), but as portals to another place, have the added mystery of what lies beyond.

Furniture.  Rather than fussy hard lines, these are raw materials of rusted metal, railroad spikes (legs) and cut tree branches and speak of the rural nature of where these pieces started.  The patterns of the corrugated metal and the circles play off one another as an extension of the other.


LINKS (to artist bios, images):
Visit for images, biographical or other artist information.  Alternately, please contact the Gallery for required information. 

Web Site Artists’ Page (roster of Gallery artists, bios and more images):
http://www.theislandgallery.net/artists.php

To Contact the Gallery:
ssn@theislandgallery.net


CURRENT ONLINE ONLY EXHIBITION


About The Island Gallery

Established in 2002, The Island Gallery features internationally recognized artists whose work takes traditional art  forms in exciting new directions:  studio furniture and sculpture;  museum quality textile art  and wearables; wood fired ceramics from the finest potters in America; paintings and prints; and unique jewelry creations. Monthly exhibitions include live musical concerts, featuring such genres as jazz, rock, folk, chamber music and performance art.  This, along with its reputation for excellence, makes The Island Gallery a destination spot on
beautiful Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride from Seattle, and steps from the new Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.  In 2017 we celebrated 15 years of collaboration with unique and talented artists from near and far.




Event Location/Contacts/Visit:

The Island Gallery, 400 Winslow Way E, #120, Bainbridge Island, Washington.

Underground parking is available at The Winslow off Ericksen Avenue.


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