RAINE BEDSOLE reception
may 5th
6 - 9 pm
RAINE BEDSOLE Fragments of Lost Days Water is everywhere in New Orleans, above us, below us, in the very air that we breathe. We look up at passing ships. When I was a child on a farm in coastal Alabama, a nearby river would routinely overflow its banks and surge across the fields before going back again, and then the process would repeat itself as the river would riser higher and higher until it finally invaded our yard, only to mysteriously recede at the last minute to the confines of its banks. This familiar ebb and flow marked the cycles of my early life. Even now, when I have dreams of flying, I am always in a boat. In mythology, boats were vessels for transporting the spirit or the soul. The Vikings’ longboats carried the fallen warrior to the god realm of Odin, just as the soul ships of Irian Java performed similar funerary function. The nobles of ancient Egypt crossed the seas of the afterlife in barques. Boats are powerful symbols of transcendence. I am also intrigued by the more intimate forms and personal qualities of expression found in handcrafted vessels such as pirogues, canoes and dugouts. My own boats are vessels of the psyche, instruments for navigating the inner world. The smallest were inspired by a description of Minor White’s final moments as told to me by a woman who was at his deathbed. As he closed his eyes, he said, “I must go now, there’s a small boat waiting.” +++
exhibition dates may 3rd - june 30th, 2007
Front Cover: Lamentation Boat, 105”x18”x9”, charred wood strips and text on steel frame, 2007 Blue Water Boat, 110”x16”x19”, Tongan fabric, paint and wood on steel frame, 2007 Fragments of Lost Days Boat, 96”x16”x8”, sticks, paper and fabric on steel frame, 2007
Pair of Oars
Blue Oar Poetry Oar 80” x 24”, mixed media on wood, 2007
Net Boat 24” x 80”, mixed media on wood, 2006
In the Tree Tops 24” x 80”, mixed media on wood with branches, 2007
After the Flood 2 70” x 40”, plaster, maps, paint and sticks on wood, 2007
518 JULIA STREET, NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130
Boat in Hands 2 (Two Sisters Boat) 24” x 9”x 7”, cast hands, photographs and sticks, 2007 Boat in Hands 1 (Poetry Boat) 23” x 9”x 6”, cast hands, wire and paper, 2007 ARTWORK © RAINE BEDSOLE 2007 CATALOG © GALLERY BIENVENU
504.525.0518
www.gallerybienvenu.com